Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 20, 2007 11:51 am Hi there - well I have been lurking for a while so I thought it only polite to "come out" and introduce myself
I'm Tania, and I'm looking to start building on land in Cairnlea (Melbourne). I've got a slightly unusual plot, which is 17m wide by 47m deep, but the "primary street frontage" is in the north-west corner (I will try and work out how to attach some images to make this clearer later on!) Basically this means I have to have a house with its front on the long edge, in order to make best use of the land, and all the standard houses I've seen don't accomodate this. So it seems my only option is to get something designed from scratch. Seeings as this is my first home build - HOW DO I EVEN START?! I've got an idea of what I want (hand-drawn sketches I'm now trying to translate in to MVH), and I don't have the time/patience/skills to manage the project myself, so I really need the kind of deal you get with the "big builders" (the Asterixes, as they seem to be collectively called here!) but just with my own design. Any and all suggestions greatefully received - I really am totally clueless where to even start. Do I find an architect first, or a builder, or both, or someone else, or or or...?! Re: Custom building - how to even start? 2Sep 20, 2007 12:04 pm A picture of the layout of your land would be really handy.
Perhaps there is a project builder which can accomodate your needs. Re: Custom building - how to even start? 3Sep 20, 2007 12:38 pm Hi Tania, an idea might be to look for medium size builders who also custom build (there's a Herald Sun magazine with display houses out every so often, have a look in there), then go and see their display houses to see how you like the style/quality/finishes. They would be more enthusiastic about modifying an existing plan for you than the big builders, or even do one from scratch, which is what we did. You don't necessarily need a plan done first by an architect/draftsman, we just came with lots of ideas, the plan was done by our builder, we're just about finished and like it lots. Re: Custom building - how to even start? 4Sep 20, 2007 1:31 pm TaniaC,
I'm doing exactly what you are doing and I'm a little further down the track. And also on a corner block. Happy to help you. You've already made a good start with some sketches and the intention of putting a design together in MVH. It's difficult to determine if you should use an architect or builder. Each method has its pros and cons. Architect: + You can go to competitive tender + More control over the design (and copyright ownership if you organise it) - Costs more, both for the design and to build Builder: + Potentially less expensive - They own the design, so you must build with them There are plenty of custom builders out there and plenty of architects. For $2160 you can get a concept design from archicentre. Be careful of architects that take control of your project and start dictating things. They’re no longer designing for you but for something like a good external view (for advertisement) or playing with design ideas (using you as a guinea pig to develop their style). If you’re using a custom builder you’ll need to thoroughly research them before you get too far into it. You need to be totally happy with them and the price before you go for Council approval. Remember, they will own the design so once Council has approved, if you want to go elsewhere you’ll have to go through the whole design and Council approval process again. So, what did I do? I couldn’t make up my mind between the two options so I’ve done my own design. The concept design is finished and I’m pretty happy with it. I’m having a pre-DA early next month so hopefully the Council will like it. Ultimately I will take it to an architect for enhancements, checks and detailed design. The main thing is I’ve had a good think about it beforehand and can truly call it my design, which is a nice feeling. If you want to take the same approach you will need a survey plan that shows features, contours, etc. One of these will be required no matter which direction you take. They cost about $1500 depending on detail. Cheers, Casa Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Custom building - how to even start? 5Sep 23, 2007 1:20 pm For anyone looking for a custom builder, in today's Sunday Age supplement Living by Design, there's a few mentioned:
Inform Design www.informdesign.com.au Canny (winner of HIA custom built homes 2006-2007) www.canny.com.au Darnley www.darnley.com.au I have no idea how good they are, just pulled their names out of the magazine. They don't look very cheap. Hope it helps someone. Re: Custom building - how to even start? 6Sep 25, 2007 9:01 pm mek For anyone looking for a custom builder, in today's Sunday Age supplement Living by Design, there's a few mentioned: Inform Design www.informdesign.com.au Canny (winner of HIA custom built homes 2006-2007) www.canny.com.au Darnley www.darnley.com.au I have no idea how good they are, just pulled their names out of the magazine. They don't look very cheap. Hope it helps someone. I spent a fair bit of time talking with both Inform but particularly Darnley before finally selecting my builder, both were good but both also preferred to start with their own design and start modifying rather than starting from scratch. This was about 10 months ago or so things may have changed. Re: Custom building - how to even start? 7Sep 25, 2007 11:04 pm Hi TaniaC
I am looking around at houses at the moment and have spent a bit of time at display homes talking to the 'big' builders...there are so many plans out there, I would be surprised if you have to start completely from scratch...so far JG King http://www.jgkinghomes.com.au are the most accomodating with changes to floor plans - without knowing anything about what you want to build try 'the Blackwood' as a starting point- its worth a try if you don't want to project manage it yourself. Note - I have not had any exp with JG King other than visiting their display homes, so cannot vouch for anything else.... Also, depending on your budget, I agree with mek - most of the medium sized builders will accomodate your design - Keogh Homes were really professional when we had a chat with them and the guy said he would design a house for us and if we didn't go ahead just charge a small design fee....though he is not an architecht...If we could afford it, I would build with Keogh Homes as I have seen their finished product (a friend of a friends house) and am very impressed with their workmanship... Anyway, good luck and keep us posted! Ruth -Bought house in Melbourne inner burbs, knocked it down & now...we are owner builders! Completed OB project and moved in to our new home with our new baby in May 2009! Re: Custom building - how to even start? 8Sep 28, 2007 3:41 pm Wow - thanks for all the replies (I've been away for a bit and so am only getting round to replying now). It certainly seems like I might not have to start from scratch after all - rerob, the Blackwood certainly is a very good starting point for me, and also (worryingly ) like the house I have drawn up from first principles on My Virtual Home! So guess I'll be visiting some more showhomes this weekend then...
OK, thanks again - feeling much less confused/disheartened now! T Re: Custom building - how to even start? 9Oct 17, 2007 10:40 pm Hi TaniaC
How did you go with finding a design for your house? Have you made any progress?? Cheers Ruth -Bought house in Melbourne inner burbs, knocked it down & now...we are owner builders! Completed OB project and moved in to our new home with our new baby in May 2009! Re: Custom building - how to even start? 10Oct 24, 2007 12:52 pm Careful with some of the builders listed earlier. Some appear to try and lock you in for a deposit and wiothout telling you the full story - not a lie, just not telling all, do your homework. The second thing we have come across is the line "we are fantastic at working to your budget" what this means is that you pay your deposit and then they generally come up with something that meets your materials requirments but not your budget. The next step is for them to pull stuff out or make house smaller - Make sure you understand what you can get (reasonably, search this site for tips on costs.)..
And then enjoy, from my perspective I have spend some time with a number of builders with varrying levels. We are going to take plans that we have mocked up and are going to a draftsman.... It appears, and I would like to see other peoples input - that the builders market appears out of control in regards to pricing. Re: Custom building - how to even start? 11Oct 24, 2007 10:19 pm Hi Steveo, are you planning to go to a draftsman and then owner build? or are you still looking at other builders? would love to hear more about your experience so far if you can share as we are in the process of talking to various builders (we have our own sketch design) and have found the price differences astonishing with some!! Ruth -Bought house in Melbourne inner burbs, knocked it down & now...we are owner builders! Completed OB project and moved in to our new home with our new baby in May 2009! Re: Custom building - how to even start? 12Oct 27, 2007 4:20 pm Hi Rerob,
We started off looking at bulk builders homes for about $7K per square and naively thought that we should be able to get a custom architect home for maybe $10K per square.. (this is before I found this forum mind you).. So we went down the Architect path - more like $18K per square, than more costly bulk builders (such as inform) however when push comes to shove, these guys also want $15K+ per square... yaa da yada lots more people chats, driving around victoria...and now we are looking at JG King, we had some sketches and soil reports from some of the money we gave to people to give us a fixed quote (all of the quotes when we paid money was signiifcantly over our budget - I think they thought we had more money hidden in the couch).. so now we are waiting for JG King to quote. The display homes are about $9k and the rep thought that a custom would be more but not $6k per square more,.I guess we will find out... 9 months into this project and although I don't regret the experience, I am looking forward to getting it over with ) how about yourself ReRob? Re: Custom building - how to even start? 13Oct 27, 2007 8:19 pm well i have posted my story a few times on here and in fact if you look up JG King you will find that I am looking at them as well and so far the experience has been very positive - we have been to their display homes a few times and now we are checking out their "standard" range (bricks, tiles, finishes etc) we are looking at around 30 squares with some upgrades and they have come in at around $8k per square - looking at a small builder also and they are roughly the same so still trying to work out who we will go with - we are at the point of "scrutinizing!!" The thing is there isn't much info out there about the smaller builder and JG King for that matter so its hard to work out which way to go!! Anyway, if you want detailed information on our experience so far - PM me and we can compare notes!!
Cheers, Ruth Ruth -Bought house in Melbourne inner burbs, knocked it down & now...we are owner builders! Completed OB project and moved in to our new home with our new baby in May 2009! Re: Custom building - how to even start? 14Oct 28, 2007 7:59 pm We have designed our own home and are going through National Builders. It is a custom build, nothing too fancy, single story of about 38sq.
They have been very accomodating so far, but we are only at the quote stage. MJ Hello, we can help you please get in contact 0421019219 thank you 3 32674 Hi, Seeking volume or semi-custom builder in victoria(east), which have existing double story wide floor plans. Seeking 18-20m wide homes with depth of 12-15m long. Or… 0 26280 |