Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Apr 22, 2011 11:08 am Hi everyone, Thanks for all the great info in here, so I am inspired to start this log of my new project at Ocean Grove, Victoria. Me: Haa haa... age 59, male, pretty reasonable construction skills, lots of tools!! and a real cheap b*st*rd. Have done a bit of renovation and building labouring in the past, but never built a complete house. Also I have just finished a 2 lot sub-division of my 740 sqm house block in nearby Drysdale, both parts now for sale. So I have learned a lot about local regs and permits, a real help to envisage the steps and problems ahead. There is a sewer pit way down in the lowest South-East corner, that won't be cheap to connect to I guess. A power pole is very close to the North-West corner, easy connect I hope. Concept is to be Owner Builder as a project manager mostly, and find a good 2 man carpenter team to most of the work. Early days yet, just doing concepts of the house plan, costing is a little way off, but I have an idea of what I want to spend. If I can do it for $150K I will be pretty happy, yep dream on...... So.. Got the land (signed and paid deposit at least), 940 square metres that noone else wanted to buy, it was really cheap!! Because its in a sort of small valley and the lower part of it looks like a floodway, also a steep drop from the road level makes a driveway look difficult to put in. It faces East and North really, and the North side has some large pine trees blocking the sun. But standing in the land looking around it had a really nice feel, quiet, lots of trees and space. Just up the road a 300 sqm block is for sale at $800 per/sqm, this block cost me $192 per/sqm....!!!! At that price there has to be something seriously wrong with it you would think, hmmmmm. Another deciding factor was the possibility of future sub-division, as you can see land is pretty expensive in Ocean Grove and getting scarcer. Where I am now, to do list: 1. Cut the grass (brother has mowers). 2. Survey the boundaries (hate surveyors, they are all the same price, no competition). 3. Have a contour survey done by the engineers. 4. Engineers plan the driveway, 2 retaining walls and lots of dirt, crushed rock topping. With luck I might find free or cheap land fill from works nearby. 5. With countour map I can plan the house better for where to place it and how much elevation to have and how much excavation might be needed. I am locating the house on the North side and leaving 400 sqm of land vacant on the West side (possible sub-division later). House Plan: A pretty standard 3 bedroom with open kitchen-living-dining. A clerestory wall in roof lines facing North to get the light inside. East wall raised to about 3M off ground to accomodate work shed/ storage room underneath. Essentially the open living area is to have a panorama-like view out to the North-East-South because it is very pretty to look at. Internal walls will go from 3000mm minimum up to about 4500mm maybe, roof slopes not finalized of course yet. This will make internal space feel very big (hmm and heating problems too...). Thinking cheap means no hardwood flooring, aluminium windows unless I can get cheap timber windows. Some sort of weathertex cladding and a colorbond roof. Big issues will be the sub-floor, high stumps and large spans in East portion. The decks at the moment are quite a large area in total, in the time I have ahead I hope I can find some cheap/special deal. Ooops... i forgot the water tank, under the house maybe? Then I can have a simple gravity feed water supply down to my lovely garden down by the bubbling brook (aka the council drain). At the moment rain water flows under the road and through the land, there is a council easement 20 feet wide on the East boundary, but the land slope means the water doesn't really go through this easement, so I will have move/add dirt to make a better countour for water flow, at least its a bit downhill and does mostly flow away to the South. So I have a picture in my head that feels very nice, the only thing of course is the cost. What I can do to save money without killing my old body. Painting - some Plaster maybe - Decking - Stairs - Kitchen, Bathroom cabinets. will attach photos as soon as i figure out how to do it. Re: Ocean Grove Project 2Apr 22, 2011 11:31 am ok I'll try pics.... http://www.abstractgolf.com/thacker_street/ this link opens in this same window.. better if you right click and choose "Open in New Window" Re: Ocean Grove Project 3Apr 22, 2011 12:08 pm Did you do your concept drawings? Very nice It seems well thought out, although I cant comment on specifics. Is the house bricked? Our foundations for our home cost us around $45k, and thats without any special flood requirements etc Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Ocean Grove Project 4Apr 22, 2011 1:31 pm hi thanks, nope no bricks, hate 'em and expensive. there won't be any stormwater issues up where the house will sit, its all down hill from there. i did the design/plans myself, they are not engineering quality, just for concepts, i use Archicad on mac comp, taught myself coz i have had a lot of computer experience in other programs, but i always avoided 3D because of the big learning curve, the CAD was not as difficult as i expected, a lot easier than 3D Max/Lighwave etc. (and i am able to get programs very cheaply so that helps too). I find it really helpful to see your plans in 3D, you get a much better idea of dimensions and proportions, haven't done a fly-through yet, that will come. DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair That laser level looks lovely! We bought one for less than a quarter of that price off eBay. It worked really well for us and it's still going now, five years later. After… 1 16716 If you need to pay for a project manager you would be well advised to just engage a builder who would take full responsibility for the build. As opposed to you OB where… 5 15088 |