Some building advice please.

[Tizzy]

We have three builds starting this year but when we initially settled on design and builder we were planning to sell on once built, so were happy to go with minimal powerpoints, acrylic bathroom sets, cheaper tiles etc.

Now that these houses are being rented out, I need to be sure these family homes are slightly more functional for ease of rental and maintenance. Presumably there are certain specifications we should factor in now? The meeting with the builder to settle on the fittings and specs occurs soon.

I've only ever extended before, not built from scratch, so can you help me get a list of stuff together we should factor in now?

I know we should change all the powerpoints to doubles. Maybe even add a few more.
That we should ask for special edging to go on the corners of plastered walls so they are tougher and don't chip (don't know what they're called).
Is it better to recess the lighting in the main rooms? Throughout the home?
Are acrylic bath and basin really that hopeless in rentals. Ours are acrylic in the ppor and they are about 12 years old and look ok but I do look after them.

Please let me know what you think in terms of toilet cisterns. Initially we were just putting in the cheaper ones with the porcelin bowl and plastic lid/seat and cistern. Should we pay the extra for the full porcelin stuff?

There will be remote control double garage doors. Air con. The wardrobes will be built in. The landscaping is factored in already and there will be undercover outdoor areas. Would you put security lights outside?

Main advice I need is about those things to remember to factor in for inside.
Thanks in advance.
Tiz

 

[sailor]

Hi Tizzy, so glad you posted this thread...it will be helpful to me with my reno of the new (AKA old) block of flats we just bought. So my thoughts are:

Security screens
Fans
Deadlocks for windows and doors
Double power points (as you mentioned)
Wooden blinds (I think they last longer than curtains)
Easily maintained garden (slow growing trees)
Fold-out clothes line
Paved/concrete areas (saves on watering and mowing)
Forget the garbage disposal (haven't had any luck with these in rental properties...too many incompatible items get stuck)
Shower curtain, rather than glass screen

I'll look fwd to see what others post here too!

 

[GIDDO]

Good morning people,
Here are my suggestions.

Lamnipanel and acrylic base in shower.
Easier to clean, and won't leak. No grout to discolour and fallout. No mould to get in the joints.

Decent sized doorways and hallways to minimise damage from furniture moving in and out. And don't let the builder mislead you about the cost of a wider doorway - it is not all that much. As long as it doesn't compromise the function of the room with furniture positioning, wider doorways can make a room look larger too.

Windows - watch how big they are especially in the lounge room. It can be hard to position furn. Also windows cost more than walls if you count in the cost of curtains etc.

If going for downlights, which I like, - be careful to get models that have decent lampholders so bulbs can be easily changed.

I have had the experience of downlight fittings being mangled because of this. They look bad when dangling from the ceilng.

I like tiled floors, but naturally keep 6 r 8 spares.

Tenants like auto roller doors, split air con and will pay a surprising amount extra per week to have them.

You may also consider extra TV point and internet point while they are wiring the house. Shoudn't cost much, unless the builder sees it as a profitmaking opportunity.

Happy new year to you and everyone.

 

[Tizzy]

Excellent ideas!!! Thank you so much. I hope everyone else will add to this after the holiday festivities wind down.

 

[chrispy]

Shower screens NOT shower curtains. I have had to replace 4 vanities in block of flats because tenants take down shower curtains or do not pull them, water then goes on vanity unit and they are ruined in a very short time.

Cheaper to put in opening door shower screen.

I use metal frames around doorways and solid brick, preferably exposed brick for walls where possible as the brick eliminates painting and does not show marks. Tiled floors and tiled vanity tops.

I use the laminated timber vertical blinds, as real timber has to be treated and looked after so has limited life with tenants, laminated needs no maintenance.

Good luck with your venture

Chris

 

[handyandy]

I go for the shower curtain option (in units). The reason is that we replace these every tenancy to give the bathroom a lift.

We install ceramic pedestal basin with wall cabinet to ensure longevity of vanity. The problem with the acrylic cistern and/or vanity top is where tenants park cigarets on the edge and you end up with burn marks.

We also fit mixer taps everywhere where appropriate, namely bathroom basin, laundry tub, kitchen sink.

DO fit double power points everywhere, they should be the same price as singles. Also, we use the Clipsal 2000 series power points and light switches. These have a cover plates that can be removed for painting, making it easier for cutting in.

I like downlights but avoid them in rentals. Tend to be difficult to fit in concrete units plus also need to fit many more than normal fittings. We fit lightfittings that generally have no cover over the bulbs so that tenants can change the bulbs without having to remove lenses (which they then don't replace and then get lost or damaged).

We fit fluros in the kitchen and also install rangehood (vented if you can). We replace the rangehood if it gets to gucked up, so don't a lot on an expensive one. Have found that replacement filters are 2/3 of the cost of a cheap unit. ($99)

Fit stone bench tops rather than formica. Have had a number of formica tops damaged by careless tenants using the bench tops as choping boards or putting hot things straight on the bench. Stone is the same colour throughout so damage is less noticeable.

Vent for bathroom to outside. Tile all the bathroom to the ceiling.

Insulation to walls and ceiling, may already have been specified as part of councils greening efforts.

We fit venetians and netting rather than curtains. Have found that curtains tend to be a personal thing. As per Sailor wood is good but a bit more expensive. If we fit verticals then we don't fit netting (sliding doors and the like). Get less wear out of verticals then venetians.

Fit privacy handle on at least the main bedroom door and if target tenants are share or older kids then on all bedroom doors. This should save the doors and frames being hacked to fit small catches.

I am sure theres more but have to go take the dog for a walk

Cheers

 

[Muz]

Ask your builder

Now that these houses are being rented out, I need to be sure these family homes are slightly more functional for ease of rental and maintenance. Presumably there are certain specifications we should factor in now? The meeting with the builder to settle on the fittings and specs occurs soon....Tiz

Hello Tizzy,

We are going thru the planning stages of building rental properties at the moment. Mention to your builder that the houses will now be rentals and I'm sure they will have many ideas as well. We mentioned to ours we wanted functional, easy care, hard wearing etc and they have been great.

Good luck

 

[monoply]

2 phone points minimum. Almost everyone has a computer these days, so you need multiple phone points.



Cheers
mono

P.S. Ive got 2 power boards with total of 14 outlets plugged into one power point, because there is only one single power point in the room. (Im renting) I know it its probably overloaded.

 

[willair]

Please let me know what you think in terms of toilet cisterns. Initially we were just putting in the cheaper ones with the porcelin bowl and plastic lid/seat and cistern. Should we pay the extra for the full porcelin stuff?

Tizzy,only my opinion but i would go with the full porclien set up
also check to see if the dishwasher has power and plumbing to the area.
good luck willair.....

 

[Peter 14.7]

As someone who has designed 200 homes I suggest you suit the market.

We are presently renting I can add what made us select her was:

AIR CON Very Cold here and the idea of wood stove to start and run was all too hard

LOTS OF STORAGE

DISHWASHER essential for us yuppie types

What we dont like is

LACK OF POWER POINTS

ONLY ONE PHONE POINT stupid in the age of internet

RUBBISH HOTPLATES solid electrical type

NO EXHAUST IN THE WC a stupid $30 dollar saving

Agree totally wiht tha wide hallways and easy access arguement. I would go so far to suggest panelling for the lower half of the walls over plasterboard.

Regards, Peter 14.7

 

[monoply]

Good point regarding the easy acess for rentals. With tenant moving in and out, its very hard not to knock and scratch walls, etc, when there are tight corners and that sort of thing.

Cheers
mono

 

[our obsession]

Eaves and other matters...

Building...are we on our own about eaves? We built two places, eaveless and we feel bad!

I know they are IP's but there is a huge welling desire for us to look at putting eaves on the next, we both think the current tendency looks boxy and wrong...and damn ugly and un-Australian...

We will figure that out, but eaveless is a nasty, cost cutting measure..the circumcision of our houses.

Security doors on our next build.

Villaboard to wet areas... www.jameshardie.com.au/products/internallinings/villaboardlining/ if we put that in, in place of plasterboard we need not wet seal (flexitray etc)

No tiles, no tiles, and no tiles...laminated or aqua panel in conjunction with the above... www.laminex.com.au/pdf/brochures/aquapanel.pdf

Extra phone lines, as people have said, key lock windows..a double roller door (remote)...not tilt a door, on recc of guys that have been repairing/servicing these doors.

We like natural gas ducted heating (put in at construction), plus nat. gas hot water, and a gas cooktop with electric oven.

We will put in a dishwasher from now on. (I will personally never have one..but I'm a little different ) It will go in the IP.

Double powerpoints, as recc..and best of luck on their placement

No tiling, and no pavers...never, ever.. but will consider pebble crete concrete for next build, but haven't cost anything yet..

www.homesolutions.com.au/suppliersite.asp?bid=238

Had previously put in decking...pergola area will now be concrete.

Evaporative airconditioning will be put in at construction...we maybe building in Swan Hill and they will need a good cooling system. If it's a unit we may just put in split system (used Mitsubishi last time), but you can use "search" here to get more feedback on brands and satisfaction...

The house itself will be 3 bedroom/ensuite/WIW/kitchen-dining with separate lounge...(no tiles)...double garage, brick with colorbond roof....and eaves we hope.

Plus I am having a good read of:

www.buildingsmart.org.au

www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/news/index.htm

www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/1517-home-page.asp

(see energy efficient page in above)

www.buildingcommission.com.au/www/html/558-welcome---a-guide-to-designing-acessible-homes-asp

and also this, I'll stop at this because I think you just fell asleep?

www.homesite.com.au/new-homes-and-land/tips-and-guides/new-housing-sustainability-regulations

Just our thoughts/experience,, and our builder(s), and our handymen's contributions..have fun building.

 

[Peter Parker]

2 phone points minimum. Almost everyone has a computer these days, so you need multiple phone points.

With many people on ADSL, does anyone know if it possible to get phone points with inbuilt ADSL filters and a seperate internet outlet?

This would be much neater than having a dangling ADSL filter and cable hanging off the point.

Peter

 

[Davidr]

With many people on ADSL, does anyone know if it possible to get phone points with inbuilt ADSL filters and a seperate internet outlet?

This would be much neater than having a dangling ADSL filter and cable hanging off the point.

Peter

Since building from scratch consider a central splitter (Eg). This means no more filters. ADSL lines are ADSL lines and phone lines are phone lines.

David

 

[Peter Parker]

Or, to make the house future-proof possibly a hollow skirting board to allow flexibility for a multitude of cables, whether it be phone, data or future optic fibre. Unfortunately many such installations seen in office buildings are bad decor since lids don't fit properly, wiring is exposed, etc. ADSL might be big now, but it might not be in 5 years, so it's better to allow for a range of wiring, control and data delivery methods.

One could go further to home automation. However anything that involves removable adaptors, switches and remote controls is landlord-unfriendly due to the risk of losing a remote control or midnight calls if the remote's battery dies!

Hence it's probably better to provide a basic no-frills house (that doesn't require instructions to live in) and consider home automation as an appliance the tenant buys, much like a TV (given there are such things as plug-in home automation equipment that require no wiring changes).

Peter

 

[Tizzy]

Thanks everyone. There are some good ideas worth investigating here. Its interesting too to see that some ideas that are popular for the east coast don't get used as much in Perth. eg the idea of lamipanel/moulded showers is not so common here.Tiles are still very popular, though they are bigger than they used to be. I've seen some rubber kitchen flooring and some vinyl. Kitchens seem to have a lot of the glass splash back around and yes dish washers. Though I'm struggling with the concept of my tenants getting a glass splashback and dish washer before me.

The separate internet/cable/phone lines are a great idea. Garage doors tend to be sectional remote. Although theres a few cedar tilt around now.

Outdoor paving probably will be a poured limestone look. Not sure that plain concrete will look good enough. But I hear what you are saying about brick paving.
Would love a water saving idea for front landscape and nature strip in particular. As one of the houses is on a corner there are two stretches of nature strip and normally that would be retic and lawn but given the water restrictions, any other ideas? Houses will be elevated and overlook an attractive parkscape/play equipment so front garden has to be well laid out and very attractive. Possibly with a feature fountain.

The prospective market are definately family's with one to three kids who are probably waiting for their own builds to complete. Area unlikely to attract the young professional singles as its 40 minutes out of the city. Too far from the capaccino strip.

Thanks again everyone for your input and please do keep adding if you think of anything else at all.

 

[The Y-man]

The prospective market are definately family's with one to three kids who are probably waiting for their own builds to complete. Area unlikely to attract the young professional singles as its 40 minutes out of the city. Too far from the capaccino strip....

Ok, in that case a dog friendly / dog proof back yard.....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Tizzy]

Hadn't considered the whole pets thing. Do I really have to Y Man ?? Not really keen on the mess they tend to cause.

 

[Peter 14.7]

Agree with Spiderman.

Technology is changing so much who knows what IT we will use in the future.

Our problem is the only phone pint is in a wall 1m long in a three way interestion between two doors and the entry! Even if you just wanted a phone you would have to go the old wall mount and stand to use.

We have had to run a cable in to the office nedroom and then spilt to ADSL and home line which is wireless to the two other phones.

Lots of good ideas, We are building two rental soon so thanks.

Peter 14.7

 

[Peter 14.7]

Hadn't considered the whole pets thing. Do I really have to Y Man ?? Not really keen on the mess they tend to cause.

I find well checked tenants with dogs are often long stayers and appreciative. Obviously you must a have a yard and strict rules.

Peter 14.7