New Home Buyers Blog

Mr T from Donvale is currently renting a property and would like to live in his own home in the Eastern suburbs, preferably in the Donvale area.  Mr T's father owns a 690 m/2 site in Donvale, the site has an existing home which is rented out. Mr T came to me looking at the possibility of a knockdown rebuild of two homes on this site. I inspected the site and the existing home is in fairly good condition. I
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A waffle pod is a polystyrene mould which comes in several sizes and all are x 1.090mm. 175mm for an A class slab 225mm for an S class slab 300mm for an M class slab 375mm for an H class slab The waffle pod takes the part of form work to help internal beams in the slab. With a conventional raft slab you would need to form the pads up out of packing clay and consider excavation between the pads.
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Mr & Mrs M from Ivanhoe have a knock down rebuild currently under way with Berstan Homes. Mr & Mrs M were living in an old existing home that just did not suit their needs any more, so they decided to contact me to discuss their options.  They wanted a 35s/q double storey home for themselves and two smaller homes for a rental income to help with their retirement plans. With a land size 1000m/2 we were able to fit
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Essendon, what a great location close to everything from shops, transport, CBD and more. We have started a knock down rebuild in Kerr street Essendon and what a transformation from old to new.  The old home shown is well passed it's used by date and ready for demolition and a classic for a knockdown rebuild. The demolition has been completed and the new construction is well under way. The new dwellings we are building are interesting to build with the
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The Stockland spring campaign was launched Monday night at the Harbour kitchen at Docklands Melbourne. The event was very well supported by Stockland's builder partners including Berstan Homes. Appropriate numbers for the evening were at 120 guests who enjoying an abundance of food and a few beverages. The Stockland team were very excited about the campaign with some very interesting statistics about their sales in current estates.  Most of the builder partners were very happy with their current sales level
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Over the last couple of months we have had enquiries about providing a finished home and land package. Enquiries have come from investors and home owners with lenders looking more favourably at existing buildings for lending purposes.  So Berstan and Stockland have put their heads together and have come up with a perfect solution. The land and package is selected in one of the many Stockland estates and a deposit is made with no more to pay till handover of
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   Do you need to have any fall protection if you work on a roof? All of our sites have fall protection to protect roofing contractors and all other trades from falling off the roof.  See photos for the fall protection now used and should be used on all sites to protect workers from falls. When I did my building apprenticeship in the 70's, we had no fall protection and many building contractors had falls from roofs.  Lucky that nowadays
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Concrete base is a rock based material placed and levelled under the polythene prior to the form work and reinforcing then concrete.  See attached photo shows the base, which is crushed rock and is around 50mm to 100mm thick. The need for a smaller aggregate with rounded edges, so the perforation to the polythene is avoided. If a raft slab is being used the use of rock material is not used packing sand takes it's place to form the pods.
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Mr & Mrs S from Nunawading are looking at a knockdown rebuild on a property they purchased in 2008 for $480k. They have been looking at the new estates and haven't been happy with the locations.  Their property in Nunawading has everything they need from their children's schooling requirements to public transport and close proximity to numerous shopping centres.  The brief for this knockdown rebuild was for the demolition of the existing house and the design and construction of a
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We are currently building one of our Astoria32's in Lalor and the owners are very happy with the progress. After looking at the large corporate builders the owners chose Berstan Homes for their personal attention knowing that a personal approach would not be possible with larger building companies.  The Astoria32 is currently under construction in the Carlingford Estate Lalor, a boutique estate in the middle of Lalor. Carlingford has suitable developer guidelines to ensure the homes built within the estate
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A client asked me a question last weekend how do you stop the wall frames from falling over? Temporary bracing is the answer and these braces take the up any movement in the structure until the permanent bracing can be secured.  See photo of the temporary bracing and you will see the bracing is at 90 degrees to the wall framing creating the support. The weight of the wall is transferred to the foundation with the frame sitting on the
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The Shiralee17 has turned out to be a very popular design this year with strong sales. The purchasers are mixed between young family's, singles and retiree's. The Shiralee comes standard with a good size alfresco and with it's open plan living design is very popular. A main feature that has proven to be a winner is the master bedroom being located at the rear of the home. The laundry is of great working size and the size you would expect from
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Berstan Homes has just completed a knock down rebuild in Forest Hill with the demolition of an existing 1950's home and the new construction of a Shiralee27.  The Shiralee27 has some great features, one being the hugh extended garage area with roller door to the rear of the garage for boat. trailer. caravan access. The extended garage with a length of 8 metres leaves plenty of room for a workshop and storage if required.  Open plan living with easy alfresco
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Mrs H from Ringwood has decided to look into a knock down rebuild with her property in Ringwood. Mrs H bought the home in Ringwood for $170k in the 1970's and owes no money on the mortage. The home is situated on a 1200m/2 piece of land and would be able to accommodate 4 home units.  The build cost would be around $995k and Mrs H is going to sell 3 of the homes and retain one home for herself.
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The Tiana17 by Berstan Homes is a solution for corner lots and able to suit most size blocks with customisation. Offering a choice of 3 or 4 bedrooms and a single or double garage option the Tiana can accommodate most of your family's requirements. read more Corner lots are even cost effective option in new estates due to the major builder's not having a stamp type design to suit them, so this is a way of saving on your home
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I have recently noticed the custom building section of our business has increased by some 25%. I believe this is happening due to consumer awareness of an option to go custom in lieu of the larger stamp type builders.  The cost of a custom design is very similar to a stamp build, but you actually get what you want. Many families have specific requirements and expectations for their new home that cannot be achieved with a stamp type home build.
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Mr & Mrs T from Vermont have been considering a knockdown rebuild of their 1950's home in Vermont. Their home in Vermont was purchased in 1980's for under $200k and is valued today at $580k, they are looking at a knockdown rebuild with the construction of two new 4 bedroom town houses.  Cost for the rebuild would be around $660k including the demolition of their existing old home and all associated costs. With the sale price of new 4 bedroom
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I drove passed this old treasure in Warrandyte over the weekend and I couldn’t resist taking a photo. If your home is a little passed its use by date why not consider a knock down rebuild same location just a brand new home. With land in estates going up in price every year it would make sense to stay where you are and avoid the inconvenience of re-establishing you and your family in a new neighbourhood. Design we will create
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I was watching current affairs last year and there was a family who had their new home built by a major Melbourne based builder. Problem was the builder did not install any ceiling battens and their ceiling fell down.  Lucky for the family, they were out at the time and no one was killed. They approached the builder and because there was 7 year warranty period was up, the builder refused to do anything about it.  The builder then went
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Speaking to a client of mine the other day and they have a friend that built with a major Perth based building company. I was amazed to hear the home was built and the builder refused to do the driveway and alfresco concreting works.  The builder's representative stated that the building company only do driveway and alfresco concreting works on their display homes. So the owner was left to find and organise their own concreting contractors to complete their home. 
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The standard R rating on new home builds is a 6 star rating making the home more energy efficient than earlier built homes pre energy rating changes.  The R rating is achieved by using a combination of building materials and items such as insulation, solar hot water units, double glazing, home orientation, rain water tanks with plumbing to toilets and laundry just to name a few that could be used in your new home build.
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Over the years the old laminate kitchen bench tops haven't changed much. Of late the styles and designs have changed significantly to the point that I had some clients look through one of our displays last week that thought the laminate tops were stone!  The old laminate has gone and the new is taking over, very impressive.   
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What to look for when buying a knock down rebuild site costs: The construction of two double storey homes around 25 square each. The cost of the two homes would be around $650 to $700k including subdivision, surveying, design, demolition, planning, engineering, soil testing and all fees from start to finish. Some areas you should be looking at are Doncaster, Blackburn, Vermont, Donvale, Ringwood, Reservoir is also worth a look.  Size of land would need to be minimum 750m/2 plus.
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In the past 6 months we have experienced an escalation in theft from our projects. Listed thefts across all our projects: Air conditioning units that were already installed Hot water system already installed Solar panels mounted on the roof Solid timber feature door already hung Doors 2 hours after delivery Aluminium sliding doors already installed Steel lintels Bags of cement and lime 2 x pallets of bricks House lot of tiles Door frames already installed Aluminium windows Pack of skirting
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In the past 6 months we have experienced an escalation in theft from our projects. Listed thefts across all our projects: Air conditioning units that were already installed Hot water system already installed Solar panels mounted on the roof Solid timber feature door already hung Doors 2 hours after delivery Aluminium sliding doors already installed Steel lintels Bags of cement and lime 2 x pallets of bricks House lot of tiles Door frames already installed Aluminium windows Pack of skirting
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First cold water is pumped through the roof panels, and is heated by the sun. The heated water then returns to the tank, and is stored for later use.  At night (or especially on cold days) the gas or electric booster makes sure the water is heated to a usable temperature. 
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My old tube TV eventually gave up on Monday, so off we went to Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi and The Good Guys to have a look at what was on offer.  We found a great selection at all stores, with the The Good Guys being the best in price. We purchased a 60 inch and we went home to install the new TV. I set up the bracket up on the wall and allowed for the 60 inch with
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My old tube TV eventually gave up on Monday, so off we went to Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi and The Good Guys to have a look at what was on offer.  We found a great selection at all stores, with the The Good Guys being the best in price. We purchased a 60 inch and we went home to install the new TV. I set up the bracket up on the wall and allowed for the 60 inch with
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Orientation is often overlooked by many home designers and it should be one of the main points to design.  Simply it can save you on your energy costs due to better access for the sun to warm your home and using the elements to your new homes advantage is better for the environment.
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I have heard several complaints from suppliers lately about cheap imported solar panels, so be careful and make sure you ask your new home builder to provide the name of the manufacturer. I only use Chromagen solar & energy solutions on my projects, they were established in 1962 and a trusted name in the new home building market.
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