So my whole point of starting this blog was to log the ins and outs of building your house, doing a ‘tree change’ and learning a little about our lives along the way
It’s been a while since my last confession
With only 32 days left to our life in the one bedroom unit ending, it feels like the longest and the fastest year possible.
I feel like I could write a ‘what to ask’ book when it comes to building a house… so here are my top tips
1. ASK ASK ASK. If there is even one tiny detail you don’t quite understand, get them to explain it to you. My house would be paid off if I got a dollar for every email that started with ‘sorry to be a pain, was hoping you could explain this to me……”
2. You will hear these 4 words A LOT. “It’s not in the budget”.
We heard this from the very start, and we accepted it and only in the last few weeks have we found websites that we could have sourced all the little extra things we wanted on the house. We have since sourced ceiling roses that weren’t in the budget, antique drawer handles, sandstone, we even found fireplaces that had we known existed for us to buy, we would have replaced the one in the plans. So always look at what you really want in the house and don’t feel guilty about sourcing it yourself. It save you more than a few $$$’s and get's you the look you want.
3. Keep triple the amount you ‘think’ you might need for ‘variations’.
Ours came in at over 30k extra.
4. Don’t assume that if the builders dig a hole for your house, water tank – anything, that they will fill it in for free. Finding out that we had all these extra excavation costs to refill holes that they dug out came as quite the shock!
5. When choosing colours, this is so easy to get wrong! I decided on a lovely earthy grey colour for the exterior, problem is the sun hits the house all day so now it looks white in summer…. Always get a sample of your weatherboard, paint it and look at it in all types of weather!
6. Check your plans every day. So many things were missed on the small detailing. Like having tiles in a brick pattern, having shower nooks, making sure the taps/power points etc are all in the correct spot… pays to check as much as possible
7. Get up in your roof and check your insulation- a must!
8. Visit your house with the project manager as often as you can… this is the only way to identify together things that aren’t quite right.
I am sure there are so many more than could fill my book, but these are just a few that have come to light in the last few months!
I do love the house though.. It is looking more and more like my dream home every day..
And now that we have added Tilly the rescue kitten to our family… those 32 days can’t come around quick enough…
