Can't believe the build starts tomorrow 208 days or almost 7 months after buying the land at auction. I will need to change my widget to start counting how long from build start to handover and make a build label for future posts.
Optimistically would like to be in by the end of this year but realistically think it will be more likely early next year. We haven't received an estimated time frame yet, perhaps when we meet with the SS tomorrow he will give us some indication of how long the build is expected to take.
Building has started on the block one over from ours (not next door), they have had site scrape, pipes and electrical box installed. Not sure who they are building with or if it is single or double storey. It will be interesting keeping an eye on progress and watching all the other builds start and take shape. I hope to be able to pop by at lunch time tomorrow and then again after work to see what has happened and of course take loads of photographs.
Showing posts with label Pre Build. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pre Build. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
At Last At Last A Sign At Last
The Metricon Board is up!
Two sleeps until build start!
Two sleeps until build start!
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| The Board |
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| Board and Block |
Monday, May 23, 2011
Due Date Count Down
Like expectant parents we are counting down the days to our due date of 2nd June, the date of our build start. Apparently we will get a call from the site supervisor (SS) before then so we can have a site meeting and introduce ourselves. Only 10 days to go - oh and we still don't have a Metricon board yet.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Start Date For Real
Yippee yippee yay. Metricon have given us the real site start date - Thursday June 2nd. Fantastic. Looks like we are building a house then.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Finances Are GO!!!
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| Yippeeeee |
Time to start celebrating as finally we have the all clear from the bank, our finances have been approved for the construction loan. The ACC (authorisation to commence construction) letter will be at Metricon tomorrow so now hopefully we'll see some action.
I have paid the remainder of the deposit and can't wait for my Metricon board to go up on the land. There are 4 others building with M on the 30 plus blocks that I know of as they have their boards up already. I have a serious case of board envy.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Start Delayed?
Got a call from the bank yesterday explaining that our application is still with the credit department as they only received our land and property valuations last Friday (over a week after the valuer had actually been out!). Fortunately it looks like all the numbers stack up but after the last fiasco we had with the bank when we remortgaged the investment property to buy the block of land I am not holding my breath until the official papers are ready to sign. Our mortgage manager said he can organise a letter for the CSC at Metricon giving authority to commence construction which is great. Spoke with our CSC about start date of this Friday 13th to be told oh nothing will happen for at least a couple of weeks after that as we have to book your job in, place orders and organise trades. Oh so apparently they don't put the wheels in motion until they know for definite you are able to pay. Fair enough but it's slightly disappointing - nobody on our land release has started their builds yet and we were sort of hoping to be the first. I guess seeing as we haven't even paid the balance of the deposit yet we have done well to get this far as to date we have only paid $5k out of the $20+k they required.
So it's time to stop rushing, no more worrying about the clock ticking, go back to waiting and accept that we will be squashed into the apartment for at least a month longer than we thought.
So it's time to stop rushing, no more worrying about the clock ticking, go back to waiting and accept that we will be squashed into the apartment for at least a month longer than we thought.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Colour Schemes
Interior and Exterior Design - The Colour Schemes
Thought it was time to share what colour scheme we have gone for. As you will see it is mainly greys and browns accented with whites and off whites. We have purposely kept it quite simple so we can add splashes of colour after the build is complete with things like feature walls, wallpaper, soft furnishings, artwork etc etc.
Thought it was time to share what colour scheme we have gone for. As you will see it is mainly greys and browns accented with whites and off whites. We have purposely kept it quite simple so we can add splashes of colour after the build is complete with things like feature walls, wallpaper, soft furnishings, artwork etc etc.
- Carpet sisal circuit (from carpet call at studio M) similar to this one
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| Range Sisal Colour Ciruit |
- 2 Pac laminex polar white for base cupboards along outside wall
- island bench, appliance tower, over head kitchen cupboards and laundry blackened linewood natural finish (as above picture)
- bench tops and island waterfalls ice snow caeserstone, this will also be the bench top for powder room, bathroom and ensuite
- laundry bench top laminex stipple seal
- powder room, ensuite and bathroom brescia
- paint colour taubman crystal gazing (off white)
- glass splashback Bristol Mortar
- glass wardrobe taubmans abstract metallic
- timber stairs and door frames walnut
- exposed aggregate driveway bushfire
- exterior metropolis stone bricks, charcoal linea roof tiles, monument gutters and facia, dune downpipes and garage, dune water tank and cladding, silver window frames (had orginally decided on black but then felt they would look too dark against the off white walls from inside the house).
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| Exterior |
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| External Colour Scheme |
Pictures from our trip to studio M showing tiles, laminates, handles, paint colours for walls, splash backs and glass wardrobe.
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| The Interior Colour Scheme |
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| Kitchen |
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| Tiles |
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| Kitchen handles red label upgrade additional $12 each (sorry about the flash glare) |
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| Yellow Label handle for laundry and bathrooms (standard range) |
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| Bathrooms |
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| Tile samples |
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| Our Tiles |
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Variations - What We Spent at Studio M
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| Budget, what budget? |
We have decided to list some of our variation costs to prevent those of you in the planning stage from having heart failure when you are doing your selections.
- rebate slab edge to recess bi-fold door frames $240
- off white colour mortar for brickwork $2400
- grey tinted glass to front elevation $325
- deadbolt lock for rear garage door $95
- upgrade front door handle add $145
- pedestal vanity with ceramic tile kicker add $66
- chrome pop up wastes to vanity basins $50
- chrome waste for bath $35
- towel rails $70
- toilet roll holder $50
- towel ring $55
- 2 Pac gloss for part kitchen $2015
- upgrade handles for drawers and cupboards $324
- metal kickboard $270
- duct rangehood externally $380
- 2 Pac for butlers pantry $1100
- upgrade handles $72
- upgrade to wide architrave $594
- external paint colour for cladding $165
- upgrade hot water system to 360L*** $825
Look closely at your house plans, they show you have a gas hot water system included in your build. However, what it doesn't tell you is that is is a tiny tiny tiny system (18L) that would only provide enough hot water for a house with one bathroom. So if you are building a bigger home this system is woefully inadequate and unless you want to be running out of hot water all the time you have to upgrade to a larger system. Now you would think that Metricon would be aware of this and would provide a suitablly sized hot water unit in your base price and it would then be your choice if you wanted a much bigger system or one that uses solar or a heat pump etc. But no you don't find this out until the colour selection appointment and then have to choose from the upgrade options adding yet another unexpected additional cost. Hmmm.
I hope that you potential home builders find this useful as you go through your planning stage as it is so easy to get swept away by the lovely displays and finishes on offer and then before you know it you've spent so much more than your budget can stretch to.
We found that some of the standard finishes were excellent whilst others were very cheap and plasticy or just didn't look that nice. It pays to go to Studio M as often as you can before your selection appointments that way you can ask lots of questions, take your time and be prepared. But even then Metricon will find a way to surprise you with the unexpected (like the hot water system).
Friday, April 22, 2011
Ready.......Set....GO!!!!
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| Slow and steady wins the race |
Friday 13th May (dah dah daaaaaah). It's a good job we are not superstitious.
The bank have to finalise the construction loan before anything can proceed but seeing as start date is 3 weeks from now that shouldn't be a problem.
Guess we'd better pay the rest of the deposit as well.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Variations Have Come
After what seemed like a long wait the variations arrived yesterday afternoon. I opened the e-mail attachments with baited breath and trepidation as we were about to find out if we'd gone totally bonkers at Studio M. Phew after a quick read through it looks like we won't have to sell a kidney or send our 4 year old out to work to fund the project.
OK so what is the build going to cost? We had budgeted/estimated that we would need $485k just for the house and the final contract price comes in at $472k which with the inclusion of the driveway/concrete totals $489k.
We are pleased to be so close to our initial figure which we came up with after much guess work. There were a few things that we had overlooked in our budget calculations plus some additional doors and upgrades which we put in along the way so we were relieved to have actually spent less than the budget on the house and not blown the overspend out more than this by opting for Metricon to do the driveway.
There will be further costs for the swimming pool $30k, hard landscaping $12k, fencing $16k (includes glass pool fences) and lawns $10k - estimate an additional $70 to $75k. I had originally factored a cost of $100k for all this including driveway and concreting so hopefully we can bring the completed house and garden in under what we were prepared to spend. Hmm might be able to buy some new furniture after all (wishfull thinking!?).
Metricon have suggested that we may hear about a tentative start date today!!
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| What's the damage then? |
Essentially we spent $650 on tiles, an additional $6200 on electricals ($16,200 in total but we had a $10k provision in our contract), $3200 on carpet and roughly $7000 at Studio M. Giving a grand total of...........$17,000 extra on the contract price. We had estimated more like $20-22k so we feel we have done really well.
After getting some rough quotes for concreting the driveway, portico area and some pathways we have decided to go with Metricon as they were only going to charge a couple of thousand dollars more. Our reasoning for justifying paying the higher price is that it will all be completed without the need for us to wait until the house is finished, we don't have to organise it and Metricon will be responsible for any problems or issues that may arise. Sometimes the easier option makes more sense to us than the cheaper one.
OK so what is the build going to cost? We had budgeted/estimated that we would need $485k just for the house and the final contract price comes in at $472k which with the inclusion of the driveway/concrete totals $489k.
We are pleased to be so close to our initial figure which we came up with after much guess work. There were a few things that we had overlooked in our budget calculations plus some additional doors and upgrades which we put in along the way so we were relieved to have actually spent less than the budget on the house and not blown the overspend out more than this by opting for Metricon to do the driveway.
There will be further costs for the swimming pool $30k, hard landscaping $12k, fencing $16k (includes glass pool fences) and lawns $10k - estimate an additional $70 to $75k. I had originally factored a cost of $100k for all this including driveway and concreting so hopefully we can bring the completed house and garden in under what we were prepared to spend. Hmm might be able to buy some new furniture after all (wishfull thinking!?).
Metricon have suggested that we may hear about a tentative start date today!!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
We Have Building Approval
Got notification that Metricon have received our Building Approval - yippee! It has been checked for conditions by the Compliance Department and two items were found that need attention so there will be more variations to include these items. The first is rotary roof vents (whirly birds) and eave vents are required to ensure appropriate ventilation to the upper level because we are having a steel frame and roof sarking. The second item is to delete the rumble pit and connect the surface drains to the storm water line as requested by the certifier. Too easy but I guess that will cost us more money!
Sandy is off for a meeting with the bank today to look at our options for financing the construction loan. It'll be good to know exactly where we stand financially. Once all the variations arrive (yes we are still waiting to know how much we spent at Studio M!) we can finalise the loan and provide Metricon with all the necessary paperwork.
Hoping to hear about a tentative start date soon. Can't wait.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Waiting Waiting Waiting
It has been over 2 weeks since we did our colour selections and we are still waiting for the variations to be produced, costed and signed off. I emailed our new CSC who told me it normally takes 10-15 working days for them to generate the variations so it would be anytime now. Can't finalise the construction loan without the final figures so it looks like that won't be happening to after Easter now - shame as we were really hoping the build might start the end of April - born optimists see!!! I'm sure everything will unfold in its own time but it would be nice to have an indication of a start date.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Electrical Diagrams
For all of those of you out there who like looking a drawings here are our electrical diagrams. Nice looking plates of spaghetti eh!?
Click on the diagram for a bigger view.
Click on the diagram for a bigger view.
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| Ground Floor |
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| Upstairs |
Sunday, April 10, 2011
What Happens Next?
Selection appointments are all done, so what happens now? Firstly we have to wait for the variations to be generated so we can sign off on them. Then we have to provide proof that we own the land e.g title or rates bill. Show Metricon the money....once we have all our figures for costings it's back to the bank to finalise the construction loan and send that in so they can see we can pay. And also give details of who will be doing our pool. Oh yes and pay the rest of our deposit!!
We are busy getting everything quoted so we can include as much as we can in the construction loan as possible but it still feels like we are now some how holding up the process! Our house plans have gone through the certifier and are in with Council so we could have approval any time now.
Once Metricon are satisfied with all the information and have double checked the contracts and drawings again then when they have the nod from council we will be provided with a start date.
Better get some phone calls done today so we can complete the things we need to do.
P.S We have another new CSC - that is now our third one.
We are busy getting everything quoted so we can include as much as we can in the construction loan as possible but it still feels like we are now some how holding up the process! Our house plans have gone through the certifier and are in with Council so we could have approval any time now.
Once Metricon are satisfied with all the information and have double checked the contracts and drawings again then when they have the nod from council we will be provided with a start date.
Better get some phone calls done today so we can complete the things we need to do.
P.S We have another new CSC - that is now our third one.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Electrical Appointment
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!
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!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Colour Selections at Studio M
So following straight on from tiles we headed over to Studio M for a 3 hour colour selections appointment. Again the sales consultant had all the paperwork prepared in advance and was organised, helpful and very efficient.
Started with bricks and roof which was no problem as we already had them chosen and included in our final contract. Austral metropolis stone for bricks and Linea charcoal roof tiles. Decided to go with off white mortar which is an upgrade of $2000. (Have not had the final price variation yet so everything at this stage is an estimate).
Standard gutters in monument and down pipes in colourbond dune. Rain tank also dune. Standard wide board cladding in you've guessed it ... dune. Panel board garage as standard yes its going to be dune. Outside done.
Bi fold door runners recessed into floor so you don't stub your toes or trip $280 each.
Grey tint to all windows front elevation $25/sqm. There is around 15sqm glass so works out to $375.
Getting a price for concrete and driveway so we can compare. I think we looked at Bushfire? for the colour.
Then we moved on to doors - walnut stain on all wood doors and stairs.
Handles as per promo but upgraded front door handled to the 750mm as the standard one was pretty small. Guessing an extra $350.
Deadlock for rear garage door $90.
Taps, basins, shower, toilet all as promo.
Kitchen 2 pac on part approx $3500-4000
Kitchen sink was wrong one in contract so I guess that will also be more money - we only knew this because the consultants confirm your choices by showing you pictures from the catalogues which we thought was excellent as that way you get exactly what you wanted.
We had already decided on all our laminates and caesarstone so that too was easy.
Timber stairs changed from cantilever to just timber saving around $3000
Carpet upgrade to silver range with best underlay an extra $20/sqm totalling $3220 went for a sisal effect in a mid brown tone called circuit.
Not much to go now....
Glass colour for robe in master bedroom and an off white paint colour through out. Yeah we made it!!
Another drink voucher and 30 mins for lunch later the paperwork is ready to sign off.
Oh but by the way the hot water heater that is included as standard is only good enough for one bathroom so you need to upgrade to a bigger system hmm I wonder how much that will be. Surely if they are doing plans for such a big house a suitable hot water system should be included in the base price?! I think she said it would be another $700 to have the storage heater that we opted for.
Guessing we have spent around $8500 in Studio M.
We were hoping to only spend an extra $15,000 in total for tiles, colours and electricals. Given that we have spent at least $9000 so far that would leave us around $6k for lights along with the $10K allowance we have included in the contract ($16K budget for electrics). Its going to be really tight as looking at our rough plans for lighting, sockets, and switches we both think we'll need more than that especially as we want a security system and possibly home network as well.
I will do another post with all the colour choices etc soon once I have paperwork and pictures seeing as we are mid house move so it is a little hectic right now and I'm not even sure which box they'd be in!!
Started with bricks and roof which was no problem as we already had them chosen and included in our final contract. Austral metropolis stone for bricks and Linea charcoal roof tiles. Decided to go with off white mortar which is an upgrade of $2000. (Have not had the final price variation yet so everything at this stage is an estimate).
Standard gutters in monument and down pipes in colourbond dune. Rain tank also dune. Standard wide board cladding in you've guessed it ... dune. Panel board garage as standard yes its going to be dune. Outside done.
Bi fold door runners recessed into floor so you don't stub your toes or trip $280 each.
Grey tint to all windows front elevation $25/sqm. There is around 15sqm glass so works out to $375.
Getting a price for concrete and driveway so we can compare. I think we looked at Bushfire? for the colour.
Then we moved on to doors - walnut stain on all wood doors and stairs.
Handles as per promo but upgraded front door handled to the 750mm as the standard one was pretty small. Guessing an extra $350.
Deadlock for rear garage door $90.
Taps, basins, shower, toilet all as promo.
Kitchen 2 pac on part approx $3500-4000
Kitchen sink was wrong one in contract so I guess that will also be more money - we only knew this because the consultants confirm your choices by showing you pictures from the catalogues which we thought was excellent as that way you get exactly what you wanted.
We had already decided on all our laminates and caesarstone so that too was easy.
Timber stairs changed from cantilever to just timber saving around $3000
Carpet upgrade to silver range with best underlay an extra $20/sqm totalling $3220 went for a sisal effect in a mid brown tone called circuit.
Not much to go now....
Glass colour for robe in master bedroom and an off white paint colour through out. Yeah we made it!!
Another drink voucher and 30 mins for lunch later the paperwork is ready to sign off.
Oh but by the way the hot water heater that is included as standard is only good enough for one bathroom so you need to upgrade to a bigger system hmm I wonder how much that will be. Surely if they are doing plans for such a big house a suitable hot water system should be included in the base price?! I think she said it would be another $700 to have the storage heater that we opted for.
Guessing we have spent around $8500 in Studio M.
We were hoping to only spend an extra $15,000 in total for tiles, colours and electricals. Given that we have spent at least $9000 so far that would leave us around $6k for lights along with the $10K allowance we have included in the contract ($16K budget for electrics). Its going to be really tight as looking at our rough plans for lighting, sockets, and switches we both think we'll need more than that especially as we want a security system and possibly home network as well.
I will do another post with all the colour choices etc soon once I have paperwork and pictures seeing as we are mid house move so it is a little hectic right now and I'm not even sure which box they'd be in!!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Tile Selections
Our tile appointment went really smoothly, we had made all our choices in 40 minutes. We picked all our tiles from the standard range included in our promotional package creating our look with shades of grey and brown throughout.
The consultant was very helpful and had all our plans marked and highlighted in different colours so we could see which was kitchen, floor, bathroom etc. After showing her a few photos on the laptop she knew exactly what we had in mind and was able to offer suggestions.
The only things we upgraded was the edging strips to chrome (12 in total) and the grout as the standard colour is not that pretty.
As it was going to take an hour to do up paperwork we were given a tea/coffee voucher for the local cafe while we waited.
Once all paperwork was completed and signed we were given a copy and samples of the tiles we had selected.
Total spend approx $650
The consultant was very helpful and had all our plans marked and highlighted in different colours so we could see which was kitchen, floor, bathroom etc. After showing her a few photos on the laptop she knew exactly what we had in mind and was able to offer suggestions.
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| Colour Scheme for Bathrooms |
The only things we upgraded was the edging strips to chrome (12 in total) and the grout as the standard colour is not that pretty.
As it was going to take an hour to do up paperwork we were given a tea/coffee voucher for the local cafe while we waited.
Once all paperwork was completed and signed we were given a copy and samples of the tiles we had selected.
Total spend approx $650
Friday, April 1, 2011
A Day Out Making Selections
What a huge day, our minds are fried from all the decision making and high level concentration required to do tile and colour selections plus electrical plans all in one day. We set off at 6.30am to be in Robina in plenty of time for our 8.30am start so Sandy and I could chat and finalise details over a cup of tea before getting started. Contracts, plans, samples, photos, magazines, sketches and laptop in hand we had come prepared, we wanted today to go as smoothly as possible. After a lovely pot of peppermint tea at the local cafe and a few side bets on how much of our budget we were likely to spend we were ready for 7 hours of planning appointments.
Thankfully all went brilliantly even our electrical appointment. The team at Metricon were very professional, easy to work with and extremely well briefed. They had checked through our plans and contract prior to our arrival and had everything prepared for each appointment, filling us with confidence that they knew what they were doing and what we would need.
A very tiring day as we didn't get home until 6pm so I will post more tomorrow once I have had chance to process everything and have a look at how much we have spent.
Oh and a big thanks to my Mom for coming over to take our boy out for the day would never have been able to do our selections with a 4 year old in tow!
Thankfully all went brilliantly even our electrical appointment. The team at Metricon were very professional, easy to work with and extremely well briefed. They had checked through our plans and contract prior to our arrival and had everything prepared for each appointment, filling us with confidence that they knew what they were doing and what we would need.
A very tiring day as we didn't get home until 6pm so I will post more tomorrow once I have had chance to process everything and have a look at how much we have spent.
Oh and a big thanks to my Mom for coming over to take our boy out for the day would never have been able to do our selections with a 4 year old in tow!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
More Prices
Just received a copy of the final variations we asked for. The garage/storage area has been rectified giving us a credit of nearly $1250. Nice.
Wardrobe doors upgraded to mirror for $210 each
Timber and glass doors between familyroom and hallway $1848
Oh and then we were charged a $500 admin fee which Metricon waivered in the very next sentence. Glad to see Metricon are being fair, it feels like we have set a great foundation for the building relationship we are about to have over the upcoming months.
The problem with builders is they work from plans and it is all about room sizes, layout, building code etc and so they forget that for you as the client it is about building a special home, a nest from which to raise your family. I feel it is important right from the outset to get them to see it is about you as a person and not the plans. So get to know your supervisor, be on site as much as you can, chat to the tradies, build a relationship by engaging them and by explaining that room is for my little boy, that one is where we'll spend family time etc etc so they see it as a home and not just another house. Give it a try you'll be surprised how these matcho guys suddenly open up to you, telling you about their families and how they then go the extra mile to give you a top quality job. Well it certainly worked when we did the build for my business and other renovation projects so it'll be something we continue in to this build as well.
Tam biet (good bye) from Vietnam.
Wardrobe doors upgraded to mirror for $210 each
Timber and glass doors between familyroom and hallway $1848
Oh and then we were charged a $500 admin fee which Metricon waivered in the very next sentence. Glad to see Metricon are being fair, it feels like we have set a great foundation for the building relationship we are about to have over the upcoming months.
The problem with builders is they work from plans and it is all about room sizes, layout, building code etc and so they forget that for you as the client it is about building a special home, a nest from which to raise your family. I feel it is important right from the outset to get them to see it is about you as a person and not the plans. So get to know your supervisor, be on site as much as you can, chat to the tradies, build a relationship by engaging them and by explaining that room is for my little boy, that one is where we'll spend family time etc etc so they see it as a home and not just another house. Give it a try you'll be surprised how these matcho guys suddenly open up to you, telling you about their families and how they then go the extra mile to give you a top quality job. Well it certainly worked when we did the build for my business and other renovation projects so it'll be something we continue in to this build as well.
Tam biet (good bye) from Vietnam.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Finding Out The Price of Things
Greetings from Hoi An Vietnam, we are having a fantastic holiday but felt to share this gem of information.
We have a rough plan for our electicals and started to panic about costs once the number of downlights went over 70 having heard they were $100 each! Quick bit of maths tells me that's $7000 just on lights......Noooo!!! That can't be right.
So plan b quickly start to cross things out or go for what would seem to be a cheaper option. Not happy with having to compromise on our dream house Sandy made a really brilliant observation....How can we do a budget when we have no clear idea of how much everything costs, would it not be easier to just ask Metricon in advance? Genius!!! Just shoot off a quick e-mail to the CSC asking how much for lights, power points etc etc.
Got a lovley email back with the following prices:
External double power points $152 each
Outdoor lights (not flood lights) $134-$170 each (up and down light, depending on the finish, etc)
Ceiling fans $275 each (white, 4 blade, 52 inch)
Cfl downlights $105 each (full price, does not include credit for batten holder of $63)
TV point $80 each
Telephone point $95 each
Satellite/ Foxtel point? $160 each (satellite)
2 way light switch $54 each
3 way light switch $79 each
Internal double power point $63
Now doesn't that make things so much easier? So the moral of the story is if there is anything you need to know just ask Metricon.
Now we can go back to our plans with a much better idea of what we are spending.
That's all for now as we are heading off on a boat trip this morning and there is so much wonderful food I am yet to sample here in beautiful Vietnam.
So plan b quickly start to cross things out or go for what would seem to be a cheaper option. Not happy with having to compromise on our dream house Sandy made a really brilliant observation....How can we do a budget when we have no clear idea of how much everything costs, would it not be easier to just ask Metricon in advance? Genius!!! Just shoot off a quick e-mail to the CSC asking how much for lights, power points etc etc.
Got a lovley email back with the following prices:
External double power points $152 each
Outdoor lights (not flood lights) $134-$170 each (up and down light, depending on the finish, etc)
Ceiling fans $275 each (white, 4 blade, 52 inch)
Cfl downlights $105 each (full price, does not include credit for batten holder of $63)
TV point $80 each
Telephone point $95 each
Satellite/ Foxtel point? $160 each (satellite)
2 way light switch $54 each
3 way light switch $79 each
Internal double power point $63
Now doesn't that make things so much easier? So the moral of the story is if there is anything you need to know just ask Metricon.
Now we can go back to our plans with a much better idea of what we are spending.
That's all for now as we are heading off on a boat trip this morning and there is so much wonderful food I am yet to sample here in beautiful Vietnam.
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