# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  Our Build - From the Dirt Up

## laceym

Me and my partner just purchased our block of land in the new Pasa Dena Estate in Clyde (VIC) 
We're really excited to build our first home! We don't start 'til March 2015 - as the land has no foot paths, roads or driveways yet! 
In the mean time I intend on posting pictures of our land, our proposed plans and taking any experience and advice you may have 
Although we're both in the construction industry this is totally new to us! hopefully it'll be as stress free as possible! 
We are intending on building with Botanic Homes - We really like their Director who has met with us several times to inspect the land before we bought it and looked through our building envelopes. 
We live across from this "artwork", it will eventually lead onto a 2 acre park land - in the back ground you can see a heritage building which they may turn into a cafe. We're lot *914* 
and theres our man hole we need to try cover in our backyard along the fence line! 
Here are some photos from our day of purchase  :Smilie:

----------


## phild01

Look forward to more progress pics!

----------


## laceym

> Look forward to more progress pics!

  Me too! Hopefully they'll start doing our paths and roads within the next few months  :Smilie:  That'll be good to watch  :Biggrin:

----------


## paddyjoy

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the build, exciting times!

----------


## laceym

> Welcome to the forum and good luck with the build, exciting times!

  Thanks! We are so excited! We just want to start now!

----------


## laceym

At my work we pay for "near maps" this great program that photographs all parts of Australia every few moths from a plane. 
I thought it would be a great idea to use it to watch the progress of our land to see them build the Roads, Paths and Driveways - without having to go out there ourselves and look 
(its not exactly near by to where we live now!) 
We're the little purple square (or there about)  :Redface:

----------


## phild01

Nearmap was a great freebie until they started extorting vast sums of money for it :Annoyed:

----------


## laceym

> Nearmap was a great freebie until they started extorting vast sums of money for it

  It's like several grand a year now ! And that's only to get cover for a certain area. 
  I'd never pay for it obviously but may as well take advantage of it :P 
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

----------


## laceym

We got to pick out some of our selections on Monday: 
Tiles, tap sets, bamboo flooring and carpet, range hood and I'm torn between the two ovens pictured !

----------


## Cecile

Thinking about how you cook might guide you into whether you choose an all-in-one range or a cooktop and oven.  I'm happy to see that it's a 900w oven if you choose the cooktop.  If you're a serious cook, I would go for whichever one has the most durable (heavy cast iron if possible) trivets, and a deep, sealed dished top that can easily collect a major spill.  We also really dislike our oven, since the internal fan does not switch off when you open the oven door.  It's a big issue for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it blows hot air out onto whoever is opening the door, and you lose a LOT of heat every time you open it with a fan running.  
Also...make VERY sure that the range hood is vented directly outside, and not into your roof space.

----------


## Bloss

Smart move is to leave gas cooktop and go induction - faster, better control and hotter. Gas prices will be going through the roof over coming years, electricity has peaked and will not be rising so much. So fan forced electric oven too. The price of solar and storage is coming down too so you will be able to use your own generated power behind the meter - can't ever do that with gas.

----------


## Uncle Bob

I'm with Bloss, though I don't know about those power prices having peaked, but I sure hope so. 
Anyway, I'd be going with the induction jobby just for the fact they're *alot* easier to keep clean.

----------


## phild01

One thing to be aware of with induction is that the element can be one that cycles on and off for the lower power settings and this may upset the serious cook.

----------


## Bloss

> One thing to be aware of with induction is that the element can be one that cycles on and off for the lower power settings and this may upset the serious cook.

  Nah - a non-issue - I am a serious cook and did it as a pro in a previous life and have used a variety of inductions for a few years now. The modern units are seamless, fast & hot. I've even converted my wok-mad mates to them - you need a steel-based trivet or a flat induction suitable wok, but the power is more than enough. 
This US site is a good resource - not pretty and uses BTUs and other arcane US measures, but good info even so  http://theinductionsite.com with buts on how it works http://theinductionsite.com/how-induction-works.shtml and pros & cons http://theinductionsite.com/proandcon.shtml

----------


## phild01

> Nah - a non-issue - I am a serious cook and did it as a pro in a previous life and have used a variety of inductions for a few years now.

  I know they are good, fast and hot.
Been mucking around with one myself and it cycles on/off for low power settings and I do not like that.  Perhaps there are better expensive units don't cycle on/off and is what you are more familiar with.

----------

