Fairhaven Homes

Anyone know anything about adding shelves etc to bathroom walls?

We want to add a shelf and hang a mirror beside the bath (similar to pic) but know nothing about waterproofing other than what we have seen on The Block.

We ended up taking our documents home with us to have a look at first before signing. We actually only live around the corner from their Campbellfield office so it wasn’t a problem for us to drop them off to them the next day.
We didn’t change anything in the HIA contract as we were told that it’s a fairly standard contract and we wouldn’t be able to make changes to it. From memory though, our CRO did send us a sample copy of it for us to have a read through beforehand. Maybe ask them if that’s an option. When we mentioned to them that we may want to have someone look at the docs before signing them, they advised that we would be waiving our cooling off period by doing that

We had told our CRO prior that we wanted extra time to review the contract and it wasn't a problem.

And no special upgrades to our plans! We were also guided by the same thread. hubby wanted lots of data connection points throughout the house as it's easier to do now rather then down the track. We also increased the garage size and added a shower to powder downstairs.

CONTRACT

We are reading through the copy of the sample contract and need help please.

1. Progress payments: method 2. Anyone think this is an issue?
Anybody's bank not happy with this as Fairhaven end up with more $$$ by lockup stage.

2. Building Surveyor:
Anyone know the cost?
Are you going with one that Fairhaven recommends or finding your own?
If a building surveyor inspects the build at certain stages is it necessary to also have an independent building inspector ie. Darbecca inspect at the same stage?

3. HIA MEMBERSHIP
Did anyone ring The HIA to confirm Fairhaven is a current member?

Anything else you picked up on?

Not sure about point 1 & 3, my Bank didn’t have an issue though, I just thought this was standard practice.
As for the building surveyor we asked to have our own and they told us that would have to pay over $1200-$1500 extra if we were to do that. In hindsight we probably should have done that as the building surveyor they chose stuffed up on some of our measurements, telling us we were obstructing the neighbours light. That we needed consent from them and the council. We got this checked by a surveyor we know and they said it actually didn’t affect them. Fairhaven then came back, after a week of back and forth and getting our neighbours involved, only to tell us that the surveyor made a mistake. We’ve somewhat lost confidence now and will be using Darbecca for peace of mind if anything.

Finally getting around to upload pic of our selection.

Bricks - Cat 1 Austral, Access range - Chestnut color
Roof - Colorbond roof with Monument color
Gutter & Fascia - Monument color
Garage door - Mediterranean Style - Wallaby color
Driveway - Colored - Black velvet to match the garage door.
WIndows and Door - Monument.
Front Door - Corinthian - Win52G - 2040mm x 820mm - Translucent glass - Color is Rich Chocolate (I think)
Laminate Timber - Cat 2 - AST - 8mm laminate - Moonlight Color

Tiles (Ensuite, bathroom, laundry and WC):
Wall Tiles - Light Grey
Floor tiles - Valencia - Stone Grey
External facade tile - Gold - Maximo BT, Black 450 x 450 , grout - Charred Ash

Carpet - Cat 2 - Redbook - Skyway - 92 Graphite color

Kitchen - 20mm Luna white stone benchtop
Cabinet Doors and overhead cabinet doors - Blossom White
Splashback - Beaumont - Dont have the price for this one yet

Ensuite, Bathroom and Laundry benchtop- Polytech Matt Laminate - Square edge profile - Artisan Oak color

Paint -

External:

Entry door frame, infills, meter box, garage beam, portico exposed timber - CB Wallaby
Eaves and Lanai Ceiling - Winter Ice
Render - Foxdale

Internal:
Winter Ice throughout. Initially selected June fog for wall paint but since then changed to Winter Ice.

As this is our first home so had a find a middle ground between basic and going nuts at the color selection.

Oh no...what a nightmare!
How much were you charged for the surveyor Fairhaven organised?
Which stages are you getting Darbecca to inspect?

I *LOVE* all your selections! You must be so happy.
Wish I was feeling 100% confident with ours. I think not knowing prices for a lot of ours is making it difficult.

Where are you having the laminate flooring and what was the upgrade to cat 2 price? Ours is cat 2 but we asked for it in bed 1 & wir. Had to go back to carpet in bedroom to find extra $$$ for our paint.

What category are your floor and grey wall tiles? Could I please have the name and size of the wall tile?
If ours come back too expensive we need something to fall back on.

Not sure how much Fairhaven charge for the surveyor as it was already included in the total price. They made a point of saying that it would make it more difficult if we got our own and swayed us to stay with theirs
We are having Darbecca for every single stage, from pre slab right up to final inspection
We’ve just got word that our temp fencing is going up next week, so we are hopefully on our way to having this house built finally!

Love your colour choices Bronte19! They all go so well together!

Excited for you Poniri. Must be such a relief to be so close to having something to look at on your land 😀

We were under the impression we had to pay extra for a surveyor Fairhaven could provide.

How much is Darbecca costing you?
I have read up about them on their website but haven't contacted them for the prices yet.

I think Darbecca will end up costing just over $4000

Thanks!

Laminate floor is throughout the living area. Bedrooms are carpeted. Cat 2 Laminate costed us $4560.
Floor and wall tiles are all cat 1. Wall tiles are Uni-wall range, 1004766 - Light Grey Gloss 250x400

Thanks you

Got a quote from Darbecca today. Around $4500 for full package. Unfortunately we don't have a budget for it.

Does anyone know what stages are most important to get it done by independent site inspector?

Thnx
I really like them. Will go and check them out at Beaumont Tiles.

Did you say you added hinged doors to all wir's? If so how much?

We also had a quote from Darbecca and we asked the same question! Whilst they said they were all important, they told us the most common inspections were:

1. Pre pour/ Steel inspections
2. Frame inspection (and complimentary slab inspection)
3. Pre plaster
4. Final Inspection

We're likely to do these 4 inspections. Fortunately, my father in law is an engineer so he's happy to help out with the other stages.

Hinged door to WIRs are around $200 each. We changed to sliding door to master wir it was around $350.

Thanks.

Fairhaven said that they will add 2 extra weeks to each stage if we hire independent inspector.

We added a sliding door as well $384. Think that's very expensive!
I have asked how much to have no architraves on that door. She said to ask at tender.
Haven't added doors to the other bedrooms yet.