Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 27, 2015 10:33 pm Hey guys, My wife and I are building with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge, Baldivis. We have got a lot of good idea's from all of you all and thought it was about time to start our own thread/blog/thingie! We are nearing contract signing and found ourselves with a little extra unexpected funds so had thoughts to increase the rest of the ceilings to 31 course in Bedrooms 2, 3, 4, Laundry, WIL, Powder and Bathroom. This would also include changing out the standard doors with 28 course high doors. Our rep at DA thinks that it would be a nice addition but thinking back to the display home, it was pretty nice as it was so I am having second thoughts. The quote came in at over $4200 initially and I thought that was to high so they investigated further and got it down to $3748. I am begining to think that I could use this money better in ensuring I get all the LED lighting I wan't, ceiling fans in the bedrooms and Alfresco and also put some into the gardening. My plan doesn't show all the built in's we have in the robes but that's another thing we added (after initially taking them out thinking we could do better price ourself..... nope!) We are doing our own tiling (600X600 Bianco polished rectified porcelain), glass splashback, skirting boards, wooden alfresco and verandah, fake grass in the back for kids and the sides either liquid limestone or aggregate and the drive will be aggregate. So we have a fair bit to do after handover as it is!! Has anyone else raised all the bedrooms to 31 course and did it make much difference to the feel??? What about the laundry and bathroom?? Does it make them feel a bit 'cavernous'??!! Have a look at my plan and let me know what you think!!! Also any other suggestions are welcome [*] Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ House Design 4.0 by Andrew Carroll, on Flickr Regards, Andrew and Wafa Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 2May 28, 2015 12:52 pm Any opinions??? I am leaning towards saving the money for other stuff as I recon 95% of buyers wouldn't notice or really base their decision to buy on ceiling heights. But if anyone has differing opinions I'd like to hear from you!! Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 3May 28, 2015 2:39 pm I live in a house that has 32c throughout, and it makes the world of difference! Would never revert to low ceilings if I had a choice. Not cavernous in the bathrooms/laundry at all! I also think its good for resale, its one of those 'structural' things you simply can't change! All the stuff you want to do can be done later when extra funds permit, the ceiling would actually look lower and change the look again if you put fans in it! Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 4May 28, 2015 2:52 pm Yeah I get that the high ceilings would be better for ceiling fans but I also worry the windows would look small with the extra height above and I should opt for taller window frames. Grrrr.... I wish I had a little more wiggle room money wise!!! Lol!!! Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 5May 28, 2015 11:18 pm Tough decisions Andrew and Wafa. There are two ways of looking at it? Personally I really like the increased ceiling height. Are you planning on living in the house for a long time? You can always do the lights etc. later, but can't raise the ceiling height. On the other side, it's only a small part of the house without the raised ceiling. Best of luck with your build! Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 6May 28, 2015 11:39 pm We initially wanted to have 31c throughout as one of the first plans we considered was also from Dale Alcock. However, to save costs, we decided to have 31c in the main "front of house" areas, i.e. Living, Dining, Kitchen, Study and Entry from Garage. The only other exception is that the Master would have 31c while all other bedrooms have 28c (so are the laundry and scullery) as we reasoned that more time and activities would be held in the main areas. That being said, our plan is slightly different because out Theatre and Main Entry will have raking ceilings. We've decided to put more money into these areas as we always wanted a raking ceilings - whole house raking ceilings would be lovely, but then again - cost! Not sure if this helps you much, but yeah like some of the rest have said high ceilings are nice and it is a one of those "structural" things My wife and I were discussing the cost that you were quoted and if as it included changing all doors to 28c then it would seem quite worthwhile. Best of luck with whatever you choose Our Build Thread: The "Extended" Marina by Visionone Homes Our Inspirations: Frank Lloyd Wright | Houzz Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 7May 28, 2015 11:39 pm Thanks D_rail. Yeah we will live in it for a while and you are right.... it is only a small part of the house. Had a few people say I c an do lighting later but firstly, the lighting patern for LED down lights is totally different to normal lights so couldn't use existing holes. And secondly, after paying a 500k mortgage on a single wage with all the expenses of raising a family, I doubt the extra funding will be easy to find at a later date! Lol! The more I look at it the more I think the windows need to be increased from 25 to 28 course as well to take advantage of 31 course ceilings thus adding more cost..... it's a vicious cycle!! Lol!!! I'll have to decide tomorrow but I think the 4+ grand would be better of ensuring I get the lighting (dimmers in master and theatre etc.... not easy to retrofit) and all the power points we want plus an alarm! After all, the display is what we fell in love with and it was only 28 course in the back so it's really hard to justify I guess as much as I would like it. Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 8May 29, 2015 12:03 am Sounds like you've got your decision. We weren't going to do it either but we had a design issue with our laundry door. I can't remember what alternatives we had but it made our decision easier. We decided to put a lot of junction boxes in for down lights and some conduits for fans. We found we're saving a fair bit by doing it after handover. Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 9May 29, 2015 10:24 am That's a lot of money for higher ceilings in a few rooms. I'd save it for handover and use it for something more important. Quality LED downlights are $100 each so why not use the money for amazing lighting? My build thread viewtopic.php?t=77170 Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 10May 30, 2015 4:39 pm We did higher ceilings in entry, living and master bedroom and ensuite, all others are standard as we decided we don't spend time in the other rooms to warrant it. We also looked at raising the sliding door height and window heights but relised that we wouldn't even notice it as much once you add curtains and pelmets. Again, just one of those things that we decided you over think and don't notice, sort of like guttering, I couldn't even tell you what style guttering has been on the houses we have rented whilst waiting to build, but I'm sure someone probably spent sleepless nights thinking on the styles. I also found getting the lighting done through the builder over expensive, we got credits and just put in the junction boxes and will do the lights ourselves. Cost was minimal as tbe credit for the light paid for the junction box. Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 11May 31, 2015 11:12 pm Nice plan, I'll be watching this one. Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 12May 31, 2015 11:58 pm Thanks mixzOr! I hope I can get the ball rolling soon so I have more up to date plans and decisions to share! We set out looking for a plan that would accomodate a growing family and still fit on the unnecessarily small blocks on offer today. What we ended up with is already 70 grand over budget but hey.... the bank lent the $$$ so we are making the most of it! Lol! On a serious not though I haven't over extended myself financially, we were just aiming at a lower cost home for our second house to make things a lot easier. Anyway, hopefully within a week or so I'll have the plans finalised!!!! Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 13Jun 01, 2015 12:18 am I would raise the ceilings, Changing the windows should be no cost, windows were free for us as it's the same cost of bricks apparently, we could add or change as many windows as we wanted, no cost. We have 31c throughout and it makes such a difference We raised all of our door frames to 2340 also to highlight the higher ceilings Our build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70984 Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 14Jun 01, 2015 12:44 am Well I am still waiting for DA to get their costings to me.... they were meant to all mid morning Friday. I envisage it will cost around $4500. I agree that bricks should cover the window costs and I hope this is the case but we will see. I still am not decided purely because the display was perfectly fine and the money really could be used in a number of ways that make more common sense. Nothings easy when deciding what to do and what to skip until the next house when the $$$ are more abundant! Lol! Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 15Jun 01, 2015 12:55 am I should add 31c through out was included in our house price so the decision was easy for us, maybe if we were paying we would have only done living areas/entry and master Our build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70984 Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 17Jun 05, 2015 11:32 am Well we decided to leave the rood heights as they are and use that money elsewhere such as lighting, extending the robes as much as possible, ceiling fans in Alfresco and numerous other little expenses I am sure will mount up fast at pre start!!! We extended the window height in the ensuite and WC to 28 course though and that was actually a credit! Now we have about a week and a half to contracts so hopefully things will start happening rather rapidly from here!!! Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 18Jun 19, 2015 11:32 pm Well we have our colour meeting on Monday....they told us it's not only colours but also bricks and electrical! Hadn't really thought a hell of a lot about electrical!!!! Do they go into all the smart wiring etc at this meeting or is that at pre start?? Or separate! I have been told to get an independent quote because intelligent homes are a rip off! Any advice on what to expect and be prepared for??!! Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 19Jun 20, 2015 9:33 am Congrats on your colour meeting for Monday. I think it will be better having your electrical then, electrical as well as prestart is quite a bit to cover in the one day. That way you will have your main plan for prestart, and then can tweak it at prestart if you need to. The intelligent homes consult is done separate at intelligent homes, you need DA to book it in for you. I would recommend this regardless if you are going to get extra done through them or not. They will go through with you what you already have included in your plan, at least this way you know exactly what you are already getting, and what extra you need to do. They have some really great ideas and advice, it was a really good experience for us! We did do quite a bit through them only because it is one of those things where you can be quite restricted after handover. Conduit, wiring and labour costs when the home is finished can be a lot more costly than now also because it takes a lot more time. We had a really fun day at both meetings so best of luck!!! Looking forward to seeing your selections Re: Building the Stoneleigh with Dale Alcock in Tuart Ridge 20Jun 20, 2015 10:44 am Thanks Jelbell I have had a look at your electrical plan and looks similar to what we are after.... LED down lights, fans in Alfresco, dimmers to a few rooms and some highlight lighting to add special touches. Did you pay for your lighting through DA?? I have heard it save a lot of $$$ to get the wiring done but lights after handover since it is so easy! go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110574 Even if it's not being sub-divided and you want to keep it as Torrens title, you will still need to talk to a town planner or Council themselves, to see if they will allow… 1 11039 |