Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 11, 2008 10:38 pm Soooo, we finally have had our DA approved by council Only a few conditions attached to the permit, most of which we have already met. One interesting one is the colour scheme though. They won't allow our Shale grey roof . Given that our house is 100m up a hill from the nearest road, our roof is sloped upwards so it can't be seen from the road, we own the 4 hectares behind the house and it can't be subdivided, we only have one neighbour.....why are they worried about the colour of our roof. No biggy, but I hope they will let us have a light colour..and grey! Our colour scheme has to comply with a nearby subdivision, by nearby I mean at the top of the hill, in the next suburb . Apparently they have quite a strict colour scheme for this suburb (meant to be one of the more prestigous in Hobart ) By strict, they mean as long as you want your house to be any colour of the rainbow, mostly lovely pastel colours , you can have it. On our other front, we have received 3 out of the 4 tenders for our subdivision...of course they have come in a bit higher than we would have liked, but not too bad really . The engineer hasn't sent through all the details yet, so we have no idea of time frames etc, but the one that has come in the cheapest so far is meant to be very good, so that's a relief. Now onto the next step...choosing our builder. Our designer has a short list of about 4 builders he has used before, so I think it should just be a matter of getting prices from them, and meeting them too. DH and I are determined that we choose a builder who we trust and can communicate well with. That said, I'm sure we'll be really tempted to just go with the cheapest. We also really need to get our act together and organise the sale of our other blocks of land. I think I'm procrastinating on this a bit 'cos to be honest I'm scared sh**less as we are selling the blocks ourselves, and what we get for the blocks will really determine whether we can afford to do this or not So, just need to go and visit a few more banks to sort out finance now Very Happy 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 3Sep 12, 2008 8:50 am Getting closer to reality, 'chelle!!
Aren't some of these estate requirements silly?? Sometimes seems at the whim of whoever's in charge, if he/she likes pastel colours, everyone must be pastel colours!! I have read on this forum of estates where all roofs must be colourbond or all roofs must be tiles or all roofs must be the same or all roofs must be different Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 4Sep 12, 2008 9:14 am Congratulations 'chelle, I'd be too scared to embark on any of it . But I'm a sook....
The pastel requirements sound .....ummm.... nice! Good luck witht the banks and orgsanising your finance. Keep us updated... of course! I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 5Sep 12, 2008 12:21 pm Thanks guys.
Well the latest update is that we have just accepted the tender for the driveway and services . Which is good, but very scary . They have given a proposed start date of Sept/Oct...realistically end of Oct...actually hopefully by the end of October...but I won't hold my breath given that the council are yet to approve the drawings they have had since the beginning of May They have 12 weeks to reach practical completion, but this will include the Christmas/ new year period, so I'm not sure how much time that will add on. Most of the builders we are looking at have at least a 6 month waiting time so hopefully that will work out OK. We might make a start on the house by March ... may be??? I would love to be in by Christmas, or by DD's 13th birthday early December 2009, but I won't hold my breath. The designer has said to expect a 9-12 month build. With regards to the colours, I think we can choose colours other than pastels, it just seems that everyone up on the hill have chosen these colours . Off to council today to find out what the restrictions are. We are not actually in an estate, Helyn. We've just subdivided a large block in an existing suburb, which is why we are somewhat bemused by their colour restrictions...You can't even see the other suburb from where we are, but we have to comply with their colour scheme I think they are meant to be muted tones to blend in with the bush surroundings, but there is nothing muted about the houses I've seen on the hill. Will see what they say at council. Edit: Ignore all of the above about the colour scheme. Just spoke to the planner at council and he put that bit in by mistake (cut and paste ). So we are still not allowed to have the Shale grey (which our designer is really peeved about) but we don't have to worry about all the lovely colours up on the hill 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 6Sep 12, 2008 12:46 pm Wow 'chelle, good to hear you are moving forward.
Its a big job you are doing with the subdivision - like Jo I'm a big sook and would not have the confidence to deal with it. Paula Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 7Sep 12, 2008 3:28 pm Thanks Paula. It has been quite daunting some times, but it was the only way we could build the house we wanted where we wanted...well hopefully.
What is still really daunting is not knowing what our budget will be, as this depends on how much we get from the sale of the blocks and our house. We have a reasonable idea of what we will get for the house, but as there has not been a lot of land sold around here recently, we really don't know how much the blocks will go for. We had them valued a year ago and were happy with the valuations then, but prices for the driveway have gone up and well, we all know building prices have gone up, so we are hoping that the land values have also gone up by the same amount . 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 8Sep 12, 2008 3:36 pm Congratulations Chelle, Everything sounds like its moving in a very positive direction. Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 9Sep 12, 2008 3:40 pm 'chelle,
really looking forward to seeing your project('s) progress. The blog you setup is one I constantly return to looking for updates. I studied in Hobart many years ago and often dream of returning. Maybe up the coast / the hinterland around Orford appeals. Anyway best of luck with it all. looking forward to the updates. scardee Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 10Sep 12, 2008 5:33 pm Thanks scardee,
Yes my updates on my blog have been few and far between. I am hoping with all the stuff ups we have had to this point (mostly with our surveyor and council) that things will go smoothly with our actual build, but I know that won't happen The east coast is lovely, a bit warmer than down here...maybe you can come back to Tassie to retire one day 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 11Oct 29, 2008 8:47 pm We have a portaloo!!
And....some trucks and.... some sheds and..... some progress!!! I have piccies (of course ) Portaloo and shed Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Site sheds Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Driveway marked out Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ BIG TRUCKS!!! (DS's favourite!) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Trees they knocked over to create a barrier to stop rocks and other debris rolling onto the road. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And tomorrow, we will have a For Sale sign!!! (was meant to be yesterday, but swimming and futsal and school concerts got in the way ) So things have been really busy, hence my being even quieter than usual on here. We're just so happy to finally see something happening...although it is quite nerve racking too 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 13Oct 29, 2008 8:55 pm Portaloos are very exciting... but in your situation I'd sh*tting myself. It's such a big undertaking.
Good luck seeling the blocks. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 14Oct 29, 2008 9:02 pm Thanks donuts and jo,
Yes I have been sh**ing myself somewhat...It's all a bit of a gamble, especially with the economic situation atm, but we can only hope for the best I suppose. Meanwhile the cost of our house just keeps going up and up (with steel prices and everything). Arghhh! Mustn't think about it too much 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 15Oct 29, 2008 10:06 pm Glad you've made a start 'chelle. I look forward to the next instalment in your block subdividing tale. Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 17Oct 30, 2008 7:49 am Congrats on starting! l remember how excited l got to see our porter loo, wait till you see your own inside toilets! hopefully wont be too long away for you
Enjoy the journey Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 18Oct 31, 2008 11:06 pm Thanks everyone.
Things appear to be progressing nicely...they even kept on working in the rain today ...so I made them a nice cake . I think they were a bit surprised...I don't think they usually get that sort of treatment, being civil contractors Yak_Chat Rock on Chelle Interesting choice of words Steve, the rock breaker was going hard at it yesterday...so I was stressing a little, but they have made some allowance for rock...I just hope it's enough! So some more pics, that I'm sure only interest me (Oh and maybe a certain engineer we all know ) Our first trench Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Just some of the rock...it's all sandstone, so not too hard. We do have dolerite on the block as well, but that starts up a bit higher...thank God! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Concrete things Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Pipes in our trench Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And lots more pipes waiting to go in lots more trenches Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Next week, we will meet with one of our potential builders to discuss getting the site cut done for the house now while we have all the equipment already on site. The civil guys are doing the rough cut for us for nothing as they need the fill for the driveway, but they said they are happy to do the fine detail work on an hourly basis. This will save us having to get the heavy machinery back after we finish the driveway...and so will hopefully save our driveway. The For sale sign is up , but I forgot to take a photo . We've already had a bit of interest...and there is an auction up the road tomorrow, so DH has suggested we hand out our flyers to the unsuccessful bidders So in all, we're really happy ... now we just have to get onto choosing our builder and finalising our external colour scheme so council can approve it Might need to start a new thread to get ideas for that one 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: Finally, one step closer...I'm back...with piccies 19Nov 13, 2008 9:16 am Another update.
Things are moving along quite well, although they are apparently a little behind schedule due to all the rock...I could have told them there was a lot of rock...it was in the geotech report *sigh* They have done most of the stormwater and sewerage pipes, just have to connect them to each other and put in those horrible ,huge, ugly inspection pit things ...9 or 10 of them for a 4 lot subdivision We are having a site meeting tomorrow with our designer, and a builder who we are thinking of using, to look at the site for the house. We have decided to do the site cut now, while we have all the machinery on site, so we will use this builder to supervise this at least. The contractors are doing the bulk cut for free as they need the fill for the driveway, and then they will charge us by the hour for the detailed cut. We also want them to continue our stormwater an sewerage up closer to our building site. Currently, council have only approved the subdivision work and so our services finish at the boundary of our lot...which means that if we do it later we will have to dig up our newly formed driveway, that council insist on us building before we can start the house . Soooo logical! The contractors also noticed the stupidity of this so hopefully we will be able to get them to extend their work...but I don't know if this will require council approval or not...#@^%$! councils! Anyway, a few pics for those of you who like trenches and pipes and concrete The plan showing where the stormwater and sewerage easement. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ They have dug up that whole bit marked in yellow and laid pipes in the trenches. The first part coming up from the road. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The easement along lot 2. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our branch up to lot 4...this is the bit we need extended another 20m or so to take it up to our house site. Not sure why our pipes have concrete over them and the others just have gravel...maybe ours are on more of an angle? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The beginnings of the driveway...trees removed. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The contractors all seem really good, they have even worked through the (very light) rain we have had occasionally. I have been taking them freshly baked goodies once a week to keep them happy, but apparently one guy is complaining as he is meant to be on a diet...I bet he wouldn't complain if it was beer though . 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ the step up is 30mm and wanting it to be flat . how much does the concrete have to be lowered .we plan on removing bath and lenghten shower and adding seat. the old bath… 0 11837 Do I need to concern about this pattern of crack? Is this crack showing some signs of bigger problems? Thanks for any suggestions! 1 1919 Take a pick with a level sittingo n the slab and a pick with a level sitting on the sill please. This will help us diagnose the issue and therefore a solution. RE,… 8 9402 |