Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum Re: Your Home 3Sep 16, 2011 9:55 am https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=44762 My Owner builder journey extending a 1930's Bungalow Re: Your Home 9Sep 18, 2011 11:57 am House - Lockup completed 23rd December 2011 - Painters are in!!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37261&start=0&hilit=Blaxland Re: Your Home 12Sep 30, 2011 7:12 am That's is actually a very sound point there Hills Guy. One size never does fit all In Perth people building on the Ocean build there for the views. (Same for the Hills area) That means in most cases the house faces West and with big areas of glass on the west side also. An absolute recipe for disaster as far as Solar design goes but I can certainly see why they do it and would do the same thing. Why build in a location with a spectacular view if you dont use it? In cases like that a lot more "assisted" Green technology is needed to make things liveable as well as some smart design. (But then again maybe people in these multi million $$ coastal houses can just afford the massive heating and cooling bills and dont give a rats) However the Urban planners or Developers that design all these new "Suburbs" with land holdings facing the wrong way in the middle of nowhere have a lot to answer for. https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=44762 My Owner builder journey extending a 1930's Bungalow Re: Your Home 13Sep 30, 2011 1:07 pm On a similar note I read in the Manly Daily Real estate guide at the weekend that the Australian Bureau of Statistics has found that new freestanding houses in Australia have an average floor area of 243.6 sq m - the biggest homes in the world ! Approx 10% bigger than the US figures. Other countries referenced were 137sqm in Denmark ( the largest in Europe ), 187 sqm in Japan and 177sqm in Canada. These Australian figures were attributed to us having a much lower population density than other parts of the world and that we have a larger land mass plus smaller population. On these forums I regularly see floor areas of 300-400 sq m mentioned and even some over the 500 sqm mark. I'd love to see some sort of poll here comparing floor size , no. of people living in these homes and total energy costs ( gas plus electric bills ). I think some of these bills would be huge. Stewie Re: Your Home 14Oct 01, 2011 8:54 am True Stewie, space is a luxury item that comes at a high environmental cost. After living in a caravan for the last 3 and a half years whilst we build, our 'wants and needs' balance has been seriously questioned. I have realised my needs are well below what I used to want. Steve Re: Your Home 15Oct 01, 2011 9:38 am As mentioned above covenants are too restrictive...eg I wanted a Surfmist roof for thermal reasons but council refused as 'Surfmist isn't permitted in their council area'. Then a neighbour's house was started a matter of weeks behind this one and sure enough they have a Surfmist roof!! By then it was too late to change as the whole colour scheme would need to be rearranged, bricks/gutters/fascias/etc. I also wanted a split skillion roof where the southern side (bedrooms/bathrooms) was higher and had opening louvre windows to light that side of the house naturally and also allow good airflow in summer. Again, council wouldn't agree. Now a year later there's a house with this exact roof built in the next street. Have to admit it's with the builder I spoke to back then, so my guess is he took my ideas and somehow got them through council. Just about every house around here has black roof tiles (except that one Surfmist roof) and on a hot day it's amazing to watch the heat shimmers and listen to the aircons running all day and all night. While I had aircon installed (post handover) it will only be used for winter heating as it's the most cost effective and only needs to be run for around 30-40 minutes per night because of all the insulation. Re: Your Home 16Oct 01, 2011 11:35 am Yes, in our council also ( Warringah ) , Surfmist is on the banned list as well which seems crazy from an environmental view although I have seen the impact that a light coloured roof can have on neighbouring properties regarding glare so I am not totally surprised. Quote: I also wanted a split skillion roof where the southern side (bedrooms/bathrooms) was higher and had opening louvre windows to light that side of the house naturally and also allow good airflow in summer. Again, council wouldn't agree. What were the reasons the Council gave you for rejecting your split skillion roof ? Too high ? Out of character with the suburb ? We are tossing up this scenario too or going for a standard 20º pitch hipped roof or a flat roof with a parapet at the front. Stewie Re: Your Home 17Oct 02, 2011 12:50 pm Re Stewie D's comment, our rural property is 500 square metres. and our utilities are not to bad. Water - all free - rainwater only and enviro septic tank. Gas - hot water and cooking only - about 4 bottles a year Electricity - $500-600 per quarter - I know many others in smaller houses with bills this size or larger. Given that our house isnt the ideal environmental build, I think my use of resources (3 adults and 2 kids) isnt too bad. We hope to get solar panels soon to offset the electricity, and have started vegi gardens and chook pens to supliment the food. We cant go "off grid" entirly, but we will make a bit of a dent in our consumables. Re: Your Home 18Oct 02, 2011 1:13 pm Stewie they didn't give a reason for either the Surfmist or roof style not being approved, other than 'it is not permitted within this council area'. Then several months later both were approved on houses closeby, the Surfmist roof house would have been approved before mine, our blocks adjoin for 8 metres so it was possible to watch the whole construction and the split skillion is a block away. Maybe a Surfmist roof might be create a glare problem in hilly areas, but it's as flat as a table here. I don't feel the split skillion is out of character, it's a new estate so I think it follows modern trends and adds a bit of character where not every house has the same 25deg roof. There is ONE two storey house in the entire estate...now that sticks out!! There are no covenants in regards to roof style/colour/etc/etc it was the council building inspector who made these claims. At the time I had hoped to build a curved roof house but finding a builder with some knowledge of this type of roof was impossible so I went to plan B which was a split skillion only to end up with plan C...a 25 deg pitch with hips/valleys but I still got the raked ceiling (although the builder stuffed that up too)!! Better luck next time!! Re: Your Home 19Oct 03, 2011 9:21 am @ Happy Camper_au It seems more than just a few of council approvals/refusals seems to come down to personal preference or opinion on the Bulding Inspector or town planners part as to what constitutes an acceptable design. More than once have I had to go into bat for clients when their DAs have been refused seemingly at the whim of the approvals officer despite very well put together applications on my part including very detailed Statement of Environmental Effects with numerous references, photos etc of nearby properties ( some right next door ) that far exceed Council guidelines yet have been approved in recent years. I find their lack of consistency to be the worst part of dealing with Councils. @Hills Guy That's not too bad for utility bills for an older house. We are still in our original double brick 1947 bungalow in original condition and our bills are averaged out over two years for two adults and one kid as Water - all mains supply for the house but some rainwater for our gardens - $270 per q. Gas - all mains supply hot water and heating only - $300 per q Electricity - cooking and general use -$200 per quarter. I can't wait until we start our major renos as we would hope that these would all fall considerably. Stewie Re: Your Home 20Oct 11, 2011 9:40 am In a similar vein about long term sustainable and smart building practices is this guide from Landcom and something that a lot of people looking to build don't think about too much- the long term implications by making a house more adaptable. http://www.landcom.com.au/content/publi ... lines.aspx This was linked to an article from the weekend Home supplement in the Telegraph on Saturday. It basically covers what some of the baby boomer generation are looking to do at the moment- build a new house for immediate living with a slant to living there over a longer than the normal house tenure 5-7 years. Given the high price of buying a house to start with ( house unaffordability ) coupled with kids staying at home well into their twenties and the high cost of moving , homes are being used by several generations for a much longer time. Therefore these homes have to be designed accordingly. - Direct and level access from the garage and front door - Front door at least 850mm wide - Internal doors at least 820mm wide - Internal corridors at least 1000mm wide - Main facilities on the ground floor - Space in the bedrooms such as 1000mm wide either side of the bed - Bathroom at least 2400 x 2400mm and no hob in the shower - At least one bedroom on the ground floor All this may lead to bigger homes but ultimately less stress on local services and the need for less homes. We are looking to do our big reno in the next year and with the prospect of having three generations under the one roof we will certainly be looking at some of these design points closer even though our preference is to go smaller rather than bigger ( our hands are tied somewhat with ageing parents needing to be looked after) We will still be making the home as sustainable as possible regarding energy and water consumption and passive solar heating etc. Stewie We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 17312 Thanks mate. Yeah good points! Leaning towards Option 3 to get a bit extra space in the cabinets but not going too crazy high (and expensive). Would require a mini… 13 40689 Broker here - legislation says that every true broker must put the clients best interests before theirs so in theory they must offer you the best options for you on their… 2 46323 |