Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 27, 2014 1:24 pm Hi Everyone,
I've enjoyed reading all your threads and discussions so much, that I've decided to finally join in. Building a house is so confusing, but being able to read about other people's experiences has been fantastic. Hopefully by recording my own journey here, I might provide assistance to others down the track. Anyways, I am in the VERY early stages of building my new home in the Ascot estate at Pakenham. I've signed for a block of land, just waiting for final approval from the bank Is anybody else building down there? I'm in the third release which titles in April 2015, made sure to give myself plenty of time to grow my savings & do research on the build. Would love to meet some future neighbours. I think the development will be really nice once it's complete. It has proposed parks and a creek redevelopment as well as being very close to existing shops and the train station. The land I've bought isn't very big so I'm somewhat limited in my building choices, but as I'm going in alone as a first home buyer I didn't want to go to big. I've been speaking to a number of builders and looking at their display homes. At the moment I am trying to decide between Burbank and a small local builder. I'm off to see the small local builders house today and see the proposed design for my home. Will keep updating this as I go along. But would love to hear any comments, suggestions, etc. Re: {Dawn} Building in new Ascot estate Pakenham 2Aug 16, 2014 3:19 pm Well my journey is just beginning. Today I received the unconditional approval from the bank on my land loan. So I am now committed to building my first home in Ascot. Off to the Home Show tomorrow to get some ideas, the next 6 months will be all about researching home building and coming up with color and style ideas. Any neighbours in Ascot? Re: {Dawn} Building in new Ascot estate Pakenham 3Aug 16, 2014 4:05 pm welcome, So which builder are you leaning towards the most. You still have plenty of time to do your research and gain some valuable insight into building. Enjoy the experience and the home show too. - Build thread- My Allegra- Dream by Henley Re: {Dawn} Building in new Ascot estate Pakenham 4Sep 02, 2014 6:27 pm Thanks In my mind I've decided on the smaller builder, for a number of reasons which include flexibility, design and price. That being said though I won't be signing contracts until the end of this year or early next year. So I'm still open to other builders, but my heart is somewhat set. The home show was fantastic! Lots of great stalls to check out, took some good photos and got some company names for bits and pieces down the track. I've also been to visit the Boral selection center to pick bricks, I have narrowed my choices to either a brown/blue (possibly Horizon Mocha or Blackheath) or a red. No creams available in my range and I don't want to pay more and no real blues either. Also been popping into displays all over the South East. Have started to get a real vision of what I want the house to look like in terms of space and colours. But still so many decisions to make! I've also just got free tickets to the Grand Design Live exhibition, so that should be a lot of fun. Taking every opportunity I can to learn more about the building process. I'll post some pictures soon. Re: {Dawn} Building in new Ascot estate Pakenham 5Sep 17, 2014 2:34 pm Hi aloenyx, Good luck with the house. Small builder winning on price rare but I recommend small builders over large builders for the simple reason that the supervision will likely be done by the experienced boss. Leonardo_23 Re: {Dawn} Building in new Ascot estate Pakenham 6Sep 24, 2014 12:19 pm Thanks Leonardo. I've been doing some budget figures and I'll be able to approach my builder in Nov/Dec 2014 to start the contract and colour selection phase. For now still counting my pennies. But I'm pretty sure this will be the builder I go with, love the design, facade, quote and the builder himself was really great when we met to see a house he had built previously. The land has all been approved and such, just really hoping title happens in April as expected. I finally got my design from the builder and I absolutely love it! I don't want to put a picture up yet as I'm not sure of the copyright. But a basic description is master with ensuite & WIR, two additional bedrooms 3x3m, main bathroom and separate toilet, separate laundry room with built in linen, single garage, open plan living, dining and kitchen area with a 'U' shaped kitchen. There is also a closet in the entry hall, and another closet in front of the laundry. Big sliding doors onto the backyard from the dining area. The front entry is my favorite bit, there will be a long slim window right alongside the front door, which will make it very bright, and it's also slightly wider and square in shape with the closet for coats and such. Overall I think its much better than most designs I've seen for a house of this size. The kitchen is also nice, will have the sink under the window, a BIG empty breakfast bar for prep and a 900mm upright cooker. The only real downside is no pantry for the kitchen, though I'm hoping to do at least one floor to ceiling cupboard beside the fridge, though may only be about 60cm wide. Luckily its a house just for me, so it will be plenty big enough. I've been coming up with colours & selection ideas. For flooring I really want 600x300 gloss ceramic tiles in a shade of deep brown/chocolate that I've seen in a few display homes. I originally wanted a light white/cream but the thought of cleaning all that white grout put me off. So far, I'm pretty sure for my kitchen: Gloss white cabinets White marble 20mm stone counter tops Glass/gloss tile splash back (300x600 tiles if possible) not sure on colour yet, possible white, glass or a shade of brown/tan Handles will probably be similar to Prestige 128mm Polished Chrome Square Bar Handle from Bunnings For the bathrooms, I'm thinking continue the floor tiles up the side of the bathroom and the shower base, with a lighter white gloss tile for the tub surround, and no idea on the splash back between the vanity and the mirror. The bathroom is tricky! Still looking for ideas on this. Bedrooms are having a deep rich brown/grey/purple plush carpet, that you see a lot now days, I had it in my last apartment and I loved the colour. Walls are going to be white, as the builder only does one colour throughout, after hand over I'd like to paint a few pale mint/teal/sky blue feature walls. Overall going for a somewhat coastal theme, love the tan/browns with bright teal/cyan. So aiming to have the house neutral/easy to clean and then make it all pop with bright accessories. The exterior is going to be bricks, render over the garage and cladding over the entry pillars. For the bricks I'm pretty set on Boral Mocha, I love the blue shades in it. The gutters, fascia, and roofing will be shades of dark blue, charcoal and grey. I haven't quite decided on those. The render will probably be a light cream/off white and the cladding I want white tiles with some sort of marking/veining in them. Obviously this all depends on what colours the builder offers me, but I want to try and get as close as possible to the above. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures, I'll add some in. Re: {Dawn} New build in Pakenham - HELP COLOUR SELECTION (Pi 8Oct 28, 2014 7:36 pm Hi Everyone! I paid my initial builders deposit today after receiving an amended quote. So excited to be moving forward! I will be meeting with my builder in the next week or so to do my colour selections, and I would love some opinions from others on my ideas and choices. I got VERY lucky and just happened to wander into my builders selection center by pure chance over the weekend, so I got to see a bit of the range that will be on offer to me. First off, inspiration! Below are some pics of Porter Davis display house's which I really like. One is classic Paris and the other is contemporary Ibiza. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A bit about my house, it's going to be rather small, approx. 16 squares, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, one open plan living area at the back (kitchen, living and dining). So, these are the tiles in my builders range that I really like, they come in both 600 x 600 and 300 x 600, also in gloss and matte. They are the same tile, but they have five choices which get progressively darker. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ What do people think about these? Would you go gloss or matte? Light or darker? What do you think about having them throughout like in these photos, so for all flooring (except bedrooms) and bath surround/shower as well? Also, how about having them as a splashback in the kitchen or bathroom? Last question about tiles, how about if I mixed it up, i.e. 600 x 600 for floor, 300 x 600 for splashback, matte for floor, gloss for splashback, or should I keep it all the same? These were some of the other tiles in 400 x 400 available in my builders range for flooring (didn't get a photo of the wall tiles) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I have to use tiles for splashback (Can't afford glass). So if not using the same tile, any other suggestions for the sort of pattern, size, colour I should use for splashbacks? Also, for kitchen cabinets my two choices are: White gloss flat (like the Ibiza) or White matte with the square inset (like the Paris) My kitchen will be U shaped with sink looked out kitchen window, fridge and cooktop on back wall, and then long empty breakfast bar looking into dining area. Lastly for kitchen I can pick from the Caesarstone range, the builders range are most of the white fleck ones, such as osprey, ivory and white shimmer. Any suggestions on what might look nice? My walls will be off white (though I will be doing some pastel teal/blue feature walls). I have no idea for bathroom vanity, leaning towards a grey/light coloured polytec wood grain with a white CS benchtop, possibly same as kitchen? Or a REALLY dark brown vanity with the white benchtop.. can't really decide. I don't know what carpet I'll be able to pick from yet, but would love something like this (its an Ikea rug) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Two more design questions! For my bedrooms, they are north facing, 3x3m with sliding wardrobes. There will be 1.2m between the bedroom window and the fence (garage access site). Do you think windows like this would be a good idea? Or should I stick with full sized windows? What was your experience? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Last one! Vinyl sliding wardrobes, I would like something like this (actually I'd like mirrors, but can't afford the upgrade). Have you got them? Do you like? Should I just dig deep and find money for mirrors? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Would love to hear people's opinions, or see some photo ideas? Re: {Dawn} New build in Pakenham - HELP COLOUR SELECTION (Pi 10Oct 29, 2014 7:49 pm So finally seen some kitchens that are gloss floors, gloss cabinets and gloss splashback. They look alright, but still worried it will be a bit too much. I don't want my kitchen to be too boring, so I think I need to bring some colour in on the splashback.. but my builder has a small range. I want to stick to large tiles to reduce the grout.. Re: {Dawn} New build in Pakenham - HELP COLOUR SELECTION (Pi 13Nov 02, 2014 3:04 pm So these are the exterior colours I am looking at but I'm finding it hard to decide, particularly for the guttering and window frames. This is an example of my façade, though my render will be around the window, and bricks over the garage door and porch. Also the two windows will probably just be one larger one. Also I will have a line of windows beside the front door to bring light into the entry foyer. Bricks: Boral Horizon - Mocha Roof Tiles: Low profile dark blue or dark grey (not sure what my builders range is yet) Garage Door: Don't know? It will be sectional, probably blue or cream Front Door: Don't know? Maybe bright blue Guttering, Fascia, Downpipes: Leaning towards woodland or jasper http://colorbond.com/colour?Category=AFB135BFD2F04AA7AC74F7BC384B9489 Although maybe I should look at something darker or with more blue like monument or ironstone? I have considered something light for the fascia like paperbark. Window frames: Probably same as the guttering. Render: Bright, cream, off white of sorts. I don't know any names of colours. Re: {Dawn} New build in Pakenham - HELP COLOUR SELECTION (Pi 14Nov 02, 2014 4:15 pm I love your inspiration pics, especially the tiles in your first bathroom pic!! It loks great. Don't worry about making the kitchen boring, you can easily jazz it up with awesome brightly coloured pendant lighting (so easy to change down the track if you get sick of the colours) or add coloured accessories to add some interest. Re: {Dawn} New build in Pakenham - HELP COLOUR SELECTION (Pi 15Nov 02, 2014 4:34 pm Good luck for you colour selection appointment, so many decisions! Charlston, we must have similar taste, I loved that first inspiration pic bathroom, tiles and bath. We're going for something similar in our ensuite with different lay out, out shower will be behind the bath so both get use of the window and natural light. Custom build Northern NSW viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72217 Re: {Dawn} New build in Pakenham - HELP COLOUR SELECTION (Pi 16Nov 03, 2014 7:06 pm Thanks guys! Yeah I love that pic, I'm thinking of doing my whole bathroom in the one patterned tile 600x600 like that, but still not decided. So hard I took a heap more pics on the weekend, and I swear the tiles change colour everytime I see them. Hope the builder has some good ideas. Awww.. my façade picture didn't work, need to change the format. Re: {Dawn} New build in Pakenham - HELP COLOUR SELECTION (Pi 17Nov 06, 2014 6:39 pm So had my colour selection appointment today, which was changed at the last minute and became a floor plan/variation discussion prior to actual drawings being done. So, still have to pick all my colours.. but I did get to see my carpet choices (will be upgrading to Cat 2) and also found out the tiles I like, matte is builders range, but gloss will be an upgrade.. so possibly will end up going matte. I'll put some pictures up soon. Also found out the façade will have two rendered sections, so need to find a second render colour. Re: {Dawn} New build in Pakenham - HELP COLOUR SELECTION (Pi 18Nov 08, 2014 10:00 pm Still struggling with colours! But thought I'd make it a bit easier by using Michelle's template.
Main colours throughout Internals Ceiling /Cornice - White Walls - Off White (still need to pick a colour) Skirting / Architrave - White Windows / Reveals / Frames - Aluminum, possibly woodland grey or similar Internal Doors - White, plain faced Window Treatments - Leaning towards curtains, but haven't made any decisions yet. Flooring - Tiles: Still deciding between these tiles, will be 600x600 matte in one of the lighter three colours throughout Carpet Only in the bedrooms, will be in this style but still need to choose colour (this is a Cat 2 upgrade) Lighting Not sure, probably standard battens throughout, possibly oysters (Will upgrade after house is built) Kitchen bench top - Caesarstone in white shimmer or ocean foam (one of these two) *ocean foam is the left hand slab ********************************* Externals Roof - Low profile, concrete tile in light to medium blue/grey Gutters - Monument? Ironstone? Woodland grey? Fascia - Paperbark? Ironstone? Downpipes - Monument? Woodland grey? Eaves - Only to porch and front facade Soffit to underside of Eaves, Verandas & Portico’s - White? Posts - Two pillars to porch will be rendered. Considering either a dark brown, light tan or dark blue/grey colour Masonry Walls - Boral Mocha bricks Cladding - N/A Balustrade - N/A Windows - Woodland grey aluminum Doors - Feature front door with horizontal glass inserts (thinking a bright blue colour) Garage Door - Dune, Paperbark?? Driveway - Coloured concrete in dark blue Re: {Dawn} PLEASE HELP ME - Render & Facade options (pics) 19Nov 09, 2014 1:27 pm Facade
So this is the artistic impression of my facade, except that my bricks will be over the garage, with render to the posts and the window face. Also, I'll have some windows beside the front door as per the elevation drawing below (though I'll be having two windows on the bedroom, not one big window). The bricks will be Boral Mocha (the picture's are Brown Terrain which is somewhat similar). For the light render considering colours like, pale parchment, hog bristle, grand piano Re: {Dawn} PLEASE HELP ME - Render & Facade options (pics) 20Nov 09, 2014 5:28 pm Can't decide on a second render for the posts. I like this house with mocha bricks and the light render, I think the colour is pale parchment. http://robertandaranea.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Facade I'd get the gutters to match your roof and pipes to match the paint - otherwise they become a feature. Nice pick with the paint colours! 1 35335 6 57610 Soak wells and electrical run in happening this week! Summit has told me they will relocate the laundry plumbing after the walls are completed. I'm actually pretty happy… 13 38029 |