Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 101May 11, 2013 9:17 pm Blog: http://cbcbuild.blogspot.com.au/ Building Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62155 Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 109May 14, 2013 5:34 pm Blog: http://cbcbuild.blogspot.com.au/ Building Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62155 Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 114May 15, 2013 5:29 pm Ryan, You're absolutely right, it's just all marketing so kate, just compare the bottom lines and what's coming out of your pocket. If your tender is better, then great. This is not just building, this is any promotion or advertising, it's bundled in there somewhere to cover the costs.... Nothing is ever for free. Mars, Plan looks great - it's easy to blow out the measurements isn't it..... I know the feeling very well.... If you need to reduce footprint, if you remove the store out of the garage, can you look at your roof cavity. Before you gyprock, line the roof floor with board so you can put a retractable ladder from the manhole near an adequate area - maybe above your garage, but you can design this so your roof has space without beams running through it. You have the space up there anyway so you can have storage without adding Sqm.... If you plan ahead to get some flooring down beforehand then you will be ok. Obviously won't work post gyprock as you can't fit the big sheets of board through the manhole - get them to put a point up there on your electrical plan and that would work great... Also, what is Bed 4 going to be? If a study, then fine, but at 2.8m I would have a concern about it being a bedroom as that is quite narrow. Aligning your garage and extending your HT to the REF will certainly give your Garage rear access more space, just make sure your windows allow for some kind of feature otherwise you will have a long straight brick wall (unless it's against a fence then that doesn't matter so much, but if it's seen from the street, then keep that in mind ) does that make sense?? Quote: 3. The garage width (not including storage) is only 5.3m wide, which is not wide enough for two cars to fit comfortably. I’m not sure how we can achieve the minimum 5.5m width without decreasing the storage room. If you look to move storage in to the roof, you could then reduce your garage storage making more room for your 2 cars, Just some thoughts.... haven't had a solid look, DS (4yo) wants me to play so I better go - I'll check back in tonite! Blog: http://cbcbuild.blogspot.com.au/ Building Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62155 Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 115May 15, 2013 7:30 pm Thanks Ryan, Lilac & Upsize for the input. I do understand the whole marketing thing and that nothing is free...what I didn't know was that you could say something and then not follow through at all, so I guess that's what got me. I don't know, I guess I have a lot to learn! I spoke to P today...I won't bore everyone with the details, I'll just say that from now on I'll probably just leave it to my husband to deal with him and I'll watch from the sideline, until we get past this initial stage at least. I assume after the initial meetings we might get a customer service rep who will go through the rest of the process with us. Anyway, going to put it all behind us and onwards and upwards from here (I hope!). Enough about us, how is everybody else's week going so far? Mars, your plans look great! Sorry to hear that you're having a few issues but fingers crossed you can get them sorted out and figure out a way to make everything you WANT and NEED work together. I think Lilac's idea about the roof storage is great and as she said this would free up plenty of space in the garage for two cars. We were thinking of doing some roof storage as we won't have a lot of storage space in the house (other than wardrobes, linen cupboards, etc.) and our garage will just be standard size. Our block is just a baby compared to everyone elses - only 450m2! But it suits us perfectly for the time being Speaking of blocks, all of your blocks look AMAZING!! I will have to post a picture of ours soon. Lilac, I had a peek at your blog today - your house looks simply beautiful! I LOVE the colour of the glass splash back you chose. I only had a quick read through but will definitely be spending some time reading through and looking at every little detail Oh, and on the 'dishwasher debate' - we don't have one in our place at the moment so will definitely be making good use of ours once we move One last question - does anybody know what bricks are in the standard range with Kurmond? I know they use Austral, PHG & Boral but not sure which ranges?? Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 116May 15, 2013 8:41 pm kateandben Thanks Ryan, Lilac & Upsize for the input. I do understand the whole marketing thing and that nothing is free...what I didn't know was that you could say something and then not follow through at all, so I guess that's what got me. I don't know, I guess I have a lot to learn! Totally get it. it doesn't seem right, try and get past this stage. You will have a consultant for your colour serlections and then you will move through to construction. 'M' (P's brother) looks after construction stage, very nice and you will have a consultant and your SS to see you all the way through this stage. I love our splash back colour too (Thankyou) - it's was from Kurmond's standard range - called 'storm', you will see it in their showroom swatches. Not sure about their brick ranges, we asked for our tender to include PGH Nutmeg smoothface as we had seen it and wanted that colour. later saw it in their showroom in the Gold range. Have you gone through their showroom, worth a look, everything is on display so you can actually see the level inclusions, I would reommend this before proceeding, perhaps go for a visit. I got a bit lazy with my blog towards the end, after I started my H1 thread, trying to update both got a bit time consuming so my thread probably has a bit more to it toward the end, I think I only started my thread when we were practically at the end, but just loved the 2-way communication, Blog is great for a record, but very much one way. The bottom of pg10 in my thread will show some photo's after handover once we completed tiles and carpet. I'll try and take some more and post them up, just still so in chaos.... Got part of our drive done today, can't afford the whole lot, blimey... concrete is expensive, got 80sqm down today and probably another 100sqm still to go...... H1 Lotto syndicate anyone????? Also, don't worry about it being all about you - it is about you - free speech here and noone to judge, you say or ask what you feel and keep those essays coming! Good Luck Blog: http://cbcbuild.blogspot.com.au/ Building Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62155 Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 117May 15, 2013 8:55 pm kateandben I often feel like we are taken for a bit of a ride with this whole building thing because we are young, and our experience with MJ didn't do much to help that...so here's hoping that we can get it all sorted tomorrow and get back on track Hi kateandben - been a busy few days at our end so haven't been able to keep in touch with H1 happenings until now. I hear you! i hear you! I think all the builders build-in so-called sweetners to the price and dangle them like carrots. Not that Kurmond needs my defence, but the only thing I can say is that their inclusions (included in the price ) seem more 'genuine' inclusions - certainly their standard range of inclusions seems (to me) more inclusive than most, and especially MJ. I mean, MJ (and others) won't do driveways or even pour the concrete for an alfresco! I had to chuckle today as I was driving to Canberra and heard an advert on the radio for a "big chain builder". They claim their "Mansion Package" for $5,999 (or thereabouts) is so big, they have had to make 4 separate commercials. Funny thing is, what is in their "mansion package" is mostly included as standard for Kurmond. But Lilac is right - there's no such thing as a free lunch, so it is a great marketing tool and little more. In the end, my advice is to make sure you're happy with the builder, and then ensure you've got regular contact (keeping records) right through the build process. At least, that's the advice I've been told and keep reading here. But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't feel disappointed. I guess in instances such as these you just pick yourself up, dust off the dirt and look at for the rainbow - well, let's hope there's one in there somewhere! Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 118May 15, 2013 8:57 pm UpsizeTime Our update is in he waiting game, hanging out for our plans and tender. Keep thinking about flooring, was keen on the laminated timber but thinking how does that go in the kitchen with water spills. More to think about. Went to a light shop today to buy some bulbs and they had 70% of everything. So wanted to pick my lights, but I have no clue about that yet. Struggling with style, can't think about lights yet. Rang DH to calm my buying impulses (lol) can't have the cart before the horse on this one. buying impulses! Gee - I won't start a gender warfare here, but my DW seems to have those same impulses frequently ... with my credit card! oh the confusion ahead for all of us who haven't reached the 'colours' selection stage! Good luck Upsize! Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 119May 15, 2013 9:01 pm kateandben Speaking of blocks, all of your blocks look AMAZING!! I will have to post a picture of ours soon ... One last question - does anybody know what bricks are in the standard range with Kurmond? I know they use Austral, PHG & Boral but not sure which ranges?? - can't wait to see your block kateandben ~ as they say, size isn't everything and I'm sure yours will be super amazing, too! As for the bricks : the range is quite broad. When you get to tender stage, you'll receive a booklet from Kurmond that will show their 'bronze' 'silver' and 'gold' range. If you happen to look on the Austral, PGH or Boral website, maybe create a short list of the bricks you like and post them on this thread. Someone who is up to the stage of colour selections will quickly be able to chime in with whether the ones you've nominated are 'standard' or above. Just a thought. Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 120May 15, 2013 9:14 pm mars78 After much anticipation, I have the revised plans and a massive headache to go with it! It's blown out to a massive 35 squares which is clearly out of the budget. Hey mars - congrats on getting version 2 of your plans Just remember - that headache is all for a good cause mars78 1. I don’t recall whether the front porch area is part of the Sierra Elite façade or this is additional. If it is additional then we will revert to no porch. - hmm, good point. I'm not sure. What is the façade on their display home? It had a porch with the wooden deck as per my earlier photos. Is that the Elite? mars78 2. The porch area is in the articulation zone (up to 40% allowable) and therefore the 4.5m setback from the road should be to the house boundary (i.e. bedroom) and not the porch / façade. This has resulted in less space in the backyard. - another 'hmmm' - we were in that boat a little (or articulation is only 35%), but decided to pull the design closer to our secondary boundary (being on a corner block) to allow for the larger yard. Coming from acreage, we just want the privacy and the space! mars78 3. The garage width (not including storage) is only 5.3m wide, which is not wide enough for two cars to fit comfortably. I’m not sure how we can achieve the minimum 5.5m width without decreasing the storage room. - as Lilac suggested, I think if you can relocate storage to a loft area, laying what is called duckboards to allow a floor space, that would then alleviate the need for the downstairs storage. Mind you, you may have had a specific reason for having this downstairs, and if you plan to live there well after retirement, perhaps you don't want to climb stairs into the roof! But - I gather retirement is a long way off mars78 5. The drive-through roller door needs to be the standard 2.44m wide to allow for a vehicle to drive through – suggestion is to reduce the width of the home theatre, increasing the length up until the REF in the kitchen. The bulk head would need to be relocated. - I gathered from your earlier posts that the idea of a drive-through garage was something you really wanted. If this is in your top-5 items of 'must haves' then don't give up on it. Like you, we extended the garage from v1 of the drawings to accommodate two cars more comfortably and to create an internal workshop. We have also created a drive-through garage effect, but not sure we will stick with it, as it's not really to drive-though, but more to create a larger space for entertainment if there is spill-over from the alfresco. mars78 6. The meals area as it is, is too large and therefore the home theatre lining up with the REF space will solve this. mars78 9. The rainwater tank was to be placed next to the A/C unit. This is currently missing. mars78 10. The non-openable toughened glass window should be for the meals area, not the home theatre. It's great to see that you've got to the next stage with the plans! Do you think you'll have many more changes for a version 3 before getting the tender put together? I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 110967 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 27163 Wish you all the best. Once you signed the contract, they will find millions excuses to charge you. And have seen their sites unfinished for a long time. 4 26120 |