Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 07, 2017 1:36 pm Hi All,
Finally, we are going to sign the contract for Liberty 45 in the coming week. This is actually 6 month after the initial tender ... we might need to pay the extra fee for not able to start the job on time. Initially, we chose Pheonix 38 and ordered the PC, but we were not very comfortable with the changes we made and were in the state of hesitation ... Somehow, we came across the Liberty 45 when skimming the brochure. Both wife and I liked the floor plan. Though not very sure how we over looked it, we decided to go with the Liberty 45. So, the contract appointment is booked for next week, we have already received the blank HIA contract. Is it necessary to go through the contract clause by clause or the HIA contract is a standard one and we really don't need to worry about it? Need some kind help! Thanks in advance. Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 2Jul 07, 2017 2:59 pm Phoenix is a good plan. I originally signed up for it but couldn't get the mods that I wanted by making master to the rear. So I changed to a Merricks. My recommendations are below: 1. Remove window from Home threater - light from the window will be annoying when it shines on the TV screen. Removing window will get you some credit. Keeping window will mean you have to spend more to put thick curtains or shutters to block out the light. 2. Your kitchen mods is a traditional Queenslander design (wrap around with sink near rear window) as opposed to the contemporary island bench. Double check the area around sink. Is it wide enough for two people to work. Is it wide enough for the sink/drainer that you want. Is there space for dishwasher. If you want to put pendant in kitchen, where will you place it. 3. I am personally biased against the positioning of the dining. Couple of my friends have this layout. The feng shui of a dinning table in the middle of the room is odd when you have to walk around it to go outdoor or look across the table to view outside. I personally like the dining being where your outdoor area i.e. Half dining and half outdoor. But it's a matter of opinion. You should get what you like. 4. Recommend a roller door at the rear of the garage. It will allow you to open up to allow you to take equipment or car to the backyard. Or open up as a workshop without opening your front garage. M will charge about 200 to upgrade from door to roller door. NabeelC | Metricon Merricks 38 | Queensland http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=86276 NabeelC | Metricon Merricks 38 | https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=86276 Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 3Jul 07, 2017 10:30 pm Nabeelc Phoenix is a good plan. I originally signed up for it but couldn't get the mods that I wanted by making master to the rear. So I changed to a Merricks. My recommendations are below: 1. Remove window from Home threater - light from the window will be annoying when it shines on the TV screen. Removing window will get you some credit. Keeping window will mean you have to spend more to put thick curtains or shutters to block out the light. 2. Your kitchen mods is a traditional Queenslander design (wrap around with sink near rear window) as opposed to the contemporary island bench. Double check the area around sink. Is it wide enough for two people to work. Is it wide enough for the sink/drainer that you want. Is there space for dishwasher. If you want to put pendant in kitchen, where will you place it. 3. I am personally biased against the positioning of the dining. Couple of my friends have this layout. The feng shui of a dinning table in the middle of the room is odd when you have to walk around it to go outdoor or look across the table to view outside. I personally like the dining being where your outdoor area i.e. Half dining and half outdoor. But it's a matter of opinion. You should get what you like. 4. Recommend a roller door at the rear of the garage. It will allow you to open up to allow you to take equipment or car to the backyard. Or open up as a workshop without opening your front garage. M will charge about 200 to upgrade from door to roller door. NabeelC | Metricon Merricks 38 | Queensland http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=86276 Those are some very useful advice for any home builders! thx for sharing Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 4Jul 08, 2017 7:54 am Nabeelc Phoenix is a good plan. I originally signed up for it but couldn't get the mods that I wanted by making master to the rear. So I changed to a Merricks. My recommendations are below: 1. Remove window from Home threater - light from the window will be annoying when it shines on the TV screen. Removing window will get you some credit. Keeping window will mean you have to spend more to put thick curtains or shutters to block out the light. 2. Your kitchen mods is a traditional Queenslander design (wrap around with sink near rear window) as opposed to the contemporary island bench. Double check the area around sink. Is it wide enough for two people to work. Is it wide enough for the sink/drainer that you want. Is there space for dishwasher. If you want to put pendant in kitchen, where will you place it. 3. I am personally biased against the positioning of the dining. Couple of my friends have this layout. The feng shui of a dinning table in the middle of the room is odd when you have to walk around it to go outdoor or look across the table to view outside. I personally like the dining being where your outdoor area i.e. Half dining and half outdoor. But it's a matter of opinion. You should get what you like. 4. Recommend a roller door at the rear of the garage. It will allow you to open up to allow you to take equipment or car to the backyard. Or open up as a workshop without opening your front garage. M will charge about 200 to upgrade from door to roller door. NabeelC | Metricon Merricks 38 | Queensland http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=86276 Hi Guys, thanks very much for replying. It is really nice to have someone talk with since building a new house is such a complex procedure. Thanks NabeeIC for you kind suggestions, they are really thoughtful. Regarding the home theatre, in the preliminary stage, we were quoted about 30K to relocated the garage, if it goes higher after the draft, we might have to revert the change back to the original plan. I am not a die hard fan for the home theatre thingy and wife might want to use that room for other purpose, it will be hard to persuade her removing the windows Kitchen is complete chose by the Wife, I want to argue but failed. Will try to reason with her one more time. I totally agree with you about the dinning, but since we are also building a granny flat at the back, we are running out of floor area, otherwise have half of the outdoor area as dinning would be perfect. The roller door is a great suggestion, I have always worried about machine passing through to the backyard in case needed, this is a prefect solution. Just wondering when you increase the ceiling height of the ground floor, did you increased garage ceiling height as well? I also had a chance to look at both your build thread, the houses look great, congratulations. Thanks again for your kind help Nabeelc @Mt.view Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 5Jul 22, 2017 6:51 pm dfin Hi All, I am a newbie to both building and this forum. Not sure if this is the right way to start :P My wife and I have thought about KDR for quite some while, but only got the courage to actually start it in early April. After a few rounds of consultation and mainly affected by friends' suggestion, Metricon and Clarendon became the options left. Wife liked Metricon's display home bit more ... so here we are. We chose Phoenix 38 because that's one of the few options in Metricon to provide 5 bedrooms, listed below are some of the changes we made at the tender stage: 1. Relocated the Garage so to have a media room on the side of entrance; 2. Added alfresco at the back of the house to have some outdoor area; 3. Changed ceiling heights to 270/255; 4. + some minor changes to bathrooms and kitchen; Attached please find the initial floor plan. Comments are welcome. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We are excited about this, but also worried about a lot things ... Will definitely need a lot of help from this forum. Thanks in advance. Same we chose Metricon and Clarendon home compared, both of them required the tenders. Finally we took Metricon offer. Metricon Glendale 38 - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=88854 Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 6Jul 24, 2017 11:26 am Nice looking plans. You must have a super wide frontage to be able to move the garage so far right. Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 7Jul 24, 2017 9:55 pm Hi Dfin! We are looking into a KDR and are looking at the glendale 37 vs phoenix 35. With a granny flat. They are both extremely similar except the phoenix has a butlers pantry (which I want to upgrade to if we get the glendale), and a bath in the ensuite and position of a few things. Can someone explain to me what the difference between the freedom and the designer range? The brochure for the inclusions were virtually identical. Is it just the opportunity to upgrade to the luxary package with the designer? Maybe it will come down to how many extras we want as to which will be the better choice financially?? We are meeting with the sales lady this week so hopefully will be able to get more info then. Love your plans, are you doing a studio or 2 br granny flat? Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 8Aug 01, 2017 7:38 pm Hi All, Thanks for reply and sorry for having not updated the post in time. The tender we got back from Metricon is about $700,000 for the pheonix 38 + a standard granny flat, which has exceeded our budget. Now we are going through the painful stage to decide what to do ... 1) simple solution would be just give up either the outdoor space or the garage relocation, that would save us about 25k; 2) another option we currently looking at is to rebase the design on Liberty 45 and reduced the dinning area... Options one would be cheaper but the house is much smaller, would like to hear your wise suggestions. Thanks in advance. Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 9Aug 01, 2017 7:41 pm Melsabelle Hi Dfin! We are looking into a KDR and are looking at the glendale 37 vs phoenix 35. With a granny flat. They are both extremely similar except the phoenix has a butlers pantry (which I want to upgrade to if we get the glendale), and a bath in the ensuite and position of a few things. Can someone explain to me what the difference between the freedom and the designer range? The brochure for the inclusions were virtually identical. Is it just the opportunity to upgrade to the luxary package with the designer? Maybe it will come down to how many extras we want as to which will be the better choice financially?? We are meeting with the sales lady this week so hopefully will be able to get more info then. Love your plans, are you doing a studio or 2 br granny flat? Hi Melsabelle, Sorry, I am not exactly sure about difference between freedom and designer range. Previously I thought the designer range just got better inclusions, but looks I was wrong. We are doing a 2 br granny flat, feels like that's a better use of space. Cheers Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 10Aug 01, 2017 7:47 pm dulie Nice looking plans. You must have a super wide frontage to be able to move the garage so far right. Hi dulie, Thanks for reply. We got a 20m wide lot, there are very few project homes which can use the width properly... It is a pity we might need to revert the garage change due to the cost ... Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 11Sep 27, 2017 4:27 pm Hi dfin How is it all going with you build. I am building Glendale 41 which is very similar floor plan to Phoenix. I was considering Phoenix but wanted an outdoor room hence decided to go with Glendale. If you dont mind me asking how much did the outdoor room cost you and what size is it. Thanks Look forward to following your journey. Re: Building with Metricon - Phoenix 38 - NSW 12Oct 11, 2017 10:41 am Hi DRT, Sorry for having not replied in time. Finally we decided to go with Liberty 45, feels like the floor plan is bit spacial. Regarding the outdoor room. The size is 30m2 and the quote is about 30k. Cheers Re: Building with Metricon - Liberty 45 - NSW 13Nov 03, 2017 9:21 pm Hi All, The contract appointment is booked for next week, we have already received the blank HIA contract. Is it necessary to go through the contract clause by clause or the HIA contract is a standard one and we really don't need to worry about it? Need some kind help! Thanks in advance. Re: Building with Metricon - Liberty 45 - NSW 14Nov 05, 2017 4:12 am Hi DFIN It’s vita you read and understand them prior signing . Ask your solicitor for assistance if in doubt. I would suggest you amend any SPECIAL CONDITIONS that is not reasonable to you as this part is how the builders change the standard contract to suit them. For example , with allcastle homes , they defined any rain day is consider “Adverse weather” which allows them to claim additional two DRYING OUT DAYS !! I am gonna ask them to define how many mm of rains are considered as a rainy day and then remove the dry day when possible . Re: Building with Metricon - Liberty 45 - NSW 15Nov 05, 2017 10:43 am Mojitostan Hi DFIN It’s vita you read and understand them prior signing . Ask your solicitor for assistance if in doubt. I would suggest you amend any SPECIAL CONDITIONS that is not reasonable to you as this part is how the builders change the standard contract to suit them. For example , with allcastle homes , they defined any rain day is consider “Adverse weather” which allows them to claim additional two DRYING OUT DAYS !! I am gonna ask them to define how many mm of rains are considered as a rainy day and then remove the dry day when possible . Thanks very much for your reply. What I heard is that all those are standard terms and we don not have much power to negotiate. I will try to talk with a solicitor for suggestions. Cheers! Re: Building with Metricon - Liberty 45 - NSW 16Nov 05, 2017 11:30 am Special conditions are not standard but amended to suit builders need . As such you can negotiate or ask and see if some compromise and agreement can be made. Not sure about metricon but with allcastle , I didn’t accept the tender with 7 days but after 3 revisions within a month till we finally went for it. This is where they won me over Clarendon as they expect you to sign up within 7 days with no room to negotiate what so ever.. which is quite shocking and sheer arragonce how all builders are so spoiled with what seems endless work so they don’t care nor bother with discounts. Metricon and liberty was out choice late last year until their price went up by $50k with less inclusions that prompted us to look for other builders. Either way, expect a bumpy ride no matter who you are building with as they are all the same really . Re: Building with Metricon - Liberty 45 - NSW 17Nov 05, 2017 1:34 pm dfin Hi All, The contract appointment is booked for next week, we have already received the blank HIA contract. Is it necessary to go through the contract clause by clause or the HIA contract is a standard one and we really don't need to worry about it? Need some kind help! Thanks in advance. Make sure you amend the Liquidated Damages to a higher amount (say $50) and make sure it is PER DAY (not working day). I would not accept any contract extension fee whatsoever ever. They want you to sign so you should tell them that you want at least another 4 months or however long you think you need. All sales consultants have the power to get this thru if it means a sale. From about Clause 40 onward, you will see there are printed pages which ARE NOT HIA standard. This is M’s way of amending the contract in their favour. Finally you should have a chat with your bank (if you’re using a mortgage) as to whether they are happy with the % progress payments. It is severely stacked in their favour and you may wish to have it changed so that it is not stacked so far forward in M’s favour. eg the last payment is 5%, which is unrealistic. Cheers Nom Newhaven 36 by M Blog - North Shore Newhaven (http://nsnewhaven.blogspot.com.au) Build - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85092 Re: Building with Metricon - Liberty 45 - NSW 18Nov 05, 2017 4:01 pm Mojitostan Special conditions are not standard but amended to suit builders need . As such you can negotiate or ask and see if some compromise and agreement can be made. Not sure about metricon but with allcastle , I didn’t accept the tender with 7 days but after 3 revisions within a month till we finally went for it. This is where they won me over Clarendon as they expect you to sign up within 7 days with no room to negotiate what so ever.. which is quite shocking and sheer arragonce how all builders are so spoiled with what seems endless work so they don’t care nor bother with discounts. Metricon and liberty was out choice late last year until their price went up by $50k with less inclusions that prompted us to look for other builders. Either way, expect a bumpy ride no matter who you are building with as they are all the same really . Re: Building with Metricon - Liberty 45 - NSW 19Nov 05, 2017 4:06 pm nomnomnom dfin Hi All, The contract appointment is booked for next week, we have already received the blank HIA contract. Is it necessary to go through the contract clause by clause or the HIA contract is a standard one and we really don't need to worry about it? Need some kind help! Thanks in advance. Make sure you amend the Liquidated Damages to a higher amount (say $50) and make sure it is PER DAY (not working day). I would not accept any contract extension fee whatsoever ever. They want you to sign so you should tell them that you want at least another 4 months or however long you think you need. All sales consultants have the power to get this thru if it means a sale. From about Clause 40 onward, you will see there are printed pages which ARE NOT HIA standard. This is M’s way of amending the contract in their favour. Finally you should have a chat with your bank (if you’re using a mortgage) as to whether they are happy with the % progress payments. It is severely stacked in their favour and you may wish to have it changed so that it is not stacked so far forward in M’s favour. eg the last payment is 5%, which is unrealistic. Also, just want to double check. By contract extension fee you mean the fees we need to pay if the building work could not start after 240 days from the initial deposit, right? Re: Building with Metricon - Liberty 45 - NSW 20Nov 06, 2017 12:51 am dfin Hi All, Finally, we are going to sign the contract for Liberty 45 in the coming week. This is actually 6 month after the initial tender ... we might need to pay the extra fee for not able to start the job on time. Initially, we chose Pheonix 38 and ordered the PC, but we were not very comfortable with the changes we made and were in the state of hesitation ... Somehow, we came across the Liberty 45 when skimming the brochure. Both wife and I liked the floor plan. Though not very sure how we over looked it, we decided to go with the Liberty 45. So, the contract appointment is booked for next week, we have already received the blank HIA contract. Is it necessary to go through the contract clause by clause or the HIA contract is a standard one and we really don't need to worry about it? Need some kind help! Thanks in advance. Also want some inputs on an issue with the dinning area. Bcause the floor ratio limitation, we have to reduce the size of the dinning area. Now the depth of it is only about 2.3 meters, will this be a problem. Did not actually think it through previously. Is there any suggestion on the kitchen/dinning floor plan change to mitigate it? Thanks a lot! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hi, First of all, thank you to this community for sharing your thoughts and opinions. We are in early days of our pre-contract stage for Metricon Doulton and we are… 0 10715 Hello All 🙂 We are planning to start our journey of construction our first home. 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