Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Apr 01, 2018 4:01 pm Hello, First time poster and still finding my way around this site, so apologies if this question has been asked before... My husband and I are looking to either renovate our existing home or alternatively, bull-doze and re-build. At this stage we are leaning towards the former (renovate) but I am struggling to know where to start. We have an appointment with Summit soon to talk about our options with them, and I will probably do the same with a small builder too (Parklyn, Tegella??). However, I see that some people go through a designer/architect instead, leaving the designer to organise the trades etc. I am totally stumped where to start. We are not wanting to spend a fortune on this renovation (maybe around $200k) and my fear is that smaller builders/and or designers will be more expensive. Any thoughts, suggestions very welcomed. Where do we start??? Re: Large builder vs small builder or design firm 2Apr 01, 2018 6:18 pm Hi Ahills Welcome to the forum I do recommend going down the designer/quantities path and get 3 quotes from builders That way 1. You own copyright on the design 2. You will be able to check the quants & quotes with your design estimates 3. Know exactly what's involved with the engineering thus avoiding any surprises Also you are better off picking a hands on builder that is capable doing at least 3 of the trades with minimal overheads,etc It does depend on what you are looking for in the way of extensions? More info required. hth Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Large builder vs small builder or design firm 3Apr 08, 2018 6:27 pm A very belated thanks for your response. You make some good points re getting a design done first. My concern is that some builders are telling us that they would get the work re-done anyway in order to quote. If this is true, then we will in a sense be paying twice Re: Large builder vs small builder or design firm 4Apr 08, 2018 8:02 pm Ahills Here are some of the issues with builders doing the designs 1.Unfortunately, If The builder does the design he locks up copyright, so you won't be able to get another two quotes from others to compare. 2. If you decide not to be build & walk away...you still don't have a design and you have to start the whole process again 3.The builder still charges you 2-3% of the build price for the drawing as it's added into their price as an overhead cost...you only get a sketch initially for free without the engineering 4.The engineering is always a problem regarding post PPA price variation increases Nowadays the design and engineering work is all done in 3D Modelling software..so all the data can be extracted from the model and used to compare all quotes, quantities,do site inspections,etc,etc hth Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Large builder vs small builder or design firm 5Jul 25, 2018 12:42 pm StructuralBIMGuy Hi Ahills Welcome to the forum I do recommend going down the designer/quantities path and get 3 quotes from builders That way 1. You own copyright on the design 2. You will be able to check the quants & quotes with your design estimates 3. Know exactly what's involved with the engineering thus avoiding any surprises Also you are better off picking a hands on builder that is capable doing at least 3 of the trades with minimal overheads,etc It does depend on what you are looking for in the way of extensions? More info required. hth Fantastic advice, more should do. consider putting in wall WC instead of robe in the same bedroom, then it might be doable to hook up to the existing piping. 4 6634 4 4499 Hi all, My first post, we are building a house and can’t decide the layout of the lounge room. We have a large N/W facing window and are wanting to have a wood slow… 0 13729 |