Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 17, 2016 8:50 am Hi Guys, So we have our dream block of land... and no we need to go Custom Builder. That's all fine and we're all excited. But knowing we have to go custom... we're getting lost with the "initial Concept Design" fees. For example - One builder wants roughly $1k plus Site Survey - Another builder wants $2500 (includes EVERYTHING ready to go to contract) - (which we are NOT ready to go to contract) - Another builder want $6k that includes survey, 3d drawings etc, everything ready to go we think) Okay So its hard to compare apples to organges... but really, we don't even know what floorplan we want. We have a brief (bedrooms, living areas, where views/light comes from) - but conceptually... no idea We like the very last builder... but don't want to spend $6k initially for something we may change. .. Anyway guys - what the hell and where do we go to even just get something conceptually done Cheers Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 2Apr 17, 2016 9:17 am I'd step back a bit if you are that unsure. Spend some weekends going to display homes, open houses, anything that involves physically walking through a property. Take notes of what you like - feel, feature, orientation and floor plan wise - and take notes of what you don't like. Sometimes figuring out what you don't want is the most helpful thing. You'll soon get a clearer picture of what you're drawn to, how you like things to flow, where you want things and you can start to get a rough picture in your head. That will be a lot easier for both you and whoever you employ to draft your plans. Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 3Apr 17, 2016 9:25 am Yes good advice. Or engage an architect. Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 4Apr 17, 2016 9:43 am We visited display homes. We then sat down and put some floor plan ideas down using Google Sketchup and then on Floorplanner. The drawing that we came up with was then formalised by an Architect into working drawing. The drawings can be taken to builders for quoting. This whole process took us 2 years and was well worth the effort. Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 5Apr 17, 2016 9:43 am energy4anarchy Hi Guys.......... But knowing we have to go custom... we're getting lost with the "initial Concept Design" fees. For example - One builder wants roughly $1k plus Site Survey Get your own survey and have an expert ( design engineer) you can trust appraise your block for the optimal engineering solutions and design. energy4anarchy - Another builder wants $2500 (includes EVERYTHING ready to go to contract) - (which we are NOT ready to go to contract) LOL..Come in spinner...chicken for dinner. Get ready for the sticker shocker that will follow. Post contract admin variations charges start around $500 energy4anarchy - Another builder want $6k that includes survey, 3d drawings etc, everything ready to go we think) Whoooo...if the initial deposit/price is high then clients are less likely to pull out?...WRONG as no one likes being ripped What good are 3D drawings/renderings/Images without data, simulations, certifications and compliance The new home battlers are getting sick and tired of paying more for less and getting second rate services with critical elements left out like 3D engineering, Data & Costs, site inspections? It's time those new home salesman, brokers, designers & builders lift their game.. OT what is really disappointing to me is you don't know what is installed 10-20 years down the road when you are confronted with structural repairs, depreciated asset, High costs,etc,etc go figure Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 6Apr 17, 2016 9:47 am We visited display homes. We then sat down and put some floor plan ideas down using Google Sketchup and then on Floorplanner. The drawing that we came up with was then formalised by an Architect into working drawing. The drawings can be taken to builders for quoting. This whole process took us 2 years and was well worth the effort. Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 7Apr 17, 2016 11:48 am nikil_charitra This whole process took us 2 years and was well worth the effort. The average battler doesn't have a spare $60K for rent?... monies tight for most Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 8Apr 17, 2016 7:13 pm Where are you building if you don't mind me asking ? Our builder didn't charge us any of that, but once drawn up it was his design not ours Our Acreage Build viewtopic.php?f=31&t=82619 Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 9Apr 18, 2016 12:58 am I looked at a bunch of designs and then studied the R-Codes to know what was allowed. I think drew up a plan on SweetHome 3D which I then gave to a builder to tweak. Essentially I have the same home as I designed the only change was to the powder and cloak room arrangement, other than that all the same. I found playing around with SweetHome3D quite therapeutic and it allowed me to flesh out what I liked and what worked well. Good luck. Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 10Apr 19, 2016 9:03 am Where are you located? After many nights of research and interviewing people, we settled on Norm Glenn from Prime Metro. He didn't charge anything until we were sure of our house design and he mocked it up for us too without any charges. I drew up our plans on PowerPoint. Wait, don't knock it, I started with sweet home 3d but found it hard to quickly move rooms around to play with conceptual ideas. In the end I used PowerPoint as I could group rooms/furniture/doors etc and move/rotate them around quickly like a puzzle. Very easy! Anyway, Norm has been a blessing.. So patient and so knowledgeable (experience was a major requirement for us as we didn't know what we were doing) . He is located in Victoria and his coverage area seems quite vast. Google for his name and company if interested! Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 11Apr 19, 2016 11:52 pm Why have you started contacting builders already while you are not sure or decided about your floor plan yet!! Long long way to go.... For choosing the home design: Step 1: Visit display homes Step 2: visit display homes Step 3: visit display homes Step 4: When you get an idea of home designs and floor plans and can imagine what actually you need/want in your home, then keep viewing more home designs online as well of as many builders as you can. By this time you will have narrowed down the search criteria, eg. - bedroom number - home size - double/single storey - balcony/ alfresco/.... - rumpus/ leisure - kitchen, pantry etc Step 5: Now, upon finding very close matching floorplans, visit the display homes again and talk to the sales persons about your design vsristion requirements and other additional adjustment you want in that design. They are really helpful to discuss all the variation options and edit the drawings. Not necessarily you are building with them finally. Get idea on building cost too. Dont forget to include upgrades for price estimation. Step 6: Now you have a good idea of your desired home design. You can contact custom builders with the drawing/ floor plan asking quotes to compare the building cost with them. Step 7: If you want to redraw a proper concept drawing, you can hire a draftman to do it. Or, the custom builder can also provide draftman to draw it. Pay the fee for the concept drawing. Step 8: Now you surely have your dream home plan. So select the custom builder (as you wanted custom). When and Which builder you are really happy with, you can make contract with him. Step 9,10,11, .............50,.........100 Are waiting in the journey of your custom home building. By the way, if you find a perfect match with a display home of big builders, eg. Clarendon, Wisdom, metricon, madterton, McDonald jones, eden bare himes, new living homes, rawson, simonds, mojo, coral, sekisui, etc etc etc, You can go with them too. Up to you. I hope it will help. Thanks, Kazi [i][i][i]Building Ambassador 41 Wisdom Homes[/i][/i][/i] Re: Concept Design - We have no direction?? (Please Help!!) 12Apr 20, 2016 10:21 am I am definitely on board with the visits to display homes. That was a big part of deciding what we liked but ultimately a lot of our design came down to what we were allowed to have. We bought a tiny block in a heritage zone so were also immediately in the custom design space. We went to a local building broker who produced a design that met what we wanted and then tendered it out to builders. From memory, their services cost us $1500 but saved us so much grief with council and building variations. If you have any in your area, it is my recommended starting point. 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