sipidan Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 As a 1st time home buyer & builder I was wondering about things that you've picked up & learnt. Things that you'd wish you'd done, done later or would do next time! I'm an absolute novice, but looking into doing a land & house package around Baldivis , Singleton or in Secret Harbour! I've been asking people lots of question & now I'd like to ask you Better quality lawn next time? Fully tiled in all wet areas? Spa instead of pool? Granite kitchen top? Bigger cooker & oven? Walk in wardrobe in 2nd bedroom? Concrete drive? I'd deffinately want low maintainents! More lights in kitchen? More sockets in cinema room? His & hers sinks? Just wondering Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chardy Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 As a 1st time home buyer & builder I was wondering about things that you've picked up & learnt. Things that you'd wish you'd done, done later or would do next time! I'm an absolute novice, but looking into doing a land & house package around Baldivis , Singleton or in Secret Harbour! I've been asking people lots of question & now I'd like to ask you Better quality lawn next time? Fully tiled in all wet areas? Spa instead of pool? Granite kitchen top? Bigger cooker & oven? Walk in wardrobe in 2nd bedroom? Concrete drive? I'd deffinately want low maintainents! More lights in kitchen? More sockets in cinema room? His & hers sinks? Just wondering Thanks Hi, we are building in Baldivis right now. The land & house pacakages are great but tend to be less choice of lot and house design so if you can find the lot separately then choose your builder you'll have greater flexibility. As for features I'll append your list : Better quality lawn next time? Artificial or maybe more hard landscaping to reduce maintenance ? Fully tiled in all wet areas? Most are unless you mean full height tiling which we are having in our ensuite Spa instead of pool? Give me a pool please (especially with kids), wouldn't mind a spa on the side though Granite kitchen top? I think stone benchtops are becoming the norm, ours is included. Bigger cooker & oven? Again most are 900mm now but recommend if not. Walk in wardrobe in 2nd bedroom? Depends on your family needs but we find the built in ones fine for kids. Concrete drive? Certainly to reduce weeding although paving can be sealed to help I believe I'd deffinately want low maintainents! Good luck with that, easier said than done (especially within a budget) More lights in kitchen? Absolutely, we are having 3 downlights plus 3 pendants over the island minimum More sockets in cinema room? Again a must everywhere (at least 2 x doubles) but get the builders to put theirs on the internal walls and get a sparky in afterwards to put more in on external walls, it'll be way cheaper ! His & hers sinks? In the ensuite, most builders do it as standard. How about hobless showers (or wetrooms) to save stepping into the shower ? Glass splashback in the kitchen but not the laundry unless you like spending $$$s ? Spa bath in the ensuite (we are supplying our own) but not an 80s style corner one, yuk ! ? Outside gas point for a built in BBQ and outside power points too ? Solar hot water and electric panels to save on the bills ? Data points (smart wiring) ? (Doing mine myself after handover as am a registered cabler) Tap for the fridge water supply ? Can't think of any others right now ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portlaunay Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 I've never done it but would love to. First on my list would be to reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible so the concept of building my own on a new piece of land doesn't really fit with my philosophy unless I could build out of recycled materials. If I had a blank canvass I'd like to build in a way that retains as much of the rainfall as possible, storing it underground, is dependant entirely on renewable energy and had some simple design features like deep verandah's, shuttering and is elevated to help with cooling but is also well insulated and double glazed for winter efficiency. I'd like to spend money on landscaping to ensure I have the right kind of plants to maximise shade without requiring tons of water. I'd like a self contained granny for visitors, a treehouse and plenty of veggie growing space. I'd also like a studio space or workshop. More than a pool or spa I'd like an outdoor shower in a hidden sanctuary in the garden, surrounded by plants. A huge pizza oven with a large dining area outside would be good too. I think all of that stuff would come way before considering how many sockets I want or whether to have walk in robes and having planned all of that I'd probably have nothing left for the house so we'd be in a tarp shelter in the middle of our plot, underneath the treehouse, eating veggie pizza. Bliss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chardy Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Great ideas Port but as soon as you say Eco or sustainable up go the $s ! don't get the whole outdoor shower thing......why ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portlaunay Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Great ideas Port but as soon as you say Eco or sustainable up go the $s ! don't get the whole outdoor shower thing......why ?? We have one now and it's lovely. I think it's that we shower inside just to get clean. When we shower outside it feels a little special and is more relaxing. We certainly take longer if we shower outside and it's much nicer to share Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chardy Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 We have one now and it's lovely. I think it's that we shower inside just to get clean. When we shower outside it feels a little special and is more relaxing. We certainly take longer if we shower outside and it's much nicer to share Now I get it, we might have to wait until the kids have left home before I install one ! ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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