Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 18, 2017 8:24 am HI, We have decided to put together our own plans as all the changes we wanted to make to plans we found with other builders were starting to cost a fortune. Problem is that its all good and well designing your house but then you have to sit back and think of costs and thats where its getting us as what we "want" is probably 50k more expensive then what we are aiming for. But in any case we are almost there, however I think the house is too big in certain spots but would love any feedback and criticism you had on our plans. Seeing as our quotes for site works have been coming in at between 40 and 100k!! looking at trying to save costs somewhere. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3ddQTBPmjmpUk80MHhVcDFpNGM I might add that to add to all the stress we are trying to start this build whilst we are overseas for work so we cant directly intervene or comunicate with people other then phone or email. I have not found it too hard yet thought just time consuming. Signed to proceed October 2017!! Prestart Jan 2018 Contracts finally issued March 2018 Council Permits Pending Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 2Apr 18, 2017 10:10 am Could you point out north. I think the flow from the ent and garage to the kitchen could be a bit busy. Are you using a program to design it? Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 3Apr 18, 2017 10:25 am Hi, North will be the kitchen, living area alfresco outlook. It will be on a bit of a hill overlooking a valley. we are building on 5 acres. Hope that puts it into a bit of a better persepctive. thanks Signed to proceed October 2017!! Prestart Jan 2018 Contracts finally issued March 2018 Council Permits Pending Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 4Apr 18, 2017 12:39 pm Some initial questions and comments, in no particular order:
I hope that doesn't sound too critical! I know first-hand how much of a struggle it is to do your own plans, and the sheer number of things that should be taken into account. Hopefully this helps - just some questions and suggestions, and ultimately it's your plan, not mine! EDIT: Whoops, if I'd just paid more attention to your thread title! Lower Chittering - climate zone 5 (warm temperate), heading towards climate zone 4. The design response to this depends a lot on the specific conditions of your site, but in general you'll still want to maintain at least some solar heating in winter while also paying attention to summer shading and cooling winds. As it is you've got a lot of shading there, but not much winter solar access. Knowing the site better than I do, which concerns you more - getting too hot in summer or too cold in winter? Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 5Apr 18, 2017 1:49 pm The reason you design your own house (or get an architect or building designer to do it) is so that it looks unique and meets your needs exactly. From the floor plan, this look just like so many project home floor plans I have seen that I wonder why you wouldn't just look for a proven design that meet most of your needs. Could you please post your design brief, as that is the first place you should start and then we will know what outcomes you are trying to achieve. Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 6Apr 18, 2017 2:06 pm We are building in Chittering currently - have just commenced our Earthworks and the guy we are using has been great, well priced (we got 4 quotes, and it was hard to choose between this guy and another, but ended up going with our gut) The 'FUN" really starts when you start to deal with the Shire of Chitttering - very difficult and a little stuck in the early 70's for red tape and lack of customer service so just be prepared for a less than smooth run there. If you haven't already done so get an intermim BAL report for your block (you are going to need a final BAL Assessment for your building permit) but the interim BAL report to us was worth every bit of its $165 fee as it helped us a great deal with positioning the house to minimise tree loss and more importantly helped us with siteworks/clearing. Feel free to Pm me if you want me to send you our contacts for those 2 things. We also considered doing our own thing plan wise, but discovered a really great sales rep/designer with a large project builder here in Perth, and he was able to incorporate our designs/wish list by greatly modifying an existing plan and pricing structure which meant we were able to pretty much bring this baby in on our expected budget. Happy to share his details, he was very good at getting back to us and I am sure would take a look at your design. We basically said it has to come in at $XX and they pretty much did, that is not say our build so far has not been without its issues but we think probably smoother and more cost effective for us that going the private builder route. I like all of Alergons suggestions above. I would maybe reconsider the Main BR layout, look to possibly flipping this over so that your bed is not against a TV wall, and this would put the ensuite area closer to your other plumbed rooms. Is the fridge recess wide enough? especially to allow for a future fridge purchase? We have 1100 for ours. Is the fireplace, slow combustion freestanding, if so not sure you have enough room for heat clearance to the table area - those babies pump out a bit of heat, and in our current home it is located in the dining area and sometimes not comfortable for whoever is sitting at that end. Have you considered putting the vanity in the powder room along the wall that adjoins the bathroom, as this would make the room a bit smaller and add that space into your bathroom, as it seems quite tight in there, but I could not see that measurement very cearly so that may be an incorrect assumption on my part. I would also consider moving the sink to one end of your island bench, will make better use of the space IMO. Or as Algernon suggested move it to the other wall. Maybe swap the location of your bathroom and laundry - this puts the laundry closer to your proposed clothes line, and the bathroom closer to your family room for guests to access and not off your games room. Good luck, . Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 7Apr 18, 2017 9:20 pm algernon Some initial questions and comments, in no particular order:
I hope that doesn't sound too critical! I know first-hand how much of a struggle it is to do your own plans, and the sheer number of things that should be taken into account. Hopefully this helps - just some questions and suggestions, and ultimately it's your plan, not mine! EDIT: Whoops, if I'd just paid more attention to your thread title! Lower Chittering - climate zone 5 (warm temperate), heading towards climate zone 4. The design response to this depends a lot on the specific conditions of your site, but in general you'll still want to maintain at least some solar heating in winter while also paying attention to summer shading and cooling winds. As it is you've got a lot of shading there, but not much winter solar access. Knowing the site better than I do, which concerns you more - getting too hot in summer or too cold in winter? No i totally appreciate the honesty, its all things that need considering and that we have not considered or we just dont know how to change it to suit. to answer your questions;
I guess the main reason like i said before was that everytime we found a plan we likes and started to add in the bits we wanted there was always ifs and bust associated with it rather then just drawing it and going from there, so now we have (almost) exactly what we want. perhaps a project builder will end up building it and it wont be anything extra unique but it has all the things we wanted and the dimensions (once they are right) that we wanted. scrapbizz - that would be fantastic if you could give me some names and numbers - I will PM you. Where abouts in Lower Chittering are you building? we are in Chittering Retreat. What ATU do you have also or are you allowed normal septics? Signed to proceed October 2017!! Prestart Jan 2018 Contracts finally issued March 2018 Council Permits Pending Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 8Apr 19, 2017 1:03 pm We are in Chittering - Blue Plains estate. We looked at ATU, we were not required to have one, but could if we want, but opted for a septic system, as the ongoing maintenance costs with the ATU put us right off. Our goal is to get our outgoing expenditure right down (we are in pre retirement mode ) and we used the extra money for the ATU over the Septic installation into upgrading our solar capacity and water collection. I will pm you through some contacts later today. . Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 9Apr 19, 2017 10:07 pm Okay, trying to keep this readable without too much quoting, hope this works: 2. Drop zone You've got a good plan there - there should be enough space for that. 3. Doors Yes, those doors probably will be open most of the time - but the few exceptions will probably be worth it in times to come. Consider at least installing doorframes, even if you don't put in doors now - it won't cost much now and could make things significantly easier in the future. 5. Island An uninterrupted island is a good multi-purpose space - food preparation, serving bench, breakfast bar, homework space, bench for visitors to sit and chat while you cook, and lots more. Having the sink in the middle breaks up the space and reduces the usable area by much more than the sink itself - and that's before you take into consideration the mess and clutter that inevitably accompanies sinks (which will all be nicely on display in front of everyone in the room). A sink at the edge of the kitchen helps 'hide' the clutter and mess in the background and gives you more flexibility and utility for the same total amount of benchspace. 6.Games room orientation It's about the quality and variability of natural light throughout the day. An easterly aspect means bright direct sunlight in the morning and significant shade in the afternoon - games rooms generally work best with more even light throughout the day, otherwise you're going to be relying on significant artificial lighting. Northern light is brighter and will give you more passive heating in winter; southern light is softer and more even. East and West are worst from a natural lighting point of view for a general-purpose area, and in your climate zone you'll also want to avoid too much sun getting in from those directions in summer. The bright in morning/dull in afternoon light pattern works much better with bedroom usage patterns, which is why they're generally more suited to an easterly aspect. I hope that makes sense. I can expand further if you need. 10. Bedhead It's not just about the TV. If you don't want to change the orientation, consider soundproofing options for that wall (up to and including a double stud wall). For the other questions, though, first I'd need to know why specifically you want a square building? It seems to be quite important to you, but the specific reasons for that will affect what I might be able to suggest. Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 10Apr 20, 2017 8:03 am Hi Algernon, thank you for your explainations has provided a good understanding. Regarding the square house without cut ins, honestly I dont care but its my husband who does. No Idea why either to be honest, perhaps its easier/cheaper to put a roof on that has minimal hips and valleys? Signed to proceed October 2017!! Prestart Jan 2018 Contracts finally issued March 2018 Council Permits Pending Re: Personalised Plans - Help - Lower Chittering Build 11Apr 20, 2017 1:18 pm Maybe you can talk to him about the square house - there's a little bit more work involved with hips/valleys, but it's generally not significant in terms of a house cost - and can actually save you a significant amount money if it allows you to optimise your design to both make it a better house and lower your overall construction costs. Keeping a square roof to save costs is a false economy, as the cost of internal dead space will far outweigh cost savings in roof structure. If he's got other reasons, then sure... but it does limit your options (and you're going to have some valleys with the alfresco and verandah anyway). One more random thought: with that ensuite plan, where are you going to hang your towels? Is there enough wall space for towel rails where you need them? 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