Insurance/financial disaster - try to repair or build new?
aaron_and_nancy
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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oklouise
5 years agoRelated Discussions
What could Australian homes learn from the rest of the world?
Comments (135)I'm amazed that this discussion has carried forward for nearly two years! In that time I have moved to another coastal area (cooler climate and better proximity to children) and this time found most of the discussion still rings true. Finding another home here was an incredibly frustrating journey made all the worse by a mad investor rush in the area just when we arrived to start our home search. That search took the best part of six months and in the end there would only be three or four houses to choose from in any week. Result? A rushed purchase, a desperately inadequate building inspection and failure on my part to notice poor bathroom tiling, shortage of closet and storage pace, just how small the lounge room really was, and etc. I disappointed myself because I had let the pressures beat me and now we are trying to resolve all of these issues in a home designed and built by one of this states most respected project home builders 25 years ago. Having now studied the floor plan with more care I realise it was put together (designed) in modular fashion - most bedrooms have similar dimensions and the living areas are all approximately the same size as if the designer simply juggled three boxes of one size and four of another size and then worked out traffic flow. Then he must have thrown them all in the air to see how they would land and that was design number two! And etc and so on. This house aside, we looked at a great many during the six months because we had to broaden our search above and below budget trying to find something. There were massive termite problems, leaky roofs, asbestos galore, gazzumping at every turn, almost all but the most expensive properties suffered at least one substantial fail for the most basic of needs and to top it off the best home in our price range just happened to be built on flood prone land - approved by council who put the flood signs up less than five years earlier. We live and learn. Then there were the real estate agents, but that would take another two years and I doubt the internet has enough free page space available!!! OK, I hear you, they're not ALL bad......See MoreStructural defects (Qld) - Hollow / dummy sounding floor tiles
Comments (1)a friendly call to the builder to let him know that everything else is great but there are a few tiles that need fixing (and any other faults) and ask when he thinks the tiler could come and fix them...hopefully he'll respond positively and the problem will be resolved but, immediately after the call send an email confirming what he said and when he said that the tiler would be coming and follow up within the stated time to ask if there's a problem and why can't they fix it to save the bother of getting involved with his insurance company (details should be included in your original contract) hopefully you'll be successful and the tiler will come in between other jobs and do the repair...in the meantime check every single tile (in case there are other hollow ones) and draw a map to identify every suspect tile so that you can check that they're all fixed and, do you have any spare tiles?...have them ready for the tiler or try and identify the tile in case you need to replace any that get broken...only other option is to contact the insurance company and tell them about the builder's response and if all else fails it should be a cheap small job for another tiler and/or you could have a go at fixing them yourself but ask the builder first if he values his reputation and his no claim bonus he'll respond positively...See MoreRural - New Build on acreage
Comments (9)Hi @m0sh, you have some big questions there and rightly so. Many of these question depend on so many factors. I am going to restrict my response to some general advise. 1. Parts of the Lower Hunter Valley are subject to Mine Subsidence districts. This is not all bad, but it may have an impact the design of the footings to ensure your home can handle some level of substance. If your property falls within one of these areas it actually means if you follow all the requirements set-out by the mine subsidence board and your home is still damaged repairs will be compensated. If you live across the road and are not within the zone, you should still build to the requirements for your own pease of mind and know that if any thing happens your are outside the area and will not be compensated for damage. Please do not view this as a big impediment but you should be aware of this and have legal advise on the impacts of your chosen property. You can further investigate this through the NSW Mine Subsidence Board. 2. Definitely visit the Your Home website. it is a valuable resource on the design aspects of the home. 3. Budget - Try and get an understanding of what can be achieved for what budget. You will naturally need to spend more on services such as Sewer, Power connection (if you have on or not) it is very real possibility that you can live off the power grid these days, but this will require careful consideration of energy use of the home. This will actually make this home much more liveable not something I think you would ever regret. As you cruise around the Houzz many of the beautiful images you will see will have a price tag of $3500/m2 or more as a custom build. If you go with high volume building company the price tag /m2 will come down along with the quality and you should also give some thought about the running cost of a home over time, the typical project home will have greater heat gain and loss requiring more $$ to run. You will also for go a level of choice and flexibility with a volume builder. Have a look around a some of the prefabricated solutions there are higher end options that give a quality outcome for less than a full custom build, but still on the upper end of the project home prices. To give a little sense of budget, if you view the Concord House in my profile. It was $3000/m2, but this was brick and concrete construction which will firstly place it on the upper end of the pricing scale. There is not a huge budget on this project, spent on finishes on this project. Also note that this is a /m2 rate that has all site costs, driveways, landscaping, built in joinery, light fittings & blinds. it is ready to live in. It will be hard to get this type of /m2 from a volume builder. Another new home not on my profile that was timber frame construction was costed at $2800/m2 more recently. If you ask most architects they should be able to tel you where their work lands. These cost /m2 are on the low end of the architectural homes. Located in the Hunter Valley I should add much additional cost to your home. There are plenty of local builders with there trades and suppliers used to working in the area. Expect as a minimum $1800-2000/m2 from a volume home builder by the time you have your sewer, site cost, minimal external landscape, power connection, required insulation (I have seen pricing exclude Basix requirements which you can not avoid), light fittings, window furnishings. This may drop a little if start to build a very large home. I know this doesn't answer all you questions, but I hope this helps some....See MoreSydney Renovation and Housing Market Intell Thanks
Comments (32)This next two months we have so much on here in NZ that we've pushed our Aus business launch to 1 May , but the intention is we will be based at this apartment for about 3 weeks in May , then we'll see . So far we have already done a lot of touristy things , done the ferries several times , the trains , etc . We've bought a car too -- no idea what will happen to that if my cousin/aunty start pushing to sell the unit , but at this stage I've paid all these bills , except the kitchen ( my cousin had already paid that ) and I've also transferred them 'a loan' , so it seems likely we'll all have this unit for at least 18 months , and then we'll review things , as a family , if that makes sense . So basically we'll be honorary Orstralians soon cobber . . . . . . . ....See MoreDr Retro House Calls
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