Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 20, 2008 5:00 pm Hi
Long time reader, first time poster, but I am sure I will bug you guys again as we have finally found our dream block with a lovely ocean view in a great spot near Mandurah, just south of Perth. My husband and I have started looking at a few display homes and we have done alot of netsurfing and really no design has caught our eye. We have specific ideas in mind and although we really like some display homes we see they are usually not set out the way we want them. We are wanting to build a two storey to take advantage of the view we will get. So now I have been reading about getting an architect to design our house on this forum and it sounds rather expensive than buying off the plan. So my real query is, how should we approach this whole building idea that we have as we do have a budget and I really dont know if an architect is going to be in our price range or even if the idea that we have is even going to be in our price range? Or should we contact a building company and speak to one of their architects as the cost of their drawings will be deducted from the cost of building. I dont know which way to go as obviously the cost is really going to influence our decision. Thanks Never Built before but about to take up the challenge.... Re: Budgeting for Building A Home 2Feb 20, 2008 5:52 pm Welcome Elisa!
Your block sounds beautiful. A good architect will work within your budget - so tell them up front how much you want to spend on everything (shell of house, light fittings, carpet, tiles, the works) Is it just the internal room layout that bugs you about the project builder homes? Often they are happy to move internal walls around - things that often can't move are staircases and wet areas. We are also building 2 storey to take advantage of a view (golf course instead of ocean) - our project builder was happy to add an upstairs balcony to our upper lounge room. After 4 years - we're in! Re: Budgeting for Building A Home 3Feb 21, 2008 6:58 am Elisa Hi Long time reader, first time poster, but I am sure I will bug you guys again as we have finally found our dream block with a lovely ocean view in a great spot near Mandurah, just south of Perth. My husband and I have started looking at a few display homes and we have done alot of netsurfing and really no design has caught our eye. We have specific ideas in mind and although we really like some display homes we see they are usually not set out the way we want them. We are wanting to build a two storey to take advantage of the view we will get. So now I have been reading about getting an architect to design our house on this forum and it sounds rather expensive than buying off the plan. So my real query is, how should we approach this whole building idea that we have as we do have a budget and I really dont know if an architect is going to be in our price range or even if the idea that we have is even going to be in our price range? Or should we contact a building company and speak to one of their architects as the cost of their drawings will be deducted from the cost of building. I dont know which way to go as obviously the cost is really going to influence our decision. Thanks Elisa We are using an architect. Before we appointed him, we gave him our budget and our "wish list" and he advised us that the two didn't marry up. So we revised our wish list and gave it back to him and he said it was more realistic, and he would be able to design a house that would suit. He originally said that his normal charge was 7% of build cost, however he has ended up doing the design for a fixed price which actually represents about 4%. I think if you have very individual needs with regard to your house, an architect is the way to go. Our block is large (1.5 acres) with city, sea and mountain views and the architect will design the house to take advantage of these. If we had a smaller block, we would have used a draughtsman or bought an off-the-shelf design. Builders that we have spoken to have told us that an architect is actually cheaper if you are building an individual home, because the house will be more "buildable" if that makes sense. However as we haven't started building yet I haven't got personal experience of that. HTH Simon Building an architect designed home out of Insulated Concrete Forms on acreage in semi-rural SE Melbourne. Developer approval obtained, engineering complete, getting quotes Re: Budgeting for Building A Home 4Feb 21, 2008 9:17 am Hi Elisa
I'm currently building for the first time & like you, I could not find a single plan that was what I wanted. I found several that had aspects I liked though & drew up my own design by combining various plans. I didn't use an architecht due to the price & found a building company that had their own draftsperson. He worked with what I had done & eventually got everything pretty much how I wanted it. Did have to reduce the size a bit due to cost though. I only had to put $1000 down though to get them to do the drafting, which was included in the overall cost. Toon Re: Budgeting for Building A Home 5Feb 21, 2008 9:19 am Thanks alot - that makes my decision seem a little easier ! We are even thinking of going owner builder to reduce costs even more - but that is another subject topic in its own right ! Never Built before but about to take up the challenge.... Re: Budgeting for Building A Home 6Mar 23, 2009 12:14 pm Hi elisa, One option is to get an architect to design a concept for you, a schematic design, and then shop it around to a few smaller builders. they will often have drafties they use that can turn the concept plans into working drawings for the builder. The first design moves are by far the most important to get right. Good idea to get the architect to review the design during the working drawings stage also. We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16082 go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110213 |