We did all our selection appointments in one day so by the time our 3pm consultation with Stratus came around we were starting to dip in energy as we had been hard at it since 8.30am. This was the appointment we were most nervous about as we had read many blogs where people had had such a terrible experiences doing their electricals, from unhelpful consultants to big budget blow outs.
Before our visit we had spent hours deciding where lights, power points, switches etc should go and drawing them on to our house plans. I found the best way to do it was to imagine myself going in and out or rooms and where I would need or like a switch or lights, phone points and so on to be.
Luckily for us our consultant was superb, he really knew his stuff and approached our project like it was his own home. He gave us great advice, took time to explain things, go through the options and even made some good suggestions. He was impressed with our drawings as it made his job much easier and also allowed us to understand why certain things would or wouldn't work.
We ended up with almost 70 down lights along with a few fluorescents and vanity lights, a batten point for a stairwell pendant, stair lights, spotlights for outside, outdoor feature lights, circuits for future garden lights, ceiling fans in outdoor room plus security system and home network and of course all the relevant power points and switches.
All in all we spent just over $16k which was right on the budget we had set. Our consultant said we'd done well as most people spend around $20k on a house the size of the Nolan 45.
This appointment took nearly 2 hours and we were very tired at the end of it but so pleased it went well, mainly because our consultant made it so easy and because we had done loads of preparation which seems to be the key.
We also met with our CSC who is about to go on maternity leave, she informed us Council were only waiting for the hydraulics plan so hopefully we will get the go ahead to start building soon.
I am relieved and excited that all the planning and decision making is over and can't wait for the build to finally start!
Well done guys. That's about what we spent on ours too for similar things. It went smoothly too as the consultant was very knowledgable and not pushy too to upgrade. My brother is a sparky so he can complete upstairs downlights after handover. We're building Lindrum 52 in Melbourne and just started bricking. Have you considered an independent building inspector?
ReplyDeleteThanks for reassuring us that the amount we spent seems about right. It's a big house so it needs plenty of light - we made sure downstairs was done exactly as we want and have left scope to do additions to upstairs at a later date but have put downlights throughout.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about an independent building inspector? We are having a steel frame so you hope that there are less things that can go wrong with it but I think I'll do so research as to what the advantages of having an independent inspection done would be.
Wow the Lindrum is a lovely house, do you have a blog or site where I can look at what you are doing?
Rachel
Hi Rachel, I jsut added a post to our page about a new gadget on blogger enabling followers to get an email when a new post is made. Makes following so much easier.
ReplyDeleteLoving hearing about your appointments. Our soil tests have just been done so we are waiting to hear what the results are... getting very exciting! I bet you cant wait til your actual build gets started!
Hi Rachel. Just saw your update to my comment! Sorry we don't have a blog about our Lindrum. I'm tempted but wife not too keen! We've started and have about two-thirds of bricks done to ground floor and doing a very neat job too. We have an excellent supervisor and so far the trades have been very good. We had a frame inspection which picked up a few things; but there's been no problem getting them fixed. M engineers are very specific about construction - more so than most others project builders - and there were a few items the framers didn't follow correctly. So far impressed by the quality of the work so let's hope it continues! So far the build process has been pleasant - unlike the lead up to contracts and getting plans right which was a nightmare. We almost gave up but loved the design and the quality of their homes seemed much better than other project builders. That's all in the past now so glad we persevered! Good luck with yours and feel free to ask me any questions!! Paul
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