Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Mar 17, 2007 10:46 am I,ve been following this forum the last month or so since I've got the building bug again and am in the process of selling and buying a block of land.
I can't believe how lucky I was building our last home after reading some of the horror stories here and how much I enjoyed it. Some tips that helped me with my last build were... 1. Visited lots of display homes and got ideas etc and designed our own home on the kitchen table. 2. Took the sketch to a drafstman that specialized in display type houses etc and he changed my sketch and slightly modified it to suit. I gave the go ahead and he produced a full set of drawings, engineers specks etc for a basic price of about $3/sq metre (1997 prices) 3. Wrote up my own speccys etc so each builder would quote on EXACTLY the same. e.g. $700/k for bricks, $300 for taps/ $30/m2 for tiles etc etc and then got 3 builders to quote 4. Luckily the builder we wanted came in at the cheapest and it was a pleasure to work with him. 5. Basically I was on site nearly every day and did all the site cleanups for him. 6. From scrap timber etc I boxed up all the driveways/ paths etc...also dug trench footings for brick fence and any leftover concrete from the workers was dumped in the trench.....by the time the house was finished all the footings had been filled. 7. Used the builders a/c to order concrete/ steel etc and then paid him CASH for the goods 8. The builder allowed me to use his contracters and pay them cash for my own jobs.....brick fence, finishing off driveway etc It ended up a very enjoyable build and I got a great house at the end that I felt proud of. Now it's time to move on and I'd like to do basically the same process again but I need some tips to keep costs down. We have our eye on a block of land (acearage) but is has some slope areas. We have no contract on the land yet. What can we put in the contract to protect ourselves from site costs? Can we put subject to soil tests etc and what should we be looking for? A friend also suggests as we have done previous and then excavating the site ourselves and getting our own soil test and then getting builders to quote after site preparation. Also waht comes first excavation and then soil test or vic versa Thanks for any help on the best way to approach the land contract and getting quotes etc. .....happy building everybody P.S. My thoughts... 1. Contract on land subject to soil test (what classification???) and subject to settlement of our current house 2. Soil test 3. Get drafstman to draw up plans and also what cut/fill to do based on a contour drawing 4. Hire excavater driver who specializes in house blocks and do site preparation 5. Get builders on site to quote 6. Build dream home Re: Buying land/soil tests/excavating/contracts etc..tips please 2Mar 17, 2007 7:44 pm excavate then soil test. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Buying land/soil tests/excavating/contracts etc..tips please 3Mar 21, 2007 10:00 am Just re read your post & thought I'd better clarify.
A soil test prior to purchase is a good idea so there's no unwanted surprises. If a class S, M, H or E site is excavated more than 500mm & this wasn't taken into consideration at the initial test then another test should be undertaken after the cut has been done. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Yeah I don't know why I came to a forum. Place is full of wierdos/pedos thought internet may help but I suppose I'll try my luck with someone in person. Cheers. I tried… 0 6443 MBA and HIA both have sub contract agreements, check them out 2 7315 Industry type domestic contracts are prepared by industry bodies for the benefit of the builders. This means that if you are the owner watch out. One of the points is… 0 3226 |