Currently sold on the design plan Dawson through Porter Davis, this will be my first time building and I have been trying to do a lot of research prior. Is there any knowledge anyone can provide me prior to meeting with them the first time?
The upgrades i'm looking at doing is as followed;
- UPVC Double Glazed Windows
- Colorbond Roof
- Roof Insulation upgrade
- Wall and Floor Insulation
- Ceiling Fans
- Ducted R/C AirCon
Have you had any issues with the above with them, also any issues adjusting plans slightly. With the Dawson they have a study nook next to the WIR. Id prefer to remove study nook and extend the WIR?
Any advise or knowledge would be greatly appreciated for my first time!
you can do fans after hand over as there much cheaper get your builder to put an extra wire in.
dont even discuss enviromental upgrades until you get your enviromental report.
its often much cheaper to upgrade insulation than double glaze. For the cost of double glazing you can buy plantation shutters or blockout curtains that give the same heat transfer result.
We got fans in the bedrooms, the living area and the alfresco. The bedroom ones were 350 each and the living room and grand alfresco ones were 500 each. In hindsight we could have done these post hand over at third of the price..
As for extra insulation, I heard it is very expensive through PD, if you want insulation between rooms and not outside then if you have a double story house then ask PD to add the extra that you want for the first floor and do the second floor post handover, it's just climbing up to the attic and shoving insulation down the walls.
I totally agree with Bruce that instead of double glazing it would be preferable to get high end shutters. The double glazing is expensive!!!
Thanks for the info, thats 2/2 for the fans! We're building a single storey so I'm going to have to get everything done at once, I will try push back on them with pricing externally as well. End of the day i've got a while to sit on this and dont want to compromise on things just because they've added a nice markup.[/quote]have a look at my blog and the discount i got before signing.
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