Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 02, 2011 5:37 pm We are building a holiday house to do as a holiday rental and we were going to do a full build but first quote came back a lot more expensive than we had hoped and we still need to add some. The builder suggested we could save about $44k by just getting them to do to lock up and we finish off build to lock up. He said he would give us contacts for the trades me who they use. Neither husband or I had done anything like this before. Love to hear feedback from people who have done from lock up to build themselves. How did you go? Did it result in the savings you had hoped? Did it blow out time frames? Was it's worth the effort? Any advise? Re: lock up vs full build? 2Feb 03, 2011 11:42 am Definitely not a bad way to go building to lock up, but make sure you feel confident that you'll be able to get the home finished to the level you want. A lot of builders won't build to lock up as they run the risk of a client ruining the home they started to build. What i mean by this is that you get a lot of people who will do DIY and won't come up looking too flash, and when they show people through the home and tell them who they built with, a lot of people fail to mention what the builder did and what they themselves did. If it doesn't come up too good it can reflect bad on the builder. Note: I'm a builder, so am giving the builders point of view. If you feel confident, i say GO FOR IT! If they are able to provide you with a list of trades etc to use then hopefully you'll be getting some quality people. If anything, ask around and try find out what the going rates are for certain types of work. The trades might quote higher than they would for the builder as there's no continuity of work coming from you, so they may as well earn a little extra if they can. Also read up on quality and level of finish required so you know what's required and have the power to tell a trade to redo a job if its not good enough. You can generally tell though with your own judgment on whether its a job well done or not. Hope this helps! Jay W Re: lock up vs full build? 3Feb 03, 2011 11:56 am Taking a house to lock-up represents only about 60% to 65% of the value of the houose. so unless they've knocked off 35 to 40% off the total price, you'll be behind. I wouldn't take a house just to lock up for various reasons: 1) You would have to very clearly define what is included and what is excluded 2) When something goes wrong in the future, who's fault was it 3) You would need to get quotes and confirm that you can actually get it done cheaper 4) Trades are less likely to be responsive to your needs than the builder's needs so the project will take longer - which is lost income. 5) It will take a lot of your time to project manage the completion. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: lock up vs full build? 5Feb 03, 2011 12:42 pm That's a very good point about whose fault it is. One example: We had a job ages ago where a client did the tiling in their wet areas. A few tiles cracked and they were unable to track them down again so had to retile their floor. Because it was done by owner, the builder wasn't to blame for it. It does raise the question though of why did the tiles crack which could have been a result of the builder. Very hard to prove though. For what it's worth, the difference between a good house and a great house is the finishing touches, which are the final trades. You want to make sure you'll be able to get it done as it would be a shame to build a house and not be happy with the final result. Building the actual structure of the house isn't complicated with brick work, window frames, roof etc. It's all the smaller stuff at the end which is really where the Supervisors spend a lot more time on site to ensure all goes well. Hi Kristy Around $1.7-1.8m or around $4,600/sqm. if you PM me your email I will send you a break up in a spreadsheet so you can get an understanding of the costs for… 1 9925 1 4678 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17516 |