What are we building?

Since the last post about the house design, the final design for the house has changed quite a lot.  In comparison to the first draft design, the house is a little less contemporary, simplified and cheaper to build.  The design includes lots of windows so to minimise the heat loss, we've opted for low E glass.  Our exposed location also means that there is lots of weather to contend with, so on the south side of the house, the windows are either fixed or louvre windows which can be left open more often.

The cladding will be weatherboard, focusing on lightweight construction due to the slope of the site (although this hasn't meant smaller piers!).  Originally we decided on vertical weathertex panelling, but of course, I have since changed my mind and we're going to use horizontal boards, with maybe a modern take on fibro on the lower storey and bay windows sections.  The posts shown across the front of the house will now be partially retaining wall. 

Ignore the colour and cladding on the picture, they are just the basic program choice.  My thoughts on colour schemes to come in another post!

A builder visiting

A quick post today! I had a builder come and visit today. Lovely guy, very friendly and talkative. He thought the plans were good (great start!). He thought that there were a few things that could be changed to make the build cheaper (even better because we agree!). As we talked about the build, I learnt a few things:

- freeform stone work would cost around $250 per square metre (ouch! That's gone!!)
- already knew louvres were the most expensive kind of window, but 3 grand for one set! Double ouch!
Overall, his advice aligned with many of my thoughts on saving money so I am pretty happy and will look forward to the quote being finished.

The New House Design

After buying our block of land in October 2009 we have been in the throws of designing our future house. To put it bluntly, over the last twelve months we have completely stuffed it up.  After many months of working through house plans and a DA approval we were confronted with builders quotes that we could not afford.  What to do??

Start again.

With a new building designer on board, the preliminary design has been developed at a very fast pace in comparison to last year. The preliminary plans are off to a series of builders for estimates so that we don't make the same mistake as last time. Exciting times? I'm not so sure. I have remained hesitant, pessimistic and unsure.

The new design is so different to the DA approved plans that a comparison can not be drawn. Think Hamptons style contempoary cottage and now try and switch to pavillion style modern contemporary.  The picture below is a preliminary image of the front facade.

Overall, I like to new design. I love the floorplan but I think that the outside needs some personalising and perhaps some privacy.  Working in my new found love for modern mixed with vintage will also be a challenge and one that will require some changes in the exterior design of the house. A little less contemporary, a little more rustic.

For the moment, I am just trying to hold on to the dream. One foot after the other and we may just get there.