Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 13, 2015 11:29 pm Hello everyone,
After spending months and months on H1 reading so much we are finally are here... BUILDING our first home in Aston, Craigieburn. (Finally got breathing time to create my very own thread) Here is the timeline June 2014: Started saving up for a home (established home was in mind) November 2014: Decided to buy land and build 22 December 2014 - Settled on the land (we bought a settled land, as I got good deal) January 2015: Decided on a builder (Watersun). Clearview homes was second choice. Apr/May 2015: Changed builder to Clearview homes and paid deposit (there were delays with Watersun which frustrated me. Clearview homes inclusions were good and the sales person was really good to be able to convince me to build with them) June 2015: Accepted initial quote and tender. (Builder was very flexible and accommodating. As my block had a little odd shape and I wanted to utilise the full 18m frontage; Drive through garage was a must have for me so I had to do custom build for a lot of these reasons, I changed the design which best suited me) July 2015: Colour appointment. There were few delays here. Even after so much preparation and ground work it was daunting. Some of the update we've chosen had to be priced, so there was a bit of back and forth. Also we had to reselect few upgrades as the one we choose was pricey. (Selection centre was unable to give price upfront, which is different to volume builder) I visited selection center at least 4 times before appointment and noted down things which I wanted. I visited number of display homes for ideas. The fact that the color selection center wasn't able to give price upfront was a big issue for us. We had to choose from standard first and then an upgrade most of the cases unless we absolutely wanted something. Timelines... _____________________________________________ Aug 2015: Developer approval and Council approval received Aug/Sep 2015: Build start 4th Sep: Slab down 18th Sep: Frames done 24th Sep: plumbing and roof truss done 30th Sep: Roof tiles complete 12th Oct: Brick work started 27th Oct: Brick work completed 31st Oct: Lockup 10th Nov: Rough ins completed 17th Nov: Insulation done 18th Nov: Plastering completed 25th Nov: Cornices completed Christmas break (Shutdown from 1st Dec to 25th Jan), I know it's ridiculous 27th Jan: Cupboard fit out done Fixing stage bill received 10th Feb: Painting complete (1st fixing) 18th Feb: Waterproofing, screeding, garage doors done 25th Feb: Tiling for all wet areas, heating/cooling ducts, kitchen benchtop and sink is all done 3rd Mar: Electrical fit outs done 20th Mar: Plumbing fit out done 12th April: shower screen, WIR done 28th April: Flooring done 30th April: blinds done 12th May: Concreting done 12th May: Received OC, Final invoice after 8.5 months (including Christmas break) 30th May: PCI 6th June: Got the keys finally _____________________________________________ It was a tough decision to buy and build... We convinced ourselves and never looked back. We got good deal on the land as it was already settled, so we decided to buy without thinking much. We learnt few lessons along the way. I will write about that in detail later. It took nearly 2 months to decide the builder... After getting number of quotes (visiting number of display homes) and enquiring with friends and getting reference we decided to build with a smaller builder for design flexibility. We didn't like any of the plans with volume builder. We didn't like something or other... So we decided to build with custom builder.. Facade Garage, brick, roof, gutter, fascia, window, render, timber panel on facade and door color Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Laminate floorboard Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Benchtop, cabinet and splash back colors Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bathroom tiles and cabinet colors Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Carpet Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Wall paint Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Feature wall paint - master bedroom (behind the bed) and family area (alcove) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Theater room wall paint Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ PS: I will edit this post to include selections etc and also write about our experience and progress soon. Interested folks please subscribe... You can follow my blog here http://goo.gl/QoSbsV Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 5Sep 14, 2015 3:17 pm Looks great! How long will building take? Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 6Sep 14, 2015 4:54 pm Thanks. Hoping they will finish before Christmas. They take 4.5 months to build my thread viewtopic.php?t=79845 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 7Sep 14, 2015 7:07 pm Following your thread! And I agree with you that the Colours Selection is not as straight forward as a volume builder's. We pretty much had to choose a standard and an upgrade option for most items because they couldn't provide costs! Our First Build /viewtopic.php?t=79716 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 8Sep 14, 2015 7:16 pm Yep!
I had discrepancy in the document provided to me and the one gallery had... So they had to call and clarify in the middle of the appointment... The color consultant (supposedly) took way too long to document... Unjustified turnaround without communications... (2nd time around) Everything except this color appointment part was good for me with CVH... my thread viewtopic.php?t=79845 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 9Sep 14, 2015 7:26 pm Yes! They told us 2 weeks, but it took longer than 2 weeks. Plus we thought they were sending us the pictures they took of our selection so we didn't take any, only for them to tell us they only send us the pics once we've signed. There was also miscommunication between Gallerie and CVH as some things we already have on our quote, Gallerie was putting down as an upgrade. All sorted in the end. Our First Build /viewtopic.php?t=79716 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 10Sep 14, 2015 7:34 pm SJ_house13 Yes! They told us 2 weeks, but it took longer than 2 weeks. Plus we thought they were sending us the pictures they took of our selection so we didn't take any, only for them to tell us they only send us the pics once we've signed. There was also miscommunication between Gallerie and CVH as some things we already have on our quote, Gallerie was putting down as an upgrade. All sorted in the end. Our First Build /viewtopic.php?t=79716 Ah... They told us the same about picture... Then they didn't send... I took few pics luckily. I was over charged for a few items... Even after sending evidences they didn't agree... More than 1000$ wasted... Like over charge, additional consulting hours etc etc my thread viewtopic.php?t=79845 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 11Sep 14, 2015 7:52 pm We didn't take any at all thinking theirs would be look better. We wanted to refer to those pics to help us to decide once we got prices. They ended up sending it to us because we asked. So you had to pay extra in the end?? Makes me wonder if they provide different costs to different clients - shouldn't they have costs for items they're offering? Our First Build /viewtopic.php?t=79716 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 12Sep 14, 2015 10:42 pm Agree. Except for few items like switches and stonebench (both needs numbers/measurements) they should be able to provide price for most of the items. my thread viewtopic.php?t=79845 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 13Sep 20, 2015 9:02 am Quick update. Went to the estate yesterday (Saturday)... Wasn't expecting progress because of the weather we had the whole week... Roof truss 18th Sep Hoping for better weather and better progress Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ my thread viewtopic.php?t=79845 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 16Sep 21, 2015 1:37 pm At least it's moving along! Our First Build /viewtopic.php?t=79716 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 18Sep 21, 2015 2:01 pm We've paid our 5% deposit to CVH, who had us scheduled for a Sep start, but just waiting for our bank to provide formal approval, which is taking a while for some reason. Our First Build /viewtopic.php?t=79716 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 19Sep 21, 2015 2:10 pm Same happened with me. Bank took 1 month for formal approval. Then 15 days for the first payment. CVH did some prelim work though. my thread viewtopic.php?t=79845 Re: Building our first home in Aston Craigieburn with Clearv 20Sep 21, 2015 2:20 pm Oh really? We thought it would be a lot faster as CVH was saying we should hear back from the bank within the week. Our broker keeps saying tomorrow when we asked for an update. Then it's tomorrow again. Just chased it again and was told today. We'll see how that goes.. Our First Build /viewtopic.php?t=79716 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 27175 Can anyone give me any onfo on New Homes WA? Good or bad, hopefully good just need to know if my choice was good or not? Thanks ❤️ 0 8933 That is a really good attitude Akin to you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I do enjoy watching that tik tok inspector from Victoria but he does go a little… 12 81847 |