Lessons Learned - Building a House

[Squawk]

planning to build a house next year some time in one of the new Northern land developments, sounds like a massive head ache though, looking foward to it, i think.

Well Sam, it's gotta be better than losing the Ashes but I can certainly say that it is a challenge! The Home guide in the Sunday Mail is always amusing - I suspect the new home owners are nominated by the builders because almost all of them met budget, complete on time and rate the builder 8+ out of 10!

Ours isn't a house+land package and I think that is a different experience in some respects especially since you get to choose your builder. Just remember, whatever the display price is, beware the extra 40% in costs you can expect to incur. ie if your building budget is $150k, you will need to pick a place $100-110K to build.

I will look forward to your stories!

[Jimmy]

remember to build with bricks...look at what happened to those that build with sticks and straw...the big bad wolf got em

[heater31]

remember to build with bricks...look at what happened to those that build with sticks and straw...the big bad wolf got em

not if you put chicken wire over it and a layer of plaster over the lot very very good thermal properties

[Strawb]

My wife and I thought about building a house over here in Viccy but changed our minds. We found a little house that we liked perfect for us two and the twins on the way. It also had a bungalow outside so it suited us to a t.

[Squawk]

Well we are up to the Selections part now.

Tiles, taps, carpet, floorboards, lighting, electrical plans, air con, paving, garage doors, appliances, paint colours and the like.

Boy, is this a time consuming process.

What seems to be most frustrating is that most of the places only offer appointments during business hours Mon-Fri. In some cases, they schedule a 2 hour appt and want you there an hour earlier to look over things. This frustrates me a bit because you are spending a fair bit of money at each of these places as you go about completely fitting out a house. In the interests of customer service, it would have been appreciated if a few Thurs nite/Sat or Sun appts could be made because after all, we are the ones spending the money and yet we have to rearrange our working lives Mon-Fri to see these people! Plus, construction cant start until you've done all of this so once again, the start of construction is further delayed.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Here's a tip for free.
When the slab goes in hire a bobcat, driver & truck & excavate at least the back area to 100mm below the slab. This will save you a lot of back breaking work in the long run, or at least save you big quids if you have poor access. Same if you need any retaining walling, at least get the materials out the back before construction. 10 - 15 ton of sandy loam woul'nt hurt either if you've got room to store it out the back.

[Dutchy]

Im hearing ya Squawk....we did our selections a couple of months ago, said Id be out of the office for an hour or so...got back 4 hours later!!!...guess its something you cant rush though, maybe best to take a day off.

Looks like our slab may go down this month which will be great, rather than looking at this piece of dirt that costs us $1,000 a month in interest!

[smac]

Don't get caught up in too much bull5hit with the builder, just do your best to enjoy the ride - not many times in your life you will get to build what is currently your own idea of home.

[Punk Rooster]

Here's a tip for free.
When the slab goes in hire a bobcat, driver & truck & excavate at least the back area to 100mm below the slab. This will save you a lot of back breaking work in the long run, or at least save you big quids if you have poor access. Same if you need any retaining walling, at least get the materials out the back before construction. 10 - 15 ton of sandy loam woul'nt hurt either if you've got room to store it out the back.

I believe most councils insist retaining walls a built before anything else is even started.

[Squawk]

Fortunately access is not a problem for us as our block is about 32m wide and the house is 16m wide. Plus, we don't need any retaining walls.

Anyone else got any experiences to share?

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Here's a tip for free.
When the slab goes in hire a bobcat, driver & truck & excavate at least the back area to 100mm below the slab. This will save you a lot of back breaking work in the long run, or at least save you big quids if you have poor access. Same if you need any retaining walling, at least get the materials out the back before construction. 10 - 15 ton of sandy loam woul'nt hurt either if you've got room to store it out the back.

I believe most councils insist retaining walls a built before anything else is even started.

Dunno if it's the councils, but most builders (you'd hope) do.
Should have specified that I meant retaining walls within the boundries, raised garden beds & the like.
Shall we enlighten Squawk on tradeys views on out of work hours quotes ?

[Punk Rooster]

Shall we enlighten Squawk on tradeys views on out of work hours quotes ?

Squawk, asking a tradey to do an after hours quote carries the death penalty...

[Dutchy]

Shall we enlighten Squawk on tradeys views on out of work hours quotes ?

Squawk, asking a tradey to do an after hours quote carries the death penalty...

unless of course its a John Howard free $$$$$ job

[dont think do]

Hello all, great topic here.

My wife and I are also caught up in the building process. Found the dream home for us and its only $123,00 in the sunday mail, but by the time we have the finial quote its just over $220,000. But we keep saying at least we will have the house we want.

However, we signed the contract in July last year and where told, 4 months to get the paper work done then 6 months to build the house. have just finished the approvals and have been told they will be ready to build in March there goes 9 months already.

Very painful process but am hoping it will be worth while in the end.

Good luck to the rest of you.

[Dissident]

Hello all, great topic here.

My wife and I are also caught up in the building process. Found the dream home for us and its only $123,00 in the sunday mail, but by the time we have the finial quote its just over $220,000. But we keep saying at least we will have the house we want.

However, we signed the contract in July last year and where told, 4 months to get the paper work done then 6 months to build the house. have just finished the approvals and have been told they will be ready to build in March there goes 9 months already.

Very painful process but am hoping it will be worth while in the end.

Good luck to the rest of you.

At the risk of asking a personal question, what did $107,000 give you??

[dont think do]

Had a number of changes,
Went for the 9 foot roof, added an outdoor covered area which is under the main roof, extended a couple of the ouside walls to make more room, a number of upgrades in the house, Kitchen, bathroom etc.

So the extras are worth it for us, but just of the base price and the price you end up paying can be quite different.

[mighty_tiger_79]

SOUNDS LIKE SCAREY STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and EXPENSIVE

[Dutchy]

the basic price only gives you no floor coverings, only concrete!!!

[heater31]

Had a number of changes,
Went for the 9 foot roof, added an outdoor covered area which is under the main roof, extended a couple of the ouside walls to make more room, a number of upgrades in the house, Kitchen, bathroom etc.

So the extras are worth it for us, but just of the base price and the price you end up paying can be quite different.

there lies your cost blow out. The avertised price from $123,000 is only the bare minimum four walls, roof and floor + the cheapest fixtures that are availble. 4 months for paper work WTF are these guys doing? council approval only takes a max 4 weeks. The price might look good but these things are more trouble than they are worth IMHO

[Dutchy]

Looks like our slab will go down in the next couple of weeks...let the games begin!