Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 13, 2019 11:34 am Hello! We have just bought a block bayside Melbourne and are now in the process of finding a builder. We are looking at a 2 story 4 bedroom house. Our preference is to go premium volume builder and have been very impressed with a few of the Thomas Archer buildings we have seen in the area. Has anyone had any experience with Thomas Archer? Also what inclusions do you think are or aren't worth the extra? Our budget is about $600k total including site costs plus extra for pool and landscaping. Any extra surprises also that we should keep an eye out for. Its our first build so appreciate any advice. Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 2Jan 25, 2020 7:05 pm Hi lilaandco, We've just kicked off the process too and have been left a little confused and disheartened so far. We have a similar budget and we've been investigating a few builders, including TA, with mixed success. TA seem good and professional so far, but we haven't quite been able to get the floor plan right. They also seem to exclude a number of items others don't - ceiling heights, square set, air conditioning, even a dishwasher. The base price climbs pretty quickly but it's still unlikely to get near the true premium volume or custom builders like CG, L37, etc. Have you had any further luck since November? Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 3Jan 25, 2020 10:27 pm Wellbuild Hi lilaandco, We've just kicked off the process too and have been left a little confused and disheartened so far. We have a similar budget and we've been investigating a few builders, including TA, with mixed success. TA seem good and professional so far, but we haven't quite been able to get the floor plan right. They also seem to exclude a number of items others don't - ceiling heights, square set, air conditioning, even a dishwasher. The base price climbs pretty quickly but it's still unlikely to get near the true premium volume or custom builders like CG, L37, etc. Have you had any further luck since November? Dishwasher not included - that I do know. I'm totally fine with that as everyone has a brand they want, and that's that. Some are integrated etc. can be tricky. I can tell you that our TA price, and the CG price was a difference of 200K, and 6 squares. Wowsers https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 4Jan 27, 2020 10:01 am Blacktea2sugars I can tell you that our TA price, and the CG price was a difference of 200K, and 6 squares. Wowsers Interesting that you are spruking this Because you can't base a $200k comparison difference on the m2 price alone Here $200000/6 = $33000 per m2 There are a lot of other factors and variables that go into the overall house comparison ie design efficiency, engineering, specification/fit outs, costs, etc. Since you haven't shared the CG design and price (for comparison?) I would say CG home builders might disagree with your evaluations OT, Comparing Build Data and costs Cheers Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 5Jan 27, 2020 4:07 pm StructuralBIMGuy Blacktea2sugars I can tell you that our TA price, and the CG price was a difference of 200K, and 6 squares. Wowsers Interesting that you are spruking this Because you can't base a $200k comparison difference on the m2 price alone Here $200000/6 = $33000 per m2 There are a lot of other factors and variables that go into the overall house comparison ie design efficiency, engineering, specification/fit outs, costs, etc. Since you haven't shared the CG design and price (for comparison?) I would say CG home builders might disagree with your evaluations OT, Comparing Build Data and costs Cheers Hi SBIM, Definitely not spruiking. Just plain facts that based off our brief, CG came up with a 48 sq home at a certain price. TA, based off exact same brief, came up with an (almost) 42 sq house, coming in at 202k less. Hallbury was within around 11k of the TA price. Cost per sqm is a pandora's box, if you base house price on that, and that alone. Too many other factors to be taken into consideration, of which I'm sure you are well aware of. https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 6Feb 23, 2020 6:59 pm Blacktea2sugars StructuralBIMGuy Blacktea2sugars I can tell you that our TA price, and the CG price was a difference of 200K, and 6 squares. Wowsers Interesting that you are spruking this Because you can't base a $200k comparison difference on the m2 price alone Here $200000/6 = $33000 per m2 There are a lot of other factors and variables that go into the overall house comparison ie design efficiency, engineering, specification/fit outs, costs, etc. Since you haven't shared the CG design and price (for comparison?) I would say CG home builders might disagree with your evaluations OT, Comparing Build Data and costs Cheers Hi SBIM, Definitely not spruiking. Just plain facts that based off our brief, CG came up with a 48 sq home at a certain price. TA, based off exact same brief, came up with an (almost) 42 sq house, coming in at 202k less. Hallbury was within around 11k of the TA price. Cost per sqm is a pandora's box, if you base house price on that, and that alone. Too many other factors to be taken into consideration, of which I'm sure you are well aware of. How much did TA charge for your brief and quote ? Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 7Feb 23, 2020 7:47 pm Not a cent https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 9Feb 23, 2020 9:54 pm JSC Blacktea2sugars Not a cent Did you modify one of their plans or was it a custom design One of their plans was modified. https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 10Mar 02, 2020 4:02 am lilaandco Hello! We have just bought a block bayside Melbourne and are now in the process of finding a builder. We are looking at a 2 story 4 bedroom house. Our preference is to go premium volume builder and have been very impressed with a few of the Thomas Archer buildings we have seen in the area. Has anyone had any experience with Thomas Archer? Also what inclusions do you think are or aren't worth the extra? Our budget is about $600k total including site costs plus extra for pool and landscaping. Any extra surprises also that we should keep an eye out for. Its our first build so appreciate any advice. Have you had any luck finding a builder? We’re in a similar boat, similar area and also on the hunt Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 11Mar 02, 2020 8:31 pm Hi! We're still in the tendering process with TA. Aside from a few little hiccups on the communication side we've been really impressed so far with the overall process. For their prices we're finding a lot of their standard inclusions seem to be very decent (e.g. we havent had to do many upgrades to bathrooms, laundies, kitchen cabinetry etc). We will get our tender in the next couple of weeks and then decide from there and hopefully no major surprises. We were really impressed with the stylist who had some great suggestions and was very respectful of our budget without trying to upsell everything. The project team have been very pro active and its great to feel like you can go with a volume builder who is still able to really customise your floor plans to suit your block, family needs and council restrictions (and bayside are a bit of a pain in terms of a council). Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 12Mar 25, 2020 5:28 am lilaandco Hi! We're still in the tendering process with TA. Aside from a few little hiccups on the communication side we've been really impressed so far with the overall process. For their prices we're finding a lot of their standard inclusions seem to be very decent (e.g. we havent had to do many upgrades to bathrooms, laundies, kitchen cabinetry etc). We will get our tender in the next couple of weeks and then decide from there and hopefully no major surprises. We were really impressed with the stylist who had some great suggestions and was very respectful of our budget without trying to upsell everything. The project team have been very pro active and its great to feel like you can go with a volume builder who is still able to really customise your floor plans to suit your block, family needs and council restrictions (and bayside are a bit of a pain in terms of a council). How have you found everything so far? It’s such uncertain times at the moment ☹️ Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 13Apr 06, 2020 4:13 pm lilaandco Hi! We're still in the tendering process with TA. Aside from a few little hiccups on the communication side we've been really impressed so far with the overall process. For their prices we're finding a lot of their standard inclusions seem to be very decent (e.g. we havent had to do many upgrades to bathrooms, laundies, kitchen cabinetry etc). We will get our tender in the next couple of weeks and then decide from there and hopefully no major surprises. We were really impressed with the stylist who had some great suggestions and was very respectful of our budget without trying to upsell everything. The project team have been very pro active and its great to feel like you can go with a volume builder who is still able to really customise your floor plans to suit your block, family needs and council restrictions (and bayside are a bit of a pain in terms of a council). Hi lilaandco How was your tender? I know what you mean about the council being a pain! Hope all going along ok. https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 14May 06, 2020 8:10 pm Hi Everyone. Just letting you know we have finalised and signed our tender with Thomas Archer. We were very happy to find we ultimately got the house we wanted with the inclusions required within our budget. We're hoping to start building late June/July. Re: Thomas Archer - Advice 15May 06, 2020 8:28 pm lilaandco Hi Everyone. Just letting you know we have finalised and signed our tender with Thomas Archer. We were very happy to find we ultimately got the house we wanted with the inclusions required within our budget. We're hoping to start building late June/July. great news. I'm really looking forward to watching your journey, cannot wait to see that wine room! https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 We spent close to 2 years in a process with TA. It was horrible..... we got to tender, and the first cut was 50% over our budget which "they care such about meeting ". We… 18 22989 Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 3414 Thank you so much for the effort. We will use it to talk with builder. We also had idea of building duplex instead and seeking suggest ions. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106744 11 10742 |