Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 12, 2015 4:54 pm I've been holding off starting a new thread, but I'm giving in!
It has been a long road to get here. We bought the old house and block almost 7 years ago. We lived there for 2 years, moved away fro 3 and returned in late 2013 to live in the old house again. It is awful, awful, awful. I was really hoping we would be out by the start of this winter as it is draughty, dark, freezing and depressing in winter. The kitchen is unworkable. We have to use a spanner to turn the bath on! We started the KDR process in November 2013 when we started getting quotes. We talked seriously with a custom builder before deciding on a 2 storey Sekisui design. Unfortunately their estimate was inaccurate and after signing the price went up $20,000 which was unaffordable, so we downgraded to a single story Sekisui design. We got through contract signing and planning consent, with some delays along the way, before we were notified in early March that Sekisui were pulling out of SA in December. They gave us the option of getting our deposit back and we took it. My previous thread is here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72567 So, we have now signed with Fairmont Homes. The positives from this are that they were MUCH cheaper than Sekisui. We have ended up with a bigger home, higher spec, with a larger alfresco and airconditioning included, for the same price as the Sekisui contract. I was able to get the stone benchtops I have coveted but could not justify with Sekisui We had soil testing done yesterday and the site surveyor will be out tomorrow. After that we are waiting for the variation for the estimate footings and then final drawings + selections. I am very impatient and completely over living in our crappy house! Our plan: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Timeline: 28/03/15 Signed Contract 01/04/15 Paid Deposit 11/05/15 Soil Testing 14/05/15 Site Survey 09/06/15 Final plans received 10/06/15 Council application lodged 15/06/15 Footings variation received - $15,000 increase 08/07/15 Direct Interiors selections 18/07/15 Supreme Kitchens selections 31/07/15 Planning consent approved 27/08/15 Full development approval received 03/09/15 Final Builders interview 15/09/15 Bank valuation received 23/09/15 Home loan approval 10/10/15 Demolition completed 13/11/15 Site works started 03/12/15 SLAB!!! 19/01/16 Frame started 01/02/16 Frame Finished 16/02/16 Roof on, windows and doors in, plumbing done 01/03/16 Bricks started 16/03/16 Bricks finished 17/03/16 First fix electrical and data cabling done, insulation started 18/03/16 Gyprock started 06/04/16 Gyprock and flushing completed 08/04/16 LOCKUP 15/04/16 Waterproofing 19/04/16 Cabinetry installation 24/04/16 Skirting boards, doors etc installed 29/04/16 Second fix electrical started 03/05/16 Eaves installed 05/05/16 Second fix electrical finished (I think) 09/05/16 Stone benchtop installed 12/05/16 Tiling started 20/05/16 External render done 30/05/16 Tiling finished 07/06/16 Plumbing fitout done (except for ensuite bath) 13/06/16 Stormwater 15/06/16 Plumbing/water connected to house 27/06/16 Electricity connected 30/06/16 Painting started 12/07/16 Garage door on 19/07/16 Ensuite bath installed 20/07/16 Painting finished 20/07/16 BIR and bathroom accessories installed 22/07/16 PCI 29/07/16 Handover!!!! Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 2May 12, 2015 5:00 pm Our impressions of Fairmont so far have ben: Sales stage: Our salesperson was very friendly and helpful. He gave us lots of helpful suggestions and solutions to problems that we wouldn't have thought of ourselves. He was also good with the promos (but I think they all are). DO NOT be afraid to ask for discounts with Fairmont. We asked and he took 10k off the price. We did not realise that we would be signing the contract as soon as we decided to sign up. That was different from the Sekisui process. With Sekisui we paid a deposit and then the contract signing happened after soil testing, selections and final plans. Fairmont have a stock standard contract for you to sign with the salesperson before all that occurs. It was not made clear to us until we received the first lot of paperwork from Fairmont about a month after we signed that no further changes could be made without a variation fee after that initial contract had been signed. So it is VERY important the plans are exactly what you want before you sign up. However, they seem to be negotiable with this provided you get the changes to them before the final drawings are done - we changed the kitchen layout yesterday without charge. Admin stage: We are only early on in the admin process. We were not happy with a big red stamp clearly and plainly stating that we accepted that no further changes could be made being placed over our signatures after signing to give the impression that we had signed that statement. Our salesperson said to us he would be available to help us through the process. We are finding that it can be difficult to get a hold of him, but once we do, he is very helpful. Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 3May 12, 2015 6:26 pm Hey bobbin, good to hear that things are progressing and hopefully this will be the last winter in your house! Investing in red wine might help you get through Happy to provide info if you need in dealing with F but sounds like you are on top of it all so far. Re the plans they don't seem to mind if you change them as long as it is inside (ie stuff you pick at selections). Outside stuff such as window sizes have to be approved by council so that is what they don't want to change. From memory the plans go to council before you receive and sign off on the final plans which seemed a bit weird to me, really that means your preliminary plans are final plans as far as council approval goes.... Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 4May 12, 2015 8:12 pm Will you be sharing your plans here bobbin? Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 5May 12, 2015 8:43 pm Yep, technical difficulties have been mostly overcome! Sideways plan is now in the first post! Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 6May 14, 2015 1:42 pm Great plan Bobbin, one thing that may help just from looking at your plans is getting them to extend your linen cupboard in the bathroom right back to the wall behind it. For some reason they like to make that a shallow cupboard! Resulting in wasted space behind it. Congratulations, and welcome to the Fairmont club! They build a great home! Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 7May 24, 2015 1:17 pm No updates from Fairmont as yet. I'm hoping to receive the footings variation this week sometime. But we have decided to start applying for rentals and move out anytime from mid June onwards. It is moving out a bit earlier than we need to, but we will only be losing about $1500 of extra savings, which I don't really care about at this point! We are just so over this house! We have applied for one house that is literally around the corner from us (and of course that means around the corner from the build) which is slightly nicer than our current house but still very small; and another house which is about a 5 minute drive away not so good a location for our lifestyle but much bigger and nicer. They are both about the same price and we should hear on Tuesday. But... Does anyone have any idea what I should do about insurance for the current house in between moving out and knocking it down? I don't think insurance companies insure unoccupied houses. Is there a type of 3rd party only insurance which would cover if someone was injured on our property or our property caused damage to the surrounding properties? Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 8May 24, 2015 8:45 pm Love the massive alfresco!! We used "Landcover" whilst our house was waiting to be demolished then when vacant, was pretty reasonable. We too didn't want some numpty injuring themselves on our half demolished house. Good luck finding rental, we are renting 200m from our build which has been helpful but also painful to see no progress : ).... Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 9May 25, 2015 1:47 pm Thanks blue steel, I'll have to give landcover a call. Yes, we love the alfresco! Orientation isn't ideal as the long side is South facing, but with our weird block it is the only way we can fit it. We have been approved for the further away but slightly better house! It's a shame we will have to give up some of the advantages of being close to the build and still being next door to the kindy our daughter will start at during the build, but the house will be much easier to live in with enough storage, a big enough kitchen etc. We move in 2 weeks! And because I am weird, even though I have hated living in this house, I am feeling a little sad about leaving! It is our first house. Plus our low housing costs have come to an end!' Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 10May 25, 2015 11:57 pm Glad you found another builder. Fairmont is so huge, you should be in good hands. Nice plan. I know how you feel about that house ... it's how I feel about this one. I've never liked it and have lived in it >20 years! As much as I 'hate' (strong word ... don't really mean that) it, I reckon I will miss it. So, yep - I empathise Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 11May 26, 2015 7:03 am Good luck with the move. It's sad and nostalgic about the old house. You are too good with the insurance stuff. I think you will appreciate the nicer and larger house. At least you will have your own space Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 12May 31, 2015 7:43 pm That alfresco is fantastic! And I like the way you reworked the kitchen (hubby doesn't have to hop over bench) and ensuite. You lost a bit of time but got a much better house for MUCH better price. Does the kitchen bench have legs at the end? I remember the drama trying to get previous builder to understand and wanting o charge $9k for (ripoff) Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 13Jun 01, 2015 10:05 am I am not entirely sure how the kitchen bench will turn out. I think we will end up with a laminate end panel, which is fine by me at this stage. We wanted legs so we could use the end of the table for seating, but I am over it now and there should be enough room. DH and I are still 'discussing' how many children we want to have. We have one daughter now, and I want one more child, he wants two more. If we have two children we won't need the space at the end, if we have three we might, although we also have an overhang along the rest of the island bench so there will be an extra seat at the end of the table extension bit if we need it. The kitchen was funny. I had pitched that idea a couple of times and DH didn't like that the kitchen wasn't symmetrical and thought it would look funny. I drew it up and he was like "Oh, is that how it would look, are there overhead cupboards there? Then that is fine!"Would have saved me a lot of time if he had thought it through properly before dismissing it two months ago! Grrr.. men. Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 14Jun 09, 2015 6:30 pm In the paperwork we received when we signed up, it said that 4-6 weeks after we signed up we would receive a variation for footings cost after the soil report and site survey had been done. Then, 2-3 weeks after the variation, we would receive the final plans. It has been 10 weeks since we signed up, and we haven't received the variation yet. But tonight, we received the final plans by post! Weird. I'll have to chase them tomorrow. The plans included an updated quotation. In the original quote, it allowed $25,000 for footings, and we asked for another allowance for soil removal or unforeseen site costs of $7000. The updated quote had one allowance for footings of $32,000. I'm not sure if they have overlooked sending out the variation and that is the actual footings amount, or if they have just combined the two allowances for clarity? They also seem to have thrown in a dishwasher? It wasn't in he original quote, but has been included in this quote at a cost of $1200. No further discounts were taken off the end, but the overall cost is still the same, so I'm not sure what else they took away. Oh, and I was expecting some elevations for the kitchen, bathroom etc with the final plans, but there weren't any?? It's all very strange, but I shouldn't have expected anything else given our journey so far! Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 15Jun 09, 2015 6:43 pm At least it's all progressing. Sounds like you need to get a spreadsheet or calculator out... Its good to work out based on two more kids just in case... It's always hard to explain to someone else what you mean and then it always looks different to how you imagine... Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 16Jun 09, 2015 6:49 pm Yep, you're right. Progress is progress! And I won't complain about a free dishwasher (but I need to make sure it is free!) It's busy busy now. We need to call fairmont to chase the variation, get our neighbour to sign the boundary build consent form, call Direct Interiors and Supreme Kitchens to book selections, speak to the arborist about obtaining an updated report about our tree and speak to fairmont about liaising with the arborist. Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 17Jun 09, 2015 10:11 pm I'm getting excited about selections! My current thoughts on selections are: Kitchen Benchtop: Smartstone Arcadia Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Cupboards and splashback: Similar to this photo, I want shaker style 2pack White doors and subway tile. I also want the glass fronted cabinets on either side of the under cupboard exhaust fan. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I didn't see subway tiles on my last visit to Direct Interiors. I'm sure it will be an upgrade. Anyone know where DI get their tiles from? Flooring throughout main living areas will be coffee bamboo. I want these pendant lights over the kitchen island bench: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Ensuite Tiles - charcoal on floor and the wall behind the bath, white on remaining walls, full height tiling. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bath Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Benchtop Either the same stone as kitchen, or 180fx Carrera marble laminex in diamond gloss finish Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Vanity Cavia lini Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Or Licorice linea Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Sink Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Shower head 1 Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Shower head 2 Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ That's probably enough for now! I am soo excited about those two rooms! Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 18Jun 09, 2015 10:21 pm Yay, glad to hear things are moving along and that you are getting excited. Choices look good so far. We have bamboo floor which i can recommend and i think we have those black floor tile in our laundry which have also been good too. DI source there own tiles. Have you looked in DI as well as the fairmont selection bit? As long as they stock the brand such as caroma they can supply anything even if not on display. Fairmont will also let you if you push them supply your own tiles which could be worth it for splashback. Think about what height you want your overheads in kitchen to start at and specify at supremes. Also think if you want built in bins or ironing boards. 2 pac is a hefty upgrade from memory. I think we hot 2 pac in kitchen but not in bathroom. Enjoy Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 19Jun 09, 2015 10:29 pm Yeah, I bet the 2pac will be! We had polygloss included for all doors throughout he home, but I think I would prefer to have normal laminate in the bathrooms, laundry etc, and use that upgrade money for 2pac in the kitchen. A shaker style kitchen is my dream kitchen! I did have a look around the other tiles at DI, but I wasn't looking for subway tiles at that point, so I can't recall. Surely they must have some? It's a popular trend at the moment. We may supply our own appliances, not sure yet, and yes, if we can't find tiles we like for the splashback we will look at supplying our own! We have a built in bin in the kitchen, but it wasn't the model we wanted, so we will change that at selections. The tip on overheads is good. We are raising the benchtops, so will need to specify the overhead height otherwise it might be squishy! As we are raising the benchtops, we are thinking of putting a shallow drawer above the dishwasher too. Re: Fairmont Homes Custom Adelaide KDR 20Jun 09, 2015 10:43 pm Good thinking. We found supreme really helpful so hopefully you will too. Worth a visit to their showroom if you have not already. Also if you check out msp group yoy can see a list of their companies. Msp own di but they have lots of other suppliers too. One that might be of interest to you is estilo who do tiles and bathware. We wwnt there and while we did not order anything i did consider it! If you supply appliances will need measurements. Pay attention to fridge and ensure you have room to get it in. Ours was touch and go as we made sure the cupboard would fit it but forgot about how we would get it into the cupboard. Also we supplied our own dishwasher and hubbie had to do some pipe work to connect it. Might be worth ensuring that they do it for you? The more planning that you do the easier your appt should be. They dont really do elevations so i would encourage you to try and draw tour iwn approx and how big you want each cupboard etc. I had a sprwadsheet with details of each room to try and make sure things i wanted did not get missed. Thus was particularly the vase for do where i was upgrading so many things. We have the westinghouse appliances which were a small upgarde and have been good. Oh and think about solid internal doors to lower noise and internal wall insulation. Can you give advice on how to get missing certificates needed for a form 21? Our bank requires us to provide one but we are missing 4 building certificates from our first… 3 71736 yes it does, you've just not understood it. theres a difference. 4 5206 Your house should come in "as new" condition. It should be clean, and without stains 1 4544 |