Home & Garden

NEW HOME DESIGNS

Home & Garden

Posted by: TILL

21st Apr 2012 05:15pm

WE live in a new (3 yr) home, which we downsized to, - a 3 bed 2 bath sep lounge, dining/kitchen. It is lovely, - "but " we now find the ensuite is too small, we are now in our seventies and when one needs help with shower etc. it is too small. Do we really need a 2nd bathroom,??with a bath and all?? If a home is built to a smaller scale (downsized) then I would much prefer just one walk through bathroom, look at the space that would have been saved in this home. we dont have visitors very often, and the bathroom just 'sits', no one uses the bath ever. I did get a quote to enlarge the shower, as there is room to do this, -30cm waste space to the handbasin cupboard, and 30 cm out would be fine.. - why did they not use that space?? and why only one towel rail in both bathrooms?? I had to go buy another. !! Oh and the quote was over $6000. Surely it would not have cost the builder that to do it in the first place... - we all get older and we all need these conveniences to be right in the first place.
The kitchen is lovely - "to look at" - island bench/sink etc, - "but" the pantry is a one door with shelves, gggrrrr, to find an item you have to pull so many items out, and if not careful you knock a jar out and then you have a mess and broken glass........... and I find myself saying, " why did they not put a little edge on the shelves?" "why did they not plan a 2 door pantry with shelves narrow at the back and around to the sides, - or something better than this..... I dont have room for things like mixmaster, slow cooker, blender, toaster oven which I would normally store in a pantry. - it even has a power point 'in' the pantry to put a microwave in on the shelf, -- what ???? - all that steam in your wee small pantry, no way.....
And every new house I have been in has that annoying step at the outside doorways, you know, --- the one where you have to step over the sliding door thingo.... then decide whether to take a big step and put your foot down - over that half brick width, .. or put your foot sideways onto that half brick..... nasty !! I fail to understand how the building inspectors allow it, surely it would come under the health and safety issues. My elderly Mum tripped on that step so many times we had the door taken off and made a normal step with a normal door instead of a sliding one. Next house, we built a metre square platform outside the door that came up level with that half brick so you had a decent platform to step onto, -- much better. - even a second row of bricks would have solved it Mr. Builder.!!!
So we have decided to go find another home, - "upsize" to get a larger shower, an a good pantry, and hopefully a "one" bathroom. - and I am amazed how hard it is to find new, not yet built homes with larger showers. - even when you look at the plan , there is the room there to do it. --- come on builders, - save us that extra expense to have to rectify these problems ourselves, get it right in the first place.... ------ there I feel better now ...!!! I do hope this reaches the necessary builders. regards ------ anyone else out there with these problems ????

Comments 5

Deb
  • 28th Jul 2013 11:30am

Hi there. I do feel for you as its all as you say superficially great but needs too many "tweeks" before its perfect for you. It sounds like a steep learning curve but now the next home you know exactly what to ask the builder to do to make your home just how you need it. Debbie

Anonymous
  • 17th Jun 2013 04:24am

Hi I am a qualified interior designer from Europe and I agree I don't know how the builders get away with some of the builds here , in Ireland there are standards of the with of the doors and if you have steps u have to have a ramp , if you find a shell of a house you should ask the builder to give you a quote on the different fixtures you would like , eg not havering a separate toilet , put the toilet in the bathroom which will make it larger , and more safe you can later but a safety bar in , an yes I also agree with sockets , , in nearly every Australia house I have been in its extension cords everywhere the builders never supply enough sockets or they are never in the right places ,

TILL
  • 17th Jun 2013 05:36pm

GREAT TO HAVE your reply Shinners, and to know you are understanding of these problems. I could go on...... recently I have been looking at newly built homes for sale, and cant understand why they are still building the ensuites where you have to walk between the corner of the shower and the toilet to get to the handbasin, - so when you add a toilet surround with arm supports, the room you have left is about the width of one floor tile to get to the handbasin.... poor !!!
I also looked at one last week, and there in the ' middle ' of the home was a " BOX" ---- honestly that is just what it looked like, no window, just a toilet and a tiny handbasin, the space each side of the toilet would have been about 25cm -- -- I should have measured it with my hand width. I commented on it to the man and he said it was the "Powder Room " --- what ??? I would have been scarred to go in and use it, in case I couldnt get out again. wow !! what are our builders thinking of. I always feel our regular toilets are miserable ' boxes ;' anyway, even though they are at least larger than that one !! ---- why not put the toilet sideways to a window that you can see out, onto the garden, watch the butterflies and the birds, and the bees, while you are contemplating about what you may be planning to do in there !!! - lovely.
Very easy to back the toilet into the bathroom sideways by a window with entry through the laundry,.... now that gets it all away from where a door may be left open and everyone can see ' the toilet '... and then some builders are putting that 2nd toilet in the bathroom,..... very silly, how do you get to it if the bathroom is being used ??? Yes a toilet in t he bathroom is a good necessity, but you need one outside the bathroom as well. and with the laundry idea you have easy access to get to the toilet from the garden too, without even shedding your muddy boots - well maybe !!
In regard to your comment re power cords everywhere, here we are in this 4 yr old home with a power socket, - the only power socket on the bench where the stove top is --- about 10cm high on the wall by the stovetop and overlapping the stovetop by about 2cm, over the stove knobs, how about that, I have to be so careful where the cord sits as we use it for the kettle and the toaster...... come on builders, -- are there no ' ladies ' on your planning committees. regards Till

Tylerrr23
  • 21st May 2013 04:46pm

Very good sir

TILL
  • 17th Jun 2013 05:06pm
Very good sir

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY TYLERRR23. GOOD TO KNOW SOMEONE IS LISTENING ....

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