Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Boutique Homes 61Nov 26, 2013 5:07 pm Well, the slab's being poured tomorrow. Frame should be up by the end of next week. If all goes to plan the house should be finished by late-Feb, early-March. I was thinking we'd be lucky to move in before I go back to work in June (I'm on maternity leave)!
Re: Boutique Homes 63Nov 26, 2013 6:20 pm Lukebee Nice We signed our HIA contract yesterday. We were hoping to have our slab before xmas but unfortunately the deadline for slabs is Nov 27th so you just scraped in hehe! Ahhhh whats this? Is that a Boutique rule for the 27th? We are so close to that stage, but will miss the 27th by probably 3 days or so from reports. I agree with you lot on the timeliness of their correspondence. Nothing but frustration from our end since signing the contract with no replies at all in a lot of cases, but now that we're on the verge of construction we're just damn excited! Cannot wait to see it all going up and then moving in. As someone said previously it's been that long since we chose our upgrades/colours etc we've forgotten what we actually chose. I'll try and keep you all posted on our progress, but I always forget my p/w to their website Re: Boutique Homes 64Nov 26, 2013 7:12 pm Lukebee Nice We signed our HIA contract yesterday. We were hoping to have our slab before xmas but unfortunately the deadline for slabs is Nov 27th so you just scraped in hehe! Yikes! We literally did just get in if the 27th is really the cut-off! Have you made many upgrades Lukebee? Hopefully you won't have too many variations (and hopefully they'll get your addenda right) so you're not too held up in the new year. Aussie Assault, which house are you building? (Apologies if you've mentioned it before already!) Re: Boutique Homes 65Nov 26, 2013 7:30 pm Good to see this post has come alive would like to hear people's progress. Am itching to get building started. The way this year has flown by it will be happening before I know it. As I work away am stressing about make sure every thing is in place for land settlement eg cheques arranged. Would like to hear from people who are half way or so through there build to see how it is going in regards to quality and communication . So genghis77 the recon around the 4 month build ? What area are you building in if you don't mind me asking? Re: Boutique Homes 66Nov 26, 2013 7:43 pm Wazza78, I'd prefer not to say exactly where we're building but I will say it's north-east of Melbourne. Apparently Boutique have never built there before but were keen to expand their boundaries so maybe that's why we've been lucky in terms of their timeliness and efficiency. So far I can't fault our site supervisor's communication. We were told he'd be contacting us fortnightly but he's called us once a week with updates. No question has been too stupid for him to answer. And one thing we left out of our contract - that the rangehood be flued externally instead of into the ceiling (because I just assumed it would be flued externally! Never assume anything) - he said could easily be done during the build if we paid with cash. And our client liaison person picked up something on the plan that we didn't (kitchen cupboards weren't flush with the built-in oven) so she got that changed pretty quickly. Unfortunately we're about a hour's drive away from our block so we won't be able to visit the site as often as we'd like. I'll post photos when I can though. Re: Boutique Homes 68Nov 26, 2013 10:33 pm just found this great blog you guys should check it out http://merndaboutique.blogspot.com.au/?view=flipcard Re: Boutique Homes 69Nov 27, 2013 7:33 am We're building the Oslo 24 Genghis. We started quoting on the bigger Riviera and the like but dumbed it down to the Oslo and added the upgrade we wanted to without stretching ourselves. Your timeline of being in by end of Feb, early March - is that your estimates or what Boutique are advising? Seems like a mighty quick build, even to have your frame up by the end of next week after only having the slab laid now. I'd be over the moon if ours went up anywhere near that quick, but again havent really spoken to our site supervisor yet, so our estimates of late May (with a slab that we thought was going in next week) might be really conservative. Re: Boutique Homes 70Nov 27, 2013 8:19 am Aussie, we liked the Oslo too but went with the Knightsbridge 26. As for our timeline, Feb/March was what our site supervisor told me yesterday. He assured me it wasn't a quick build because they were rushing things, but because they were just tightly scheduled. I was estimating a May/June finish too. I reckon you might be in by end March/early April? Have they started on your build at all? Wazza - yes, that blog is great. I refer to it a lot! Re: Boutique Homes 71Nov 27, 2013 10:17 am Nah nothing on the construction front as of yet. We were supposed to have our building permit approved over the last couple of days but havent heard back about that yet. So if there is in fact a deadline for slabs of today, nothing will happen until after the tradies come back from their turkeys & hams in January. As long as its not rushed, its a fairly big bonus for you to have it done in such a short time frame! Our Oslo 24 changed a bit in terms of the plans with us knocking out the 4th bedroom and extending both the 3rd bedroom and outdoor living to cover that space. For our budget we felt that we could go bigger but not have as many upgrades in the house, or go a bit smaller and add some creature comforts that we probably wouldnt have been able to squeeze in otherwise. Its nice to talk to other Boutique builders in this forum. Re: Boutique Homes 72Nov 27, 2013 2:58 pm I like your idea of getting rid of bed 4 to increase bed 3 and the outdoor living. We paid extra to extend the two bedrooms at the back because we have two boys. And like you we went with the smaller house so we could afford more upgrades. Hope we didn't go too small! Re: Boutique Homes 74Dec 02, 2013 1:12 pm Independent inspection on our slab has been done. All good except one defect: "1. Slab Surface Levels There is a 15 millimetre hump in the north side of the dining room located 3.5 metres behind the garage. The Building Commission’s Guide to Standards and Tolerances clause 2.08 Level of timber and concrete floors states: ‘Except where documented otherwise, new floors are defective if within the first 24 months they differ in level by more than 10 mm in any room or area, or more than 4 millimetres in any 2 metres length. The overall deviation of floor level to the entire building footprint shall not exceed 20 mm.”" It's pretty minor, the slab guys will grind it down in due course. Meanwhile, our SS said the frame will be up by today and a roof on possibly by the end of the week! He said we're lucky our job is just running really smoothly with no delays (yet), whereas he has another job on the other side of the city that has only just started and it has already been delayed by a week. Re: Boutique Homes 77Dec 03, 2013 8:15 am Wazza78 How did you go Aussie any word on permit Same old thing from Boutique, won't rrply to emails or calls. They really excel in customer service. So we're still unsure Wazza. Re: Boutique Homes 78Dec 03, 2013 10:45 am Here are some pics of our slab. People weren't kidding when they said their slabs looked small. I can't believe they're going to put a four-bedroom house with a double garage on this. Block looks tiny too. Hmm... Front entrance (with the frame materials in the garage): Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Living room/kitchen and main bathroom/minor bedrooms to the right: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ From the dining room looking across to the kitchen/living, main bathroom and minor bedrooms: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ From the back: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Boutique Homes 80Dec 03, 2013 4:09 pm Exciting Genghis. It'll fly up from now. Just had a call from Boutique earlier. Construction starts on ours next Tuesday (10th). Woohoo! 10 16511 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 110963 |