Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 11, 2009 3:15 pm Hi, We are about to make contact with a volume builder to build a 2 story home in Melbourne. We are generally good at finding good prices and finding the best quality as opposed to the most expensive. Are there things that we are better off purchasing and having installed ourselved as opposed to having included in the building contract. Things that come to mind are carpets, floorboards, driveways, etc. At the other level I guess are Green items such as grey water systems, tanks, etc. Are we better off having them done at the time of constuction? Hope folks can give us some insight? Thanks Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 2Jun 11, 2009 3:21 pm I would certainly do your own flooring. We built a double story home with PD - we sourced our own 100% wool carpets and solid timber flooring and have saved heaps on what PD quoted us, not to mention got a far superior product than what they could offer us. We are also doing our own driveway, fencing, decking, blinds - all of which I assume is cheaper to do yourself. As for the bigger items - water tanks etc - I'd be inclined to get them done with the build as often they are harder to organise/install after the build My karma ran over your dogma Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 3Jun 11, 2009 3:35 pm The builder I am dealing with will not install greywater systems because they say there are liability issues if it doesn't work properly (and contaminates your neighbour's property for example). If your builder is the same, you will have to do that yourself. BUT - if your house is being built on a slab and you think you may want to install a greywater system later, make sure that you get the greywater drainage (showers, basins and laundry) done separately from your blackwater drainage (toilets and kitchen) i.e. separate drainage pipes that join after leaving the house but before entering the sewer. Since the drainage pipes are under the slab, if you don't have them separated to start with, you can't do a proper greywater system because you would have to dig up your slab to get to the pipes. Our builder charges $2,200 to do this. As far as water tanks are concerned, it probably depends on how large a tank or tanks you are thinking about installing. We are in a rural area and will be installing two 22,000 litre tanks. It looks like it might be about $1,000-$2,000 less if we arrange to have them installed ourselves - but I'm still finalising prices. BUT NOTE - if you want the water tanks used for toilets and laundry in your home, you need to make sure that your builder sets up the plumbing for this ... extra $$ again. It may also help to have the builder put in the appropriate gutter drainage system so that everything will feed into the tanks when you install them. Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 4Jun 11, 2009 4:03 pm I'm getting the flooring organised myself. Also we plan on doing the entire house with cfl downlights, so will get the builder to include extra allowance for circuits and I will buy all the cfls and pay my electrician extra to install it (to avoid builder's markup). Networking will be done by my cabler (who's also on this forum). Solar pv system i'll be organising myself. And same with paving, fencing, driveway. Blog : http://ournewhaven.blogspot.com/ (Modified Newhaven - Homestead Homes) Status : DA - Dec 09. Slabbed - Jan 10. Handover - Aug 10 Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 5Jun 11, 2009 4:14 pm Our builder is doing the flooring.... but it was part of a promo. Without the promo.... probably not. Our builder isn't doing our rainwater tank, but they are doing the plumbing provision to two toilets ready for when we get one and connect it. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 6Jun 11, 2009 4:24 pm Def look at doing your own flooring, apart from wet areas, and carpets - you can generally get better quality, and a much greater variety, than what the volume builders offer. We looked into doing Grey Water ready with PD, but it was very expensive, and they weren't that keen in the end, as they'd had problems with it , so we deleted that. We got one water tank in the promo that was on at the time, but we're putting in our own as well - I'm sure it's cheaper, and just as easy to do that post handover. I don't know that all of the volume builders offer driveways - I don't think PD did - unless it's part of an Estate covenant, or something....? Good luck with your decisions! Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 7Jun 11, 2009 9:27 pm I second getting your own carpets. The builder's range is quite limited and as we too are having stairs, wanted a good quality carpet that would be hard wearing as the stairs are the fist to show any wear due to heavy traffic - 3 young children & 2 adults Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 8Jun 11, 2009 10:54 pm We are doing our own flooring. The builders carpet range was fairly limited and more expensive. We are also having bamboo floorboards which the builder couldn't do. We are also doing our own water tank. The builder is providing the plumbing into both toilets and the laundry and then we are doing the rest. We can get a 9,000 litre tank for about $500 more they were charging for a 1,000 litre one! Whilst the builder does get trade prices they then add their mark up (which is often about 20%) as so they make their cut and also cover the insurance cost. Just get some quotes done before you do selections with your builder so you know your options. Our custom build with Rossdale http://hazehome.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17630 Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 9Jun 11, 2009 11:08 pm We are building with a midsized builder (well, mid-sized for Perth - they do about 80 houses a year). After speaking with friends who had built with larger volume builders, we took their advice which was basically to take everything outside of the house out of the contract. eg, driveways, soakwells, paving. We also are arranging all our own flooring (though our builder does not offer that anyway), landscaping, supplying own appliances (though not installing), air conditioning (our contractor worked in with the builder to do together), internal fitouts for wardrobes, bathroom accessories, garage door and side gates.... Re: Volume Builder - What can be excluded and done on your own? 11Jun 14, 2009 12:40 pm Hi all, Just a quick question: If say for example, you do the driveways, landscaping and fencing on your own (ie. not through the builder), this means that the building contract does not include them. Does this mean that we have to pay for these things out of our own pocket? As the construction loan does not provide for them? Can we actually pay for them from the construction loan? If so, how do we include them in the construction loan? Would really appreciate your advice. Thanks very much Stephen Williams Landing Stage 10 - Kingwell Neighbourhood Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 20426 i did click it, still couldnt make it out rofl. in any case, doesnt look like too extreme a slope, you may be in luck. Just shoot out some emails to volume builders in… 3 18573 I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15284 |