Nik’s Hot Tips For Pre-Start

Below are some hot tips that Nik has recommends looking into and having a chat about when you do pre-start. They are just little tweaks and for the most part very inexpensive if not free, however, they make a huge difference down the track.

Lighting & Power Points

1. If you are looking at replacing your lights with LED’s after handover, move all the ceiling points away from the middle of the room and into a location (for example in a corner where you would put an LED later). That way you will be able to easily add extra LED’s in the future and wont have to cover up a hole in the middle of the ceiling. 
   
2. Speaking of LED’s don’t get the builder to fit additional downlights. Do this after handover, there are multiple companies that will install a downlight for roughly $50-$60 each which is about half of what it would cost going through the builder.
   
3. If budget allows it, make sure to add extra double power points in the bedrooms and kitchen (you can never have enough, really).

Bathrooms & Ensuites

1. For a small fee, think about extending the mirror in the spare bathroom as far as you can to stop dead space, it also makes the bathroom look bigger. Just remember to add the extra little tiles up to the mirror to finish the look. 
   
2. For your bathtub, think about moving the handles to the opposite end of where the tap is (usually the tap is down the foot end) that way when you are using the bath you don’t have to reach far to turn it on (this is no charge). Alternately move the taps and/or the faucet to the center of the bath to achieve the same results.
   
3. Add a brick nib wall (half wall) to showers and extend cabinetry. This reduces the dead space gap between cupboard and glass shower that’s always a hard place to clean.
   
4. Add a soap niche (or a whisky holder) in the shower – try put it on a double brick wall if possible so they can simply cut into it. IF it’s on a single wall the builder will need to add an extra wall of bricks to then cut into it for the niche, if you’re doing it that way, keep in mind the cost will be higher.
   
5. If your budget allows it – add full height tiling to ensuite – don’t worry about spare bathroom unless you have money to spare. As for the toilets just keep it standard or worst case if you want more tiles there, Nik recommends going up only to the height of the switch.
   

Other Internals

1. Add a power point under the island bench. This is great so you’re not limited for where to plug electric appliances in or for when you’re entertaining you can have phone chargers’ underneath for guests etc.
   
2. Switches – make sure you check where your light switches are placed and that they are in a convenient spot when the door opens. (Nik stuffed up on his house and had a few tucked behind the doors).
   
3. Internet – as standard you get 1 data and 1 TV point. Look at swapping out one of the TV points or antenna points for an extra data point. When you really think about it, how often do you watch free to air TV? If you do watch it however, there are apps available for each station that show the free to air TV. 

External

1. Add 1-3 external wall lights to the front of the home (just basic nothing fancy) that way you can swap the covers when you move in with fancy ones from Bunnings. If you’re thinking of adding cameras or sensor lights in the future these lights will be helpful because it means, you’ll already have the electrical lines all fed in ready to go. (Again, Nik learnt this the hard way)
   
2. If your block has a big yard, make sure to move the soak wells to the front of the property or away from wherever you this you might plan in the future to put a SPA or pool. 
   
3. Don’t always jump and pay for glazing on the front entry door a cheap alternative is to do glass tinting when you move in you can do blackout style for 1/4 of the price than what builder charges for the “translucent glazing”.

The Garage

1. Hoists- add a junction box in the roof so that the sparky can hook up the hoist when you move in and makes life easier.
   
2. Garage lights – keep the standard ones in the plan but positions them so they will suit you for the future if you want to convert them Bay lights or even the full hectic hexagon/detail lights.
   
3. Add a couple extra power points in the garage where your benches will be in the future, and especially one near the roller door or at the front of the garage door so that you have somewhere to hook up the power washer or vacuum (keep this power point at a low height). 

Keystart

If your mortgage is through Keystart, normally you’re already at the max $480k package, this is important to keep this in mind as ALL changes at prestart including upgrades MUST be sent to Keystart for approval. So, if you’re at the max 480k and spend 2k at prestart, the bank KEYSTART will DENY, and it can cause headaches. Best thing to do is just set up the home with things that will make adding extra items post-handover easier for you. 

I think that’s it for now, wherever possible Nik will jump into your prestart to say hello and provide any advice and answer any questions etc. best of luck with it all and enjoy this exciting part of your building journey.