The fact all the staff at my local post office know my name, PO Box number and that they loudly sigh every time they see me come through the door has started to make me question the length of time i've been living here now. If they know your name: it's probably been too long.. Or maybe it's a lovely community thing i've never experienced before. Funny how that can be confused with modern day privacy invasion.
On the other hand, perhaps they are so familiar with me after i had everything delivered there for my building site there that i had ordered online.
How much stuff could you order online for your building a house?
Every single thing.
When i first started the 'serious' building process (i think that's when you actually hand over money to a builder and he starts demolishing stuff), i had the architectural design planned out, and a rough plan of the bathroom and kitchen layout - but the actual layout was to change once i'd organised exactly what i was going to have in these three rooms; i.e. a 70cm deep loo, what shape vanity, how the kitchen layout turned out etc etc
The difference is quite surprising - the products purchased can change everything, and they did.
But being on the road a fair bit through this process, i didn't have time to be on hand to drive down the road, measure and compare products and deliver spec sheets to the builder for products that would eventually be installed. Nor did i want the builder to choose everything.
There was that, and also that in Australia, prices vary wildly for exactly the same item from state to state, and store to store. It's like none of the building retail shops actually compare prices. OR maybe no one shops around.
I spent years buying magazines and ripping out pages of inspiration, working out my dream house, which i've probably been designing since i was 14... With rough white Greek walls, pink bougainvillea creeping around the front door, a courtyard garden in the middle of the house, huge kitchen, lounge with no TV, walls of Vitsoe shelving full of books and lots of places to sit in the sun... in California.. with Moroccan lanterns everywhere...
Then 3 years designing and planning, drawing, re drawing, then drafting, arguing with neighbours, back burner-ing and moving on, then finalising drafting, lawyering up against neighbours, submitting strata REIWA plans, submitting plans for planning permission, back burner-ing again, submitting plans for a building permit...
And finally, three months building. It's kinda anti-climatic.
But with the help of my box of magazine tear sheets, brochures from building trade shows, and a good awareness of the limitations of the design, i already mostly knew what i needed to find, when they began building.
I had seen some 'How to stick to your building budget' advice article in a magazine somewhere too, and one of the points mentioned how buying things early on in the project, will help you to stick to your original plan, and stop getting over excited and splash out on stuff down the line.
And so - i spent a month in front of my computer, building my house.
- Toilets: Ebay
- Bathtub #1: Gumtree.com.au (went back on gumtree after everyone gave me a hard time for having a plastic bathtub)
- Bathtub #2: Ebay (they shipped it with the toilets for free)
- Tapware: Englishtapware.com.au, Ebay and a heritage store in Adelaide who seem to supply most stores around Australia - they were significantly cheaper than buying locally, even with shipping.
- Tiles - academytiles.com.au and fibonaccistone.com.au
- Security system: Ebay
- Bathroom accessories: Ebay
- Light fittings: Ebay, BarnLightElectric.com, SchoolHouseElectric.com, onlinelighting.com.au
- Outdoor speakers: Ebay
- Indoor sound system: Ebay
- dishwasher: appliancesonline.com.au
- oven etc: kitchenhq.com.au
- Grey water system: Gumtree.com.au
Pro's
- easy to compare specs
- easy to compare prices
- easy to compare reviews
- hard to be emotional about something you can't see = save $$$
- much bigger range
- easy to find the exact product, rather than driving around four stores etc etc
Con's
- hard to judge quality if you don't know the product/brand
- watch out for items - particularly plumbing items - that don't have a watermark/WELS certificate - the plumber will not install them.
- Same goes for light fittings etc etc - they need to be approved for use in Aussie (HAVING SAID THAT: AN AUSSIE APPROVED STAMP DOES NOT EQUAL BUILD QUALITY)
- shipping can be expensive
- can spend AGES pondering things
- things can arrive broken
- shipping times are not an exact science
Pro-Tips!
- Make sure you get any light fittings tailored for Australia - easy for them to do - doesn't usually add $
- Check out the Facebook page's of the online stores for coupons and sale dates
- Keep a measuring tape near you and make sure things fit. Savings go down if you have to post things back.
- Keep all the boxes from the packaging and use them on the floor to protect your house against tradies/paint/scratches etc
My biggest win's:
- savings on the oven and range hood from Ilve - i spent the longest time choosing those appliances and shopped around big time, saving nearly 2k.
- the exposed bath/shower set from Bastow - very expensive in Perth for some reason - saved nearly $900 ordering that online.
On the other hand, perhaps they are so familiar with me after i had everything delivered there for my building site there that i had ordered online.
How much stuff could you order online for your building a house?
Every single thing.
When i first started the 'serious' building process (i think that's when you actually hand over money to a builder and he starts demolishing stuff), i had the architectural design planned out, and a rough plan of the bathroom and kitchen layout - but the actual layout was to change once i'd organised exactly what i was going to have in these three rooms; i.e. a 70cm deep loo, what shape vanity, how the kitchen layout turned out etc etc
The difference is quite surprising - the products purchased can change everything, and they did.
But being on the road a fair bit through this process, i didn't have time to be on hand to drive down the road, measure and compare products and deliver spec sheets to the builder for products that would eventually be installed. Nor did i want the builder to choose everything.
There was that, and also that in Australia, prices vary wildly for exactly the same item from state to state, and store to store. It's like none of the building retail shops actually compare prices. OR maybe no one shops around.
I spent years buying magazines and ripping out pages of inspiration, working out my dream house, which i've probably been designing since i was 14... With rough white Greek walls, pink bougainvillea creeping around the front door, a courtyard garden in the middle of the house, huge kitchen, lounge with no TV, walls of Vitsoe shelving full of books and lots of places to sit in the sun... in California.. with Moroccan lanterns everywhere...
Then 3 years designing and planning, drawing, re drawing, then drafting, arguing with neighbours, back burner-ing and moving on, then finalising drafting, lawyering up against neighbours, submitting strata REIWA plans, submitting plans for planning permission, back burner-ing again, submitting plans for a building permit...
And finally, three months building. It's kinda anti-climatic.
But with the help of my box of magazine tear sheets, brochures from building trade shows, and a good awareness of the limitations of the design, i already mostly knew what i needed to find, when they began building.
I had seen some 'How to stick to your building budget' advice article in a magazine somewhere too, and one of the points mentioned how buying things early on in the project, will help you to stick to your original plan, and stop getting over excited and splash out on stuff down the line.
And so - i spent a month in front of my computer, building my house.
- Toilets: Ebay
- Bathtub #1: Gumtree.com.au (went back on gumtree after everyone gave me a hard time for having a plastic bathtub)
- Bathtub #2: Ebay (they shipped it with the toilets for free)
- Tapware: Englishtapware.com.au, Ebay and a heritage store in Adelaide who seem to supply most stores around Australia - they were significantly cheaper than buying locally, even with shipping.
- Tiles - academytiles.com.au and fibonaccistone.com.au
- Security system: Ebay
- Bathroom accessories: Ebay
- Light fittings: Ebay, BarnLightElectric.com, SchoolHouseElectric.com, onlinelighting.com.au
- Outdoor speakers: Ebay
- Indoor sound system: Ebay
- dishwasher: appliancesonline.com.au
- oven etc: kitchenhq.com.au
- Grey water system: Gumtree.com.au
Pro's
- easy to compare specs
- easy to compare prices
- easy to compare reviews
- hard to be emotional about something you can't see = save $$$
- much bigger range
- easy to find the exact product, rather than driving around four stores etc etc
Con's
- hard to judge quality if you don't know the product/brand
- watch out for items - particularly plumbing items - that don't have a watermark/WELS certificate - the plumber will not install them.
- Same goes for light fittings etc etc - they need to be approved for use in Aussie (HAVING SAID THAT: AN AUSSIE APPROVED STAMP DOES NOT EQUAL BUILD QUALITY)
- shipping can be expensive
- can spend AGES pondering things
- things can arrive broken
- shipping times are not an exact science
Pro-Tips!
- Make sure you get any light fittings tailored for Australia - easy for them to do - doesn't usually add $
- Check out the Facebook page's of the online stores for coupons and sale dates
- Keep a measuring tape near you and make sure things fit. Savings go down if you have to post things back.
- Keep all the boxes from the packaging and use them on the floor to protect your house against tradies/paint/scratches etc
My biggest win's:
- savings on the oven and range hood from Ilve - i spent the longest time choosing those appliances and shopped around big time, saving nearly 2k.
- the exposed bath/shower set from Bastow - very expensive in Perth for some reason - saved nearly $900 ordering that online.
See those boxes??
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