Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 2Feb 12, 2011 6:26 pm For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 3Feb 12, 2011 6:59 pm The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 5May 25, 2011 10:50 pm Hi All, I posted the below on another thread earlier but though it may come in handy here. I am owner bulding my first house at the moment. It is a 35 square double storey home. Brick downstairs and Render finish upstairs. The slab is done, frame finished, roofs (flat roofs and roof tiles )installed. Waiting for windows and bricklayer to start. I have surpassed all the unforeseeable costs that are mostly incurred at foundation stage. So my total figure to finish my house will be $350,000 and I have all costs and quotes for all other work to be done. So it turns out to be around $10,00 a square. Not sure if that is cheap or expensive. But what I do know is the inclusions included: Land is H class (Rocky Site) - Not sure how much extra the builder charge for Rock encounterd. The house is on a corner so a 32 meter retaining wall had to be built. That is done just needs to be rendered. - 3 meter ceilings downstairs - 2.7 upstairs - Whole house plaster is square set finished - Structural steel 10 beams as house is broken and has a room on top of garage o Rare to see with Volume builders because of extra costs involved that is why you see no upper storey on top of garages. - Enhanced floor Trusses to upstairs - Pryda 410mm high Longreach floor trusses using MGP12 timber (Not one squeak) Compared to standard 250 or 350mm high metal webbed systems (what you see typically). - 5.5m x 3.5 meter tiled balcony - Hawthorn Bricks downstairs - Extruded polystyrene (Superior to Expanded which is what is typically used) and render to upstairs - 900mm wide eaves - Commercial aluminium Tinted windows & doors (opposed to standard commercial are bigger thicker frames ) - And I have a lot of windows every room upstairs has at least 3 meters in length of windows). Downstairs has a lot of big windows and big doors a few to mention: 5.4 meter x 2.4 meters high window 4.7 meter stacker door - 3.3 meter stacker door upstairs ……… - Island Kitchen with concealed kitchen and pantry - 50mm ceaser stone benchtops - Ducted vacuum system / Alarm and video to door x 2 external cameras - Free standing baths to ensuite and bathroom - Caroma Cube wall faced Invisi (built in wall cistern) to all toilets x 3 - Floor to ceiling tiled bathrooms x 2 with tiled showers - Kohler Rainwater tile shower heads (German made) x 2 and Kohler hand showers to both bathrooms (Kohler is top of the range in luxury) - Cat 6 cabling to all rooms in house including kitchen - 2 Double powerpoint in every room and main living areas quad powerpoints to cinema and family. Basically a powerpoint to every 1.5 meters from anywhere. Around the house - 40 downlights to house - Clipsal Saturn Powerpoint and Switches (Top of the Range) - Boral Engineered Spotted gum flooring to Entire house apart tiled areas(170 meters2) - Refrigerated Cooling and add on heating. - 2 x 5,000 litre water tanks connected to toilets and laundry - …… and a lot more all I could think of for now. What would the square meter price be with above inclusions. This is some of the advantages that an owner builder may be rewarded with. Joy, pride and luxury. Also don’t forget the Volume builders do get big discounts on material and labour costs but they those savings go into their profits not you're savings. If that was the case when you ask for an upgrade why is it always double the price of what the upgrade will actually cost you even if you went out and purchased it yourself even though you get no bulk discount. Do some research be intrested and do things properly the first time around without cutting any corners then you can then build a high quality home without the price tag. If you just supervise the work you are looking at a minium 20 % in savings . If you get in there and get a little dirty then a lot more. Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 7May 26, 2011 2:46 pm I am in the same process, and I have beig doing my research fro last 2 years, and I decide to go OB path. I am in process of selecting architece and floor plan and will build in Hurstville area. Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 8May 26, 2011 6:08 pm skjoshi I want this house to be a normal (average) type of dwelling, i.e. I am not thinking of extravagant fittings etc, just something normal/average, which looks Okay. I think you got my point. Sanjeev Sanjeev, From what you have said it sounds like you are answering your own Question and maybe OB is not the most economical path for you. Builders do have economies of scale and if you really don't want anything out of the ordinary it is most likely they could build it cheaper than you. Builders with Display homes often charge hefty premiums for changes to their standard design as its a bit like McDonalds, every change costs them money and better to pump out the same "Burger" over and over. It's a lot easier and cheaper However there are hundreds of smaller builders who will take your plans and build exactly what you want. Upside is you get their trades and buying power. Downside is if your plans are not 100% accurate and detail everything then what you think is there and in your head wont get built and will cost you more as an extra down the track. Anyway bottom line get your plans and go get it quoted. You might get a pleasant surprise. Also consider using a Building Broker. They will take your plans and shop them around to various builders on your behalf. Then present you with their best quotes for the job. Saves a lot of legwork and will get you in touch with Builders you may never have known of. (I did this for a small place for my Mum and it worked out well and 20% less than the quotes I had found) Good luck https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=44762 My Owner builder journey extending a 1930's Bungalow Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 9May 26, 2011 6:34 pm IF you know what you're doing, IF you have some spare time on your hands and IF you don't mind waiting a bit longer to have your home, you will definitely save by owner building. Many will tell you otherwise and try to put you off, but that was my experience. I went through the process 6 years ago. Sure prices are different now, but I believe I saved around 20-30% than if I went to a builder and asked for exactly the same house. It wasn't just a plain house, it was quite up-spec. We were also a bit lucky because everything went smoothly and most of our trades were great (not always the case). My answer to those who ask is.....if you want an off-the-shelf basic house then you probably should go to a volume builder. If you want something better, you will get that better house at a similar price by OB as the plainer house by going to a builder.....and that I believe is the difference. I worked for a volume builder for 6 years. I know exactly how they operate. You make ANY changes or ask for better fixtures/fittings, you pay through the nose. Sometimes 100% mark up, believe it or not. But remember, you need to know what you're doing, otherwise all the above may not apply If you're not confident and don't understand building, don't do it. Cheers Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 10May 26, 2011 8:08 pm HI Sustainable guy I have to agree with you. Another mistake that lots of owner builders make and we were one of the big culprits is that budgeting is hard to stick by. We wasted tens of thousand of dollars by not knowing what we were doing and being to trusting. We had a full estimation done and got quotes but you cant account for the unforseen or unknown. the last stage of our build has been a breeze but only because I paid somebbody who I trust to do it for me. It has cost a lot more doing it this way but we are still ahead on what we would have been if we went to a project builder. go in with your eyes open is about the best advice I can give. k Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 11May 26, 2011 8:36 pm Hi kayandandy Yes, my experience was similar. I did some very rough costings initially and for most part they were reasonably accurate. But as you say there are MANY unforseen and unexpected costs along the way....building a house is a complex project. You can never account for everything, no matter how much research you do. In a way most people go in a bit blind, and most of the time you go over budget. And I too was a bit too trusting, although most of the people I dealt with were very good. You really do need to be a bit tough when necessary and have a thick skin, otherwise some will take advantage. This is a skill you learn with experience I suppose. Still, unless there are major obstacles and major stuff-ups, like yourselves you probably still come out on top. Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 12May 27, 2011 12:01 am This is a great question - as an OB it is so difficult to get a handle on what things should cost. Like others have said it probably won't work out much cheaper than a project build but you will get a better & more individual build. Probably sacrifice a few years off your life though with the stress involved I can't add much about the cost other than we have been told to expect anything from $1200-2500 per square metre. It all depends...that's all we hear! Depends on soil test, depends on cladding chosen, depends on glazing, depends on the phase of the moon & the direction of the wind Big thanks to BigO for that list - gives us hope that we can also do a relatively luxury build & stay within our budget. Can I ask how much work you did yourself to get to that price point? Seems incredibly good value for what you've built. Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 13May 27, 2011 12:59 am we done ours for around $560 sq mtr but we did literally everything would i ob again hell yes but... if my design is going to be a basic home then it would be cheaper going with the big boys if i want a unique design ill ob again at this stage our next build will be using metricon i know even on there basic home i could save 20-30 grand but having obed the hard way they deserve every cent they charge and for such a small saving its not worth the headache.. now my mansion ill eventually build would cost me an arm and leg for a builder to do so i will definately ob that one. a few things to think about before you finally decide 1. can you live with a project house how important is it to really have that extra meter here or there 2. do you have the time to do it..even if your only organizing things it takes alot of time and problems need to be sorted on the spot 3. are you currently renting as you need to add the cost of renting for the extra 6-12 mths (3 yrs for us grrr) its going to take to ob as apposed to a builder doing it. 4. are the savings realistic considering you want a basic house (no frills) 5. are you prepared to go to hell and back and still smile on the other side. you will always get knockers telling you your mad to try im glad we didnt listen because its an experience no amount of money could buy ive loved every minute of it good and bad but if this is your dream home and your final home then go for it however if this is just a stepping stone to your dream home then go with a builder until your ready for your dream home good luck with whatever you choose and dont let anyone tell you you cant do it cause if we can on our budget and our lack of skills anyone can. stay safe happy building Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 14May 27, 2011 8:09 am All good advice. The time period quoted I'm not so sure about. Believe it or not I OB my home (a large single storey with a high spec level) in 6 months flat. But....I was on long service leave for the whole period which obviously helped, although I really just supervised, didn't do a great deal of hands-on work apart from cleaning up, a bit of painting, etc. But as I said we were lucky, everything went pretty much like clockwork with just a couple of hiccups. A builder will take anywhere from 4-6 months for a single, up to 9 months for a double (from when they go to site.....which in some instances can take ages). Would I owner build again? Definitely, so long as I had the extra spare time. Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 15May 27, 2011 8:26 am the time frame is not always what it should be we could have done ours in 6 mths easy...if we had all the money if hubby didnt injure his arm if i didnt break my leg if tradies could be there when we needed them if we didnt get floods if if if lol lots of things can happen that have nothing to do with building but subsequently delay the build so you need to keep that in mind when doing the sums stay safe happy building Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 16May 27, 2011 10:37 am bingoshelley we done ours for around $560 sq mtr but we did literally everything would i ob again hell yes but... if my design is going to be a basic home then it would be cheaper going with the big boys if i want a unique design ill ob again at this stage our next build will be using ***** i know even on there basic home i could save 20-30 grand but having obed the hard way they deserve every cent they charge and for such a small saving its not worth the headache.. now my mansion ill eventually build would cost me an arm and leg for a builder to do so i will definately ob that one. a few things to think about before you finally decide 1. can you live with a project house how important is it to really have that extra meter here or there 2. do you have the time to do it..even if your only organizing things it takes alot of time and problems need to be sorted on the spot 3. are you currently renting as you need to add the cost of renting for the extra 6-12 mths (3 yrs for us grrr) its going to take to ob as apposed to a builder doing it. 4. are the savings realistic considering you want a basic house (no frills) 5. are you prepared to go to hell and back and still smile on the other side. you will always get knockers telling you your mad to try im glad we didnt listen because its an experience no amount of money could buy ive loved every minute of it good and bad but if this is your dream home and your final home then go for it however if this is just a stepping stone to your dream home then go with a builder until your ready for your dream home good luck with whatever you choose and dont let anyone tell you you cant do it cause if we can on our budget and our lack of skills anyone can. How many man/woman hours have you guys put into this? Just curious to work out costs for us. Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 17May 27, 2011 12:54 pm We've probably around $900-1100 a sqm. I dont want to work it out properly, we obviously went over what we thought it would cost! Fault is all our own though - we kept upgrading as we went along and it obviously all adds to the end cost Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 18May 27, 2011 1:48 pm man/women hours rflmao a bloody lot over 3 years lol but roughly worked out 3276 hrs roughly @ $50 hr (builders rates) $163,800.00 wow wow wow ok why did u make me work that out now i want more for the house lol but it also means we saved that much wow thats cool lol stay safe happy building Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 19May 27, 2011 4:25 pm If you are willing to learn and have the correct mindset owner building is not hard. Eg I work in an office and had never built a house before, nor picked up a hammer before. I ended up doing all the structural steel for my house. (Passed inspection with flying colours) They found faults on Framework which carpenter done but not the steel work. If you are mechanically minded and don’t mind doing some hands on work then Owner building is the way to go. The sky is the limit. There is one thing that I think every owner builder can do and that is painting. The easiest thing anyone can accomplish and do a just as good a job as a professional painter. I cannot justify paying $10,000 to someone for rolling a brush up and down for a few days. I paid my carpenter $11,000 for 4 days work to build my double storey. He had 2 apprentices with him and it took him 4 days in total to do the whole house (with loose timber) not prefabbed walls . 35 squares. The concreter for slab $30,000 for 3 days work. He had an escavator for 2 days that ($3000 - $1500 per day which is expensive) Concrete pump - $800 (He showed me the invoice) $95 cubic meters of 25MPA concrete – @ $150 per cubic meter (Concreters pay $120) That is $14,250. 3 days work for his 2 labouers at $300 a day that is $1200. All his expenses total to $19,250. How does anyone justify a $10,000 Wage for 3 days work. Upsets me talking about it. The way I look at it. If I can do anything on my own whilst building I will do it. Even if I need to pay $350 and do a weekends course at a tafe to show me how to paint. How does our industry allow these people to charge so much money. Whether the job is physical or not. I say bring in the foreigners skilled workers in the building industrty and regulate these ridiculous prices. Re: What will it cost me as an owner/builder ? 20May 27, 2011 5:56 pm Big O you are spot on! Three days work for 10k!!!! Barking bloody mad. They have got the industry by the short and curlies!! My husband and I both have excellent jobs and went to uni but we sure dont earn anywhere near that. Take a month to come close!!! Hi VK, I am now retired however I have stood beside over 300 owner builders in the past 18 years that have successfully built their own homes. First of all a building… 10 22668 Hi all. Anyone know when the $11,000 limit was set in legislation for renovations in QLD? Ive been renovating for 5 years now and this was the limit back then. As we know,… 0 4244 |