Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 17, 2020 10:45 pm Hi, how are you guys? Yep. I made this with MS paint. https://i.imgur.com/seHQHIn.jpg Are there any problems with it that I'm not seeing? I was thinking about building a house in 3 phases. Basically, starting off with a studio and doing 2 renovations over time, rather than a mortgage and building it all at once. Is that a feasible idea? Possible? Or dumb? For some reason. I've never built a house, so I'm not sure about any of this. Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 2Feb 18, 2020 6:36 pm Hello? Is this in the wrong spot? The wrong subforum? I'm actually in a position where my only option is to live with someone abusive. I've bought some land and would like to get out as soon as possible. I've no idea what I'm doing, I've never built a house, would like some help, please. Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 3Feb 18, 2020 7:09 pm It may be just me, but I can’t make out your plans. Who will be constructing the house? What materials will be used - in particular the exterior that will eventually become interior walls and the roofing materials. You would need council approvals for building. I would think kitchen, bathroom and laundry facilities would be a minimum along with a bedroom space. Think like a studio apartment. Perhaps look at some shipping container or modular house designs to get some more ideas about what is possible? Or tiny homes. Pinterest is a great resource. Second Time 'Round Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 4Feb 18, 2020 7:25 pm Hey, thanks for replying. How come you can't see the diagram? I don't know the exact process. I've been told by someone that, first; you go to a draftsman, to get a house plan, and then shop that plan around to builders and then ask someone to build it. And that they would be the ones to do council approvals etc. Is that usually how it goes? That's basically what I have for phase 1, a studio apartment with the basics. Due to complications, I actually can't get a home loan. So, I was thinking of building a studio apartment with the money I have. Then saving some more money, and move on to phase 2, building two more bedrooms. Save some more money, phase 3, two more bedrooms -- Like that. Is that even possible to do? Or do you have to build an entire house in one go? Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 5Feb 18, 2020 7:39 pm The exterior walls that will eventually become the interior walls... I'm not sure what to use. I don't even know what my options really are. Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 6Feb 19, 2020 8:00 am Generally any modification to an existing house costs twice as much per square metre as building it new. So building in stages is more expensive. It would also be a mess structurally in terms of joining concrete slabs, walls roofs. You are better off building a cheap, simple house with a volume project builder. Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 7Feb 19, 2020 8:26 am Really? Why would an expansion cost twice as much? How much cheaper going with a volume project builder? What size house could I build for $70,000 for example? I just looked at Metricon, and it seems the minimum price tag they have is between $100,000 and $140,000. Will a volume project builder work on an island? Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 8Feb 19, 2020 8:39 am I can't seem to find very many volume project builders. Is there another term they go by? Are there multiple terms for a volume project builder, or something like that? How do you tell if someone is or isn't a volume project builder or not? Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 10Feb 19, 2020 9:08 am Queensland. I can only seem to find articles on the topic. "Volume builder vs Custom builder." Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 11Feb 19, 2020 2:20 pm Here's something interesting... According to an article I found on hi****s called "How much does it cost to build a house?": Building a home usually costs between $1,300 - $3,900 per squared metre. Whereas according to another article, also on hi****s, called "How Much Do House Extensions Cost?": Expanding an existing home usually costs $2,056 - $3,875 per squared metre. So roughly anywhere between 0 to 63% extra for an extension. Presumably, the price is based on the where the seam will be, where the newer part of the house meets the old, and how big that seam is. BUT, here's the thing, right: How much do people end up paying back on their home loans? A home loan for a 4 bedroom house might end up being more than the cost of a studio plus 2 extensions. It might be a good idea to get all the figures together, visit a draftsman and find out how much each will cost, roughly. Could you guys check my reasoning on this, please? Also, why is "hi****s" considered forbidden text? Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 12Feb 19, 2020 2:29 pm I think you should be visiting home building companies not a draftsperson. They have the resources to guide you through the process from beginning to end including finances. Most basic large home builders will build from $800-$1000/m. Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 13Feb 19, 2020 2:56 pm I was told that you need to get house plans from a draftsman and then show different builders the house plans and get quotes from them. That's not how you're supposed to do it? Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 14Feb 19, 2020 3:05 pm Ahh... I think I might know why I've been told differently. I'm actually building on an island, so restricted to island builders. Otherwise, the costs might go up for other builders. That could be why. Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 15Feb 19, 2020 3:12 pm Do you think the extension route might be cheaper than a home loan route? Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 16Feb 20, 2020 10:51 pm I'm sorry to hear you are try to escape an abusive relationship. Building is much much cheaper per m2 that renovating. I've never heard otherwise. If you can't build with regular project builders that's unfortunate, as you will get the cheapest prices with them. What builders can you build with on your island? If you can only build with specialist custom builders the prices might skyrocket, especially considering they'd need to ship materials to the island (and possibly bring in subcontractors from the mainland?). Just guessing that would be $$$. Honestly I'd suggest exploring an alternative route. There are some really nice kit homes out there and container homes. You could get a nice one for under 100k; a basic one for 70k. Alot of older people are using them to build retirement homes and reduce or eliminate their mortgage. I know someone who got council approval to build a "shed" on their land in a rural area and then lined the shed with insulation and gyprock, making a really stunning studio home. Solar panels on the roof, rainwater tank, etc. Even added a really nice treated timber verandah which was painted up nicely. Had to use a compost toilet and camping shower though as it was impossible to bring plumbing out to the block. All that was very inexpensive - basically cost the price of the metal colorbond shed (which he constructed himself from the kit) plus all the other material, mostly from Bunnings. Can you get some support from somewhere regarding your abusive relationship? Maybe some emergency housing? If you plan to get a builder to do your job and council approval the process will take at least a year, maybe two. Should you get somewhere safe in the meantime? Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 17Feb 21, 2020 12:13 am I don't think I would meet the criteria for a shelter. I thought that was for people that have boyfriends coming to attack them. I think men are treated differently. Like, there are videos online of men being attacked and onlookers finding it hilarious. I'd probably be told that it's just screaming and threats, grow a pair. There is like a men's hotline, but I haven't really bothered with it. The search results I'm getting, I don't know if they're project builders. Like, I can't tell. I don't suppose you know any? Or how to search for them? How do you tell if they're a project builder or not? I heard that it was kit homes that are more expensive because they have to bring them over from the mainland and in several shipments. I don't know how to verify if that's true or not. I did find an island builder, I don't know if they're a project builder. I'm going to try quizzing them like a TON of questions tomorrow. lol Yeah, I was actually thinking about camping out on the land that I bought. I mean, people do it, but I don't know how angry the council will be. Or if I'll have cops show up or something. I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask the council for permission? lol Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 18Feb 21, 2020 9:22 am I understand. Threats definitely constitute abuse, and screaming too if it's extreme or excessive. All would fall under the category of emotional/psychological abuse, which is considered just as harmful as physical abuse. Especially if it is involves shame and putting you down alot, or manipulation and control of your actions and finances on a frequent basis. This is still abuse and it's very harmful. It's doesn't matter if it's directed at a man or a woman. Yes I completely agree that people don't see domestic abuse of men as bad as when it's directed at women, but that is wrong. I am a woman but my husband and I did some research about this a while ago because we knew someone being abused. Also when I was younger at uni my "friend" hit her boyfriend so hard that his head put a large dent into a gyprock wall and he had a massive bruise on his face. He was so ashamed but thankfully opened up about it to myself and another mutual friend and eventually got the strength to leave her. She was also very controlling and used to insult him early in the relationship (verbal and psychological abuse) and then it escalated to physical abuse. Usually that's the pattern. Definitely try to work up the courage to ring a men's abuse helpline. It can't hurt at all and hopefully it would be helpful; they can give you some advice and help. As for camping, yes it's your land and you can do that for awhile. If no one complains (like the neighbours) then I don't think the council would do anything about it. If the council does find out about it they will probably just tell you to move, at least initially. The other thing you could look into is the tiny home movement, which is becoming really popular. Basically people build small homes on wheels (like a caravan but more solid and more permanent). You're allowed to park it on private land for about three months at a time, I believe. The rules probably differ from council to council. But I've heard of people doing that and just moving their tiny home from one side of the block to the other to keep within the rules. If you Google "tiny home" there will be heaps on information online and you can see the great little homes people have made. If you made/bought a tiny home you wouldn't need to wait for council approval to get started - you could organise it possibly much quicker. By the way if you Google "home builders" and then put your state in the Google search you will find some of the larger project builders will come up at the top of the search usually. Also it's a good idea to put the same search into productreview.com to find ones that get the best ratings, though you have to really analyse the reviews carefully. The HIA does some reports of builders that you might be able to find online to list the largest ones in your state and they also give out awards to top performing builders. In our state the larger builders will give you a very basic but nice house for about $1000-1100 per m2. You could save massive $$$ by installing the flooring yourself (they have to tile wet areas but you could do everywhere else). You can also save by painting yourself, doing some of the cabinetry yourself (eg. Laundry) at a later date and doing the robes at a later date. You can also do all the external landscaping/paving/driveway yourself if possible. You could easily get a 100m2 house for under 100k by doing those things. I know they charge extra for rural areas when they have to transport things a long way, so that would be a problem. Re: Criticise my home design? (for my first home) 19Apr 15, 2020 8:15 pm Maybe buy a small second hand caravan, so you can live on the block, so at least you have a virtual "mini house" while you work on getting the "real one" started? At least it has a bed, lounge and cooking facilities. Some larger ones also have showers and toilets, but I'm not sure on prices. Maybe seek someone and rent their caravan? Some people would be happy that they can get some return on their caravan when it's not being used to travel for holiday. Especially with the Covid-19 restrictions currently! In Victoria you cannot put a caveat on arising from a domestic building contract. 65 112879 ideal house depends on the site and location as much as internal floor plan....what is the distance from the house to all four boundaries, where is north, describe your… 3 15615 And we're finally moving forward! Trenches and plumbing in, should hopefully see a slab any day now. 9 33360 |