Builder recommendations in Canberra / kit homes - storybook

O.P.this post was edited
I'm after some advice on building a house in Canberra, recommendations of good builders, advice on builders to stay away from, average costings (and how close the final figure was to initial estimates), and people's experiences with the whole process.

We are hoping to do a knock down rebuild and have looked at a few display homes and spoken to a few builders, they all say the right things, though we are interested in people's reviews based on their dealings with them.

If anyone could offer some advice on today's homes, Ruiz constructions, McDonald jones, Sutton and Horsley. We think we want to go custom, though want to know if the price difference is worth it in the finished product.

Another option we are considering is kit homes, we have seen some amazing pictures from storybook homes, I'd love to hear from anyone with experience dealing with this company or building kit homes, what is the quality like, the resale value, the process as an owner builder, are the cost savings worth it, what is the energy efficiency like...

Many thanks

I'll be watching this thread myself....

I can provide a little bit of info on two of the builders you've listed.

I've had good feedback about Today's Homes from several current and former clients. One has built two homes with them and won't build with anybody else; another was in a very good position to see first-hand construction quality and trades management and says he'd have no hesitation building with them again. I haven't heard any negative feedback from any of their clients, so it all seems pretty good there (in fact, they've probably gotten the best overall client feedback from all the builders we've checked out so far). I can provide more info via PM (I don't want to go into too much on a public forum when specific feedback could identify an individual).

Ruiz Constructions was another builder we looked at - we haven't gotten as far with the checking as we've done with Today's Homes, but what we have seen and heard so far is pretty positive, and they're definitely on our shortlist (EDIT: obviously, the post above has a different impression of them!).

I can't offer anything on the other builders, though. If you want to check out any of the Canberra builders, I recommend contacting Before You Build, who can help with builder selection and checking (I'm not affiliated other than as a satisfied customer).

Kit homes - I can provide one anecdote from a friend who did one about ten years ago. Short answer: they regret not saving for another couple of years and getting a 'proper' house instead.

Average costs in Canberra? It's more expensive than elsewhere (although not by as much as I'd first feared), although it does seem to come with a slightly higher standard of fitout (check out display homes in the ACT vs. those in Googong and you might see what I mean). After all our shopping around I'm starting to get a bit of a 'feel' for price ranges, but it really does depend on what you're thinking of - size, number of bathrooms, one or two storey, etc. Also, some builders seem to do some things better than others, so what you're thinking of might also influence your choice of builder. What type of house are you thinking of building?

Hi algernon,

I agree that Ruiz might be good and you should check them out. My comment was based on only one house and it could be an outlier. To be fair, my neighbour who's a friend didn't complaint about their house quality, I just noticed some of the finishes are a bit subpar when visiting his house. My post was just there hoping to give some first hand info that might be helpful.

I think best way to judge a builder's quality is by observing a complete building process, because parts such as slab, frame, insulation and roof that critically concern structural integrity often are concealed when handover. It's good to know that Today's offer that. I would suggest you to see some sites in different stages of interested builders if that's possible.

I didn't want to recommend my builder initially because of possible privacy issue, but they impressed me when they came back promptly to fix some issues well out of the standard '90 days' period.

I see algernon you are building yourself in a nearby suburb to me from another post;). I hope you could share your building experience with fellow Canberrans later on as I find canberra posts extremely scarce, which makes it very hard for people to do proper research to avoid expensive mistakes.

Thank you for your replies, I agree posts on building in Canberra are scarce and the best people to learn from are those who have been through it, rather than speaking to builders who have a vested interest. It can be hard to get the real truth, everyone will tell you their build is better, their quality is superior and no one can beat their prices.

We have spoken directly to todays homes and have gone someday down the track with them. I can say that we have been very happy with their communication and their style. Though we need to do thorough research before committing.

We are also looking for something a little more out of the box and we are not sure if today's homes can offer it. This is where I want to consult with Sutton and horsely, every house I have seen of theirs is really different, they have character and aren't afraid to do things that are different.

We want to go with a hamptons look, something I haven't seen much of in Canberra, and everyone we have so far spoken to says it is very expensive. We are not afraid of the cost of it deserves it but we want it to be reasonable for what we are getting, we don't want to pay a premium just because the builder doesn't normally build like that. If the materials cost extra and the carpentry is more fiddly, then happy to pay. That is one of the main reasons we are looking at storybook (kit homes), they have designs that fit our ideas perfectly!!! And we really want a lot of input in the interior and fittings. I'm quite keen to source as much as I can personally because that way I can get some unique finishes and fittings... However if I was to source a whole lot of stuff, I don't trust that the builder would take the whole value off my build price...

We looked around at display homes in various cities and have been told that Canberra is a lot more expensive- ouch... I hope no too much so...

I'll add a few pointers when we come across things and would be grateful for people's feedback as they go through similar experiences...

If I have to choose between house (structural) quality and finish quality, give me structural quality any time - but preferably give me both! Firsthand info is always very useful, and unfortunately difficult to come by, even with the internet.

I agree that observing the building process is very important, and we've been checking out in-progress builds from a number of builders as part of our selection process. Some builders were actively hostile to the idea of showing us a build in progress - needless to say, we ruled those ones out pretty quickly! Others were really keen to show us through in-progress builds, even without us asking - we found that Today's Homes and Goldruby Homes were the best with this.


Obviously the best area, with all the best people!

Yes, I was hoping to find more Canberra building posts around. Once we get going I'll definitely do my bit to help with that by posting our experiences, and I encourage all others to do the same - it'd be good if we could all get a decent bit of 'shared experience' with various Canberra builders (and builds) to help future people in our situation!

From what I can understand, the Hamptons style is (was?) seen as a 'premium' custom style, so naturally would be a bit more expensive than a mainstream build (lower volumes = fewer economies of scale = higher prices). That being said, it's becoming more mainstream and even some of the volume builders are starting to offer Hamptons-style facades and even fitouts, so I'd say the price is probably coming down as industry volumes and experience picks up. It also depends on what 'bits' of the style you want - if it's the facade and internal fitout, then most good builders should be able to do that using available methods and materials without a lot of "unnecessary" cost, even if they haven't done a Hamptons-style build before (a builder who does mostly brick veneer and doesn't regularly do modern cladded wall systems might struggle, so maybe avoid them). If you're keen on the 'full' Hamptons look, with attics and dormers and everything else, then I think you might be steering into architect-designed territory (with associated significant design fees), but that might be worth it if you can afford it and it gets you what you want.

Before we decided to build, we also (briefly) considered buying an existing Hamptons-style house in Garran, which did the style quite well - I don't know who built it, but it was designed by Koda Design (although they don't seem to do *website* design very well ) Also, I have a work colleague who's just started building in Googong with Shaw Living, and it seems to be going okay so far - I mention Shaw Living because they've also previously done a Hamptons-style house (also in Googong), and might be worth checking out.

If you want to source your own materials, then you're definitely not going with a volume builder, I suspect - and that's probably going to be an interesting test of what builder would suit you. I'd be definitely interested to hear how you go on this, and which builders were okay with this, and others will too!

It's great to see you know what you want! We wasn't sure at the very beginning and our design took us 4 months, even buying the land was an impulse move.. I think like algernon said if you have very specific style needs maybe have an architect to draw up a plan. But beware this could be expensive, and some builders won't quote design that are not done by themselves. Blackett was one that I tried and know.

I have a friend who bought a sutton and horsley industrial style house, he didn't complaint anything about the quality with over one year living there, so they might be a go too. But I did do a quote with them which came back apporx. $50k more expensive than others with basic inclusions. I guess they might focus more on high-end custom design house, and be competitive in that area which worth a try in your case.

Canberra is definitely more expensive, hopefully you can find value in comparative terms.

^This. When we did our quotes with various builders two years ago, only smaller 'small guys' would agree to sourcing own material... Our builder was reluctant, but eventually agrees to have us sourcing own kitchen, tiles and floorings. We didn't source anything after all due to various reasons, mostly peace of the mind. I think my builder sharpen the pencil a little knowing we could get cheaper price elsewhere.

Algernon have you tried asking the builders if they are Ok with you choosing your own certifier? I say this because I have been lucky with one who stood by my side and had the builder rectifying structural problems before it got too expensive! I walked through progressive inspection with the certifier and got the reports directly from him as well, that really took a lot of my stress off.

I admit to not asking that upfront as often as I should've (so don't know for all of the builders we checked out), but if they don't let us choose our own certifier then it's a total dealbreaker for us.