Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 03, 2009 9:24 pm Just looking for others building in this suburb to compare and chat with- anyone? Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 2Oct 04, 2009 12:52 pm Ok well any others building in Newcastle??? Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 3Oct 04, 2009 6:19 pm lol there's a few I think... We're not exactly in Newcastle though, we're building in Toronto Re: HIDDEN WATERS 4Oct 04, 2009 11:05 pm Hidden Waters... make sure you get a soil report before building. Re: HIDDEN WATERS 5Oct 05, 2009 4:04 pm We have a tendor and have been told M class slab. Although I have no copy of this I did double check for our pricing and rang the sales guy to make sure and he said that it def was. Should I be getting this is writing or wait until a final tendor has been done? Have you heard something about the area? Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 6Oct 05, 2009 10:35 pm Sorry, I was just being silly with the name 'Hidden Waters' (that didn't work). Hope it didn't cause any anxiety. I'm a civil engineer so the terms 'hidden water' on a construction site cause me lots on anxiety nothing to do with your estate though. But on a serious note, you should get as much of your site conditions investigated and locked in , in writing before you sign as they can potentially cause big variations. I'm seeing a lot of big builders lock in customers at the moment to get the FHB grant without first doing the soil tests / site investigations and there will be tears in some cases not doubt. Re: HIDDEN WATERS 7Oct 06, 2009 9:50 am Ahhh sorry missed it all together! The 'waters' they speak of is a small man made pond which we are not building near- would be a disaster as both my children are allergic to mossies! We dont get the first homes allowance so no hurry here- but are first time builders so know very little about the building game, which is why I am here. Thanks for your advice! Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 8Jan 09, 2010 8:14 pm Hi Danielle, We're also building at Hidden Waters with Mirvac. We were originally going with Coral however the costs blew out and we lost confidence in them (as well as our $1600 deposit !!) Who are you building with? I would also like to chat with someone to compare notes with. Amanda Re: HIDDEN WATERS 9Jan 09, 2010 9:03 pm We looked at Hidden Waters, as well as the outlook and sanctuary and then ended up deciding on Fern Bay instead. Your tender should included the soil test report in it. I'd want to get it in writing as soon as possible, or get it done independently. From what I've heard about other people who have builty in other parts of fletcher it wasn't the soil test but the rocks that became an issue for them. The soil test report may exclude rock though, at least that is the fine print on our soil test report. We chose EB and they have been great to deal with so far excluding the oven being massively overpriced and the quote on the kitchen benchtops in essastone being ridiculously priced. Re: HIDDEN WATERS 10Jan 10, 2010 5:06 pm Hi Amanda Jane! Very excited to see someone else in Hidden Waters. We too are going with Mirvac- the Granton, what about you??? We have had tendors done and are pleased with the inclusions that Mirvac have. Very pleased with the sales guy, quick to get info back to us and always willing to help out- we changed houses and he was very happy to do so even though we had done two tendors on the original house. What lot number are you- we could be neighbours Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 11Jan 10, 2010 7:53 pm Hi my wife and i are building in Wallsend at weller ridge estate with Eden Brae currently it is in council and rough start date is end of march fingers crossed all goes well in council. Good luck with your build we have friends that live in Maryland and are wanting to build at Hidden waters or the sanctuary so will be interesting to watch this thread. Mark Re: HIDDEN WATERS 12Jan 10, 2010 8:33 pm Hi Danielle, Love the house you are building and I read in another blog you are lot 45 so we will be just around the block from each other. We are building the Meridian with Study which is on display up at Saddlers ridge. We originally liked the Southport - changed our mind and went to Coral (but costs blew out with them) then went back to Mirvac. We figure it's their estate and they can't pass the buck if things start to go wrong. We have paperwork from Mirvac which says the soil classification in the estate is M, don't know if you have this or not? Like you we are new to this and sold our house in Maryland last year and have never built before so it's a real learning curve. Anyway, looking forward to following your progress and I'm sure we'll run into each other at the estate. Amanda Re: HIDDEN WATERS 13Jan 11, 2010 1:09 pm Hey Amanda Thats funny we had the southport first too!!! My hubby loved it but I just couldnt see it suiting our block. WE hadnt looked at the displays in Fletcher so we came and looked and we BOTH loved the Granton. We have added the the alfresco on the back. I love the Meridan too. I would have picked the study option. Did you do internal access??? We sold our house too in Maryland this time last year with the view to buy in Fletcher but it just didnt happen. So we decided to look at building in August last year and we are very excited now. Do you have any kids? 2 boys here. Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 14Jan 11, 2010 3:20 pm Hi Danielle, Yep 2 kids here as well (boy aged 7 & daughter aged 3). I'm glad to know there will be other kids in the estate they can play with, how old are your boys? Your Granton will look great with the alfresco on the back and so practical too with kids. We're putting an alfresco to the side of the family room because we want to put a pool in and figure if they hit rock in the back yard where we want it to go we can always try the side yard. According to the site test Coral did for us there is rock about 1 metre down and it is sandstone. I'm pretty sure we will have internal access, we've added an extra garage as well for my hubby's boy stuff. Like you guys we looked at buying in Fletcher but at the time there wasn't much around so we decided to build. I guess it's an adventure !!! Are you still living in Maryand? We are in Hamilton at the moment and communting the kids to school/daycare (although I'm glad of the break in school hols) Re: HIDDEN WATERS 15Jan 12, 2010 7:14 pm Hi Amanda My boys are 5 and 2 1/2. Were at C/Park and yes we have been commuting to daycare as well. And we are about to embark on the 'big school' adventure so even more commuting back over that way!!! It is good to know that there will be other young families in the neighbourhood. That was the only thing were we lived in Maryland, noone in the street had kids. I love alfresco! This is one of the things I am most excited about, cant wait to sit out side eating dinner on a hot night wih the ceiling fan going! ahhhh! hahaha small things. Mirvac cover the removal of rock in their garauntee dont they? Clever thinking with the pool! Keeps your options open! Have you been to Di Lorenzo? Im going to head over later this week to have another looksee, trying to figure out what i want for kitchen and bathrooms!!!! cant wait for final plans to come back, I want the exciting bits to start lol Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 16Jan 14, 2010 11:02 pm Hi again! I only just found this thread... like I said in my other thread, we are building at lot 69 at Hidden Waters... I am stoked that there will be kid's nearby similar ages to mine! My three boy's are 6, 3 and 10 weeks so lot's of mate's already! amandajane and daniellec - if you don't mind me asking, what school / day care do you go to (feel free to PM).. Just curious as we have probably bumped into each other along the way! We are pretty much the same as both of you... never built before and we are in Maryland at the moment... we had to stay in our own place while we are building as we have two large dog's (husky and ridgeback) as well as three kids, so odds of us getting a rental are pretty slim. We looked at the Meridian with Study with Mirvac as well - my husband needs a workshop, so we were planning on converting the study, but the kids playroom in the Coral Hamilton was just to appealing to us - if someone comes over we can just shut the playroom door and the house pretends to be tidy again! We got our contract today so I am soo excited... finally feels like we are making some progress!! Nic. Built the Coral Homes Hamilton 252 - moved in 20/10/2010 and loving it!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=27215 Re: HIDDEN WATERS 17Jan 15, 2010 7:58 am Hi Nic Congrats on the contracts!!!! Very exciting times ahead. Have you made any choices reguarding bricks and the roof? I went to the tile shop yesterday- actually i went to 2- who are your tiles with? I think i have found what i want but it was at the second shop, that MIRVAC do not work with! Have to see if Di Lorenzo can get them if for me!!! It will be nice to have lots of kids in the estate- the people next to us have a little boy and next to them is a 10 year old girl. We go to the daycare on boundary road. About to start at BTAC. You????? Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 18Jan 15, 2010 11:19 am Hi Danielle/Nic, Small world, my daughter goes to the daycare at boundary road and my son goes to Maryland public across the road. I think Hidden Waters will be zoned for Glendore public but we will keep going to Maryland as it's a great school. We got our final tender and plans today which we are very excited about. We've seen a house up at Saddlers Ridge that we like the roof tiles/bricks and apparently they are in the standard range which is good to know !!! We did a drive by of the estate today, noticed lot 43 is now fenced off and looks like it's ready to go. I am assuming this would be in our stage and given the blocks were only released acouple of months ago it must have gone through council etc. quite quickly so hopefully all of ours will be the same fingers crossed. Nic we love the Coral Hamilton you are building - esp the activity room. It will be good when your kids are teenagers too and they can have their own space. We were dealing with Karen over at Coral (before we went back to Mirvac) who are you dealing with? We had an issue with Coral regarding retaining walls and couldn't get an answer as to why these were needed (except that head office said so). Re: HIDDEN WATERS 19Jan 15, 2010 12:43 pm Hi Amanda It is a small world. Prob have bumped into each other and dont even know it. Maryland is a good school too. Did you hear about N (director of daycare)???? Lot 43 is a private owner/builder. I think my hubby said he had his plans drawn up ages ago and knocked down all the trees. So I imagine he would be ready to start. Congrats on getting your contract back! Very exciting! Looks like well be in last place in the "building race" hahaha Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: HIDDEN WATERS 20Jan 15, 2010 3:37 pm This is such a small world... My middle son (3 year old) was at Boundary Road last year! He was in Buddina with Craig. This year though he will be going to Maryland Drive Preschool where my eldest son went. What's happened with Nola? Is she ok? I know she was very sick last year... I hope things haven't taken a turn for the worse for her.. My eldest son goes to St Patrick's at Wallsend. He starts year 1 in a couple of weeks... I am literally counting the days until school goes back. Amanda - yep, we are dealing with Karen as well. We have a meeting with her first thing tomorrow morning to get contracts signed. Also, in regard to council times, Coral told me that at the moment, Newcastle City Council has a 6 - 8 week turnaround on getting full approval. Fingers crossed it isn't any longer! Chris (my husband) is up at the block right now with a retaining wall guy. I am hoping we don't actually need these retaining walls - when Coral did the survey, there was a huge mountain of dirt on the block and I am hoping that now that the dirt has been removed, the retaining wall issue is resolved. I doubt it, but I can remain optimistic until Chris get's home with the quote... at which point I will probably get very very upset as I think I am in for a rude shock.. Maybe I should get a glass of Bacardi and lemonade ready, just in case . Nic. Built the Coral Homes Hamilton 252 - moved in 20/10/2010 and loving it!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=27215 |