Hi all!
My partner and I are building our first home in Hilbert Western Australia. The ideas and posts on this forum have been so helpful, so I thought we would share our journey to help a first time builder feel a bit more at ease.
We started looking at land at the start of the year and signed up for a 450m2 block of land in The Avenue Estate in Hilbert. After many lengthy title delays we cancelled our contract with Peet and found a titled 500m2 block of land in the next estate.
We are building with Home Group WA who so far have been great. We had prestart last week and despite putting in a 10k allowance we still managed to spend an additional 25k eep!
Below is an early drawing of our home. Not too much has changed but we did change the powder room and scullery cabinetry which will be redrawn on our final documents.
Timeline
24/1/17 Signed for original block titles due March 2017
1/2/17 Paid deposit to HGWA
25/2/17 Titles delayed June 2017
27/5/17 Titles delayed until November 2017
3/6/17 Opted out of contract with Peet
14/6/17 Signed for new block with Landwest
27/06/17 Signed building contracts
29/08/17 Pre start
6/9/17 Finance approval
13/9/17 Settlement
27/9/17 Planning approval received
22/10/17 Final documents sent
27/10/17 Scheduling & building permit received
7/11/17 Construction email
14/11/17 Water meter
22/11/17 Earthworks start
29/11/17 SLAB!
5/12/17 Soakwells and external drainage
10/12/17 Site cleared and bricks delivered
12/12/17 Frames, toilet and shed delivered
19/12/17 Brickwork starts
22/12/17 HGWA Christmas Shutdown
8/01/18 Trades recommence
15/01/18 Brick meeting with S.S.
25/01/18 Bricks complete
28/01/18 Roof timbers delivered
29/01/18 Roof starts
7/02/18 Gutters and downpipes installed
8/02/18 Electrical rough in
19/02/18 Roof on
20/02/18 External render
20/02/18 Internal plaster float
23/02/18 Ceilings installed
26/02/18 Cornices installed
2/3/18 White set completed
8/3/18 Windows and glass doors in
9/3/18 Internal and external doors on
9/3/18 Lockup
12/3/18 Ceilings and doors painted
14/3/18 Tiles delivered
20/3/18 Kitchen/wet area cabinets in
20/3/18 Garage poured
21/3/18 Tile Meeting
21/3/18 Tile screeding done
21/3/18 Stone benchtops/sinks in
23/3/18 Waterproofing complete
27/3/18 Tiling begins
10/4/18 Splashback in
17/4/18 Tiling complete
19/4/18 Electrical complete
20/4/18 Painted external render
23/4/18 Taps, free standing bath, toilets in
23/4/18 Oven installed
24/4/18 Hot water system in
1/5/18 Carpets in
1/5/18 Garage door on
2/5/18 Fly screens and mirrored robes on
2/5/18 Shower screens and mirrors done
3/5/18 Doors hung and handles attached
5/5/18 Exterior panted
5/5/18 Front door stained
8/5/18 Pavers delivered
12/5/18 Carpet re-done
12/5/18 Pavers complete
14/5/18 Manual roller door installed
15/5/18 Site cleared and bins removed
24/5/18 PCI
Some of the hurdles we have had:
HGWA provided a bonus outdoor kitchen but wanted to charge $2000 to put up the support wall for it - managed to get the wall for free
Land titles being delayed three times - managed to opt out of our contract with Peet and have our deposit refunded
Bank has undervalued the build - had to raise our deposit another 11K
Timber look tiles were a must have - builder has quoted an additional 24K - in negotiations with price at the moment however will move ahead with them
Below are some of our selections
Ensuite:
Main Bath:
Laundry:
Scullery:
Kitchen:
Bricks : Hannan
Roof/gutters/downpipes : Deep Ocean
Garage door: timber look
Render: Basalt
Front door stain: Rich Walnut
Front door XS26
Laundry door:
Theatre sliding doors:
Floor tiles including ensuite, scullery and theatre: Rectified timber tile in woodlands grey
Welcome to homeone.com.au and thanks for sharing your new home build journey here.
We look forward to following your thread.
Hi guys,
Can't believe its has been so long since I did this and the thread got so much interest :O
I can happily say that after 4 years of doing this structural change getting the right qualified people was worth it.
In the end I managed to find a qualified builder who subcontracted the plasterer and the electrician needed for this job.
The work turned out great. The cost was aprox $11k for a ready to paint finish.
Happy to share some photos if asked. Can also share my tradies via PM on one condition: you will have to share yours with me once you finish or the ones you already used and would recommend.
I have done already some other renovation projects and planning to do some more in the near future. Finding the rigth tradesmen is gold. The good qualified ones for a fair price are always busy and many times found via word of mouth.
Cheers,
Thanks guys! All very exciting. Just need to pay our prestart balance and then we should get construction started soon.
I've been following your build, have you moved into scheduling yet?
Hilbert HGWA Build
viewtopic.php?t=89433
Thanks guys! All very exciting. Just need to pay our prestart balance and then we should get construction started soon.
I've been following your build, have you moved into scheduling yet?
Hilbert HGWA Build
viewtopic.php?t=89433How exciting! Yes, been in scheduling for 3 weeks now. Just waiting on scheduling to finish, our building permit and settlement and we will be ready for construction to begin
Hey, I'm also building with HGWA in Eglinton! Our slab went down yesterday. We've had a good experience so far. Love your plan!
Congratulations on the slab! Looking forward to seeing your progress and what to expect. Is there much down in eglinton? I've not heard much of it must be pretty new
Hilbert HGWA Build
viewtopic.php?t=89433Thanks! Eglinton is north, just past Alkimos and about 20-25 mins from Joondalup! There's lots up this way, just not in our estate right now. It's up and coming, very family friendly and lots planned for the future here too! Our estate is maximum two years old so yeah pretty new!
Hey!
Are you building in Hilbert Park Estate?
I've just started building there
Can't wait to see your progress!
Hello! We’re building in the Canterfield estate which is your first left when you turn onto Rowley road from Tonkin Hwy. my partner and I drove through Hilbert Park a few months ago, there’s so much happening in the area I hope it takes off.
How far along are you in your build?
Hilbert HGWA Build
viewtopic.php?t=89433
Bit of an update: we received our final drawings back a few days ago. We have signed them and will be moving into scheduling and then onto construction (yay!). What a incredibly slow process the admin stage is
relieved to know that we are almost there.
We have changed the powder room around since I posted our last sketch. We have also relocated the manhole to the garage.
Hilbert HGWA Build
viewtopic.php?t=89433
We also added a recess above the vanity in the ensuite. I hope it turns out okay! I’ve seen a couple online that look good, but you never quite know how it will look from the sketch alone.
What do you guys think?
Hilbert HGWA Build
viewtopic.php?t=89433
Oh yeah, that estate looks lovely! I know, so much happening around that area!
We just reached plate height yesterday!
Your plans look great - your house is going to look amazing
I think the idea of an inset under the vanity is a fantastic idea as it is a great way to keep all the bits and pieces off the counter top.
Just wish we had thought of it before starting our build.
Love your plan too. We would have gone with HGWA but they couldn't build on our "challenging" block.
Thanks heather! Do you have a thread I can follow for your build? Congrats on reaching plate height you must be so excited to see the roof haha
Thanks for the feedback MiAIJe. Who are you building with now?
Hilbert HGWA Build
viewtopic.php?t=89433
Your plans look great! That ensuite and stacker doors 😍
We wanted stackers across the back of ours but due to noise/environmental conditions on the estate they were knocked back, could only get 4m ones which is better than nothing I guess!
Got an email today to say that we’re moving into construction now and our next correspondence from HGWA will be for earthworks hooray! Home group have been powering through the last part of the admin stage, very impressed.
Hilbert HGWA Build
viewtopic.php?t=89433