Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 16, 2008 6:01 pm Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 4Nov 16, 2008 10:46 pm Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 6Nov 16, 2008 10:53 pm Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 8Nov 17, 2008 8:35 am Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 9Nov 17, 2008 8:42 am Hi cynarion,
I wasn't meaning moving the crossover or flipping the house, I just meant moving it over on the block a bit. I'm interested to see the shape of the block, I didn't realise it was an odd shape. I'd ask about other appliances, the Baumatic that are standard now are much better than the Technika from all reports. They should let you change them. Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 10Nov 17, 2008 10:33 am Our home-building experience has been pretty much backwards since day one. Just a second, let me part the mists of time for you...
insert harp music here:: Way back when we were first considering moving house, we overheard a lot of young couples talking to sales consultants. One recurring conversation we heard was this: <b>Young Couple: </b>Hi! We're so excited to be on our first home building adventure! Our excitement is palpable and infectious, don't you think? <b>Sales Consultant: </b>Yes, it is! Especially because that boundless enthusiasm suggests I can probably sell you stacks of add-ons and inflate my commission! Let's talk turkey. <b>Young Couple: </b>Okay! Well, we've chosen our dream home. It's the (insert house name here). It's so perfect for us. giggle:: <b>Sales Consultant: </b>Excellent! A wonderful choice. Where are you planning to build? <b>Young Couple: </b>Right here. Here's the plan for our block of land. We bought it six months ago, and the titles come through next month. Oh, I'm just so excited! <b>Sales Consultant: </b>Um...you realise the house plan you've chosen won't actually <i>fit</i> on this block, right? <b>Young Couple: </b>What? cries:: ### We saw a few too many dreams dashed for us to go about things the same way, and since to us the house we were going to build was far more important than the location, shape or condition of the land upon which we were going to build it, we decided to choose the house first. Eventually, we settled on the Mercer 35 by M3tricon. At 25 metres long, the house takes up a significant chunk of land. On the standard 32m block with a 5m frontage, that typically left us with 2m of back yard. As a couple planning to have a family at some point, and with me a keen gardener, that wasn't really going to cut the mustard. So we sought extra-long blocks so we could have a back yard for kids and garden. We didn't find many blocks that size (with the exception of Manhattan Place in Tarneit), although in estates with cul-de-sacs the two blocks at the end of the cul-de-sac were frequently really long (up to 50m in a couple of memorable cases). The continuing search took us more than six months, by which time we were wondering if we would ever find a block of land upon which to fit our house. Finally, we found one at Renaissance Rise. We put a deposit down in October 2007, with titles expected in March 2008. Just the right amount of time. Then we went to see the home sales consultant. He pointed out that the base cost of our preferred façade was due to increase by $5-8k in roughly six weeks' time. If we wanted the house at the current price, we should probably sign now. (An old tactic, but a good one--especially since we did our homework and found his claim to be true.) The complicating factor was that we had only three months from the date of deposit to sign the final contracts, or we would cop the increase in house price anyway. Still, that put the signing of the final contracts sometime in early/mid March, which would be maybe a couple weeks before the land was titled--but no big deal. M3tricon would let that one slide. Cool. So we signed, went through prelim contracts, signed the final contract on March 12, and then proceeded to wait through a series of delays for a further eight months before our land was actually titled. ### One component of the contract is site costs. We were told by the sales consultant that because we were building a M3tricon house on M3tricon land, he was able to offer us "fixed site costs". These costs, he told us, would never change, and M3tricon would have to wear any additional costs incurred beyond those specified in the contract. What we found out many months later is what he meant was "the costs become fixed after the second soil test". ### Throw in some bank dramas (we had to get our mortgage drawn up, approved and signed within five days) and by the time we signed the mortgage M3tricon hadn't yet done the second soil test--because they couldn't do it until the land is subdivided and titled. However, because we'd already signed our final construction contracts, the cost of those was factored into the amount of the loan from the bank. ### Now the second soil tests have come back, we're facing a $13,000 shortfall in the amount of money provided by the bank because our slab has been upgraded from H- to P-class and we have additional provisional costs for rock included as well. Only problem is, theoretically the bank only provides mortgages based on the amount quoted in a <b>fixed price contract</b>. If we're getting variations at this point, clearly the contract price is not fixed. So now, thanks to our backwards experience, we're in yet another legal and procedural grey area: can M3tricon change the price of our contract after we've signed it? If they can, how can we get the bank to change the amount of our mortgage? If they can't, what happens and who ends up wearing the costs? M3tricon treats these variations as "Pre-Construction Variations", which is not a term I've heard used by a bank before; they tend to talk about "Pre-" and "Post-<b>Contract</b> Variations". So why is the process not standardised? Why isn't there one set of rules for both banks and construction companies? Have we not learned from the financial crisis that allowing organisations to determine the rules themselves is not a great idea? Anyway, enough of a rant. ### The upshot of the whole thing is that we're now trying to decide whether to engage a solicitor to tell us whether the variations are legal or not, and if they aren't what to do about it next. It's all rather irritating, but one way or another everything will get done. Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 11Nov 17, 2008 10:41 am joles Hi cynarion, I wasn't meaning moving the crossover or flipping the house, I just meant moving it over on the block a bit. I'm interested to see the shape of the block, I didn't realise it was an odd shape. I'd ask about other appliances, the Baumatic that are standard now are much better than the Technika from all reports. They should let you change them. We've actually heard the opposite about the appliances, that lots of the new ones have been failing. We've also investigated it with M3tricon and they've said we have to get what is in our contract, so no chance of changing anything. But we seem to get different answers to each question every time we ask someone new, so who knows! --Mike Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 13Nov 17, 2008 2:02 pm Now am I right on thinking that Alan and Mike are married to sisters?
Mike, check out the appliances. We were with M but pulled out. But they did change our appliances to Baumatic and the dishwasher stayed Technika.... I asked Tamara Spencer, (Studio 501 boss) and she even changed the dishwasher over. Tamara is possibly the most professional and helpful person in the entire organisation. She is outstanding. Love your latest entry..... Mercer is a great plan, look forward to seeing your floorplan and if you've made any changes. Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 14Nov 17, 2008 8:42 pm joles Now am I right on thinking that Alan and Mike are married to sisters? It's usually a race to see whether Alan or I can say "long-suffering" faster. joles Love your latest entry..... <b>Young Woman: </b>We're so excited, aren't we honey! <b>Young Man: </b>::non-committal grunt:: <b>Young Woman: </b>That's right, just so excited! So we're looking at building (insert house name here). <b>Sales Consultant: </b>Okay. The price for the façade you've chosen is roughly $180,000 before upgrades. How are you going with a mortgage? <b>Young Woman: </b>Oh, we don't have one yet. We haven't spoken to the bank. Have we honey? <b>Young Man: </b>::non-committal grunt:: <b>Sales Consultant: </b>Hmm. Well, I can put you in touch with our mortgage consultant...hang on. Mortgage Consultant arrives:: <b>Mortgage Consultant: </b>Hello! I'm terribly enthusiastic because I smell a trailing commission in the air. <b>Young Woman: </b>I was just telling my sweetheart here how excited we are, aren't we? <b>Young Man: </b>::non-committal grunt:: <b>Mortgage Consultant: </b>:twisted: Eeexcellent. Let's talk about what kind of loan you can get. So, miss, how much money do you make a year? <b>Young Woman: </b>Oh, around $15,000. I'm a waitress. <b>Mortgage Consultant: </b>Hmm, hmm, yes, okay. And you? <b>Young Woman: </b>He makes around $35,000. Don't you honey. <b>Young Man: </b>::non-committal grunt:: <b>Mortgage Consultant: </b> Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Site Plans & Construction Drawings 15Nov 17, 2008 8:47 pm Well, here they are: the plans to our dream home.
First, the site plan. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ As you can see, there are a few issues that confound any free choice of orientation. The first is the shape of the block. It's not rectangular, so whatever way we site the house, we're going to end up with at least one boundary out of square. Secondly, there's the fact that our crossover is on the right. On a normal block, we could have asked for it to be moved to the other side had we wished, but in this case there's a drainage channel to the west (left on the drawing), which means the parking cutout at the side of the road ends in front of our house, about halfway across our frontage. If the drawing doesn't make it clear enough, you can see it in this photo. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This means there's no way we can move our house over to the west without either laying a driveway right across our front yard (no thanks, I'd rather minimise the driveway and maximise the planting space), or separating the garage from the house, or sacrificing the one big space we do have on the block (the back left corner) to open out a little space outside the living areas. In the end we had no choice but to site the house right where it is. So now, the construction drawings for the house: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ There are only a couple of significant changes from the standard 35-square floorplan:
We extended the outdoor room to the edge of the easement at the rear of our block (also a standard option). We liked the ensuite in the Jardine (another Metricon house) so much that we stole it and replicated it in our place. Metricon liked <i>our</i> idea so much that our ensuite is now a standard option for the Mercer. We changed the windows in the ensuite to match the ones in another display home we liked: we now have two really little windows one atop the other. We added a really wide but short window high up on the wall in the master bedroom, above the bed. We changed the windows on the north (rear) wall of the house to make them smaller (we can't have eaves on the north side of the house), and tinted them to keep the worst of the sun out. We plastered up the wall between the rumpus and the family room, and added an alcove in the rumpus in preparation for turning it into a home theatre room (eventually). We also included soundproofing insulation in the walls of the rumpus room, and thicker solid mdf doors to the rumpus room. We added two openings in the wall between the family room and the sitting room. The theory is that at some point we will add shelving to display our souvenirs and knicknacks. That's about it as far as changes to plans go. For the sitting room, we actually plan on turning it into a library--there'll be shelves on every wall, and the family computer will be in that room too. As far as why we chose the house, it was for several reasons, but the three clinchers were that it had somewhere to put the computer that made sense (no study, but it still had the space available), the family room wouldn't look stupid if carpeted with the rest of the house tiled, and the retreat in the master bedroom means that when our kids are older and desire their own space, we can retreat to our room and let them have the run of the house rather than banishing them to their bedrooms. Also important was the fact that the bedrooms are big enough to fit a single or double bed and a study desk. So that's us. I'll get onto colour selections another time. By the way, in other news about the whole "variations" issue mentioned above, the only person we've come across so far who's had an objection to them is our mortgage broker. The contract we signed specifically stipulates that these items will be added to the contract via variation, and realistically we knew they were coming and we fully expected to pay for them--it's just now proving to be difficult to get the money out of the bank. But really, when has that qualified for being a surprise? Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 17Nov 17, 2008 9:11 pm rock hey there the pic with the blue car if you look across thats my house!!!!! Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 19Nov 17, 2008 9:52 pm Do you mean this one?
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Because that's to the north, up closer to Bridge Inn Road--it's not part of the Renaissance Rise development. I'm not sure which estate it is, but it isn't Renaissance Rise. Next time we're out there, though, we'll look out for the only place with a roof. Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Frame Complete: M3tricon Mercer (01/02/09) 20Nov 17, 2008 10:11 pm cynarion Because that's to the north, up closer to Bridge Inn Road--it's not part of the Renaissance Rise development. I'm not sure which estate it is, but it isn't Renaissance Rise. Next time we're out there, though, we'll look out for the only place with a roof. If it is south of bridge inn road then it is certainly renaissance rise. Because I looked at a block in that area right near the hotel on the corner. This is 100% true. You can not hang anything on steel frames. very frustrating 8 8012 This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 28312 Hi, I have a steel frame house which was built 2 years ago. When you are down stairs you can hear clunking noises when someone is walking around. We were told if you… 0 4451 |