We have just (on the weekend 6th Oct) signed the contract with Metricon for Vantage 38, 42 after all the changes, with Aspire Façade for a KDRB. Our site is on top of hill over-looking a valley (full constructed valley) with uninterrupted view till the horizon. Due to this we chose to a façade without a front balcony instead we have a rear balcony. This is going to be our family home for the foreseeable future. Now I am looking forward for the selections.
Inclusions / Offers: We locked the price in June 18 so we were able include the below packages for $5k:
- Designer Mode 2 with $15k studio M voucher (initially thought of going with Tesla solar battery storage but in longer the return on investment period was around 10 years for our location and for budgeting decided to use $15k voucher for upgrades at studio).
- Luxury Inclusions (fairly standard now)
- Designer Luxury Extras which includes – Full height to wall tiling to main ensuite, titled recess to main ensuite, 40mm edge Ceaserstone with mitred end panel (only one side) to kitchen island bench and 20 LED downlights
Looking ahead I would appreciate any input or thoughts on the below points:
Insulation – currently we have Sarking to all external walls, R4.0 for ceiling and R2.0 on all external walls. I am considering – question is am I over-thinking:
- R2.5 Batts instead of R2.0 (already included) all external walls
- R2.5 Batts for internal walls for Home Theatre & Study / Bed 5
- R2.0 Batts for internal walls Bed 2, Bed 3, Bed 4
- R2.5 Batts between floor (might not get this if we get thick underlay for carpet upstairs. This is more to reduce noise from kids running upstairs).
- SP10 ComfortPlus Glass for South and West side of the house given our house is NW orientation.
AC (multiple zones vs single/three phase) – three zones for AC; luxury inclusion is 2 with single phase. Three zones been - A: Upstairs, B: Family, Dining, Kitchen, Butler’s Pantry & C: Theatre, Study, Entrance Hallway, Laundry. Would I need to get 3 phase meter or single phase suffice? Inclusion is a single phase but will upgrade to 3 phase meter for free if available without the wiring.
Downlights – we have drawn up a draft electrical plan and would require 65 downlights (we would have to pay for 45 after the inclusion). According to Metricon’s 2017 price list the average price per light is $140. This is coming up to $6,300. A friend of mine just did a renovation and got 15 downlights fixed (including wiring) for about $50 each. Does it make sense to get the downlights fixed after completion or worth doing them now itself and pay the premium?
Landscaping – seems like chicken and egg. I want to capitalise the landscape cost into construction loan however currently we are sticking to the basic landscape plan to keep the DA approval path as smooth as possible. The basic landscape plan will of course not capture all the items we want from landscaping point of view. Did anyone else face this issue and how did you guys address this?