Building with Hall & Hart Homes

Well done with all the house research kjane! You're probably more prepared then the rest of us combined now

Good looking choices for the externals, and I'm sure whatever you pick for the internals you'll be happy with. No one's place is perfect, just pick what you'll enjoy being around

Woo! We are officially at Lockup stage, thanks to our INF-8 front door, 6 panel Alfresco stackers, and remaining doors all being installed today.

Kitchen, vanities and stairs are already in. Tiling is also happening this week. I feel like maybe I should be thinking about packing soon..

Fantastic... This is getting real now Seren1ty :lol:

Awesome! Looking fab the brickwork looks really good. How are the kitchen, bathrooms and stairs looking?

Thanks Guys!

We had a walk through with our SS this morning, so snapped some pics. Enjoy!

Thanks for the pics, looking great! So much light in the room, it's lovely.

Hi everyone,

Just noticed there are 2 H&H threads on this forum - so moving my post over here as this one seems to be the general H&H thread.

We're considering the Sienna 42 with some floor plan changes and have been very pleased with how flexible H&H have been with moving things around. I've done a comparison of inclusions offered by H&H with other builders and the Essential inclusions are already very good but we are thinking of going with the Premium with the additional extras like Alfresco tiling, higher ceilings. It comes to about $39K extra, so not sure whether to go with the Premium or upgrade a few things from the Essentials package. Which inclusions package did you guys choose?

Any advice for someone just embarking on the journey? Thank you!

Hey Zen, Welcome!

We went with the Premium inclusions. Though if you can get what you are after for less money why not? Make it your own

Make sure to read through the 'Things you forget' thread, it is long but it will open your eyes to things you won't think of otherwise until it's possibly too late

Then just make sure to keep us updated!

Thanks Seren1ty!

The 'Things you forget' thread was gold - I've compiled them into a spreadsheet and going through the tips again to refresh my memory. We've been thinking about a KDR for a long time now (procrastinating) so it feels good to finally get started on the tender process.

Love the timber flooring you chose for your place! Can I ask if that was part of the Premium inclusions floor range or was it an upgrade? Also are timber staircases part of the inclusions as well? I got confused with the wording of their inclusions brochure - it mentions timber but then the picture of the staircase in the brochure is carpet.

Super excited to finally start the journey. Will be sure to come back and post updates!

Great to hear about another KDR, we're happy we chose them for ours. So far they've been building for 5 months, including Christmas shutdown time, so actually less. Tiling is happening for us this week, along with painting after that. The pace of change has been enjoyable to watch.

The Bamboo was selected at our carpet appointment. It was an upgrade, but only a few thousand more for us, to convert our downstairs living areas.

By default the stairs include MDF timber steppers, covered with a range of good carpet options. We went with carpet for ours, with upgraded underlay.

Budget extra for the different selection appointments, but we were pretty happy with the level of inclusions

Hi Zen, great to see another build might get underway. We are still at the early stages too, hope to start CDC lodgement soon. We had a good look at the essentials and premium inclusions and when I added up all the things that I would want in the home the premium came out as good value. We also added on the upgrade package. A couple of mates who have chosen different builders who initially appeared cheaper have found out that their build costs skyrocketed when it came to selections stage to add in items that are included with Hall and Hart.

When we spoke with the carpet people they said that stairs could also be covered in timber laminate, engineered timber, bamboo etc. We are planning to go with timber flooring downstairs and on stairs and carpet upstairs.

Where are you planning to do the KDR?

Hi kjane, we are planning a KDR in North Ryde, so very interested to hear how your council plans go. When we saw John on the weekend, he mentioned there were a few KDRs happening at various stages in this area.

That's good to know the premium inclusions plus upgrade is good value. We are leaning towards that now for the peace of mind as the package seems so comprehensive. Which carpet and kitchen people do H&H use? We might go visit the suppliers to see what is part of each inclusion and prepare ourselves for the cost of upgrades. Our first choice would be timber flooring but heard with little kids, it's easy to get scratches and dents - so a bit undecided right now. Do you mind me asking how much extra was the upgrade to timber flooring downstairs and stairs for you?

Looking forward to seeing the progress on yours and Seren1ty's houses - it's so much fun tracking the progress and seeing the plans come to life!

Another North Ryder! I ran into a lady at the carpet place who is also doing a KDR in Chauvel Street North Ryde. The flooring selection is from accent carpets in castle hill and if you let them know you are Hall and Hart they will be able to tell you what is included in the essential and premium packages. The tiles are from Beaumont tiles and if premium you can select from the gold and silver range (they helpfully have stickers on the tiles in gold and silver). Bricks are from austral and CSR pgh. When I spoke with John he gave me a list of all the included bricks and cost to upgrade to other bricks - there is a pretty big selection though.

We have not done our internal selections yet but will be trying to knock that over in early April as we will be back in Australia for Easter so I can let you know flooring cost update then. I also have little kids and plan on pets so may go towards timber laminate rather than timber for the reasons you mentioned (plus cost

).

You'll probably end up seeing more of my build than I will if you are local

Thanks for the supplier names, kjane. We might go check out the nearby Beaumont this weekend to see their gold and silver range. I've been eagerly pinning pictures from pinterest and Houzz in preparation

Our floor plan right now is a mix between downstairs Elyse and upstairs Sienna (which has a void). Hubby was thinking the void doesn't add as much value as having a family/rumpus room upstairs. We are still waiting to see how much extra this might be. What do you guys think? The void will bring in lots of natural light but if we go with premium and have extra-height ceilings, maybe we should maximise the space upstairs and have a family room for the kids to play and study?

We don't live too far from Chauvel St so will keep a look out for any new H&H builds on the street when we are in that pocket. There are so many new builds around North Ryde these days, it's interesting to see the ones who go up quickly vs some builders that seem to take a long time. If you want any progress snaps of your build while you're overseas - let me know, happy to post if we drive past your build!

The merging of the two plans sounds like a great idea Zen! It's great they are so flexible.

We personally really wanted an upstairs living area for whoever wants their own space at the time. Though Voids do make a room feel pretty special. It really depends on how you think you'll use the space. An extra room can help in the future with resale, but in North Ryde that may not be such a big problem since it's such a sort after area anyway

I might take you up on the offer of photo's Zen We will hopefully get our final plan today and then ready to head to CDC.

We are going with a modified Elyse and agree with Seren1ty that they are really flexible with making changes.

Personally, we wanted a floorplan that would allow easy multigenerational living and easy to have guests staying for extended periods and ability for home office for possible re sale value.

We aim to have the upstairs as a cosy family area where the kids can have their own space for games etc in the rumpus. Can be messy and nobody apart from us will ever have to see it!

Downstairs being all level and with the full bathroom will be good if older parents want to stay or as a home office as the room is at the front of the house.

I too am like you with wanting the house to be light filled so we have put a large skylight in the stairwell and maximised the size of all windows and raised the height of the ground floor ceiling, windows and doors. To get more light you could even do the kitchen splashback as a window.

Happy tile hunting!

We are in Leslie Street backing onto the creek and playing fields.

Thanks for the advice, Seren1ty and kjane! I think the upstairs family room will better suit our family needs, you're right - we can get more light downstairs in other ways. The extra flexibility of a living area is worth it, esp when the kids get older. I didn't consider the option of a skylight in the stairwell, that sounds like a great idea!

We liked the extra guest and ensuite on the ground floor of the Elyse and also how the kitchen, dining and living goes across the length of the house, makes it look more spacious. We then couldn't go past the large parent's retreat in the Sienna so are trying to have the best of both worlds...I think we've made it a bit difficult for H&H with our requests

Hope you have a speedy CDC process! We live on the other side of lane cove road but can have a sticky beak at your build and post some pics when the works start

Time for an update

Tiling is done, and painting is full steam ahead at the moment.

Here are some shots of the tiles, though still needs silicone edging, and to be cleaned. We're very happy with the tiles (phew!) and the workmanship, very neat.

Love the tiling choices Seren1ty! Were these choices part of the premium inclusions? They look great!