The Corbetts and Self Build Houses

[thearmchairdetective]

I was watching a re run of an old wish you were here , where are they now this morning that i taped earlier in the year.

This tome it was about a family from Gwent called the Corbett's who ended up in Adelaide.

 

They originally hoped to buy land and do a self build house but ended up emigrating around 2009 and buying a home already built.

 

It had me wondering if they were ever members here, if they stayed in Oz and more importantly if anyone on the forum built there own house once they got to Adelaide?

[noworriesmate]

No, but I hope to soon!!

 

NWM

[NicF]

No, but I hope to soon!!

 

NWM

 

Me too. Have the block of land, waiting to find out how much we can borrow for the house part then just have to find a builder and decide what to build.

[thearmchairdetective]

Sounds interesting, do you draw up the plans yourself or employ a architect?

[NicF]

Sounds interesting, do you draw up the plans yourself or employ a architect?

 

I suppose it depends but I think most people would talk to a builder. Most home builders here have a selection of predesigned house plans for you to choose from, and so far everyone we have talked to would be prepared to make adjustments to the plans to suit your needs. Some builders will design a home for you from scratch. We've been talking to Sekisui House and tomorrow we a going to go and talk to someone from Serenity Homes. We've not found any plans that completely suit our needs but we're not sure yet if we will just adjust an existing plan to what we want or if we will get someone to design a plan from scratch.

[jim and adel]

We built. We couldn't find any plans we liked that suited our sloping block so had the house designed from scratch based on our ideas for its layout. Some hiccups along the way but generally very pleasing to see vague ideas being turned into detailed plans and these in turn becoming a house.

 

Jim

[Guest Crushfamily]

We are building with Hickinbotham/Statesman Homes. The Consultant Kelly could not have been more helpful in drawing up a bespoke house for us. Unfortunately that is where the good service ended. Everything is extra and if it isn't on their list you cannot have it! We spent over $4000 on power points for example as they give you 1x single per room as standard! Wanted electric underfloor heating in the ensuite (they sell it in Beaumont Tiles who is the supplier for Hickinbotham) but were told no. Okay don't lay the tiles in the ensuite - no. Only suggestion was to rip up tiles once they had been laid after handover etc...

[jim and adel]

We are building with Hickinbotham/Statesman Homes. The Consultant Kelly could not have been more helpful in drawing up a bespoke house for us. Unfortunately that is where the good service ended. Everything is extra and if it isn't on their list you cannot have it! We spent over $4000 on power points for example as they give you 1x single per room as standard! Wanted electric underfloor heating in the ensuite (they sell it in Beaumont Tiles who is the supplier for Hickinbotham) but were told no. Okay don't lay the tiles in the ensuite - no. Only suggestion was to rip up tiles once they had been laid after handover etc...

 

Plenty of horror stories with builders but especially the volume builders like that particular one, unfortunately. Even builders at the higher end of the market often get negative reviews from their customers, though. In our case, we had our plans drawn up not by the builder but independently (and this included the electric layout and most of the selections, so we specified exactly what we intended to have from the outset) and we then took it to various builders who specialise in project builds rather than those that mass build (because project builders are used to demands that are off the beaten track). It was more expensive doing it this way but that's the trade-off.

[Guest Crushfamily]

Unfortunately tied to Hickinbotham by the land we purchased so watch this also!

[jim and adel]

Unfortunately tied to Hickinbotham by the land we purchased so watch this also!

 

Yes, that's another good point. Our block was a private sale (it was a 'problem block' because of the slope and while there are much older houses all around, it had never been built on). While many vacant blocks on new estates aren't tied to a particular builder (but likely owned by one), some are, so you need to be willing to build with that builder if you want that particular block.

 

Jim

[thearmchairdetective]

So no news on the Corbetts then?