A long time between posts

So it’s been a long time between posts, and we are not much further along, but have changed direction (again!).  We have ditched the builder we were talking to last year and went back to Harkaway Homes.  We had our third visit today and paid our deposit.  We have chosen the Brighton, which is also their smaller display home, narrowed a bit to fit on our block and keep the driveway down the side.  We are looking for a builder to take on the build for us rather than doing it as owner builders, but can’t do much more than gauge their interest until we have our final plans. We should have the preliminary designs in 2 to 3 weeks and then we can submit those for planning approval.  In the meantime we need to find an engineer to design our sub floor.  Harkaway can’t do it because we have a “P” class soil rating.  We also need to find a private certifier. It was fun today choosing our windows, doors, exterior cladding, style, etc.  Although I really couldn’t tell the difference between the two types of cladding! I’ll post again soon with more details.

4 comments on “A long time between posts

  1. Cathi on said:

    Be very careful about engineers. Ours braced the wrong side of the house and it failed the building inspection (Harkaway can tell you who to avoid…use their recommended one, I so wish we had! But we were trying to save money). Also be careful about the building surveyor, an unhelpful one can make your life literally h***.

    We are about to move into our Harkaway and I can’t wait. It looks gorgeous. Thoroughly recommend Melboards for flat pack kitchen/pantry/laundry, cheaper than Bunnings option and worked very hard to get us our desired end result (they did the ones in the Harkaway displays).

    If you want detailed info. On the process, my husband is happy to talk at length about the process. But certainly a builder I’ll save you a VAST amount of time and stress.

    Good luck!

  2. Congrats on moving in Cathi! That’s great to hear. We’ll definitely look into Melboards since the Harkaway display kitchen is almost exactly what we want. Would love to talk to your husband about the process. C

  3. Margareta on said:

    Hi, I came across your site when I googled Harkaway reviews. My husband and I are looking at building a Harkaway home. I was wondering how it’s all going? Would love to talk with someone about the process. So difficult to know how it’ll all work out.
    looking forward to hearing from yourself or Cathi.
    Thank you,
    M

    • Welcome to my blog Margareta. As you can probably tell from the lack of posts, this is a very slow process, but very happy to chat and share our experiences with you.

      Sandra