Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 03, 2015 10:38 pm I have finally sign up to homeone and started my own thread. After almost two years of looking around, we have finally decided to build our own house. At the moment we are just waiting on Sekisui to send the final contract and drawings to sign.
It's been amazing reading posts in homeone about people's progress on their individual build. I found each experience so informative and I'm sure others learnt a lot from it as well. Once we sign the contract I can start documenting our progress and post photos of the site and our internal and external finishes. I just thought I update my first post to include important dates on our build. It's easier to find it here than on succeeding posts so I'll keep updating as the work progresses... 15 September 2014 - Land Deposit 23 March 2015 - Land Settlement and Registration 07 July 2015 - Finalisation of House Tender 28 August 2015 - Building Contract Signed 13 October 2015 - DA Application Lodged 27 November 2015 - DA Approved 20 January 2016 - Receipt of Construction Certificate 08 February 2016 - Site Cleared and Levelled 09 February 2016 - Site Fenced and Portaloo delivered 12 February 2016 - Piering excavated and concrete poured 20 February 2016 - Concrete slab poured 02 March 2016 - Frames delivered 04 March 2016 -Started frames installation 05 March 2016 - Dons Tile Appointment 11 March 2016 - Installation of frames and trusses completed 19 March 2016 - Brick laying started 19 March 2016 - Plumbing works rough-ins completed 19 April 2016 - Roof tiles started and completed same day (except for the little roof at porch) 09 13 May 2016 - Brick laying completed - finally! 23 May 2016 - Aircon ducting started 23 May 2016 - Antenna installed 24 May 2016 - Electrical walk through and electrical rough ins started 24 May 2016 - Eaves installation 01 July 2016 - Lower Roof Completed 02 July 2016 - Insulation install completed 09 July 2016 - Installation of gyprock 18 July 2016 - Stairs delivery and installation 19 July 2016 - Stairs completely installed Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 2Aug 04, 2015 6:49 pm Whilst waiting on the contract I thought of sharing some info about our build. We decided in Luzia design mainly because the design suits better into our land compared to other designs that we looked at (both within SH or other builder). There are restrictions on our land which prevented us from getting houses that exceeds 15m in depth. Although I'm still trying to get a permission to extend the back by 3m to at least allow for the Alfresco and Rumpus. We have managed to include within the contract all modifications / upgrades that we wanted. Fingercrossed (!) these should all be it, except for only minor changes along the way. Here are the modified drawings: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Ground Floor: 1. Increased powder room area to accommodate shower 2. Reduced size of Laundry to accommodate increased of WIP 3. Increased size of WIP 4. Modifications to WIP: Add single sink, 60cm ceramic cooktop,60 cm retractable rangehood with overhead cupboard, base cupboard, Caesarstone benchtop and tile splashback, sliding door, upgraded tap to sink 5. 350mm bulkhead to overhead cupboards (inc. above fridge) 6. Increased width of fridge 7. 40mm caesarstone benchtop and island bench, 40mm waterfall ends 8. Mirror splashback to kitchen benchtop 9. Laminex panels to all cabinetry 10. Upgraded appliances 11. Upgraded internal doors, main door and locks. 12. Upgraded handrail and glass balustrades 13. Reduced width of lounge, to accommodate increased in cloak / study. 14. Delete cloak, increased width and renamed as ‘study’. Add laminated study table. 15. Relocate garage access door from cloak to under the stairs 16. Additional window opposite study 17. Changed 1 x aluminium sliding window to sliding door 18. Increased width of standard sliding door at elev. C 19. Increased height of garage, upgraded paint colour 20. Porcelain tiles to floors except (wet areas – standard range) 21. Automatic garage opener 1st Floor: 1. Switch position of games / bed 3 2. Increased width of bed 4, thereby creating WIR and deleting part of the handrail / balustrade 3. Increased width of bed 2 4. Carpet flooring to all bedrooms 5. Bamboo flooring to games / hallways 6. Niches to all bathrooms 7. Square set smart floor drains to all bathrooms 8. Deleted linen 9. Increased WC to accommodate additional vanity / basin 10. Reposition of WIR to ensuite opening 11. Sliding door to ensuite 12. Bamboo finish to stairs 13. Translucent glass windows to bathrooms External: 1. Upgraded bricks 2. Rendered Porch / Entry 3. Terracota glazed roof tiles, off-white mortar 4. Driveway 5. Upgraded HWS 6. Termite treated pine Electricals / Misc 1. Additional powerpoints 2. Additional gas point 3. Additional water point 4. Additional LED lights 5. Additional JB and switches (provision for chandelier, wall lights etc.) 6. Additional usb points 7. Additional LED under overhead cupboard 8. Additional lights to side of stairs 9. Additional heater / fan / lights to bathrooms 10. Additional antenna points I know this is quite a long list but our aim is to get the builder do almost everything so we have less to worry after handover. Otherwise we will struggle to get a time off at work to supervise / wait for trades people to come. Financially, we also want to include all cost to the loan. Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 3Aug 05, 2015 10:15 pm I found your thread it all looks great. You must have a big family, as you've chosen a lovely big home. I'm in a similar position to you, I'm in the industry but don't deal with housing construction. It really is quite different to major works. I like how you've listed all the changes you've made. Very easy to read and informative post! Our build: http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=70584 Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 4Aug 05, 2015 11:23 pm Hi Epaul, welcome! You've made some great changes. What is the alfresco area on the plan at the rear? Are you getting SH to do the alfresco slab ? I loved the luzia- but sadly it's too big for our block. Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 5Aug 06, 2015 7:40 am cat_dunc I found your thread it all looks great. You must have a big family, as you've chosen a lovely big home. I'm in a similar position to you, I'm in the industry but don't deal with housing construction. It really is quite different to major works. I like how you've listed all the changes you've made. Very easy to read and informative post! Our build: http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=70584 Thanks cat_dunc. We got small family of our own but we've got extended family ie lots of friends from other place who loves to come over, so we thought this house suits us. Also, it fits perfectly on our land as we cannot extend further at the back due to restriction. We really struggled at the beginning and It took us a while (many months!) to accept the difference. However, we realised it is seems to be a totally different industry of how we thought it should be, and fact is we cannot change it. So if we want our own house we either do owner / builder or just accept their 'industry standard' (to an extent). We did the latter as we really have no time to do it ourselves. Fingerscrossed all goes well. Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 6Aug 06, 2015 7:55 am Zarinafly Hi Epaul, welcome! You've made some great changes. What is the alfresco area on the plan at the rear? Are you getting SH to do the alfresco slab ? I loved the luzia- but sadly it's too big for our block. Hi Zarinafly, thanks! I'm glad you like the changes, it took us so many revisions before we get into that final (?) one. The Alfresco and Rumpus currently encroach on the restricted area at the back. So at this stage SH will not be building it, not even the slab as they think council will reject it. However, at the background we are still communicating with council if we can include them. Eitherway, we do not want it to hold up the process (as it did already in the past) so asked SH just to exclude it. Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 7Aug 06, 2015 10:02 am That's a good way to do it EPaul. If you manage to sort out something with council before the main house slab is poured, you can always see if Sekisui will add it in at that stage. Otherwise, continue discussions and do it after handover. BTW, I think you have made some really good alterations to the base Luzia design. A couple of things to consider: - Have you double-checked the height under the stairs as you come in from the garage? Not just for head height, but in case you want to carry something largish in? - Maybe add a door from the garage to the laundry? Just gives you the option of coming in much closer to the WIP with groceries. If you find you would rather have the wall space in the laundry, then you simply lock the door off and don't use it (it just becomes a wall with a handle). Just ideas - you know how your family operates, so whatever works for you Seksui KDR in Sydney (2015-2016) Links --> | H1 thread | Final plans | Timing of works updated 9/3/16 | Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 8Aug 06, 2015 2:50 pm Thanks clintdb. We are pushing to do it with SH as it would be a lot expensive doing afterwards plus time to manage it. However, its really difficult when something is out of our control. So we'll see. Goood ideas, we haven't thought of those! We just assumed that the door under the stairs will be ok in terms of height due to ceiling height of 2.590 but didn't consider if it can accommodate large stuff. We'll check in cad later. I like the idea of another door in the laundry, I'll suggest to hubby and if agreed will add as PCV. Thanks! Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 9Aug 06, 2015 5:52 pm No problems EPaul. The other thing you could consider is maybe a door from the garage into the study nook area. Again, it may be closed (not used) most of the time, but it provides a more "straight line" access from garage into the house as opposed to the right-angle you have to walk through under the stair. You might want to wheel a bike through, or maybe carry a viola etc - much easier in a straight line than round a corner For your under-stair access, to give you an idea of relative heights, here's some photos of our stair. We too have a 2,590mm ceiling, so even though it is differently shaped, the number of treads and slope should be almost identical. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Using both photos, you can count the number treads to where your doorway will open into. You can then use the second photo to approximate the actual height visually available. Seksui KDR in Sydney (2015-2016) Links --> | H1 thread | Final plans | Timing of works updated 9/3/16 | Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 10Aug 06, 2015 10:12 pm Thanks clintdb for a detailed advise, much appreciated. Hubby like the idea of additonal door to laundry so we will request as pcv. We have been so thorough into the changes we made but missed this one. Its always a good thing for someone to look from a fresh eye! We decided to change the door opening of the under the stair door to the other side (meaning opening on the garage side), so stairs will not be an issue. Although from looking at your photo it seems to be alright. Thanks to you otherwise we will not be looking these doors again! Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 11Aug 12, 2015 12:55 pm Guys, has anyone heard of the contract needs to be signed in the presence of someone (salesman) from SH and not receiving the hardcopies prior to signing? We requested that we get the hardcopies prior to signing, I said it will save us time on the actual signing day, because we still need to check it. They are reluctant and said that we have been issued a pdf prior. I've been dealing with contracts on a daily basis and there were occassions when pdf's doesn't match the hardcopies. So I just want to ensure this won't happen to us. Can't see any reason of us not having it prior to actual signing. Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 12Aug 13, 2015 10:14 am Hi Epaul, 1) It doesn't HAVE to be signed in the presence of the salesperson, but that can be quite a useful way to do it as any changes (additional variations etc) can be added by them onto a separate piece of paper and included with the contract. 2) Technically they should be able to get you a hardcopy to look over like you want to. On a practical level, it's easier to just email you the PDF. Do what we did - go through the PDF and then sign the contract at your meeting with the salesperson. If, after signing, you have an issue with any discrepancies, you have a paper (email) trail showing what you thought you were signing vs the "big document that of course we couldn't read on the spot" that you actually signed. My experience with Sekisui thus far is that they are not out to try and trick you or rip you off and that any issues (and there have been a few) have been the result of pencil-pushing incompetence that was fixed when brought to the attention of someone higher up the chain. Seksui KDR in Sydney (2015-2016) Links --> | H1 thread | Final plans | Timing of works updated 9/3/16 | Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 13Aug 13, 2015 4:12 pm Thanks clintb. Its reassuring to know, based on what you said, that SH wont intentionally trick their clients. We tend to agree as so far at this stage, the mistakes we found previously are merely carelessness / pure errors. Just received confirmation that the sales guy will not be sending us the hardcopies, so we'll check what we can on the day. Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 14Aug 13, 2015 11:17 pm Yea I second clint. We read the pdf and saved it on our drives then just flicked through the hard copy on the day checking important things like costs, dates, etc. We haven't had a problem with them trying to trick us. There have been mistakes but like clint said just human errors, nothing we've noticed yet seems on purpose. Our build: http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=70584 Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 15Aug 14, 2015 7:26 am Thanks cat_dunc, it seems there's nothing for me to be worried about then. Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 16Aug 20, 2015 8:02 am Found your thread! Your signature isn't a link when I look on Tapatalk. (I know I can't talk as my signature isn't even available on Tapatalk!) I really liked the luzia as well. But it was too many rooms for us (two humans and two dogs!) Have you considered a bathtub in the ensuite? Looks like you have some space and I personally would want one if it for a proper sized one... You have a mini kitchen in you wip . Have a think how you will use the study as a door may be useful for conference calls or study. There is a shower in the downstairs bathroom... Is anyone going to live downstairs or is it just a future proofing option? Just that it looks tight in the plans... One thing I didn't think about is where to put brooms and vacuum cleaner type stuff. Have a think about that type of stuff while you can. Looking forward to seeing it come to fruition! Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 17Aug 20, 2015 9:37 am yvonneh One thing I didn't think about is where to put brooms and vacuum cleaner type stuff. Have a think about that type of stuff while you can. After we worked out where we were putting that sort of thing, we added a power point to the main linen cupboard as that's where the re-chargeable "hand" vacuum will live. Seksui KDR in Sydney (2015-2016) Links --> | H1 thread | Final plans | Timing of works updated 9/3/16 | Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 18Aug 20, 2015 3:45 pm yeah our vacuum cleaner currently lives in the cloak cupboard!! (not my ideal choice) Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 19Aug 20, 2015 4:09 pm yvonneh Found your thread! Your signature isn't a link when I look on Tapatalk. (I know I can't talk as my signature isn't even available on Tapatalk!) I know! I have edited it but who knows when it will work. Our original choice was Regent, but due to restriction at the back we need a shorter depth of house, hence ww went to Luzia. I love it now esp with the alterations we made. Have you considered a bathtub in the ensuite? Looks like you have some space and I personally would want one if it for a proper sized one... I did, during the early nhp's, but I had to back off it. $4,500.00 just to add a free standing bath is way over my calculations. Especially I have seen exactly the same bath in Masters for $1,200.00. You have a mini kitchen in you wip . Yep, that's one of my favourite area of the house. Have a think how you will use the study as a door may be useful for conference calls or study. There is a shower in the downstairs bathroom... Is anyone going to live downstairs or is it just a future proofing option? Just that it looks tight in the plans... Shower is just for future really, like if we ever think of having a pool at the back (ample of space), hopefully council will allow as its not flammable. One thing I didn't think about is where to put brooms and vacuum cleaner type stuff. Have a think about that type of stuff while you can. Brilliant idea! Never thought of that, I'll start checking a possible spot. Thanks! Looking forward to seeing it come to fruition! Me too...fingerscrossed all goes well with tolerable stress! Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79163 Re: First Home Build - Sekisui Sydney - Luzia 20Aug 20, 2015 4:11 pm Ok I don't what I did there but my responses on Yvonneh weren't shown separate to the original message. Gosh I'm hopeless on this. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79163 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 27707 hi guys. Please be nice. First time home builder in Qld. I would like some feedback please on whether I should build my granny flat first before my main house at the… 0 4587 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17591 |