I've always wanted to build a cabin on a bush block, but that's not quite what I'm doing ...
Two factors have merged to create an opportunity that's probably close enough ...
1) Our expanding family just doesn't fit into our solid-but-uninspiring post-war home. We've been looking at the standard options (extend, move, knock-down & rebuild) but there's no way any of these options will give us what we want at a price we can afford.
The problem is we're spoiled ... here's the view from the studio in our backyard:
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2) It looks like my current job will wind up within a year ... between my redundancy payment and accrued leave I'll have about 34 weeks owed to me.
So, assuming I can get it all together in time, the plan is to turn our little house into a tri-level home that better meets or needs.
While I haven't owner-built before, I have renovated a number of homes and I think I have a good understanding of my limits and where it just makes sense to contract-out particular tasks.
Funding shouldn't be an issue (we're hoping to have our investment property ready for sale before I start).
It's not an ideal block ... it slopes down from the street (7m fall, but most of that's in the back 1/4) and the views are to the south, but I think we can make it work.
The current vision is to effectively knock down the single garage and lean-to studio currently in the backyard and replace them with a double storey extension joined to the existing house to create a tri-level home (the lower level of the extension being half a flight of stairs down from the existing house, making the upper level of the extension half a flight up from the existing house). Once that's done part of the existing house will be rebuilt as a double garage.
The current plan also isn't ideal. We obviously want to take advantage of the view, but at the same time I want that seamless indoor-outdoor interface. I don't want the lower level to be too far below the level of the existing house, and I don't want to carve out half the hillside. The problem is that it's hard to realise all of those objectives ... my earlier plans ended up "chasing the slope" (picture stairs coming down from a deck over a slope ... while each step takes you lower the ground is further away due to the slope!).
The best compromise I've come up with so far is to shape the extension so that it only takes up about half the width of the block. Windows looking out over the view, and a large sliding door out to the side to a large terrace. Nice thing is that the terrace already exists ... I'll need to extend it by a few metres, but it'll be worth it (and it gives me a place to dispose of soil from the cut!).
A secondary objective is to have a pool that's immediately behind the house ... this is a little controversial though as our youngest is only 7 months old, and the thought of having a pool freaks my wife out. Oh well, plan to accommodate it, hopefully we can add it later!
Here's what the latest Sketchup looks like ... it's not perfect, I'll probably extend the lower level to the east to provide more living space, and while widening the upper level at the rear affords views to two bedrooms and a games room, it blocks the view from the deck off the original house (off either the master bedroom suite or the formal lounge).
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Current thinking (as per both the subject and my username) is to use ICF for the walls. I've been looking at these for about four years and they tick many boxes for me.
I've been lurking on this forum for a long time now, and I'll be asking lots of questions leading up to and during the build.
Thanks, wish me luck and my wife patience!
J.