Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 61Dec 22, 2016 8:15 am We researched the hell out of interiors. Went into the appointment with the color codes for paint, Colourbond roof colour, etc. You need to know what you want before you go in, so visiting display homes is a great idea. Take lots of photos of the finished and details that you like and take that list/imagery to your colours appointment. Best of luck! Building a customised Metford 33 with Rawson Homes in Canberra Build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76866 Blog: https://canberragalsmetford.wordpress.com/ Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 62Dec 22, 2016 10:35 am Jayman1 Hi Morningstar, Just wondering should we need an Independent Inspection to verify their quality of work or it would be done by certifier so that we don't need to spend money or is it just waste of money anyway- are Rawson provide details work with report on each stage what works have been performed. We have been charged $4200 for H2 Slab and $1000 for strengthening Pier work. I think it's worth spending money on an experienced and qualified building inspector. You don't have to do it for every stage. Like Red said, pre-lining would be important as you can see all structural work before they're all covered up. Rawson does not provide reports on works done on each stage - none of them do. The extra charges for H2 and piering seem to be reasonable. Jayman1 I'd appreciate your experience what should we need to do or just relax and sit down. If there's one thing you can't afford to do when building a house with a project builder is to relax & sit around. Big builders like Rawson Homes have hundreds of projects going on at the same time. One site supervisor alone oversees between 20-25 builds at any given point. If you are not diligent/vigilant with your own build, there is always a chance that things get forgotten, mistakes were made, quality gets compromised, materials incorrectly ordered, etc. You have to be on top of things. red15 Which makes me think our colours experience was probably more about the individual than the process. That's true. We were lucky to have a very good colour consultant when we did our appointment. She was thorough, informative, and able to give us options for our internal colours selection. I still liaise with her during construction phase and she's very helpful. TIPS: When you receive your kitchen plan from Elba, scrutinise it & ask yourself heaps of questions: Do they look right to you? Do they give sufficient details for the dimensions? How deep do you need your drawers to be? Does it bother you if the overhead cupboards and the underbench cupboards don't line up? Which side does the cupboard door open? Do you know how big your fridge is? Etc.. Etc... We went to Elba's office in Eastern Creek and talked to their staff & took some samples home. (CaesarStone and laminates) You don't need to finalise everything in your colour appointments. You have time to lock in your selection. If you build a good relationship with your consultants, they are more likely to be quite flexible with you. red15 Bricklaying was definitely the slowest part of our build, though it was faster at our place than at many others. I think we were a bit over a month from first to last brick. Our bricks are unlikely to be finished before the xmas shut down. We lost days to extreme heat and rain last week. Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 63Dec 22, 2016 6:53 pm Both electrical and colour appointments went well for us, as we have drawn our own electrical plan and went to the suppliers beforehand and collected samples for the kitchen. We used the Balmoral display home kitchen as baseline and changed some configuration and materials. Not to say we didnt have dramas, as ours was wrought with a lot of those from beginning till handover. But once that hard fought battle is over and you settle in your new home, they'll all be a distant memory. I was hoping that Rawson would have learnt their lesson but seems like nothing's changed still. Looking back we're glad we've taken that leap of faith in 2014 and built. Coz given the current climate, we will not consider building at all or would be considering an owner-build process. It's either smashing incredible success or crushing hopeless defeat. There is no middle ground! - Calvin and Hobbes Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 64Dec 23, 2016 7:53 am Thank you Morningstar for your input and thoughts - We will definitely keep an eye on the build as well as perform at least two independent inspection at pre-lining and completion stage for the peace of mind- yes I guess it worth to spend couple of hundred bucks for inspection while spending 400K on the build. We had 4 appointments at Rawson Office - one for presentation and external colour and another one Electrical and Internal Colour. We had pretty good run with presentation and external colour appointment. Plan presentation consultant name Nicole Matak was very helpful except front door upgrade cost 2K and part of front rendering 3K- if you need to upgrade anything always ask the cost difference and also get the display home upgrade list. In relation to external colour selection we go with Benham display home colour. regarding internal colour appointment it was pretty quick run by consultant, seems rushing it is included and which is not included- if you not sure the items always ask for pricing as a wish list depending on the budget and preferences - Electrical appointment is all about down lights and Hills Home Hub - we spend around 4K for downlights only ground floor and some external lights and Data and TV point. Cheers Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 65Dec 30, 2016 4:21 pm red15 My one piece of advice is to really, really think about your kitchen. We got very little guidance and felt rushed through. There are things we would have done differently if we'd known. If possible, I'd ask to do the kitchen plan direct with Elba instead of Rawson's people. Katran Ditto to red's comments. Electrical appointment great, we had had marked up everything we wanted and the consultant was great in offering suggestions. Colours appointment was way too rushed. We knew mostly what we wanted but we're not 'offered' advice really if that makes sense....... Kitchen was just rushed through, if you don't know what you want, alternatives are really not offered. There were plenty of things missed. Anonymous, best to know what you want going in. CalvinHobbes Both electrical and colour appointments went well for us, as we have drawn our own electrical plan and went to the suppliers beforehand and collected samples for the kitchen. We used the Balmoral display home kitchen as baseline and changed some configuration and materials. Not to say we didnt have dramas, as ours was wrought with a lot of those from beginning till handover. But once that hard fought battle is over and you settle in your new home, they'll all be a distant memory. I was hoping that Rawson would have learnt their lesson but seems like nothing's changed still. Looking back we're glad we've taken that leap of faith in 2014 and built. Coz given the current climate, we will not consider building at all or would be considering an owner-build process. Thanks red15, katran and CalvinHobbes for the heads-up about the kitchens. Starting to plan my electrical and kitchen layout now since I have some time off work. I've had a read of a few blogs here to get some ideas and some of the changes to the kitchen I can think of are: - Cupboard/drawer location, size and layout, including the direction the doors open - Bench and cupboard colours - Cupboard finish (matte, sheen, super-gloss) - Waterfall ends on island bench and overhang - Location of appliances Is there anything else from the top of your head that I may have may have missed? I had a read of an 'Edge' blog which had a higher splash-back window in the kitchen. Does anyone know if it is possible to reduce the bulkhead size above the overhead cupboards rather than reduce the size of the cupboards to accommodate for the higher splashback window? Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 66Dec 30, 2016 4:36 pm sydneysider red15 My one piece of advice is to really, really think about your kitchen. We got very little guidance and felt rushed through. There are things we would have done differently if we'd known. If possible, I'd ask to do the kitchen plan direct with Elba instead of Rawson's people. Katran Ditto to red's comments. Electrical appointment great, we had had marked up everything we wanted and the consultant was great in offering suggestions. Colours appointment was way too rushed. We knew mostly what we wanted but we're not 'offered' advice really if that makes sense....... Kitchen was just rushed through, if you don't know what you want, alternatives are really not offered. There were plenty of things missed. Anonymous, best to know what you want going in. CalvinHobbes Both electrical and colour appointments went well for us, as we have drawn our own electrical plan and went to the suppliers beforehand and collected samples for the kitchen. We used the Balmoral display home kitchen as baseline and changed some configuration and materials. Not to say we didnt have dramas, as ours was wrought with a lot of those from beginning till handover. But once that hard fought battle is over and you settle in your new home, they'll all be a distant memory. I was hoping that Rawson would have learnt their lesson but seems like nothing's changed still. Looking back we're glad we've taken that leap of faith in 2014 and built. Coz given the current climate, we will not consider building at all or would be considering an owner-build process. Thanks red15, katran and CalvinHobbes for the heads-up about the kitchens. Starting to plan my electrical and kitchen layout now since I have some time off work. I've had a read of a few blogs here to get some ideas and some of the changes to the kitchen I can think of are: - Cupboard/drawer location, size and layout, including the direction the doors open - Bench and cupboard colours - Cupboard finish (matte, sheen, super-gloss) - Waterfall ends on island bench and overhang - Location of appliances Is there anything else from the top of your head that I may have may have missed? I had a read of an 'Edge' blog which had a higher splash-back window in the kitchen. Does anyone know if it is possible to reduce the bulkhead size above the overhead cupboards rather than reduce the size of the cupboards to accommodate for the higher splashback window? Hi sydneysider, height of benches was a difficult one for me to decide on. Also sink selection. Undermount, over mount, drainer, no drainer.....too many choices! Which house are you building ? Rawson Homes - General Thread 67Dec 30, 2016 6:11 pm Hi Sydneysider, it is possible to reduce the bulkhead size if you want a taller overhead cupboard. You can do this by a) removing the bulkoverhead altogether and specify you want a taller overhead cupboard instead, or you can increase your ceiling height to a non-standard height. We chose the Balmoral as the kitchen layout suits our requirement with the bulkhead as a feature of the kitchen. The layout gave us more benchtop space and cupboard space without the need for a walk-in pantry. I know some would prefer both. Bench height was a compromise between a vertically challenge me vs. a 6 ft tall hubby. A year after handover, i definitely love our functional and spacious kitchen. I know for a fact if we didnt get the butler's kitchen, we would have definitely gone with a different design incorporating a walk-in pantry. Also, our lot layout is prohibitive in terms of expanding sideways, so at the end of the day we've gone with the design that we liked best and optimised the use of our existing property. Hobbes It's either smashing incredible success or crushing hopeless defeat. There is no middle ground! - Calvin and Hobbes Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 68Dec 30, 2016 11:52 pm Katran Sydneysider Thanks red15, katran and CalvinHobbes for the heads-up about the kitchens. Starting to plan my electrical and kitchen layout now since I have some time off work. I've had a read of a few blogs here to get some ideas and some of the changes to the kitchen I can think of are: - Cupboard/drawer location, size and layout, including the direction the doors open - Bench and cupboard colours - Cupboard finish (matte, sheen, super-gloss) - Waterfall ends on island bench and overhang - Location of appliances Is there anything else from the top of your head that I may have may have missed? I had a read of an 'Edge' blog which had a higher splash-back window in the kitchen. Does anyone know if it is possible to reduce the bulkhead size above the overhead cupboards rather than reduce the size of the cupboards to accommodate for the higher splashback window? Hi sydneysider, height of benches was a difficult one for me to decide on. Also sink selection. Undermount, over mount, drainer, no drainer.....too many choices! Which house are you building ? Thanks Katran! Didn't think about the bench height. I am building the Seaview and did measure the height of the bench at the display home in Kellyville which I believe was at 900mm (I don't think I measured the island but I'm guessing it's the same). What height did you go for in the end? CalvinHobbes Hi Sydneysider, it is possible to reduce the bulkhead size if you want a taller overhead cupboard. You can do this by a) removing the bulkoverhead altogether and specify you want a taller overhead cupboard instead, or you can increase your ceiling height to a non-standard height. We chose the Balmoral as the kitchen layout suits our requirement with the bulkhead as a feature of the kitchen. The layout gave us more benchtop space and cupboard space without the need for a walk-in pantry. I know some would prefer both. Bench height was a compromise between a vertically challenge me vs. a 6 ft tall hubby. A year after handover, i definitely love our functional and spacious kitchen. I know for a fact if we didnt get the butler's kitchen, we would have definitely gone with a different design incorporating a walk-in pantry. Also, our lot layout is prohibitive in terms of expanding sideways, so at the end of the day we've gone with the design that we liked best and optimised the use of our existing property. Hobbes It's either smashing incredible success or crushing hopeless defeat. There is no middle ground! - Calvin and Hobbes Thanks CalvinHobbes. It's good to know there are ways to increase the height of the overhead cupboards. I was worried it would look too square after increasing the splashback height. I do like the layout of the Balmoral kitchen/pantry/laundry and the colours they used in the Kellyville display home. I am trying to make sure the kitchen is both functional and visually appealing and have been using the Balmoral for inspiration! Thanks again for the tips Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 69Dec 31, 2016 8:45 am A comment on the quality of the Caroma Mystic shower heads: they are terrible. I broke one less than 48hr after we moved in and the second one broke off last night and clocked my nephew on the head. We'll report the failure to Rawson but you might want to think twice about selecting the Mystic. Building a customised Metford 33 with Rawson Homes in Canberra Build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76866 Blog: https://canberragalsmetford.wordpress.com/ Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 70Dec 31, 2016 10:52 am Canberra_gal A comment on the quality of the Caroma Mystic shower heads: they are terrible. I broke one less than 48hr after we moved in and the second one broke off last night and clocked my nephew on the head. We'll report the failure to Rawson but you might want to think twice about selecting the Mystic. Oh no... that sounds pretty crappy. We got two of these and a Caroma Track for the ensuite. What was broken? Was it installed correctly? On a different note: Wishing everyone here a very happy new year. Hoping 2017 will bring better, brighter days for all of us Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 71Dec 31, 2016 6:13 pm MorningStar Canberra_gal A comment on the quality of the Caroma Mystic shower heads: they are terrible. I broke one less than 48hr after we moved in and the second one broke off last night and clocked my nephew on the head. We'll report the failure to Rawson but you might want to think twice about selecting the Mystic. Oh no... that sounds pretty crappy. We got two of these and a Caroma Track for the ensuite. What was broken? Was it installed correctly? On a different note: Wishing everyone here a very happy new year. Hoping 2017 will bring better, brighter days for all of us Happy New Year to you too The front half of the head separated at the rubber ring, the cheap plastic mount having sheared off/failed. All installed correctly - just a very poor quality fixture. Building a customised Metford 33 with Rawson Homes in Canberra Build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76866 Blog: https://canberragalsmetford.wordpress.com/ Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 72Jan 01, 2017 9:31 am Hi sydneysider, most of the island benches in the displays are different heights. We have 900 on the kitchen bench and I think (?) 940 on the island. We did this due to the 80mm benchtop on the island.... Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 73Jan 02, 2017 12:26 pm Katran Hi sydneysider, most of the island benches in the displays are different heights. We have 900 on the kitchen bench and I think (?) 940 on the island. We did this due to the 80mm benchtop on the island.... Thanks Katran - I will triple check my bench heights! In regards to the sink choices - I had a look through the Lux brochure and it doesn't really give you options for the kitchen sink. Just wondering if you knew what we could choose from (e.g. can we choose any Clark sink, or can we choose any sink from a particular retailer, etc.) and how reasonable the upgrade prices are? I'm just having a look through the electrical price lists some members have shared with me a while ago (I'll keep you anonymous!) and just had a few questions that would help me with my electrical plan: 1) I was thinking about putting lighting for the stairs - either in the wall or on the steps. Does anyone know roughly how much this will cost? 2) For external lights, I am thinking of placing some on the walls/piers of the house. There is an item on the electrical price list called "Light point to External pier or column includes call out fee (cost applicable per column)" - does this apply to all external lights or just those on piers/columns? Just unsure how external lights on the walls of the house (e.g. next to the garage door) would be priced - are they priced at batten price + light? 3) There is an item on the price list called "External junction box for light point" - I presume I would only need a junction box if I plan on installing the light after handover? Thanks again for all your help guys PS. Happy New Year!! Rawson Homes - General Thread 74Jan 02, 2017 5:46 pm Yes, junction box is for installation after handover. We found the range of outdoor lights fairly limited. There was one we liked well enough but you can buy the same thing anywhere for about a third of the rawson price. Not sure about the full range of sink options, but we upgraded to a double undermount sink. I think it cost us somewhere around the $1k mark but it's been a long time so I may be mistaken. FWIW we're really happy with the sink. It comes with accessories including a dish drainer insert which we use all the time, plus a colander insert and a chopping board insert, both of which we also use. Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 75Jan 03, 2017 4:01 pm Thanks red! I just had a look at one of the external lights and it is double the price of Beacon lighting.. Given the difference, I would assume Rawson include the wiring to the switch in the price (i.e. I will not have to pay additional for a batten to hold the light itself)? I am also looking at undermount sinks. It does have a very clean look when compared to overmount sinks. I personally prefer the 'rounded rectangle' type sink, but there's a bigger range of square edge sinks (like yours) - I presume these are more popular.. Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 76Jan 03, 2017 4:49 pm Beacon is also overpriced IMO. Unless you choose something that is not stocked elsewhere, you can usually do better. But you're right, if rawson does it, it includes wiring plus the actual light. We ended up just having the outdoors lights provisioned and we actually found our main front light at masters before they closed down. Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 77Jan 03, 2017 4:51 pm We got our external up/down lights through Rawson. Electricians wired them in and sourced globes too. Building a customised Metford 33 with Rawson Homes in Canberra Build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76866 Blog: https://canberragalsmetford.wordpress.com/ Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 78Jan 06, 2017 2:45 pm Hi all We are building a Huntley30 and have just finalised our bricks, well received the invoice. Has anyone had any experience with asking the sparky to pre wire for security cameras (not in tender)We are looking at purchasing a camera system seperatly and was wondering if anyone has had a chat to the sparky to arrange this and if they had any luck. Also does anyone have any advice on how long from once the bricks are completed to build completion? Has anyone tried to obtain quotes for landscaping or fencing and window shutters while the build is occuring? Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 79Jan 06, 2017 3:36 pm We added some electricals during the build phase. If you're able to get to the electrician direct that might be cheaper, otherwise talk to your SS but expect an admin fee on top of extra cost. We also did lots of quotes during the build. We just arranged access with SS. Re: Rawson Homes - General Thread 80Jan 06, 2017 10:00 pm Hi all, we are building a Benham with Rawson in Jordan Springs East. We finalised our colours and everything back in September, and have just been waiting on land registration which is due the end of this month (if it doesn't get pushed back again!). The whole experience so far has been alot of fun, but it will be fantastic to actually get started and see our new home come to life. We both regularly work with Rawson homes, and have done so for the past 8 years or so which was what prompted us to choose to build with them. We are anticipating plenty of minor issues and set backs (and probably frustration!), but are confident that we are in good hands with the people at Rawson. I have seen them (and been the one arguing against them) when they have gone in to bat for their clients, and while they don't always get the outcome they want, they genuinely try their best. Anyway, we're looking forward to following your builds and being able to share in the joys and frustrations with others going through the same things! Happy building to you all! EDIT: I just read Canberra_gal's comment about knowing what you want before the selections process and I very much agree with this! I had ordered tile and carpet samples, collected stone and polytec samples, and bought a stack of paint pot samples, as well as brick samples etc months before our selection appointments, I have an entire room in our current house dedicated to our build with more samples than I'd care to admit lol. It makes the process much easier if you already have a pretty good idea of what you like. We took the full day off work expecting it to take a while, but completed colours and electrical in an hour and a half, I think colours only took about 20 minutes. The consultant can give you suggestions, but they are a project home builder, not a custom home designer, so you're not likely to get a full walk through or custom design advice. sydneysider - keep in mind with an undermount sink you will have upgrade prices for the sink type, as well as additional stone costs for the undermount cutout, and potentially admin fee's (depending on where you are up to in your build process). In regards to wall lights in the staircase, we got 4 of LEDlux Elfa square inset (white) which cost $130 total. Hope that helps. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Follow our build: http://dandsbenham21rawsonhomesbuild.weebly.com/ You should check your detail drawings, it may show downpipe within brick pier. 14 14292 Just started the Build process for Chifley 42 with Rawson homes, will keep you all posted with the Build progress. 0 3124 Hi, Apologies - I know there is plenty out there on this but struggling to put together the puzzle. We're planning our garage/external laundry to master bedroom and… 0 11417 |