Tips for building a new home

It may still be the last month of autumn in Victoria but winter’s icy progress has been making itself felt in the past few weeks.   Melbourne is a city of contrasting weather, unlike others in Australia. Summers can get unbearably hot with temperatures up to 40 degrees while winters can be cold and miserable for far too long. A new home builder in Melbourne needs to consider both heating and cooling.  Installation costs as well as running costs and
read more

Gone are the days of painting a feature wall in the living area of your new home. Beautiful designer wallpaper looks much more sensational. Papering walls rather than painting them adds richness, texture and depth in a way paint can never match. Wallpaper can be compared to a piece of artwork for a room. Wallpaper should not just be limited to the living areas either. It adds a sense of luxury to the bedroom, where dark moody colours and deep
read more

Solar power is one of the most efficient ways to comply with state government energy efficiency regulations which were introduced in 2011. More than 95% of Berstan Homes’ clients choose a solar water heating system over a rainwater tank for toilet flushing when they build their new home. The requirement to have one or the other is part of the 6 Star Standards which aligns to the Building Code of Australia’s national energy efficiency measures. The regulations also include a
read more

You’ve moved into your shiny new home, built by the nice people at Berstan Homes. Now it's time to organise the kitchen and fill up the pantry. Modern kitchens which are part of a larger family room or living area may not be as big as traditional kitchens which had a room of their own. New streamlined kitchens often sacrifice cupboard space for breakfast bars or larger appliances, and your new pantry may be smaller than the previous one. So
read more

The days of large backyards in a new house build are over. Blocks of land are getting smaller, and dual occupancy and duplexes on the same block are more common as land prices increase and urban sprawl continues. Even knockdown rebuilds often reduce the size of the backyard as home owners re-prioritise their leisure time and maintenance demands. If gardening is your passion but you don’t want to be a slave to weeding all weekend, it is possible to have
read more

Many of our clients have been asking lately about the extra costs for under mounted sinks. Builders charge more for these installations due to the extra works involved. The under mount sinks cost between $400-$500 in comparison to the standard surface mounted sink which costs around $280. The other extra cost is the cutting and finishing of the stone which can range from $500 to $800.  So you should expect to pay around an extra $820+ for an under mount sink.
read more

Recent news reports about building companies in Victoria collapsing is worrying news for their clients and those considering building a new home. Watersun Homes is the latest company to go into liquidation, bringing to a halt 300 construction projects and resulting in 90 staff losing their jobs. A few months earlier, Ashford Homes, together with Homestead Homes in South Australia and Huxley Homes in New South Wales, went into liquidation. The companies are owned by former Family First senator Bob
read more

Are you in your thirties with a family and still renting? Do you feel home ownership is out of your grasp because of the current high price of houses? It is possible to save money when entering the home market by choosing a new home build in Melbourne. You get exactly what you want with a brand-new house by Berstan Homes. There is also a substantial saving on stamp duty when you buy land rather than an existing house. First
read more

You’re building a new house. You’ve chosen a land and home package through Berstan Homes. Or you are contemplating a knock down rebuild of your house and you know Berstan Homes are the experts in this field. Now you need to decide which cooling system to install. There are three main choices on the market – ducted evaporative cooling, ducted refrigerated cooling and single room refrigerated cooling. How they work An evaporated cooling system draws warm air from outside through
read more

We all love our mattresses, but they’re also a big investment, which means that they’re not the type of thing you want have to replace on a regular basis. So, if you’re renovating, you’ll want to make sure that you can safely store your mattress so it’s ready when the renovations are complete.  Cleanliness Is A Must Before you even think about storing your mattress, you should give it a good clean. By a good clean we mean getting a vacuum
read more