Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 29, 2017 8:25 am Hi everyone, My partner and I are currently tossing up between whether we build comfortably within our budget on a single storey home, or go to the top end and build a double storey home (we much like the idea of the double due to our block only being 392m2 it is better value on the space). Has anyone built a double storey home and found that the upgrade costs are excessive? Or that you needed to upgrade a lot? Going off the base price and our land price and allowing for site costs and all those other testing costs, inspections etc, we are within range but I don't know if we should be allowing say $50,000 or needing more like $100,000+ on top of the base price of the home or if we will be able to build something nice with not many upgrades other than the essentials. (essentials we are thinking: cooling, better carpet and underlay..) We would be looking at approx a 35sq double. Currently, the Henley Emporio (https://henley.com.au/home-designs/rese ... rio-series) is at the top of our list. Any advice is appreciated for these newbies! Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 2Nov 29, 2017 8:54 am The choice is also driven by lifestyle: Double + points : smaller footprint, bigger yard space. Larger rooms. Privacy. Better air and light Double - points : mobility issues in case of age, physical condition. Bit more cumbersome to clean. Creaky floor nuisance Also check what's on neighbouring lots, as a single storey surrounded by double could be adverse for air, light, privacy. Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 3Nov 29, 2017 1:44 pm Our base price was $389 I think and we ended up about $100k over that. But that included $5k surcharge for geographical location, $10k for a promotion that got us 40mm stone bench tops, aircon, roofing upgrade etc $15k facade (including balcony) Upgraded solar HWS, rainwater tank and bottled gas provision $6k ish $4k for one drop edge beam- our block is almost completely flat, apparently 99% of builds these days have them and that cost can really add up. So around $60k on non essential upgrades after all that, but upgrades are really a “how long is a piece of string” type question. The house could be built with no upgrades at all. Our builder includes a lot in the base price, a lot don’t even include things like standard site costs, but our builder does. Expect to spend $5-10K on electrical upgrades. Building Monte Carlo 40- Wisdom homes Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 4Nov 29, 2017 3:44 pm Thank you so much both, your points are incredibly helpful I did think of the 'how long is a piece of string' deal with the upgrades but worried there would be those hidden costs such as that drop beam and upgrades on things I wouldn't even think about that really do add up and you need them so want to make sure we are well equipped Thank you again Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 5Nov 29, 2017 3:56 pm Ashleigh Thank you so much both, your points are incredibly helpful I did think of the 'how long is a piece of string' deal with the upgrades but worried there would be those hidden costs such as that drop beam and upgrades on things I wouldn't even think about that really do add up and you need them so want to make sure we are well equipped Thank you again Our base price was 239K for a 29 sq single storey. Currently it is sitting at 337K which includes around 18K for structural chnges and 12K site costs.. Around 70K upgrades which includes 5300 for electricals Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 6Nov 29, 2017 4:34 pm We looked at both options before we stated building. We opted for two storey and it’s cost us about $80k more than single storey. Part of that is a bigger home though. We balanced that out by buying smaller land which was cheaper. Things to consider for upgrades is if you end up building double storey then any flooring upgrades will cost more because the surface area is larger, same will probably apply for tiling in bathrooms as they’re likely to be bigger too. You wouldn’t have a staircase to potentially upgrade in a single storey! The beautiful floating wood and glass display ones are usually 15-20k upgrades!!! You will need a bit more patience to build double storey because they have to use scaffolding for bricks so it’s a slower build than a single storey. And another con of double storey is bigger garden therefore more space to landscape and maintain post build. Could be a pro if you love gardening or want space for a pool! That’s about all I can think of that hasn’t already been mentioned. Building Wisdom Aspiration 31 at Willowdale https://ourwillowdalehome.wordpress.com/ Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 7Nov 29, 2017 5:15 pm Another downside to the double story houses is that they can get really hot upstairs during summer. Personally, I prefer a single story. Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 8Nov 29, 2017 10:12 pm Ashleigh Hi everyone, My partner and I are currently tossing up between whether we build comfortably within our budget on a single storey home, or go to the top end and build a double storey home (we much like the idea of the double due to our block only being 392m2 it is better value on the space). Has anyone built a double storey home and found that the upgrade costs are excessive? Or that you needed to upgrade a lot? Going off the base price and our land price and allowing for site costs and all those other testing costs, inspections etc, we are within range but I don't know if we should be allowing say $50,000 or needing more like $100,000+ on top of the base price of the home or if we will be able to build something nice with not many upgrades other than the essentials. (essentials we are thinking: cooling, better carpet and underlay..) We would be looking at approx a 35sq double. Currently, the Henley Emporio (https://henley.com.au/home-designs/rese ... rio-series) is at the top of our list. Any advice is appreciated for these newbies! The Emporio is part of the “reserve” range at Henley so it comes with better inclusions than usual. Perhaps it might be worth going to cosham interiors and looking at what is standard for the reserve range (marked with a black triangle). If you like what you see you might not have to upgrade too much. There are obviously also things like insulation, double glazing, electrical etc to consider too and don’t forget your site costs! Some people may get away with not spending too much more than base price (depending on your land), but if you have expensive taste, you’ll end up with a bill to suit 😀 Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 9Nov 30, 2017 6:48 am 20 years ago we tossed up building single or double. We went the comfortable route finance wise (single) and now we are selling to build a double story. We wish we had built a double 20 years ago as we would not be moving now. And we are currently on an 877m2 block. The new block is 491m2 and the smaller footprint of the double will leave us enough land to be happy. A wise old friend of ours said to build the house you want now with less inclusions and over the years sort out the interior. To renovate a house in the future strucurally costs a lot more. Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 10Nov 30, 2017 9:33 am pbwhi0 your wise friend only gave you one solution here's yet another Always added extra structural concrete thickening to the footing and wall strength to accommodate Future expansions and structural redundancies , it would have only cost you an extra 5-10% of the contract price back then, and you wouldn't have to move to a smaller block and probably further away. OT...Build a house that you can afford and then add some.. in the long term it's the block and location that becomes valuable houses generally have a lifespan... Upgrade costs options low to high include ( Single storey extension, Lofts , 1 1/2 story, Double story, 2 1/2 stories, etc) goodluck Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 11Nov 30, 2017 11:30 am Usually these choices are driven by the cost of land. Where it's usually offset by the cost saving in land price is greater than the cost for a double storey home. I know I couldn't have been able to afford the land for a single storey home of the size I wanted. Re: Opinions: Double or Single Storey? Upgrade costs estimat 12Nov 30, 2017 12:36 pm We chose a double story because it left us more backyard with the block we could afford, while also having the inside space we wanted. I dont think a double has cost us much more (if at all) versus a single, we ended up spending about $320k including all upgrades. Though we did elect to keep some things standard such as the stairs to minimise costs. Essentially we prioritised wants versus needs. Hello All 🙂 We are planning to start our journey of construction our first home. We zeroed down on Metricon and henley homes based on design suitable for our lot and… 0 8179 1 4581 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 9952 |