Hank is now out to the public for viewing and lodging of complaints against his proposal for being built. It is a two week window and we have already met the neighbours directly behind us who seem pretty nice and we know the house next to us should be vacant now so that only really leaves the house on the other side. It is looking good and hopefully this step means that the council has no more objections to our plans.
It would be amazing if we actually started building before xmas as I have been telling our friends that I didn't expect to start building til Jan next year.
Onward and upward!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Scouts motto, be prepared!
About two weeks ago we decided to get ahead of the time to choose lighting placement and power points by visiting the display home and marking it down on the plans. Unfortunately while we thought we were getting ready early, we realised we should have done this before plans were finalised.
Upon looking at the layout on the 1st floor which had a large wall area between two doors that a flat screen tv was hanging on, we realised that the door placement was different from our original plans to maximise this area to enable a large screen to be handily placed between the doors. This allowed a lounge area to be placed opposite making the configuration nice. But we didn't notice this until now and our plans were already submitted. We were told it would be a few hundred dollars for amendments to plans once submitted.
Additionally downstairs in the great room, we were trying to plan out where the dining area and lounge, tv etc would be situated that made best use of the alfresco position and view. Again, if we had gone through this exercise before plans were finalised we would have positioned windows and doors in different places to maximise the layout of furniture. This was another change, would this mean another few hundred dollars? We weren't too sure but the change we wanted downstairs was not just a simple interior door placement, it would have meant change to council plans and more delays costing us money. So we would have to live with it.
Not entirely ruined but could have been better planned. Its one of those things you know, when you know Hank could have been a perfectly planned specimen but now we know he has some flaws that we overlooked. Still, one for the experience books.
Advice, plan as much ahead as possible before final plans.
Upon looking at the layout on the 1st floor which had a large wall area between two doors that a flat screen tv was hanging on, we realised that the door placement was different from our original plans to maximise this area to enable a large screen to be handily placed between the doors. This allowed a lounge area to be placed opposite making the configuration nice. But we didn't notice this until now and our plans were already submitted. We were told it would be a few hundred dollars for amendments to plans once submitted.
Additionally downstairs in the great room, we were trying to plan out where the dining area and lounge, tv etc would be situated that made best use of the alfresco position and view. Again, if we had gone through this exercise before plans were finalised we would have positioned windows and doors in different places to maximise the layout of furniture. This was another change, would this mean another few hundred dollars? We weren't too sure but the change we wanted downstairs was not just a simple interior door placement, it would have meant change to council plans and more delays costing us money. So we would have to live with it.
Not entirely ruined but could have been better planned. Its one of those things you know, when you know Hank could have been a perfectly planned specimen but now we know he has some flaws that we overlooked. Still, one for the experience books.
Advice, plan as much ahead as possible before final plans.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Meeting the neighbours
Well council came back with a request that we show that an attempt was made to run the sewer down stream through the neighbours yard rather than pump it back up to the street towards the front of the house. Luckily it is mostly a formality as most people do not want you to dig up their yards and disrupt them.
So our builder drafted a letter of refusal for them to sign and asked that we get their signature. So hubby went over and explained to them what the council was asking. It turned out that they were quite lovely and said they wouldn't mind us doing this if we returned the state of their house back to what it was! Hubby quickly explained it was just a formality and that we wanted them to refuse which they obligingly did. How accomodating!
So it was back to the builder with the signed letter and back to council.
So our builder drafted a letter of refusal for them to sign and asked that we get their signature. So hubby went over and explained to them what the council was asking. It turned out that they were quite lovely and said they wouldn't mind us doing this if we returned the state of their house back to what it was! Hubby quickly explained it was just a formality and that we wanted them to refuse which they obligingly did. How accomodating!
So it was back to the builder with the signed letter and back to council.
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