Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 5Aug 14, 2020 1:32 pm Electrics / Aircon From my understanding Hallmark uses an outside company to do this work for them and a consultant works out of their selection showroom on the gold coast. However because we were doing our selection in April 2020 those consultants worked remotly and communicated with us via email and phone. This worked for us as it gave us some additional time to work through the plans and understand what we actually wanted. As i mentioned earlier, when I originally asked for a quote I asked for an allowance to be made for LED's thoughout and Fans in every room. This allowance was $2600, not surprisingly this wasnt enough. I had factored in $2000 more for pendants and extra plugs etc. but we ended up spending closer to $5500. The consultant started of providing us with the standard plan and her recommnedation (about $7500 extra) so we took her recommendations and started removing things we didnt think were necessary and added some things we wanted. We will be using the front room as a media room so we needed extra plugs and tv ports, we also added plugs in pretty much every room and honestly i dont think we went overboard. We didnt do a lot of outdoor lighting as we just didnt have the money for it but we knew thats something we could do after at a similar cost. The most exciting add on was the LED strip light behind the stove and the pendants we got to select from Beacon lighting, they seemed pretty happy to source from anywhere reputable (they just charged slightly more than retail price). Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The most expensive addition to our home however is our ducted aircon unit. From the start we knew we had to have ducted aircon, we sleep in seperate rooms (im an ealry riser and he stays up late) so we woud have had to have three small units (bedroom one, two and living) which would have been innefitient and still costly so we decided to go all out for a proper ducted system. When we were comparing builders, the other builder used Samsung models and Hallmark use's Daikin. Eletrician friends of mine recommended the daikin as it was more efficient and consumed less power but it was a little bit more expensive. We also paid to have 4 zones not just the standard two, to minimise waste. That did however cost another $800. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 6Aug 14, 2020 8:02 pm We cut site this week! After a lot of waiting our lot is now very flat. Seems a lot bigger than it was before it was cut. Next week is supposed to be sunny all week so hopefully we will have a slab. So far only two other houses have started, two doors down has just been bricked up and the house opposite of them just got a roof. We have been doing drive by's every saturday just to check in on progress and it seems like every week the other two houses look really different. the house two doors down probably only started 5 weeks ago and already looks like its nearly lock up time. Our builder says that they are currently running on a 16 week average finish but my sales agent told me that the sites he sold average more like 13 weeks. Hopefully some of our neighbours start soon, all lots in our stage have been sold since home builder was announced in June. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 7Aug 24, 2020 9:04 pm Slab done: Last thursday our site was prepped and ready for concrete, our site supervisor was nice enough to send this picture through of the prep work letting us know that the weather was looking good and that they would pour concrete the next day. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And then on the Friday the concrete was poured, I have to say when we first went to look at it on Satudray i felt like it looked way too small. But apparently thats what everyone says. Our slab is shorter than the house next next door but we also have one less living room but we are glad to have the extra back yard space. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Another two sites started this week bringing the total to 5 sites being active. Hoepfully soon we will have a few more so we dont have to live in a building site for too long. Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 9Sep 10, 2020 3:05 pm Roof and Windows. We had roof tiles delivered friday last week and by Tuesday the roof was done and today the windows went in. They also did a lot of wiring and plumbing which is exciting. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 12Oct 04, 2020 10:31 am Anni B Hi Joshua99 Thanks for starting your blog. We are considering building with Hallmark, and your posts have been so very helpful! How is it all going, any updates? Hi Annie, sorry its been a hot minute since I've updated. Work has been a bit hectic. Its going really great we have now reached lock up. We also received our garage door and our kitchen today (mildy exciting!!!!) I have to say Hallmark have been really good with us, we had some bank issues early on and they were very patient with us. Our neighbours are actually also building with Hallmark making it the third Hallmark house in the street so far. The more houses go up in the street the happier I am with our choices. So far i think we have the smallest house but the prettiest in my unbiased opinion Our front door is stuck in Victoria i believe but we have a temporary door which cant be opened. Happy to talk more about hallmark if you have specific questions (i went a little over board in my research) 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 ⋅ Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 13Oct 04, 2020 10:58 am So I thought I'd write a proper update since its been a while: We are now past lock up, we received our garage door which is a deco wood casuarina embossed door. From a far it looks genuinely like wood unlike most colour bond doors. It also matches the oak door the most (ours is however stuck in Victory due to supply issues) which i wanted to keep consistency. In terms of bricks we had the choice of either an Austral bricks range or a PHG range, either way you had to pick your main bricks and feature bricks from the same brand. So we picked the Onyx PHG bricks for the pillars and the driftwood grey double height as our normal bricks. They are very grey but its a good neutral colour which is what we wanted. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ In terms of our kitchen, now this is by far the most exciting bit because so far the main living area has just been an open room making it hard to visualise anyone let alone us living there. We agonised over our choices but I'm still so happy we got everything included that we really wanted. I have already gone into detail about our changes so i won't babble on too much. When we did colours for the kitchen we picked Lustrous Elm from Laminex as the finish for the bottom cabinets and Polar White for the top also from Laminex dual colour was a $300 upgrade but I think it brightens up the room a lot and makes sthe kitchen feel more modern. Similarly to the bricks we had a choice of Polytec or Laminex but both colours had to be from the same brand. We also chose to go handleless for the top row of cabinets which made no price difference. Our Stone choice was Ocean Foam from Ceasar stone for the entire house (kitchen, bathrooms and laundry) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 14Oct 13, 2020 9:00 pm A few small updates: Our bathroom cabinets have been delivered and installed. We chose to stick with the standard cabinets however added shaver cabinets. Our builder had two standard sinks one is a square drop in which seemed very small and the round semi drop in bowl which we preferred. Caesar stone was also standard, unlike the kitchen it all arrived pre built. Colour of the cabinet's is Botega Oak. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We have also had our facade rendered and cladding added, painter has started working outside so hopefully the facade will come together very soon. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I was also called by our tiler to meet him and run through our tiles to make sure the right things got delivered. (I didn't get a photo of the tiles but below is our selection. Tiler told me that it would take him about a week to complete the work and then the painter can paint the inside. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ They seemed to have started in the wet areas but we have privacy glass in the bathrooms so hopefully this picture will do for now. Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 15Oct 21, 2020 7:16 pm Tiles and paint work The order in which a house gets built is a bit perplexing. We had the tiler out to do the wet areas, the skirting boards went down (no main floors though) and now the painter is painting away. All while the electrician hasn't been around. Below are pictures of our bathrooms main and en-suite. Floors are the larger grey tile like our laundry in previous post. Not too sure whats going on with the drawers in the en-suite... Like ⋅ 3 comments ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ In other news our front door is still stuck in Victoria. We have been told by the builder that they have 3-4 doors without window panels. However as there is no other window in the entry it would make the hallway very dark so we will have to potentially wait till after handover to receive our door. Apparently builders are starting to have issues with suppliers as demand grows and supply from over seas stalls. Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 16Nov 03, 2020 8:03 am So close to being done. We are now in the final 3 weeks before handover which is just mind boggling. We have received a practical completion inspection date of November 19 with handover to be within 7 days after that. The house is now looking more and more like you could live in it. Its funny how small things like fans and lights make it less like building site and more like a home. This week we stopped by to take a few pictures and neither of us really wanted to leave. To say we are ready to move in is an understatement. Since our last update, painting has completed, electrical is almost finished, kitchen bench tops are in, bathroom fittings are done (except for glass screens). Kitchen The Kitchen is almost finished and it looks amazing. I'm so happy we made all the little changes that we made, the countertops look chunky and solid, the splash back gives an amazing texture and the lighting makes such a difference. They still have to install the range-hood, again we are glad we went for the under mount look, much fresher and cleaner that the steel range hoods. The oven also still has to be hardwired and the under mount bin under the sink is being replaces (handle on the cupboard was in a stupid spot). We also spotted the wrong tap has been installed in the kitchen, not our upgraded shnazzy one. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen sink and rubbish bun underneath, the cupboard on the left pulls out the bin, however the handle was placed in the middle which you have to bend down to reach. Looks strange and is also not practical to use so we have asked the builder to replace it. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our upgraded Kitchen tap Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bathrooms Bathrooms are practically complete with now just the shower screens missing. Tiling looks amazing, I was worried it would be too dark but I think it looks very modern and clean and its a nice contrast with the white bench tops. Our bathrooms are pretty standard, standard cabinets, standard fittings (except the shower head in the ensuite was an upgrade and the shaver cabinets). Toilets were also an upgrade but the standard ones are super cheap and don't look very nice. Main Bathroom Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ En-suite Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ En-suite shower with upgraded shower head. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Whats still to go. I've been told that aircon is being installed today and the tiler is coming back to tile the main floor area this week. As already mentioned the shower screens need to go in (i'm assuming that happens late because its easy to break) kitchen needs a few last things done. Additionally the hallway closet has not been installed and the carpets are still to go and the driveway. We have also notices that the storm water pipes that lead to the street are both damaged because tradies keep driving over them... I've been told that they will get replaced just not till the end to prevent it from happening again. We have booked in someone to do fencing, they will start before handover so that we can move in straight away and do landscaping. Now that its all a bit real I have to start planning the move which is very exciting. Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 17Nov 08, 2020 5:48 pm We have a drive way! Our driveway has been poured this week, which is the last thing that needed to be done outside. It looks nice and clean and fits in with the rest of the facade. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The electrician also came back to finish off a few power points he had missed and do the aircon ducts. The actual external machine has not been fitted yet. Tiler also also almost finished the job, he just has to come back monday to grout the tiles. We will have to add some colourful furniture to brighten up the grey's but that was also kind of the point. This way it's a bit of a blank canvas that wont age badly. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We still have carpet's, shower screens, aircon unit and the hallway wardrobe to go. As well as some touch ups and minor fixes including some of the kitchen things previously mentioned. We are now well and truly in the moving stage, we have just ordered a dishwasher and various other bits and pieces as well as organising our back yard's landscaping. I'm starting to pack so we can move in as early as possible. Again just a little bit excited. Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 18Nov 15, 2020 3:04 pm Four more days till PCI The last week has been relatively slow, tiler finished off grouting (kinda), the hallway closet was installed and we now also have shower screens installed. With PCI on Thursday there is still a bit to go:
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 19Nov 15, 2020 3:44 pm What we are doing post handover Mainly to save money and reduce our mortgage we will be doing a few things our selves after handover. The house will be ready to move in and functional but we will do a few things first before moving in. Fencing We asked our builder to quote for fencing just to see what they would charge and oh boy, no surprise here. They charge a premium we got quotes $7k .... so we chose to find someone to do that for us after handover and it will only cost us about $4k. We will have to have this done straight away since we have a dog and can't move in without fencing. Hallmark were nice enough to allow the fencer to start before handover. Landscaping As both our neighbours are still building we will only be turfing our back yard at the beginning, this way nothing out the front will get destroyed by tradies and their utes etc. We have opted for Buffalo turf and a premium top soil as our soil is very clay heavy, which will be delivered and we will do the landscaping our selves to reduce cost with the help of family. This will cost another $2k, it could have been cheaper if we chose cheaper lawn (which the builder probably would have done) Blinds and Curtains We never entertained the idea of the builder installing our blinds as everyone always says how expensive it is. Instead we went to spotlight last week because they had a 50% member sale on select blinds and curtains including day/night blinds which we will use in all the bedrooms except the master where because the window is so large we will have to use a traditional blackout curtain with a rod. We spent $500 instead of $1000 or more if the builder did it for all the bedrooms. Because the bathrooms have privacy glass i don't think we will need curtains there and I have never really seen the point in blinds in the living areas. Wardrobes As mentioned before we deleted all wardrobes from the house and saved about $2200. We have ordered Ikea PAX wardrobes for the master walk-in and bedroom 4 which we designed specifically for us at a price of $1400. This includes having them delivered and installed by ikea. rooms 2 and 3 wont have wardrobes for now as they will be a guest room/study and our media room. Re: Hallmark Homes Edge 188 Queensland 20Nov 29, 2020 4:49 pm PCI and handover kinda We had our PCI date Thursday last week. Nothing out of the ordinary, we had the right tap installed and the oven arrived also. However aircon and front door was still missing. We went through the PCI process, it took about two hours. Builder explained the various warranties and what not and then we marked all the defects. Honestly there wasn't a huge amount, bigger things included a scratch on the hallway closet sliding door which was very obvious, en-suite shower door doesn't close properly and one of the kitchen over head cupboards didn't open properly. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our supervisor also explained that our door most likely will arrive in January and the aircon unit shouldn't be too far away. Our Bank then did a valuation a week later (they hadn't booked one in and didn't show up to PCI so we had to remind them...) this slowed handover down a bit. We were supposed to get keys Thursday thats just gone but since the payment hadn't arrived with the builder they didnt want to settle. Our site supervisor took pity on us and gave us access to have a few things delivered that were previously booked and we couldn't change. We also put our blinds up (which wasn't painful at all....) and installed the dishwasher. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And then we spent most of friday afternoon and saturday filling our back yard with 12 cubic meters of under turf to flatten the back yard and allow turf to grow. Saturday evening we laid turf and now we are regularly watering it in so it survives the heat. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I'm hoping we get keys monday or tuesday so that the internet can be connected and we can properly move in on friday. 1 10465 Building Standards; Getting It Right! We bought a house in 2015 advertised as a 7/2/2, 4br up, 3br down (7br), and to date, it’s a great house. However, we’ve just had it valued and it’s come in as a… 0 11960 I think you are getting different numbers because they all just based them on "other jobs" even though each job is unique. Often, with builders, unless you're speaking to… 3 3158 |