Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jul 19, 2014 4:34 pm So I have something atypical and specific in mind and no a project builder with modified standard plan is not going to do the trick. For visualising here's the kind of thing I want. http://www.busyboo.com/2012/12/27/moder ... westcliff/ The specifics. I want the interior space to be no larger than 55sqm. 1 bed and 1 bath. Yes that's right a freestanding home for a single person. This is the level of space I find ideal for my lifestyle being both spacious and easy to clean, maintain. I've lived in that space for the best part of a decade and never felt the limitations of it. I'm somewhat of a minimalist so I don't own much furniture nor do I care to. I'm well past the lifestage where any kind of family is likely. On top of that I want around 25sqm of covered decking, sitting on a nice block around 900sqm. I'm an avid gardener and cannot live with the pathetic courtyards so common where I live. The block I am still yet to purchase. I do want the home on piers, as if I need to move I would like the ability to have the house removed to my new location. I'm especially fond of the heavy steel framing of that house, yes the black as well and the large picture windows. I live in a cold climate so I would want more non-glass cladding than that particular home but you get the general idea. The house needs to be orientated for passive solar gain and have high insulative properties. I'm considering a SIPs cladding where the insulation, cladding and lining board are integrated. My aesthetic is definately more asian than traditional modern, in that I like simple lines, low furniture, lack of clutter, use of earthen tones, etc. I plan to create a wonderful woodland type garden and have magnificent views of japanese maples, conifers and rhododendrons from the deck and major living areas. The house I currently live in has an interior space 3.8m wide by about 14m long, its an ideal shape and good layout like that. I also like the idea of a linear floorplan. So given I've never bought or built any home before, I need some guidance on the best way to approach this. As far as I can see there isn't an off-the shelf product that will come close to what I want. So do I find an architect, a draftsperson, a builder? Whats the best (most straight forward, least expensive) way to do this? Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 2Jul 19, 2014 8:47 pm If you are really clear about what you want a custom builder that has there own designers are probably the best way to go. Take your plans to to or three and see who is willing to work with you. This is the approach I used when I designed and built a passive solar house. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 3Jul 20, 2014 1:18 am I second just going straight to a custom builder. They will re jig the design until you're happy with it. One bedroom dwellings can be hard to get permits for but that's mostly in housing estates. They may also dictate to you a a minimum size. Speak to the council in the area you are interested in as well. You may have to have a 'study' or a room you can call a bedroom. Not sure but it would be worth checking. The house looks amazing. Unbelievably gorgeous. It's also refreshing to see someone build entirely for themselves rather than a family. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 4Jul 20, 2014 8:49 am I'd actually be more inclined to use a draftsman as I think this'd be easier to send around to a few builders to get quotes on and not run into the issue about who owns what. Firstly though (and for the reasons mentioned in the post above) I would contact council and speak to planning officer to get their view on any issues with the design early on. Lastly I love the design of that place. I've seen many linear designs done really well in small narrow terraces but having those openings to the sides would be amazing especially amongst the garden you've described. Have you considered if a shipping container build would fit the bill? http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 5Jul 20, 2014 9:42 am Thanks bashworth, I've done a bit of legwork overnight and have found at least one custom builder where I am with a good reputation. I'll put it to them and they can at least give me a ballpark figure and some guidance on the concept. I would prefer it to be professionally managed for me as I work shifts and really don't have the luxury of time on my side. My current lease runs out in 9 months and I want to have the project at least DA approved by that time so I'll know what I need to do when it comes time to re-sign. One member here kindly pointed me in the direction of shipping containers already. One is definately too narrow (as I've played around with that idea before) it would have to be two side by side, but then I wonder if a manufactured steel frame will really be any more expensive than all the work that will have to go into making two containers fit the bill? I guess that's what research is for. I wonder if I can find a builder willing to mess around with shipping containers as it's a novel product. I don't have the skill nor the time to be an owner builder. So it looks like my first step is actually council to see if there are any objections to a one bedroom residence. I really don't want to be talked out of my idea for a very compact home, it's something I feel passionately about. And if I were forced to have a conventional home I would never make full use of I might as well just buy established. Lets hope that's not the case. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 6Jul 20, 2014 10:27 am Although if we want to look at how a 2m width can actually be used as a house, here is a good example. http://www.bestofinteriors.com/interior ... in-london/ And another container-width space, cleverly done. http://www.bestofinteriors.com/interior ... york-city/ Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 7Jul 20, 2014 6:59 pm Have you considered pre-fab custom builders? Not sure what state you are in but take a look at Prebuilt.com.au which actually have a one bedroom linear house in their range. Another is ArchiBlox or ecolive.This style of long narrow home is ideally suited to this construction method, quick to build offsite and because it gets shipped to your land, you know you can always ship it out. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 8Jul 21, 2014 8:03 am radiuz Have you considered pre-fab custom builders? Not sure what state you are in but take a look at Prebuilt.com.au which actually have a one bedroom linear house in their range. Another is ArchiBlox or ecolive.This style of long narrow home is ideally suited to this construction method, quick to build offsite and because it gets shipped to your land, you know you can always ship it out. I have contacted two of those and heard nothing back from either, plus neither of their styles are exactly what I want. But their silence when handling an enquiry is primarily the reason why I am now looking at a custom build. If it's a struggle to get someone to even talk to you I cannot imagine how hard it will be once money and contracts have changed hands. I do tend to judge suppliers by how they treat initial contact, if their attitude says 'can't be bothered' now it isn't going to improve later. The great problem with prefab is that you are stuck with someone else's aesthetic, sure they might rejig the floorplan for you but they are not going to change the whole style of the building. They are going to build what they know. And to be honest for Prebuilt's price (plus transport and other fees) I may well be able to get exactly what I want for around the same. I'll see anyway. I also contacted a couple of well known smallers builders who were only interested in building one of their standard homes. No matter how I tried to explain to them what I wanted they kept just pointing me back to their smaller standard design, which looks nothing like what I want, not even in floorplan. It was frustrating to say the least. But thanks for the thoughts anyway. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 9Jul 21, 2014 9:31 am If you're on a tight timeframe, avoid going through an architect or any other third party, as they will take ages. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 10Jul 21, 2014 10:18 am Thanks everyone. I've called the local council and they couldn't care less about size of the home or number of bedrooms. All they are about is that it meets the basic requirements of a home (kitchen, bathroom, living area and bedroom) and then of course all the applicable codes for sewerage, bushfire etc. So from that perspective not much to worry about. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 11Jul 21, 2014 9:50 pm It seems that you still haven't purchased your block of land, right? If that is the case, most of the builders wouldn't put much time for you especially you are talking about a very dedicated lifestyle house for yourself. Since they have no idea of what they are working with in terms of the block of land. It's best for you to find your dream block first and work from there or you might end up with a concept design which simply doesn't fit the block. Also, although your design is of minimalist, it is still a custom house with very specific requirement and the requirements are not common as well. So be prepared to pay a premium even thou the house is not big. If you like house on piers, you might check out some pole house builders, those would be the ones you can start looking into. Some of them will work with steel framing (not all for sure as I have contacted some before). Good luck. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 12Jul 22, 2014 8:38 am Thanks snowing. Yes that's right I have no yet bought my block. But does that mean a builder should not even reply to an initial enquiry at all? Is a simple email not worth someone's time when it could secure them a customer later on? And how are any of them to know I haven't purchased a block yet, since I have not stated that in any of my initial enquiry emails? I'm not expecting anyone to design me a house without a block to sight it on. I'm just wanting to make an initial contact with prospective builders to find out what kind of information they need, if they are even interested in this kind of build etc. A reply to an email or a phone call is not a lot to ask and takes no more than 5mins. But it brings up an interesting question. I would rather find the block that fits the build rather than the other way around. I do not wish to end up with a home I don't like simply because it's the house that works on that block. But without anything to go on how am I supposed to know which block is suitable and which isn't? It's an interesting dilemna. I guess in this country the norm is that people buy a block of land and let a builder tell them what they can have on it, and what the builder likes to build and just feel happy they have a builder. And when you think about that, it's a bit strange. And what if I run out, buy a block, only to discover that not one builder in this country will build me what I want? I'm now stuck with a useless block I'll have to sell and lose stamp duty etc. It truly is a big ask to expect someone to buy a block merely in the hope that someone, somewhere will build what I want. And yet so typical of this country. All I'm asking for at this stage is....given y,x & z. Would you, as a builder be interested in such a project? Simple yes or no will suffice. If yes then sure I'll run out and find that block and be in contact once I've gotten it. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 13Jul 22, 2014 9:41 am Well.. honestly I have talked with quite a few builders before I decided on mine as well. Not all of them replied and some replies are so "formal" like from a robot. If you tell them that you have a block already, chances are that you will receive a reply is higher. If you don't even have a block and not looking for house and land package, builders/developers will evaluate you as well and in your case they will just think "you are not ready for my business", or "you are not my cup of tea", or even "are you serious?!" The old term "time is money" speaks true here. If they don't see chances of your money coming, they won't waste their time. If you see them in person, yes. They will answer you. But sadly, with emails unless you give enough information, how are they going to give you back what you want?! I did tell my ex potential builders that I have my block and where about in the first place. From what I learn, you can take it two ways. You have a design in mind and try to look for a block that might be suitable for it. Then you approach the builders. If you can state the block you intended to buy, some builders will look at it and tell if you they can work with it or not. But if you don't have any in mind, chances are that they will simply ignore you. The other way is look for a block you like and design a house for that block. If the block is flat and square, that's easy. You can fit anything to it as long as it fits. If not, design one and pay the premium. That is what I am doing now. For your case, it is very hard for builders to even promise on anything.. You have a concept in mind which is unique which may require specific care but without any info on the location or block of land. No one can tell you how to build it or if even it is possible to build. My suggestion to you is given that you have a concept, you can either work with a draftsman to work your plan out first. Builders won't touch you at this stage unfortunately as you are definitely not ready for it. Then you can look for you block and approach builders with both things and see how it goes. Or if you have specific location you are looking at, you can try to contact local builders in person and ask for advises on blocks that might suit you in the area. This was how I got my block in first place. Good luck! Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 14Jul 22, 2014 9:50 am Personally I think you should go to a draftsman or building designer and get them to do a quick mock-up of what you are intending to build - floorplan and some elevations. They would also be able to give you an estimate of how much they expect it would cost to build. I'd also make sure you retain copyright to these plans viewtopic.php?f=1&t=71740&hilit=+copyright&p=1189243#p1189243 Another reason why you should employ the designer first. The you can hawk the plans around to a few builders. If you go to a builder and get them to employ the designer then the subsequent plans are the builders property. If you don't go ahead with the builder but like the plans you would have to pay the builder a release fee for those plans which could be $3 - 4 - 5,000 or more. Being a smaller house also gives you more options to buying a block of land and siting it exactly how you want on that land. Normally people buy the land first then design the house to suit the block. Once you have a set of plans - even simple pre-DA ones, a lot more builders would be interested. There would be some who would regard you as a tyre kicker at the moment - no block, no plans. A set of drawings would show them you are serious. Stewie Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 15Jul 22, 2014 10:22 am Okay. Thanks for the insight into how builders work. I know the location I want to build in and there is one potential block, but it's not a good potential because it has a 50m driveway to the street and the potential cost to get the electricity that far back could make the block unviable. I've been warned by the local council there that many blocks that are sold in that area, while having building entitlements, are so difficult to satisfy all the council requirements that they are virtually impossible to build upon. So you can see my hesitation in rushing out to purchase a block. On top of that they are all sloping (some cliff-like) and very expensive to buy. I only have a total budget of $480k, if the build tops $200k it's very likely I simply cannot afford this project. I am giving serious thought to building interstate within commuting distance of a major city (Melbourne) and just moving there once it's complete. The cost of land here is unbelievable, considering it's an uncrowded city. Anything within a 45mins of Adelaide (25mins gets you out of the metro zone) and you are looking at paying around $300k for a 500-1000sqm block, yes even outside the metro area. Ridiculous, especially when you consider that $350-$400k will get you a 500sqm block with a 3 bed house on it. I find SA in general to be quite crazy in this way. The fashion here is for a house with a driveway and 6sqm of paving under a clothesline. I've not seen tighter housing anywhere, including Sydney, which I lived in for the past decade. Considering this isn't a big city I just don't understand the rationale behind building in such density. And none of it is cheap. A very tight 2 bed villa with no backyard, a second bedroom that looks like a pantry and very pokey spaces still costs $300k here. I looked at regular houses in the outer suburbs but the layouts are so poor, and the use of block space equally so. Most of these houses sit close to the rear fenceline with all the yard out the front done up as a lawn or rockery. There is just no usable garden space. Sydney is poorly planned but even in the tightest suburbs (I lived in the inner west) the use of space was much better than here. Adelaide as a city, doesn't have a lot to recommend it either (sorry to anyone this might offend). There isn't much here so living metro, even though metro houses are nominally cheaper than say Sydney or Melbourne, doesn't net you any of the benefits that metro living in a major city does. My impression of Adelaide is it's just a rural centre that spread out, but someone forgot to put in the services and vibrancy that towns of this size would normally have. I've tried my best to get along with it but have decided I'd either have to live rural in SA and leave city life behind or I'd have to leave the state. Immediately before moving here I was based in a town, pop 5,000 in NSW and it was more alive and easier to live in than Adelaide. Had a very strong farmers market culture, lots of outdoor activities and a good arts & music scene. I've found none of that here. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 16Jul 22, 2014 2:08 pm Okay, so it looks like I'm getting somewhere here. I called Royal Wolf about a container conversion involving two side by side 40' containers, which should give me the building envelope I'm after. Their indicative pricing is about $50k for the complete cabin fitout of a single 40" container. And they are asking me to sketch out my floorplan so they can have a look at what I want and can give me a rough costing for such a thing. They line the container with coolroom lining basically to give it the insulative properties it needs. They would be able to paint the exterior to whatever colour I choose and wire it as well as providing plumbing outlets and what not. So kind of like a prefab home that is then assembled onsite and finished with tradies. The advantage would then we that it would be modified and done here in SA with minimal transport costs. I would have to pay a designer to come up the final plan, council plans, make sure it works for passive solar, cross ventilation etc. But I could use Royal Wolf as a factory more or less to be the bones of the house done. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 17Jul 22, 2014 6:06 pm One of the prefab guys did get back to me, with bad news. It would basically cost the cost of the house again just to have it delivered to SA from VIC. So unless you happen to live near a prefab builder, it isn't really an option. Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 18Jul 22, 2014 6:24 pm Stewie D Personally I think you should go to a draftsman or building designer and get them to do a quick mock-up of what you are intending to build - floorplan and some elevations. They would also be able to give you an estimate of how much they expect it would cost to build. I'd also make sure you retain copyright to these plans viewtopic.php?f=1&t=71740&hilit=+copyright&p=1189243#p1189243 Another reason why you should employ the designer first. The you can hawk the plans around to a few builders. If you go to a builder and get them to employ the designer then the subsequent plans are the builders property. If you don't go ahead with the builder but like the plans you would have to pay the builder a release fee for those plans which could be $3 - 4 - 5,000 or more. Being a smaller house also gives you more options to buying a block of land and siting it exactly how you want on that land. Normally people buy the land first then design the house to suit the block. Once you have a set of plans - even simple pre-DA ones, a lot more builders would be interested. There would be some who would regard you as a tyre kicker at the moment - no block, no plans. A set of drawings would show them you are serious. Stewie Hi Stewie, I was just thinking about doing what you have suggested. I went with a project builder and up to pre-contract the pricing seemed not - competitive. Up to date, we have already paid the project builder 8k. The house is lowset custom design of approx. 50 squares and coming up to low $500k for the build. It is only right now that I am trying to search for information about going down the avenue of getting a designer to draw up my plans (with a few amendments) and get builders to tender. Someone at work have mentioned to me that it would come cheaper than a project builder due to the fact we have flexibility of picking different builders quotes. While my intention is not to go the cheapest but more of picking a reliable builder with a practical price. What is the best way to go down this path .... Should I engage a building broker at all? Would a designer be able to prepare all tender documentation? Should I engage a project management individual to oversee the contractor? Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 19Jul 23, 2014 10:05 am Quote: Someone at work have mentioned to me that it would come cheaper than a project builder due to the fact we have flexibility of picking different builders quotes. Wrong advice. You won't beat a project home builder on price. They build for $1300-$1600 per sq m whereas a smaller builder doing a one-off design won't be able to do it for less than $2,000 minimum ( depending a lot on where you live, competition in the local building industry etc ) and frequently $2,500 and up. Quote: Should I engage a building broker at all? Hmmm unsure on that one. References and personal experiences from friends, work colleagues etc regarding the builder are good. Checking their history with VCAT or the Dept of Fair Trading is also a good idea. Quote: Would a designer be able to prepare all tender documentation? Yep, thats what I do. Everything from initial sketches through to final plans for the DA then CC and construction documents. Quote: Should I engage a project management individual to oversee the contractor? That's up to you but personally a good builder won't need any managing , but maybe an independent building inspector who is local may be a wise investment. Check their history as well. Stewie Re: Custom Build, best way to go about this 20Jul 23, 2014 1:03 pm Just for some inspiration, did you see the Dream Build episode House for a Car? Even though it isn't exactly what you are after, it was fundamentally a house for a single person. Loved the idea and execution. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/dreambuild/episodes/ep02.htm 4 9060 I have stone pavement (?) in my backyard around the pool. I have not tended to them and so there is moss growing on them. I intend to clean them but was wondering what the… 0 854 I'd get the gutters to match your roof and pipes to match the paint - otherwise they become a feature. Nice pick with the paint colours! 1 34269 |