Long time HomeOne stalker, finally deciding to put up our build as we're getting to the latter stages of the Admin component of the build. And what a journey it's been!
We sold up our last house that we spent a couple of year renovating to move closer to my wife's family. We bought a place that had been repossessed by the bank in the Moonee Valley area. The house next door to ours went up for sale shortly after ours was completed, which was also a repossession (This causes some pain down the track). We spent the time before the sale of our old house settled deciding what we were going to do with the place, between a full renovation and extension, or Knockdown & Rebuild. We ended up deciding on the latter due to the amount of work required to get the place we bought to look the way we wanted.
After going through the display village after display village; we ended up going with the first house my wife saw, which we were both drawn to instantly (The Amalfi at Greenvale).
After we decided on a house, we began the process of demolishing the old one. Before we demolished the old house, we decided to put a Pre-Demolition sale on GumTree and had very successful results. We put a substantial amount towards our demolition with the proceeds of this sale. Definitely recommend, and you'll be surprised about the sort of stuff that people are interested in buying, providing you're realistic with the asking price.
We engaged the services of a demolisher; however we made a fatal error of taking the cheapest quote; and he was a good talker, so talked us into going against someone we were recommended by a friend (BIG mistake).
In regards to the actual demolition, the whole process took around 4 months. He applied for the permits late, and took forever to get the council the correct details, whilst telling us "stories" the whole time and blaming the council for the delay. As he low-balled his own quote, and we had quite a lot of concrete out the back that he never bothered to check on when he came to quote the job, we were not high on his priority list. This meant that he would rarely send guys out to site, he would get them there after 10am, and leave before 2pm. His equipment was wildly under powered for the job, and he would use the council as an excuse for why he wouldn't show up. He would tell my wife not to ring the council to check however, as they wouldn't talk to her (Red Flag number 1). We called the council anyway along the journey when he told us that the council were holding him up for the demo permit, we found that he had not lodged the permit application. When he said that he was receiving EPA complaints about the concrete dust, we again checked with the EPA and no complaints lodged. When he said our next door neighbour on our RHS was complaining about the noise in the morning, we checked with him and he made no such complaint. When he said the neighbour on our LHS kept popping his head over the fence and complaining about the noise, we informed him that the property on the LHS had been vacant for months after being repossessed by the bank. There were plenty more run ins with this guy along the way, and a lot of screaming and yelling from both sides, but to go through it all here would take too long. Just trust me when I say that you need to do your homework on the company you choose. Check reviews of the company you choose, or talk to someone who has used them before. Make sure the quote is realistic, as anything that seems too good to be true normally is.
The council themselves have actually been really helpful, and in all my dealings with them so far I haven't had a bad experience yet.
The basics of our build are as follows:
Amalfi 532 - Double Glazing to all windows Promo
Eclipse Facade
Grand Family Area option in lieu of Alfresco
Grand Alfresco Area to provide covered alternate alfresco option
5 Star Heating Option & Refrigerated Cooling Option
Butlers Pantry Fit-out
Chromagen Eternity Water Service, with Rainwater Tank for toilets
We had our Colour Appointment back in July 2015. We've gone with the following options (which we have changed so many times!):
Daniel Robertson Bricks - Apricot Blend
Colorbond Roofing - Basalt
Fascia, Down pipes, Windows - Surfmist
Timber feature doors - Dark Oak
Internal Walls - Vivid White
Skirting & Arcs - White
Bench tops - Nougat
We'll be doing floors, lighting, curtains, WIR Fit-out, & driveway post-handover.'
Our site costs came back at an astronomical number. Due to the fact that we're near a busy road, which is near a school, we're got "No Standing" on our side of the road during School hours. For this reason we have a considerable amount of provisional costs in Traffic Management, Crane Spotting, and Parking Permits. We also have to upgrade to a waffle "P" slab.
We were totally naive in our understanding of how long this whole process would take. Initially we had hoped to be in our new house by Christmas 2015. It's now January 2016, and we still have to obtain the dispensation approvals, have final finance approval, and get the building permits approved before we even hand over to build. However with all the negative experiences along the way; we're finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
TIMELINE TO DATE:
April 2015 - Settled on property
Initial Walk-through with MainVue & first deposit Paid
May 2015 - Second Deposit Paid with MainVue
June 2015 - All Services Abolished & Asset Protection Permit Arranged
Pre-Demolition Sale on anything and everything on the property (Highly Recommended)
July 2015 - Demo Contract Arranged
MainVue Colour Appointment @ Cosham
<INSERT A LIFE LEARNING LESSON HERE ABOUT TAKING THE CHEAPEST DEMO QUOTE>
November 2015 - Demolition finally complete (Worst Demo guy in the world)
Follow up work to finish the job the worlds worst demo guy didn't complete
Soil Tests & Site Survey Completed
MainVue Tender Appointment
Tender Signed
December 2015 - Contract Signed
Application for council dispensations (409, 410, & 415)
January 2016 - Next Door finally settles, so we've been able to get the adjoining neighbor's consent
February 2016: Unconditional Finance Approved
11 Feb 2016: Advised that dispensations have been approved.
3 March 2016: Received Energy Rating
17 March 2016: Building Permit Approved.
8 April 2016: Works Zone Permit Approved & Handed over to build!
20 April 2016: Temp fencing and Portaloo to site
28 April 2016: Meter box installed and site cut completed
2 May 2016: Plumbing and Electrical laid in preparation for slab
6 May 2016: Slab preparation - all boxed up and ready for pour
9 May 2016: Pre-slab inspection completed with Darbecca, with all defects fixed on the spot. Pour was cancelled due to bad weather (storms)
10 May 2016: Slab poured
22 May 2016: Frame base complete
2 June 2016: Roof Trussed installed
4 June 2016: Wall wrap, Fascia, Gutters, Windows, and Door Jambs installed, started Plumbing Rough in
7 June 2016: Installed roof battens
8 June 2016: Installed roof sarking, and Colorbond roof
17 June 2016: Electrical rough in
30 June 2016: Bricks started
8 July 2016: Plaster Hung
23 July 2016: Cabinets installed & Doors hung
27 July 2016: Brickwork Complete
7 August 2016: Stone benchtops installed
10 August 2016: Tiles started & Sinks installed
12 August 2016: Electrical fit off
15 August 2016: Garage door installed
16 August 2016: Toilets installed, and Internal Plumbing fit off
Currently working on: Fit off before PCI
I was initially skeptical of starting a thread until I knew all our approvals had come through; however I have gained a lot of knowledge through other people's experiences on this forum, so I think it's only fair that I share the good and the bad.
Looking forward to updating this with some real progress