Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Jun 26, 2010 3:51 am I am fed up with hiring builders to build for me. Thinking of building on my own. Anyone could give me advice on what i need to do? I live in Victoria. Step by step instructions will be much appreciated and pls consider me as a dummy in terms of building... Re: Someone give me Advice on being a home owner builder 2Jun 27, 2010 12:00 am hey ben welcome to our world its stressfull, rewarding, frustrating, time consuming, hectic, did i say stressful lol best advice i can give is dont go into this without at least reading others experiences its not a journey to be taken lightly and if you have a time frame in mind triple it and you may be close. good luck on what you decide either way to give a step by step instruction would take forever there are so many steps its not funny stay safe happy building Re: Someone give me Advice on being a home owner builder 4Jun 27, 2010 1:21 pm First step: Finances! Second step: Either find your land and get plans drawn to suit or vice versa Third step: Begin the headache... Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Someone give me Advice on being a home owner builder 6Jul 26, 2010 1:46 pm DONT DO IT...!!! just kidding. Well speaking from experience as a plumber in business for 15 years who has seen big builder built houses, small builder built houses, owner builder, no-one builder, i would suggest that the first thing to understand is that building a house in any capacity is a process of solving problems on an daily, hourly minute by minute basis. BE PREPARED. Recently a very motorvated friend of mine rebuilt his fire damaged house after the blacksaturday fires, and it was one of the smoothest operations i have ever encountered. His modus operandi was to employ a small local builder who he paid on an hourly rate to ask questions and oversea the build. The local builder also did the carpentry work and fit out. I guess one needs trust in this relationship and also a mutual understanding that "time is money". the builder charged for all his site visits big or small, and he was happily paid for it. My friend (pete), did things like arranging "other" trades to provide quotes and conduct works like concreting, plasterers, tilers, brick layers, electricians, plumbers (me) while the builder ensured Pete was one step ahead with the trades and also that the work was up to standard. Petes role onsite was cleaning, cleaning , cleaning, providing spread crushed rock before the brickies came in (it was muddy), he painted the house, did the bagging of the bricks, helped us with the septic install and drainage (he has a bobcat). He bought and built IKEA kitchens with his own handmade redgum benchtops in all wet areas. There is also a lot of time required shopping and choosing, doors, paint, handles, taps, architraves, cornices, light swithces, light fittings, shower screens.......on and on and on..... good jobs for the misses, shes gonna get it her way anyway. The long and short of it is that of you have thinking time and physical time and are prepared to work hard, you will end up saving some money and will get a better job (if you know what you are doing). I am a big fan of clean work sites. clean is happy. happy is good. Re: Someone give me Advice on being a home owner builder 7Aug 30, 2010 5:46 pm Thanks Richard for that advice. Its just that i am frustrated with builders who i believe charges alot for everything. I am being charged 550k for a 32sq double storey house on a 2M slope! 550k!!! It doesnt even have a pool..... just a house with no driveway or landscaping or fences. I am wondering whether doing it myself would save me a 100k or so or not..... i doubt any builder is willing to oversees my OB project should i plunge into it even if i pay them for it in the outer city area. Re: Someone give me Advice on being a home owner builder 8Aug 31, 2010 10:28 pm If you plan well and set a realistic budget you can usually save around 30% by owner building (and that is just if you project manage - save even more if you do some labour yourself). We have quotes from builders for about $500k and will owner build it for about $350k Mel - jumping in feet first to my first owner build!! Land settled 12/08/09 Design finalised 21/01/10 OB permit 26/03/10 Re: Someone give me Advice on being a home owner builder 10Sep 01, 2010 8:30 pm Benimarun Thanks Richard for that advice. Its just that i am frustrated with builders who i believe charges alot for everything. I am being charged 550k for a 32sq double storey house on a 2M slope! 550k!!! It doesnt even have a pool..... just a house with no driveway or landscaping or fences. I am wondering whether doing it myself would save me a 100k or so or not..... i doubt any builder is willing to oversees my OB project should i plunge into it even if i pay them for it in the outer city area. Benimarum, As you now know, we went the OB route. our land has over a 4m rise diagonally across the block. Therefore, we had around a 2m site cut to deal with plus the retaining wall, which I installed myself. As other have stated, of your prepared to "get your hands dirty" you can save quite afew dollars. what area are you thinking of building in? Being an owner builder is no walk in the park. It’s a challenging endeavour that requires dedication and hard… 0 9996 My garage door has started playing up recently. Sometimes (and getting more frequent) when I press the button to open it, it wont. The motor is an ATA GD0-6V3. Red and… 0 2664 |