Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Dec 02, 2012 11:55 pm Hi All As the post heading says - im a total newbie here and to the whole building a house thing! So here's the dealio - we are wanting to build our house on the front of a property that already has a house on it (with hopes to ONE DAY bulldoze that crap bessa block block). its a decent size block and will allow us to build a approx 250 sq m double story house (the wide span sheds country home 2 to be precise. so i have a few questions - - are there any other wide span sheds kit home owners about that can give us a head up on how the company is to deal with ? - can someone point me in the direction of posts about costs - getting stuck on the soil testing, slab, council fees, electrician, plumber, oh and i guess survey?? (hubby is a surveyor - just hasn't done cadastral work in a few years so would need to either sweet tal some old mates or suck it up and pay for the work i guess! - just ideas on the costs of course - i know you cant give a proper number to me - just need it as a guide line to know where we are coming from - getting quotes are next on my list... just need to actually set in stone that this is the house! - where do other owner builders get there supplies from? i know we have Bunnings down the road - but im convinced that if im buying a house worth of plaster board then i really shouldn't be paying retail prices right? do Bunnings to trade prices to owner builders?? or is there a special place we buy these things from (or does one go directly to the manufacturer and get them to supply the stuff??) We are yet to do our own builders course - which is planned for early in the new year (have scared the crap out of hubby and told him i wanna be in this house by xmas 2014 at the very latest! lol (which isn't a big deal if we were further along with the plans bt at this point in time we have a few other details and finer details re the property to sort out) we plan on doing as much as we possibly can do our selves - this has been a dream for many years so its not a new concept - and we are both very handy (and one of us is a major perfectionist........ so yeah i'll prob end up doing everything my self! lol) - hubby has long service leave coming up in the next 12mths to (i think october next year??) so ideally it would be great to spend that time building the house - up to the point where basics like painting and trims and stuff that i can do solo while hes away working (we currently live 3hrs from where we plan to build where hubby works - i will be moving back home with the kids ASAP leaving him to FIFO so to speak (but drive). does anyone know anything about councils and there policies on building on a block that already has a house - technically the existing house would/is the granny flat with grandma living in it atm and after (unless i can convince her to let us tear it down and build her a nice little place in the backyard) - hubby seems to think we may have some little dramas with the old house being there so??? (its on the list of things to do - go see the council and ?? them) what about owner building with kids?? anyone stupid enough to attempt that with kids (there's only like almost 1/2 dozen of them.... lol) (and one would assume they would be at school... but at this point in time they are home schooled (until we have permanently moved back home) so there is the potential there will be 5 of them annoying the crap out of us! (fx my family loves me... and baby sits) any other tips - helpful points - things to keep me from having major freak outs over little things.... please feel free to add them (and forgive me if this is all over the place - right now i haven't slept properly since hubby declared this little plan of his ... (but of course he sleeps no worries!! bugger!) and i have a million things, ideas, $$, time frames ect... running thru my head so im not even sure if im coming or going! (oh lord image me in the actual build stage of this!!!!!!!!) Re: Newbie..... needing some pointing in the right direction 2Dec 03, 2012 9:40 pm Hi Various links that I got some of my information from. Google is your friend. viewforum.php?f=38 http://www.buildingcommission.com.au/ww ... ctions.asp http://www.theownerbuilder.com.au/ http://www.ownerbuild.com.au/ http://buybooksonline.com.au/alan-staines-m-4.html http://www.archicentre.com.au/owner-bui ... er-builder http://www.ozob.com.au http://www.ownerbuilderinsurance.com.au http://www.guysoftware.com/House_Construction.HTM As to council, best bet is to go talk with them very early and get them onside before you commit any hard earned. Get copies of all the covenants etc that apply to building on that land, some of which can be got from state government sites like https://www.landata.vic.gov.au/tpc/tpc_ ... ?abandon=Y Have a read of this thread...its a doosy but well worth the read. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=5823 And I commented on another potential OB earlier tonight... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=61368&p=952795 Regards RiH Re: Newbie..... needing some pointing in the right direction 3Feb 26, 2013 3:30 pm Make sure you insure your building materials etc before you turn over even one sod of soil or they won't insure you. We tried to get insurance after our footings and piers went in and we couldn't get any. Luckily, nothing was stolen from the site so it turned out we didn't need insuring anyway. Old Home Restoration / Renovation I have a bad water leak through my window frame every time it's rains heavy. I have been advised the brick work on the side of my house needs repointing. 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