Timber flooring, air con and decking

Went down to see block at the weekend and spotted first problem. Our block faces a junction and a metal pole with the street names has been plonked in the path of our proposed driveway.

Sent e-mail to developer asking if it can be moved 2-3 metres to the right. Easy solution but wonder how easy it will be to get this done ? Still waiting for a response.

The house has been placed on the block to reflect the sun's position in the morning and afternoons to make the house comfortable to live in during the summer and wintwe.

We've also spent the last few days getting quotes for bamboo flooring, decking and air con. The flooring we like is just $12,000. But hubby and I have differing views on what type of air con to have.

Ducted evaporative is half the price( $5,200) of ducted refrigerated reverse cycle a/c( $10,500) and much cheaper to run but also much less effective.

I have spoken to 3 friends who have lived in homes with the evap system and all say it is useless when temperatures are above 30C and waste of time if humid.

Temperatures this summer reached high 30s and low 40s so you would get little relief from the infernal heat with an evaporative system.

I've suggested a reverse cycle inverter split system to save money but not had much of a response yet from hubby !!!

The timber decking is not cheap either. Quotes range from $5,000 to $6,800. Looking at alternative way to get the decking cheaper.

The house is based on Monaco and Lotus 44 display homes which are on their website www.summitnewhomes.com.au.

We've made a few changes and included the following variations:

A 1m storage area to garage
31C to living/dining area and square bulkhead in kitchen instead of 28C
Wave Manly cornices instead of standard cornices
Double door to theatre instead of recess.
Extend vanity including framed mirror by 950mm in en suite to provide 2 wash basins
Extend width of en suite shower and provide a 1050mm-high low tiled wall
Provide T-bar to garage
Door to rear of garage
30mm Essastone benchtops instead of laminate
Overhead cupboards either side of rangehood
Door to separate kitchen from laundry
Provide a cupboard and laminated bench top in laundry
Recess in living area and 2 windows either side
Corner mullion window in living area
Sliding robes to Bed 3 instead of single robe
Wall hung basin in WC
10 extra power points at no cost to us

We will also probably upgrade showers, taps, internal doors (instead of flush panel), toilets and light switches.

On top of this we plan to have bamboo floors, decking and a pool

Building a house in Perth

Hi all

Signed up this week with Summit Homes to build a single-storey 4x2 house in Baldivis, 42km south of Perth.
The home will be built on a 770sqm level block in a new development at Parkland Heights, Baldivis. Title for the block expected in next 2 months.

The land, which my husband and I bought in November last year, is 22m and 35m long so plenty of space for a pool.

Now have to wait 8-10 weeks for the contract to be drawn up. Looked at dozens of display homes all over the Perth metro area and got detailed quotes from 5 other builders before deciding on Summit.

We have built before in Corindi Beach, near Coffs Harbour, NSW, with a small builder and he built us a quality home at a reasonable price. Had a bad experience with a project builder so wanted to avoid this route if possible.

But in the end it came down to price and size of house for the money. Unfortunately, the smaller builders couldn't match the price. One was over $25,000 more for a smaller house and another was $15,000 more.

We just hope Summit lives up to the hype and build us a decent quality property with as few hassles as  possible. We shall see.