RETROSPECTIVE
Monday, March 14, 2016It's been about a month now since we have moved in and I wanted to reflect on the house, the build and my overall experience.
THINGS I LOVE MOST ABOUT OUR CHARLTON
1. The Kitchen
Ok this is a pretty obvious one but how could you not adore this kitchen. It size and layout is perfect. I particularly love how the stove and sink are in separate zones and the amount of walkway space between the island and the kitchen bench is huge enough for 2 people to comfortably chat without feeling like you're in their personal space. The best part about this kitchen is how huge the island and the amount of storage space is incredible.
2. Grand Alfresco
The grand alfresco really completes the look of the house. Whilst we have yet to put in a deck or make good use of it during the nice weather we have had recently I know it will be spending a lot of time in future. Having the alfresco really extends and open up the house. Yes it was expensive and yes there are plenty of post handover alfresco alternatives but save yourselves the permits and hassle because doing it with the builder gives it a nice integrated with the home. Besides decking we also plan to somehow open up the kitchen window to have some sort of servery area.
3. Our colour selections
Ok I know this is all personal but I have to call out how surprised and pleased we are with how our colour selections have turned out. In particular the choice of render colour (Champignon), internal wall colour (Dhimba) and tiles (Como Grey). The tiles really took me by surprise (mainly because they're a category one tile.)
4. Extra Wide Garage
We are fortunate enough that our block has really wide frontage so took advantage of that by going with a wider than normal garage and boy do we love it. You can easily fit in 2 cars and still have space for storing all our garden tools and other junk you tend to keep but don't want to throw out. haha.
5. High Ceilings
I love the feeling that high ceilings give you. Sure you pay a lot of money for it but it's not something I've thought about and gone hey maybe we should have spent the money elsewhere. It's personal choice once again, others will disagree I'm sure. In fact one of my regrets would be not going higher with our ceilings upstairs. I wouldn't do the full 2700mm but probably just the 2500mm.
THINGS I REGRET
1. Not adding a bulkhead above the appliance tower.
This was one of those items that got culled when we went over budget and we do regret it. The space looks weird now without it. Sure it's still something you can do post handover but probably would have been a lot easier as part of the build.
2. Not adding a sliding cavity door to the master ensuite.
I don't need to explain this one. Why did we not do this? *Sigh*
3. Consider upgrading our heating/cooling system
We were on a tight budget so we were afraid of the thought of even asking about a split zoned cooling/heating system for the house. I won't lie I actually thought it would be in the standard system. My bad!
4. Our Laminex Alaskan Cabinets
We chose Laminex Alaskan for our bathroom cabinets and my thoughts are that they don't quite go as well with the Crystal Chalk benchtops. If I could go back and change this I definitely would.
5. Feature Tiles in Powder Room
This was a bit of a fizzer. We were really looking forward to see our 'feature' tile and had spent a good amount of money on this and were really underwhelmed. Sure it looks ok but it's not given us that wow factor a 'feature' tile is supposed to do.
WHAT I DISLIKE ABOUT OUR CHARLTON
1. Our semi frameless shower screens.
Whilst they look great being all semi frameless the problem I find is that water escapes between the gap between the door and the fixed window so when you shower water sometimes leaks out onto the bathroom floor and you have to wipe it all up afterwards. You don't get those problems with old skool framed showers?
2. Windows upstairs will only open as wide as 5cm.
What the? We're told this is for safety reasons but I hate not being able to fully open up my windows. I'm big on 'airing' the house with fresh air so this really bothers me. Does anyone know or can suggest what we can do to be able to open our awning and sliding windows completely?
3. A more hamptons lilke facade not available on the Charlton.
Whilst we do like the Sinclair facade we would have been in love with it more if a more hamptons like facade was available to the Charlton. We really love the New England or Long Island facade that PD offer on some of their other house designs.
PORTER DAVIS REVIEW
The Good
We spent at least a good six months searching for the right house and gave up so many weekends visiting display villages all over the Melbourne so when we came across the Charlton it was love at first sight. Porter Davis hit the nail on the head for us with the Charlton. With its open plan living and practical layout the house is a perfect size for our 2.5 family (plus dog)
Sales
Being such a huge decision for us we were really fussy with our requirements but our sales consultant was really accommodating and worked with our needs and was never pushy in trying to lock us in with a deposit like some other builders. For example we told him about our need for a shower downstairs and whilst it wasn't a standard option on the charlton plan he spent a fair bit of time to 'rework' the plan to come up with a solution for us which sealed the deal. His advice and suggestions such as not upgrading to timber windows and sticking to aluminium proved to us that they're aren't trying to upgrade us at every opportunity.
The Not So Good
Updates during construction
During construction our site supervisor wasn't so good with giving us his fortnightly updates as he had promised. Instead we would visit the site weekly and get an update on the house ourselves.
World of Style
Yes the world of style is a pretty awesome place to visit but what's so frustrating when you do your selections we felt like we were shopping blind. So many times we were told that pricing was not available and wouldn't be confirmed until contracts. What the? Pricing would play a huge part in most peoples decision making so I find it really frustrating that prices weren't available to basic items such as door profiles.
Overall our Porter Davis experience has been a positive one. From sales to post handover our we have been well looked after at every stage of the process but more importantly they have delivered us a quality house that will become our forever home and I would not hesitate to build with them again.
During construction our site supervisor wasn't so good with giving us his fortnightly updates as he had promised. Instead we would visit the site weekly and get an update on the house ourselves.
World of Style
Yes the world of style is a pretty awesome place to visit but what's so frustrating when you do your selections we felt like we were shopping blind. So many times we were told that pricing was not available and wouldn't be confirmed until contracts. What the? Pricing would play a huge part in most peoples decision making so I find it really frustrating that prices weren't available to basic items such as door profiles.
Overall our Porter Davis experience has been a positive one. From sales to post handover our we have been well looked after at every stage of the process but more importantly they have delivered us a quality house that will become our forever home and I would not hesitate to build with them again.
28 comments
Hi chi!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback! It really helps as I'm currently thinking of making some changes to our selections. One of which is more doors. For example we do not have one for the cinema room on our plans. Can you remember how much it was to add the double doors to cinema room? Also were you ever told how much adding a cavity sliding to ensuite would be?
Hi there
DeleteI can't remember off the top of my head how much the double doors were I don't remember them being too outrageous to remember :) Sorry.
The sliding door to the caviity was about $600 (I think)
Great read and will help us heaps! What was the site costs and energetic star costs? Did they go above what they quoted ?
ReplyDeletePs.... Love to see more pics
HI Evgenia
DeleteOur site costs were estimated to be about 33k (from memory) and luckily for us it didn't go up too much in fact it went down (only but a few hundred).
Chi
May I ask if that included oh&us and the crane fees ? Or was that extra
DeleteHi Evgenia
DeleteI'll need to go back through my paperwork which is still packed in boxes. Do you want to give me your email address and I'll email you when I find out.
From memory I think it was extra!
Sorry just saw your reply 🙈 Would love the info please email me at kkgimports@gmail.com
DeleteThank u soo much !
You can make the upstairs windows open more by opening the bracket. There's more chain in there to make it longer.
ReplyDeleteOh thanks.
DeleteHi Chi, Your house looks beautiful. We are in the process of building the Charlton 33 with Fairview facade and just had our tender. We are signing the contract in 2 weeks. We are also doing a knock down rebuild in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Your blog has helped us so much with our colour choices too as I have similar taste to you - but I just love the Bordeaux France look. I think PD are applying to council now but Im confused about the fact that we need to pay more money at contract - do you know if this is before or after the council gives consent? I hope you will post more pics of your furniture and your new home - it's so great to see how its all progressing.
ReplyDeleteHi Jaz
DeleteExciting news about your build. So glad this blog has helped you with your selections. The pricing shouldn't change too much at Contract... the contract appointment was more of a formality to review and confirm everything that was discussed at tender. I remember PD were expecting us to just sign on the day of Contracts and we simply refused as we felt we had insufficient time to read through the whole thing. Make sure you feel comfortable before committing to anything :)
The council approval can take some time and may occur after your contracts appointment (as was the case in our situation). What's strange for us is that the bank won't approve until the council approves the plans but you've committed to signing the contract.
Yup I'll definitely have another post up with our interior decor updates..its been a slow process but good fun.
C
Hi Jaz,
DeleteWe are also looking to build the Charlton with the Fairview facade. The quote given to us by the Sales Consultant is 24900 with an additional 4K for the tile work on the front pillar and an additional 2K for the glass balustrade with chrome handrail. From your tender experience does the price sound accurate or maybe our SC made a mistake somewhere. Thanks, Vicky
HI Vicky, Sorry this is so late! I only just saw your message. We are getting the Fairview facade which is $14,900 on our contract and an extra $2100 for render on the balcony ( we are not getting glass) and the pier next to the garage plus an extra $278 for the 2nd colour of render. We are not getting the tile work on the wide pillar yet as we may get a private tiler later due to the crazy mark ups. $24900 is way over the right price and it should be $14900 as I saw it on one of their brochures. We signed up in January 2016. As you may have read we are experiencing long delays with council and PD and it is getting very frustrating. We are even having second thoughts on it all but would lose $20000 in deposit already paid. We will just keep waiting. I would check the price of your facade again as it seems likes it is $10000 over the quote we have. Good luck!
DeleteHi Chi, I really enjoy reading your blog and am looking forward to seeing more pics. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I look forward to reading your blog!
DeleteGoodluck with it all.
Hi Chi - would you mind sharing how much in total did the build cost you? We are eyeing on the Charlton 33 too and have been given an initial quote by PD. Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteHi
DeleteOur total build cost including site costs came in just shy of 400K.
Good luck with it :)
Thank you for your very informative blog. I haven't read it all but as we are considering building the Charlton 33 with much the same add-ons I'm sure this will all come in handy. As we are currently considering land to buy, could you please tell me the length of the grand alfresco - I can see on your plans it is 6.76m wide but we need to make sure the land we choose will be deep enough to include this wonderful outdoor room. P.S I think we will be stealing your idea of the shower downstairs as we are thinking in the future if need be, we could convert the home theatre into a bedroom if elderly parents ever needed to come stay - does it work well having the shower in the powder room?
ReplyDeleteHi Chi,
ReplyDeleteWe're thinking of building the Charlton 33 and I've fallen in love with your blog. Your house looks amazing.
I was just wondering if you remember how much the upgrade to stone bench tops were in the kitchen. We're trying to list our must haves so we can stay within our budget
Thanks
Hi Ashleigh
DeleteFrom memory the upgrade to get the 40mm stone benchtop on our kitchen island was about $3-$5K. (Its been a while).
The 20mm stone bench top for the rest of the kitchen was a bit less.
That's based on the highest category stone.
hope that helps somewhat
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi CHi,
ReplyDeleteI have been following your blog as we are also building the Charlton33 but have expereinced soooo many delays with council and PD - its now been 4 months since signing the contract in April and still no word on if its going ahead. I love your style too as it is similar to mine and I look forward to you posting more pics of the interior!
Hi Jaz.
DeleteIt does get frustrating especially when you've got everything ready to go. Bit surprised you're still finding out whether its still going ahead.
Goodluck with it all. It'll be worth the wait.
Chi
Hi Chi, love the blog and detail you've posted of your journey. We're in the midst of building the Charlton with PD, we've past the quote stage awaiting World of Styles appointment.
ReplyDeleteWe were really inspired us is how you fit in the shower into the PDR downstairs. We went to our consultant showing your photo (unfortunately I didn't see the link to the floor plan) and were told this option is likely an old option which isn't available anymore. I'm sure that isn't the case, and it's a custom design by yourselves.
Are you able to comment on which Sales office and consultant you went through... also what was the cost of the shower upgrade? As we're really keen to get it included.
Harry
Hi Harry
ReplyDeleteThe shower downstairs is definitely possible. It was a custom change to our plan but I know others that have chosen to do the same as us. You can speak to the sales consultant at Casiana Grove his name is Andy. I dealt with a guy named Gerry but his is no longer there.
The shower option was about another 2k from memory.
Good luck with it.
If you need more info feel free to get in touch.
Chi
Hi
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your efforts in logging everything in detail. This blog is helping us very much with our build. I have just put a deposit for Charlton.
Thanks again.
Hi Chi
ReplyDeleteWe are building the Charlton 33 now. Any chance you can post a pic of the powder room tile (the one you were underwhelmed about)?
Thank you
Anna
Hi Chi Hong - love your blogpost series!!
ReplyDeleteMind if I ask if you did any acoustic proofing. How is the sound top vs bottom.