This photograph shows an attractive antique looking wood heater which I found on hearth.com. . . . but its location looks very odd to me:
As it has been placed in front of varnished timber it has had to be placed well away from the corner meaning it’s taking a lot of space away from the room.
A large proportion of the radiant heat from the stove, and the stove pipe, will be lost through those windows behind it.
Any attempt to reduce the heat loss through those windows by curtains will increase the fire risk.
You need to remember that wood heater efficiency isn’t just about the stove. . . . it’s also about the location.
If you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to build your dream home, this can be a wonderful experience.
However, it is common for inexperienced homeowners to make lapses in their judgment when they are making decisions that are affecting the build of their home.
Below are a few common mistakes that we recommend avoiding when you are building ‘your dream home’.
Don’t Choose The Wrong Builder
It sounds obvious, but if you start off with the wrong builder, then you are on a course for disappointment.
Make sure you do thorough research on the builder that you are considering going with.
Find out as much information about the licenses that they hold and review the work that they have conducted over the last 12 months.
Find out as much as you can about the builder’s credibility to avoid falling into the trap of some building horror stories.
Additionally, you need to ensure that the builder’s team will communicate strongly with you .
The builder needs to convey that you can have confidence during the building process.
If you feel insecure about making a decision with going with a particular builder, follow your gut feeling and don’t go with them.
Don’t Just Focus On The Cheapest Option
Just as important as not choosing the wrong builder is automatically choosing the cheapest option.
Look into the details provided with the price to avoid any surprise costs that may arise in the future.
When looking into the details, find out as much information about the quality of the materials and building work that will be conducted.
If the quote sounds too good to be true, it possibly may be.
Check the details thoroughly!
Plan The Use Of Space Well
The impacts from the way the space is being used can be challenging.
Even though it may appear to be good on paper or in the display home, when you move into the home you will notice the convenience (or inconvenience) of the layout of the home.
These may include the following:
Kitchen Location
A kitchen that is placed a long way from the front door or garage can cause an inconvenience when the household goes on its routine grocery run.
Rather than making a shorter convenient trip, the kitchen may be placed in an inconvenient location when carrying heavy bags from the garage to the kitchen.
Toilet Location
You don’t want an unwanted elephant in the room (if you catch the drift!) Research and plan the toilet to offer people privacy and to avoid any unwanted ‘shared experience’ that the toilet may offer.
Locations of Bedrooms
This is crucial if you want to make sure you get a good night’s sleep every night. Think carefully about the placement of the bedrooms in relation to external noise.
West facing bedrooms are best avoided as they can easily overheat on summer evenings.
You may want an infants bedroom to be close to yours, while teenage children may be better at the opposite end of the house!
Plan Natural & Artificial Lighting For A Well Lit Home
There’s nothing more annoying, and depressing, than being inside a badly lit house.
Plan to make as much use of natural light as possible.
Consult with your builder about how you can use windows, shutters to control the natural lighting of the home.
Furthermore; ensure that the internal light installation will to keep rooms well lit in the evenings.
Should you want to adjust the lighting to change the ambiance, consider installing dimmers for your lighting needs.
Hopefully, these tips will help you to avoid making mistakes during the building phase of your dream home and will allow you to move in worry free.
If you are considering building a house with a flat roof or very low pitched roof (2-5 degrees) perhaps you should think about a roof access hatch.
If you are thinking about installing a roof access hatch in your new home, here are some important things to consider:
Convenient Access
There are a lot of reasons why you might want to have convenient access to your roof .
You never know when you are going to need to get up there to do small repairs, install an aerial, clean the solar panels, or just retrieve your kids ball from the roof.
In fact, some people have small gardens because of the shade free sunlight they get up there.
Whatever your reasons for installing a roof access hatch, having this convenient access is much easier and safer than having to get out the ladder and climb up the outside of your house.
NB If you plan on regularly accessing your roof you will need to address the issue of ‘Falls From Hight’ and take precautions such as high parapet walls or balustrades.
Safety
Having access to the roof in times of fire, flood, or other natural disasters can save your life.
For example in a bushfire situation it would make it easy to install sprinklers on the roof perimeter to provide a spray that would envelope the house.
In a flood the roof will be the safest place.
While these events don’t happen often, don’t let yourself get caught in a situation when you realise you should have had one installed for safety reasons.
Sustainable
Its a good idea to ask about the insulated options.
Openings facing the sky lose a lot more heat in winter than vertical openings. they also are subject to the most direct sunlight in the summer.
Now, while you might spend more money on the front end, down the road you will have minimised your energy consumption.
Access To The View
If you are a serious amateur astronomer or just a casual ‘stargazer’ you can get a much better view from above the streetlights.
A view from the roof will also give you an unobstructed view of the New Year Fireworks!
Value
When you decide to invest in a roof access hatch quality is very important.
Our homes and properties are some of the biggest investments we can make in our lives so for a roof hatch value means quality more than price.
On the roof the hatch will have to withstand pouring rain and strong winds. . . In alpine areas there could be snow and ice in winter.
You should look for a supplier with well designed weather seals and strong construction to avoid warping.
Achieving a 5 star energy rating is also really important.
A roof hatch can have many benefits but make sure you choose quality.
One thing to be aware of if you want to build a home in Australia with shipping containers is you need to buy ‘High Cube’ containers as standard containers will not meet the Building Regulations for Habitable Room Height (2.4m)
You may be out shopping for a new fridge to go in the new house
or
You may just want to check your existing fridge fits in the alcove in your new kitchen.
Whichever it is . . . . . Don’t forget to leave room around the fridge!
Ventilation
Both refrigerators and freezers work by extracting the heat from inside to a radiator coil on the rear of the unit.
If the air flowing past the coils is restricted the efficiency of the refrigerator will drop, and your power bills will go up.
I would recommend a space at least 25mm either side of the cabinet and 40-50mm behind and above the top of the unit.
Don’t then use these spaces to store trays, chopping boards, etc otherwise you are going to block that ventilation path.
I have heard of people installing an external vent behind a fridge mounted on an external wall. . . It seems like a good idea if you remember to shut the vent on hot days. (remember on a 30 + degree day the incoming air will be hotter than the air in the room)
Door Opening
To get drawers out of a Fridge or Freezer you normally have to open the door by much more than 90 degrees. (I have just checked mine and its about 135 degrees)
This means you may need more than the 25mm suggested above on the hinge side unless the front of the fridge projects forward of the alcove.
Built in Fridges
I’m not a big fan of built in fridges, but if you like them make sure that ventilation and door opening are fully considered before you buy.
“Valley of Salt” – Salinity in the Western Australian wheatbelt near Bruce Rock, WA. photo by CSIRO
Salinity doesn’t have to be as bad as in this photograph to cause problems in new homes.
It’s also quite common for land that has not got salinity issues to develop salinity over several years.
Building Problems Due To Salinity
Problems can range from cosmetic through to significant structural issues.
Efflorecence This is the white powdery deposit sometimes seen on brickwork or concrete. Sometimes it is caused by salts in the materials themselves, (See this link Efflorecence)
Breaking Up Materials If salt is carried into the wall be water and then dries it will form crystals inside the bricks, mortar, or concrete. These crystals can form internal pressure on the materials causing the external surface to crumble away.
Acid attack Acids can be formed that will increase the porosity of concrete and reduce its strength.
Increased Steel Corrosion A wet saline solution is likely to result in corrosion of concrete reinforcement and Brick Ties.
Many properties come with covenants that restrict what you can do with the site.
Although you can try to Remove the Covenant you might have a better chance of success in getting a permit to vary it instead.
A couple of examples:
The covenant says ‘Only One Dwellings’.
If you want to subdivide the block you are less likely to get objections if you attempt to vary the covenant to be ‘No More Than Two Dwellings’. Neighbours will be less concerned about two properties than if the covenant was removed and they thought you may want to put 3 properties on the site or even a block of apartments.
The Covenant says ‘No Front Fence’.
If you are getting people walking across the garden you could look at varying the covenant to say ‘No Front Fence higher than 900mm’. Such a change would preserve a relatively open aspect to a street while avoiding someone building a wall that makes their house look like a fortress.
Even with these changes there is no guarantee off success, but it is likely to improve your chances.
If you want to find some case law you could have a look at restrictivecovenantsonline.comwhich provides examples of cases which have gone to court in Victoria.
