Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 9Nov 19, 2018 6:46 pm Why would anyone expect project builder be any cheaper than custom builder (for the similar quality/size house)? They pay market rates to their trades, but also have to pay for their offices, demo houses, sales people etc. and yet have to make their margins from somewhere. They have some discounts on the materials, but they won't be substantial, for sure. And yet it looks like they are making 50% margins on their upgrades too. Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 10Dec 30, 2018 10:04 pm alexp79 Why would anyone expect project builder be any cheaper than custom builder (for the similar quality/size house)? They pay market rates to their trades, but also have to pay for their offices, demo houses, sales people etc. and yet have to make their margins from somewhere. They have some discounts on the materials, but they won't be substantial, for sure. And yet it looks like they are making 50% margins on their upgrades too. I have been shopping around and the house I'm getting from my volume builder bases on size and finishes will cost $200k more with a customer builder. Yes I have traded in a custom home for a standard build and design but I think it's worth the 200k back.in my pocket. Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 11Jun 14, 2020 11:19 pm jeeves84 Hi All I am in the process of looking to build a new home. The Metricon Vantage 46 (Designer Series) is the house we interested in building. I have obtained a quote, and it currently sits in the budget and we still have some remaining money to spend on further upgrades at Studio M. I have already upgraded a few things to the base quote to give me somewhat a more accurate indication of price, but I can already rattle off a heap of things that will needed to be upgraded at Studio M. I will break down my quote below, then i will also add my other wish list of upgrades that I am wanting. Vantage 46 Base Price - $435k Upgrades Already Quoted - $45k - Mode Facade - $18k - Site Works - $7.5K - 2700mm Ceiling to Ground - $2.5k - 2550mm ceiling to first - $1.5k - Enclosing Media and Study - $2.5k - Upgrade windows to 2400mm - $2k - Upgrade stackers - $8k - Upgrade to staircase - $2.5k - Upgrade Kitchen Appliances - $7k - Tiling to main floor (builders range) - $3.5k - Floor to Ceiling tiling allowance to bathrooms - $8.5k - Gold standard carpet - $10k - Electrical Allowance -$ 9k - Driveway and Patio Slab Quote is coming at approx $570k. However at the moment, Metricon are running a promotion to include Free Ducted Air Con as well as a 50K voucher to use at Studio M. Things which I know I will spend the 50k would be: To be upgraded list - Square set to living areas and bathrooms (this will be a big one) - Wall hung vanities to bathrooms - Wall set tapware (been told this doesnt cost extra however) - Upgraded tapwear - Wall hung toilets with concealed cistern - 2 x Freestanding Baths - Upgrading tiles - Upgrading windows potentially - Stone upgrades (no doubt the colour i like will be a different category) - Adding bench, cabinetry and overheads to laundry - Laminex Upgrades (no doubt the colour won't be standard) - Kitchen upgrades to include majority of pot drawers with bevel finger pulls (no handles) - Island bench to have shadowline and possibly be bigger - Further upgrading staircase (cause i dont really know what i am getting) - Upgrading entry door and handle - Rebate stacker doors to slab - Fans to bedrooms and outdoor room That seems most of the things that i can think of at the moment. I guess the question is, how much over the 50k allowance would i be looking at if i was to upgrade that entire list? I know it is basically how long is a piece of string scenario, but a rough idea would help me so much. I just don't want to go into a contract naive about studio m upgrade costs. if it going to tip us too much over the budget, then we might have to look at another builder. With the 50k studio m allowance, my total upgrades come to $165k on a vantage 46. Has anyone built a similar size house and can remember how much they spend only on upgrades? Hope this makes sense! Thanks I'm just wondering how you went with your build? what was your total in the end? We are trying to choose between the Balmaine from the designer series, or going with something similar from the freedom series, and using the money we save by choosing the freedom range to pour into upgrades. Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 12Jun 15, 2020 1:42 pm mattyc I'm just wondering how you went with your build? what was your total in the end? We are trying to choose between the Balmaine from the designer series, or going with something similar from the freedom series, and using the money we save by choosing the freedom range to pour into upgrades. Hi mattyc We switched after deposit from a Designer Vantage 48 to a Freedom Merricks 42 purely based on preferring the floorplan layout, and then we upgraded everything in that Freedom house to suit what we would have got in the Designer. In upgrading a Freedom range house to similar quality as a Designer range house we easily covered up the base price difference. So, if the aim is Designer quality then there's not a lot of savings to "pour into upgrades" by starting from Freedom, in our experience. Cheers, r_13 Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 13Aug 08, 2020 7:07 pm I'm also building the Vantage and have my M studio appointment end of Aug. I can let you know some costs I've already got: Toilet with concealed cistern - around 1750.00 Square set cornice is done by lineal meter approximately $32 per L/M (Vantage downstairs only about $3K) about 10K for the staircase if you want a glass balustrade. I ended up with the S series package which I was told equated to about $50K.. Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 14Aug 21, 2020 8:57 pm almiro I'm also building the Vantage and have my M studio appointment end of Aug. I can let you know some costs I've already got: Toilet with concealed cistern - around 1750.00 Square set cornice is done by lineal meter approximately $32 per L/M (Vantage downstairs only about $3K) about 10K for the staircase if you want a glass balustrade. I ended up with the S series package which I was told equated to about $50K.. Hi Almiro All the best to your building journey ! Interesting to browse your blog , your hydroponic heating seems much cheaper than Metricon quote us (29K for 2 boiler /15 radiators) , do you mind share how much boiler / radiators you got ? Thx Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 15Aug 22, 2020 7:07 pm Hi Scott, The cost for Hydronic heating I believe depends on the size of the house you're building. Since I'm only building a 38 sq.. the cost is lower. I have my studio appointment on Monday and will find out more. Suffice to say that I know there are 2 towel rails and at least 12 radiators. I originally had a quote on the 48sq Vantage and that came to $21.6K, with 2 boilers.. but have since downsized the house.. I've had hydronic in the past and typically each radiator adds about $1K and the cost of an additional boiler is about $2K. Cheers, Rob Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 16Aug 23, 2020 11:13 am almiro Hi Scott, The cost for Hydronic heating I believe depends on the size of the house you're building. Since I'm only building a 38 sq.. the cost is lower. I have my studio appointment on Monday and will find out more. Suffice to say that I know there are 2 towel rails and at least 12 radiators. I originally had a quote on the 48sq Vantage and that came to $21.6K, with 2 boilers.. but have since downsized the house.. I've had hydronic in the past and typically each radiator adds about $1K and the cost of an additional boiler is about $2K. Cheers, Rob Hi Rob Thanks very much for the info Fyi my 29K quote is for : 2 * High Efficiency Boilers: 14 * Bosch (Buderus) Radiator Panels: 4 * Heated Towel Rails so , 2 more radiators + 2 more TR than yours , but the cost almost triple which does not make sense to me ........ Anyway , All the best with your appointment on Monday , looking forward to hear back from you Cheers Scott Re: Metricon Vantage 46 - Studio M Upgrades 17Aug 27, 2020 10:01 am Macher alexp79 Why would anyone expect project builder be any cheaper than custom builder (for the similar quality/size house)? They pay market rates to their trades, but also have to pay for their offices, demo houses, sales people etc. and yet have to make their margins from somewhere. They have some discounts on the materials, but they won't be substantial, for sure. And yet it looks like they are making 50% margins on their upgrades too. Well a project builder will not have to spend much on drafting and engineering as they are duplicating the same style house. They build so many more houses a year so they attract more trades as they can offer constant stream of work. Trades might expect higher rates from custom builders as these are one off. There is no building permit cost and surveyor and this is included in the price. However expect to have a big upgrade on site cost. I have been shopping around and the house I'm getting from my volume builder bases on size and finishes will cost $200k more with a customer builder. Yes I have traded in a custom home for a standard build and design but I think it's worth the 200k back.in my pocket. Your point on the trades sort of is half accurate. You realise what rates the volume builders pay for their trades and have you ever been on a site to see the level or quality of the trades they're using? Let's just say it's not very good. I think you will find with the onset of registration of trades coming in to the Victorian building industry the volume builders will be fighting this tooth and nail. 😃 will do an exclusive one for Simeon.. COVID back at home.. kept it simple & we moved in.. & yesterday was the first day at our new home.. 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