Building new IP, help us decide which plan

[poppy]

I am having difficulty choosing a plan for a new IP to be built in deception bay.

I had wanted to build the Narcisa with Tamawood, but after getting the plans done was quite annoyed to find that the house was way too small for the covenants (North Ridge Estate), due to the web site including the patio in the floor area, this is despite us advising them of the covenants and the need for approx 200m of living space without garage etc. Live and learn I suppose.

So back to square one. The block is about 24m frontage x 30m and is south facing, so ideally the main windows and living areas will be to the rear. Front setback I think is 6m, although you can pay council $1000-$2000 extra to have it a little further forward. So we really need a house that is square more than long.

I've come up with a few plans I like still with Tamawood. Tamawood have already done the soil tests etc and I HOPE they won't charge me to redo the plans, however we only paid $300 for the plans and haven't signed anything so it could be a lot worse.

The house I would LIKE to build is the Luton.

Pros: Well suited to block size/shape and orientation. Has north facing living area which should also help with energy rating. Main bed also north facing. Living area and main bed have sliding door to under-roofline outdoor living. 3 seperate living areas. Main bedroom has it's "own" study/5th bed separate from other bedrooms. Kid's rooms have their own living area and are seperate from Mum and Dad. I think this house would be really impressive for the average family.

Cons: Price - about an extra $17,000. Cost will be $137,900 for the "comfort" spec + the Habitat extra of $20,700. The extra cost may not translate into extra rent $.

The other houses that I'm looking at with Tamawood are cheaper by around $17,000 - $18,000. For example the Woodvale or the Dayboro. Size of these are similar to the Luton.

Pros of Woodvale or Dayboro: Obviously price. The rent achieved may also be similar or only slightly less than the more expensive home.

Cons: Not ideal for our block orientation (Note: the plans can be mirrored). Living areas would be east facing. Numerous west facing windows. Main bed south facing and no sliding door. No outdoor living area (we would have to spend extra money on this, and it would not be under the roofline it would probably be a covered pergola). Not much separation of parents and child's rooms. The less-than ideal orientation may mean getting hit up for for extra building costs when it comes time to pass the energy efficiency tests.

Had some trouble linking directly to the individual plans but here is the web site, do a search and sort by name to find the plans.

http://www.tamawood.com.au/plansearch/designsprices.asp

Thanks for your opinions, I know a few of you have/are building in Brisbane or with Tamawood so may well have something to offer.

 

[poppy]

PS a couple of other things I wanted to ask of anyone who's built in Brisbane.

-Do all builder's not do phone points in QLD or is it just Tamawood?
-Is it normal not to put exhaust fans in the bathroom in QLD, or again just a Tamawood thing?
-Why does it seem everyone in Brisbane has security screens on their windows? Is this a must have?
-I've heard that the way some water tanks are plumbed (mains top up), they can't be used for watering gardens etc, is it common practise for builders to try and sneak this in to save money, and should I try to get it written down that the water tanks will not be mains top up.

Thanks again

 

[sue78]

actually, ideally the backyard or living areas to be to the Nth East...in QLD it's hot 10 mths of the year so it's nice to have the living areas sunny in the morning but have the nth easterly breeze in the afternoon....If it's straight nth then there's no breeze or shade.

 

[sue78]

L shaped design like glenvale will be perfect for the block. As long as all the bedrooms are to the west and living rooms are south, north and north east.

you actually have so many designs to choose from.

I found out when we did the electricals that exhaust wasn't included which is unusual but then they have many good standard inclusions anyway. It's better to buy your own exhaust and pay the elctricians extra to fit it...you can get those 3 way tastic lights and they look way smarter.

Even when it is included...I always upgrade.

Phone points - usually one is included
Security screens makes insurance cheaper, it's safer and tenants prefer it anyway...i think it makes good sense anyway....Oz is not like 20 yrs ago where you could leave your front door open. We have security screens and alarm fitted. Maybe I am just safety conscious.
Not sure about the water tank but is that even allowed by the government?

Did you see the carpet range in the habitat? it's really ugly. The habitat is value for money but things to consider is the cheap letterbox, the carpets and a couple of other things. I ownder if you can pick and choose what you want etc

I am also looking at Tamawood again for my next project. Prices have gone up considerably...some thinsg are better but overall they're still really annoying to deal with. In the comfort range now...you can't upgrade anything. You have to buy 'value' just so you can pay extra for upgrades....it's a rip off....Before, you could pay a $500 admin fee and upgrade as much as you want. The svaing grace is that the colours are really nice in the comfort even now you only have 3 designs to choose from! A big improvement from before.

I'll list some plans for you.

 

[sue78]

I am looking at the Helmsley for my next project. It's a nice design and value for money...you'll have the Nth easterly breeze along your entire living areas and patio in the afternoon with the rumpus room facing nth. Most of your garden will be NE with about 3metres to the back fence...well goo for clothesline as it will get the sun.

Then the rooms will block out the western sun.

The living room is massive...I wouldn't combine it as a living/dining.

You could get rid of the multi purpose room and extend Bed 1 and add a luxury ensuite with spa. You will still have 5 bedrooms anyway.

It's the same price as the Narcisa but the plan is much better value imho. The house is much bigger.

actually...you could choose any of the designs where the garage sticks out then just move it to the side of the house to take advantage of the frontage.

for example...Rochester...cut out the garage and put to the side of the house....14.93m + 6 mtrs is still only 21mtrs...Rochester is actually perfect coz all the living rooms windows are either nth or sth. Only thing is you'll have a sunny master bedroom in the morning.

By moving the garage to the side...you'll need to pay extra for the bigger house but you need a bigger house anyway for the covenant.

the hillgrove/myrtle type designs are also good...you just need to move the garage and maybe swap bedroom 5 and living over. they can do things like shrink length and increase wiidth.

Seaforth (the bay windows on either side would make the house really nice from the front...you don't even need a porch thing)
Dayborough (cheap only $483 psm)
Hamilton (move the garage in line with the house to make the living rooms bigger) extra $6k approx

 

[poppy]

Thanks for taking the time with your responses Sue.

Love some of the plans you suggested.

The Seaforth is great. At 235m2 - garage of 40m2 we might just get developer approval as is. I don't know how flexible they are. As long as the size does not include the alfresco area.

Some of the plans are just slightly too long with the 6m setback. Would you pay council a couple of thousand to decrease the setback or pay a couple of thousand to Tamawood to slightly alter the plan?

I haven't seen the carpets... are they really bad? The standard colour selections for the bricks and roof etc look fine as you said. Apparently with the habitat package you can't change anything but I think you can leave stuff out and have it credited back eg the covenants are for colorbond fencing, and so we can't use the timber fencing in the habitat and apparently they will credit that back.

I spoke to the guy at Tamawood about the tanks today. From what he tells me I assume that all water tanks in brand new homes in QLD cannot be used for gardens they are subject to the same restrictions as mains water. The government has made it law that tanks must be plumbed in to toilets etc and in such a way that they are topped up from the mains and therefore conveniently the govt. can now stop you using your rainwater tank any way you like. I asked is there any way around this (eg in our Adelaide place the tank is plumbed in but when the tank runs out of rainwater there is a switch and then the toilet runs off the mains. In this way the tank can still be used on gardens because you are not using mains water). Apparently no way round this tough luck you have to fork out for tanks you can't use. I am also concerned about the possible need to maintain the tanks to "drinking water quality" for the tenant if the tanks are plumbed into everything.

The Tamawood guy also explained to me that I can get extra power points and phone line and so on direct from the electrician when they do the house. I am a little concerned about this, as I do not live in Brisbane and I am obviously not able to vist the site to hassle the electrician about powerpoints. I am a bit concerned that the electrician will decide he can't be bothered dealing with us and doesn't care if we need extra stuff. We might not even get contacted prior to the electrical work (and we really won't have a clue when it's happening). There will be nothing in the contract to protect me from ending up having to do all the extra electrical work etc at the end myself at great cost. I guess the major problem would be if the phone trench is not completed as driveways and so on could have to be dug up. I know in our Melbourne place you have to organise the phone trench yourself and if you didn't read the contract properly and/or do not organise it yourself at the correct point in time - tough luck you are digging up your front yard later.

Thanks again Sue!

 

[BoatBoy]

Hi Poppy, my builder says we can have whatever we want, just some things are cheaper to get organised ourselves.

We always knock a few thousand off by sourcing our own stuff and organising things ourselves.

He is good enough to say " we can do this for XX, or you can go here and get it for less and we'll fit it for you".

But he always forgets to remind us about bloody security lights.

Of course we get the bank to lend on the builders price, it just puts a few grand in the slush fund to get the house up and running for the first couple of months.

The unspent funds stay in re-draw, so no interest paid on it.

Tamawood/Dixon in Rocky have a bad rep. for being insanely slow.

Dave

 

[sue78]

Poppy,

I didn't have a clue about the rainwater tanks but sounds just ridiculous!

I must say Tamawood has some really decent tradies...the elctricians were really good. They will communicate with you via email. You will get an electrical plan and price list, then you just draw in all the extra thing syou want....write it on the price list and email it back to then. They require a deposit and final paid after everything's done.

For example...builders never give enough power points....it's handy to have a double power point on the kitchen bench area.

The carpet is sisal but the really ugly type...maybe you can pay an extra few dollars per sqm for something better. Get them to take a photo of it and email it to you.

How far do you have to be from the back? you don't want a side garden? it's just better to save the extra costs and gow ith a plan that fits.

 

[poppy]

Thanks Boatboy,

Whilst normally you can save money by doing things yourselves, as we do not live in Brisbane, we are trying to limit what we have to do ourselves (ie due to the need to spend on accomodation, time off work, and the stress on our marriage!). Some things, eg stuff that can be organised over the phone and does not require access to the house, we are happy to do ourselves (like fencing, as long as we get an outdoor powerpoint for the fencers though)

Tamawood/Dixon in Rocky have a bad rep. for being insanely slow.

What is insanely slow in QLD terms as I hear that they are very fast up there?

 

[poppy]

How far do you have to be from the back? you don't want a side garden? it's just better to save the extra costs and gow ith a plan that fits.

I think it's three metres from back that is required. Some of the good Tamawood plans that are l-shaped seem great for the block but just half a metre too long! But maybe I should just pay the 1.5% plan modification fee. I guess having room at the sides is handy sometimes (eg to back a trailer through for mulching the back yard), but in reality tenants probably use it to park old cars on the back lawn.

I'll ask for a pic of the carpets, thanks. Luckily I do like sisal, so hopefully will be able to live with the standard stuff.

Thanks a lot!

 

[BoatBoy]

Thanks Boatboy,

Whilst normally you can save money by doing things yourselves, as we do not live in Brisbane, we are trying to limit what we have to do ourselves (ie due to the need to spend on accomodation, time off work, and the stress on our marriage!). Some things, eg stuff that can be organised over the phone and does not require access to the house, we are happy to do ourselves (like fencing, as long as we get an outdoor powerpoint for the fencers though) ?

And lights, tiles, carpet, A/C ,stoves , turf,security screens to name a few.

What is insanely slow in QLD terms as I hear that they are very fast up there?

I spoke to a lady in council today who started hers just before mine.

They went on a long holiday expecting to return to a finished home.

Her house has just had frames stood up.

Compared to:

I'm living in mine adding the finishing touches.

I think like most buiders they maybe take on too much work, and only pay something like $16/day for finishing late.

Saying that, my builder is still fixing things on the defects list, (little annoying things that average Joe won't pick) so could have gone another week.

Funnily enough, I was told this house got an "above average" rating which is
apparently the highest rating given.

Obviously no one can build a "good" or an "outstanding" house anymore.

Dave

 

[poppy]

What do people think of the Clarendon or Paddington from Tamawood? Will they look too narrow (15.5-16m) on a 24m block?

I am finding it hard to make a decision!

Thanks

 

[sue78]

I think it's three metres from back that is required. Some of the good Tamawood plans that are l-shaped seem great for the block but just half a metre too long! But maybe I should just pay the 1.5% plan modification fee. I guess having room at the sides is handy sometimes (eg to back a trailer through for mulching the back yard), but in reality tenants probably use it to park old cars on the back lawn.

I'll ask for a pic of the carpets, thanks. Luckily I do like sisal, so hopefully will be able to live with the standard stuff.

Thanks a lot!

I know what you mean...in adelaide usually all the back yard is to the rear. But in QLD it's diff...often gardens are to the side. No you can't park an old car on the side!.....you build one side clos eto the boundary and the other side left for yard...it gets fenced so you can't park a car in the yard..

you won't like this sisal....trust me and the colours aren't nice either....it's the type where there's like two colours in it...you might see in a commercial warehouse. Not in a new home.

well, to me 1.5% isn't much if it's thousands cheaper than other builders. I've always had to modify plans with them...i always pick the weird blocks and they never have a design I like that fits. I will be paying 1.5% for the next project too. I think I'll go with tamawood again, the Helmsley design. It's $30k cheaper than another design I like from Orbit.

Dave - I built with tamawood and they finished on time .

Coral home is good too. Laid down slab 30/05 and I have handover next week so just under 16 weeks....that's industry ave anyway.

 

[yo yo ma]

Coral home is good too. Laid down slab 30/05 and I have handover next week so just under 16 weeks....that's industry ave anyway.

I just had a quote from Coral to build on the Sunshine Coast... they said it will realistically take 11 months to build... at least they are honest but that is just too long.
Steve

 

[poppy]

Regarding the water tanks I've been doing some searching and read the following:

http://nrw.qld.gov.au/water/saverscheme/pdf/rainwater_tanks.pdf

http://www.qwc.qld.gov.au/myfiles/uploads/level 5/FS_rainwater_v5.pdf

Basically depending on the way it is installed water restrictions MAY apply to the tanks, but it seems the way Tamawood do it (I remember they mentioned the float valves), water restrictions will apply to their tanks. However, it seems if done the other way, there is then a pump that I must maintain (possibly more expensive to install that way too?) Don't know yet if Tamawood will do it differently even if I'm willing to pay though.

 

[sue78]

I just had a quote from Coral to build on the Sunshine Coast... they said it will realistically take 11 months to build... at least they are honest but that is just too long.
Steve

really? that's way too long...is it a 2 storey house?

 

[yo yo ma]

Just standard 5 bed single story place Sue... Going to see if they can do it any quicker & if not go with someone else... have to choose within the next 2 weeks
Steve

 

[poppy]

yo yo ma,

Is that 11 months from slab pour or total time from getting plans done etc?

Does theft/vandalism cause many delays in Brisbane? In the estate we are building, there is quite a lot of existing homes, but the closest neighbour is two houses away so I am concerned. Have you had many issues with break-ins Sue?

 

[yo yo ma]

Hi Poppy
I am pretty sure he said build time including any delays for rain (because they are so busy)... I will confirm with him when I get a final quote in 2 weeks time... it does sound excessive though...
I will post the answer when I confirm.
I have found that most builders are recommending that I should do landscaping & fencing myself.
Steve