Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 14, 2011 11:24 am Hi guys 1st post , 1st time building a new home hoping for some help Currently going through quoting stage with a volume builder in Melbourne the 2 story 240k house has blown out to 325k with upgrades . Some high priced items that seem very excessive are *30 x LED downlights =$7500 or $250 a light (builder told us they can no longer use cheaper low voltage) *upgrading balustrade (to timber with steel wires)to stairs and 1st floor landing = $7500 Can lights be done cheaper later (is two story house) Re: Prices seem very steep 2Jun 14, 2011 11:33 am Everything can be done cheaper than through a builder.. though what I always hear is you need the builder to do the downlights on the ground floor. The second storey can be done yourself later. It's because access to the top storey roof is easy, and access to the ground floor roof is very difficult. The balustrade might be required before you can move in (for the occupancy certificate), but maybe you can organize it yourself during construction, if the builder agrees. It'll cost less but the builder won't help if anything related to it goes wrong. Metricon Riva 33 - http://herlihy-riva.blogspot.com Site start 15/03/2010 - Handover 23/12/2010 9 months and 8 days (284 calendar days) from site start to handover Re: Prices seem very steep 3Jun 14, 2011 11:34 am The lights for the top storey can be done later pretty easily. The bottom storey is a little trickier due to limited access, but you can just get standard light put where you want the downlights then swap them over after handover. Your overall blow out sounds about average. Heaps of people seem to add around 50% of the base price on top. Our 225k single storey house ended up costing us about 320k. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5791 Hi All It has been a few weeks since my last update. The build has been progressing well. No major issues to report. The scaffolding was dropped today, gyprock will be… 96 356642 Hi - thanks for your reply. Yes I think 'Ill go for whitish with very speckly bits rather than pure white something like this. PS was actually 2008 I built the… 2 11632 |