Hi everyone,
I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread on our build too. We have a 14 X 32 m block and have decided to build a double storey, 5 bedroom home. We really started this process 2 years ago. We bought the land in 2016 and it was titled in July 2017. But now we are full steam ahead. We considered Marbella by Porter Davis, Vantage by Metricon, Hampshire by Metricon, Sovereign by Metricon, Glendale by Metricon and Granada by Carlisle but eventually decided and signed on with the Zanzibar (45) by Metricon.
We loved the floorplan as there were no structural changes to be made. Every requirement we had was met with this floorplan. This will be our first build and are anxious and excited about the future.
We absolutely love the floorplan with the master suite on the bottom floor as this not only provides easy access to a bedroom in case of an injury or sickness. We decided to put a normal flush panel door from the pantry to the laundry to allow for extra space and storage. The positioning of the powder room is excellent as it is right in the middle of the sitting and family/dining/kitchen spaces (which are going to be used majority of the time).
The WIR's of the top floor bedrooms was also a plus as it is a fantastic storage unit. The alcoves of each bedroom except bedroom 2 was also a major incentive as it allows for everything to be packed away neatly and for there to be no intrusions on the bedroom space. Bedroom 2 will be left as a study/spare bedroom as there is no alcove.
Overall, we found this plan to include many storage places and also allowed for items to be put away nice and neatly. This was such a necessity for us as it gets rid of a clustered look.
All the best on your journey.
Congrats.
I remember the Zanzibar @ Craigieburn had a look at it 6 months ago. Loved the modern design.
What stage are you up to? Done selections? You will enjoy the process.
Congrats.
I remember the Zanzibar @ Craigieburn had a look at it 6 months ago. Loved the modern design.
What stage are you up to? Done selections? You will enjoy the process.
Thank you! Yep, that's exactly what we loved too! We are still at the early stages and still doing the paperwork. We had a bit of a delay as all our preparations were done for the wrong block. Hopefully, so far so goo and we appear to have a great consultant!!
Nice! Love the Zanzibar design! Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Congrats.
I remember the Zanzibar @ Craigieburn had a look at it 6 months ago. Loved the modern design.
What stage are you up to? Done selections? You will enjoy the process.
Thank you! Yep, that's exactly what we loved too! We are still at the early stages and still doing the paperwork. We had a bit of a delay as all our preparations were done for the wrong block. Hopefully, so far so goo and we appear to have a great consultant!!
Oh I love this plan I can’t wait to see it being built. They released this design after we signed up and to cancel and swap to this design would’ve costed us a fortune so we soldiered on with original choice. (With no regrets)
So best of luck with your journey and look forward to the progress
Updates!
It has been a while since I updated, but I'm back! Since my last post, we have completed all our appointments, signed the contracts and are now awaiting council approval. Hopefully, we can be on site soon but fingers crossed!
I have attached a couple of pictures of our selections down below. We really wanted this house to be light and bright, but cozy and comfortable too. The whole idea behind this house was to create an atmosphere that felt crisp and clean but did not detract from the familial element that an inhabited house should have.
We really wanted the kitchen to be a focal point of the home. It is where we spend most of our time when it is just our family and when we are hosting. We decided to splurge and use 'Calacatta Gold' for our island bench and side panels of the island bench. We decided to use 'Yukon' for the rest of the benchtops as it is much more subtle and allows the island bench to be the feature.
Initially, we chose this grey patterned splashback but it just felt so out of place in the kitchen. So, we visited Beaumont Tiles, the main tile supplier of Metricon, and were able to pick out a design that we liked and felt matched the colour scheme of the kitchen. We decided with the 'Bloom Beige Blend Gloss' that has also been attached.
For our tiles, we were initially quoted $18,000 for the bottom floor, excluding bathrooms! However, after speaking with a few of our friends who have also built homes, we decided to outsource and were quoted at $10,000 and even given a $500 discount which brought the price down to $9,500 (supply + installation). At first, we were hesitant as it honestly sounded too good to be true, but testimonials from our friends helped to rid us of any fear.
We decided to remove carpet from Metricon and outsource as well! We were quoted at $8,000 for carpet to the first floor, but through the same company we were able to have laminate to the entire first floor for $1,500 (supply + installation)! Ultimately, we saved approximately $15,000 by outsourcing!! If there's a lesson to be taught here, it is that if you do a bit of research and talk to some people then you can save so much money!!
For bathrooms, we decided to go with full wall tiling for Powder 1, and 2.1m wall tiling for the rest of the bathrooms. We picked the 'Horizon Crema' for the wall tiles and the tile on top of that one for the floors - I can't see the name :C.
For externals, we chose 'Coastal Stone' from the brick. We decided against upgrading the brick as we wanted to have the front of the house rendered. The lighter colour, 'Hog Bristle Quarter' is the colour we chose for the main render and the darker colour, 'Self-Destruct' was chosen for the feature render. Hog Bristle Quarter appears white in the picture, but in reality it is a bit more towards cream. For the garage door, we decided against going for a timber looking garage door and instead went with 'Paperbark'. We decided against going for a timber-looking garage door as we have masonry on a pier of the house and wanted this to be the focal point. Unfortunately, this masonry cost an eye-watering amount but we decided to go ahead as we loved it way too much!
Well, I guess that's all for now!! Hopefully, everything we picked matches and achieves the look we are aiming for. It was so hard to visualise everything together but we tried our best! I would love to hear all your thoughts on this as well as selections that you chose!
- Zanzibar_45
House design looks great, and sounds like you really thought everything through. You're sure to be happy there for ages.
Like your selected colours, especially your externals. Should look striking once completed.
Great selections. Love the calacata gold bench. What is the thickness of the island bench top?
I would have gone calacata bench top if I was not following the display homes colour scheme.
If your saving money with the tiles, why not go to the ceiling with the tiles rather than 2.1m?
I went all the way up to the ceiling with my tiles(in the en suites) as I will never have to paint a wall after that.
And floor to ceiling tiles look very opulent.
I noticed with Metricon in most designer homes tiles were 2.1m, but signature homes had them to the ceiling.
I am doing carpet after handover too, as I am sure I can get a better deal from a local carpet company.
Thank you stanus, the island bench is 40mm.
Congrats
Have they started digging?
Thank you stanus, the island bench is 40mm.
With regards to the bathroom tiling it is one of our biggest regrets now. At the time, we thought it wasn't necessary as 2.1m was enough and we were a bit freaked out over costs as we had splurged and overspent quite a bit. But now, we really feel like the extra bit of money for ceiling tiling would've have been worth it. It would have overall bettered the entire look of the home.
Hi Zanzibar, your selections look great, and I'm looking forward to watching your build progress. If you still decide you would have preferred tiling to ceiling in wet areas once you have moved in, maybe you could get a tiler to finish the job for you? The only thing you need to watch out for is slight variations in the tile colours - as they will be from different batches.
Thank you stanus, the island bench is 40mm.
With regards to the bathroom tiling it is one of our biggest regrets now. At the time, we thought it wasn't necessary as 2.1m was enough and we were a bit freaked out over costs as we had splurged and overspent quite a bit. But now, we really feel like the extra bit of money for ceiling tiling would've have been worth it. It would have overall bettered the entire look of the home.
Hi Zanzibar, your selections look great, and I'm looking forward to watching your build progress. If you still decide you would have preferred tiling to ceiling in wet areas once you have moved in, maybe you could get a tiler to finish the job for you? The only thing you need to watch out for is slight variations in the tile colours - as they will be from different batches.
Hi shokel1975,
Thank you. I think what you have suggested is really the best solution and plan on doing something about it as soon as I get the keys as I probably won't be moving in until the tiles are done as well.
Hi Zanzibar,
How is your experience with pre-pour inspection? Normally how many days does it take from site start to pre-pour insp? My site-start will be on the 18th Oct and planning for pre-pour insp. Did you find any issues from Metricon side while organising this, I mean co-ordinating the entire thing.
Were there any things that came up inspection requiring a fixing. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for your detailed reply and time. It helps me a lot. Yes it is exciting time, did heaps of upgrades and modeled the kitchen like Balamaine 51. Hoping it will turnout as close to that and as I visualied
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