Currently my mothers house is over 100 years old and Im sick of spending thousands and my time repairing and fixing it.
The block is large enough to build a second dwelling down the back. Looking for a basic 2 or 3 bedroom house (nothing fancy).
I am a carpenter by trade with building knowledge to complete 90% of it. (electricity is black magic)

However my buying power for materials is next to nothing :(

My question is am I better to get a MCmansion builder to do it and I supervise and make sure they do a proper job or do I build it myself?
If anyone has any pointers or tips for building a house or getting one built please let me know. THANKS IN ADVANCE.

why do you say your buying power is next to nothing ????

If you go to one supplier, talk to the right guy that knows his stuff and can supply you with the 90% you need to buy you may find your buying power is pretty good for a one off project.

My father used to run a building company. Buying supplies from the company you work for Craig. He then got into kitchen joinery and I got into making skateboard ramps as we were buying bulk sheeting products we were able to by pass your employer.
The other company (bulk distributor) supplying us with sheeting for the kitchen company also supplied us with stick timber, cladding etc indirectly for the building company.

We soon found out how much your employer's mark up was sometimes even triple the price. ( yes everyone has to make money )
Hence now I know the buying power of LARGE building companies like Rawson homes, Mcdonald jones...

However I do go the owner builder route I will be in contact ! As it may be good for my income tax write offs.

I'm wanting to build a new house right now and are going through the problem of sourcing a builder or project managing it myself. I work for a commercial builder in the design department so I have contacts to all our commercial subbies. Now I have had the house quoted by our senior estimator at commercial rates with a foreman factored in which you would think is more expensive than domestic rates. Well all the quotes from domestic builders are coming in 10 - 15% more than commercial which is saying to me that the domestic guys have some descent margins or have expensive subbing rates. When questioning the domestic guys how many quotes they get they just say they use their trusted subbies and have not tested the market.
I would much rather lock a builder into a fixed price than build myself as you get some warranty and I don't need to be building a house and go through the stress. But the domestic scene in Brisbane is inflated so if you can build as much as you can and you enjoy it that may be the way to go. I think the Sydney building market is more inflated than Brisbane as the commercial market in NSW is crazy.

The margins in domestic are much larger then commercial. I have a friend who does costings for major commercial work and his margins are around 2 %

Domestic the margins have to be much greater otherwise no one would do it. Plus the overall cost of a domestic job is much smaller? ??

The quality of a mass produced houses is rubbish at best. But they serve a purpose. This is the reason why Im asking for advice !

Maybe ill just build a shipping container shackk

Getting a builder to slap a house up will mean you're a client and not a site supervisor, the builder will want you to remain a client and not step into their territory. Going the owner-build road gives you a lot more control but it means every little problem is yours to identify and rectify, and guaranteed it will take a lot longer and probably won't save you much when you put a real value on your time. There are also issues with bank finance (if you need it) for owner-builds as they are often never finished in a timely manner.

If you're not to fussy and just want a house slapped on the block I'd say open up the weekend paper find a couple of plans that work and start negotiating. Lots of builders specialise in small lot unit developments, might be worth talking to them too?

There might be issues with local government putting a second dwelling on the block, you need to ask them before you go much further? is it worth sub-dividing the block? build the new house, knock down the front and either rebuild or sell it as vacant land to pay for the new house at the back? It's been a long time since I did any drafting but there used to be a bit of a trap in WA where if you had an old house that wasn't necessarily up to the current building codes and wanted to sub-divide you had to renovate the existing house to the current standards as well as build the new place. Well it was something like that, someone can correct me?

How old is your mum? might be great opportunity to set her up for independent living and a better quality house, wider door ways, no steps, bigger wet areas, room to install grab handles in future years etc etc lots of things you could do without her ever realising :)

Working out the dollar cost will be fairly straight forward. Working out the value in stress and anxiety is a little harder. I'm 'building' at the moment. Based on when I signed the building contract my house should be finished next month. In reality they start on site tomorrow, well they're due to turn up and start tomorrow...

Just finishing my latest house
I've built in uk, France, Australia,
Rarely I've come out on the budget
Building whilst working can be a pretty stressful and hard on the body
I'm a carpenter all round builder and have just completed a 300m2 house to a very high spec for $350000
I don't think I'd of had much change from $500-550000 from a respected builder or one I'd trust
We have a few higher cost boutique builders but they turn out award winning houses
We have cheap builders who turn out cheap
I've worked with and for both
I know who I'd use
Your trades are screwed down so don't put the love into your house
You'll get the cheapest of materials and finishesl

Can you just buy an ex mining camp transportable and truck it in. Plenty around at t he moment. Some are a lot flasher than you might think.

Unfortunately my mother and yuppy neighbours would not approve. Ive also been looking a lot into shipping containers but being near the ocean i think brick and mortar will be the best !

I would advise a small pre-fab crane in if you can spend a tad more (ready in 4 months) or project home.

Pre-Built
Modscape
Acrhiblox
Arkit

If you're up for all the headaches and budget blow outs sure go it alone.

Most points covered above.

All the best.

Thank you Adriano !
I have been looking into those as well !!

I wouldnt go container. Its way more work and nothing is the right size to live in. You still have to finish it and that is most of the work. Think how quick you could frame up a container sized house with a drop saw and a nail gun, a couple days tops to get to the same point except it would be wider, easier to line, look better, easier to runn services. Problem is you will run into spec creep and end up building a normal kind of house. If and only if you build real simple, which fortunately is fashionable now, you can go rectangular and skillion roof, timber or steel framed, colourbond roof and cladding. Trimmed and with the right colours it can look good and is super quick, and will look way better than a container. You only need a few interior walls, it fashion to go open plan. Whack in a flat pack kitchen. Buy a $400 airless spray gun and paint the whole inside in a day. Consider registering a business name to help your buying power. At the minimum talk to a building supply co and see what they will do for you bulding a whole house.

Bricks and mortar unless acrylic rendered arnt the best
Keep away from lintels unless in eaves or epoxy coated
I'm smack on the ocean the only metal on show is 22 stainless bolts,
I've used hardie matrix bonded not nailed
Acrylic render , large volume of glass and an elastomeric bitumen membrane from France
Zero metal or fixings means little maintenance















Polished concert is my fave feature of the house,
It's never ending though, landscaping, roof garden next


My benchtop was a big saving
A nice piece of stone at 4 mtr ax 2.5 was $16000, I set up a form insitu and poured and polished concrete to match the floor with diamond resin pads on a variable grinder
Cost me $250 and approx 2 days labour
I did everything on my build inc stripping cables and running cables,
Clipping pipes, setting back sets for plumber
, if you want to be involved and want it to your exact specs, you need to be involved
It had some great times and some shockers
Lifting 9 tons of beams and roofing, and hand nailing 3000+ structural nails in hangers was a shocker, painting sucks too

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cauncy said..
Bricks and mortar unless acrylic rendered arnt the best
Keep away from lintels unless in eaves or epoxy coated
I'm smack on the ocean the only metal on show is 22 stainless bolts,
I've used hardie matrix bonded not nailed
Acrylic render , large volume of glass and an elastomeric bitumen membrane from France
Zero metal or fixings means little maintenance

lol.

I've done half a dozen builds in nsw. Originally I went down the owner builder path but too many hoops now. I hire a builder (who was a mate) who then hired me back as a labourer. We would get it to lock up, then I would do all the fix out and hire the trades. Benefits are.... You need help for the shell anyway. You are fully insured with warranty. You can choose to use their buying power ( although they add their % on anyway). Builder realised his trade quotes windows, plumbing etc were more expensive than mine. There are a lot of great materials available now. I love polished concrete to. Lightweight build fully insulated for ease and cost. Ive also saved big by working with kitchen guys or using flat pack and doing own bench tops. Building own doors etc. There are a stack of archiblock houses near me. They are expensive and only 1 out of the 10 looks decent. They look better (as any house does) if you have a wide block. There are also agents now for whole house building products. They typically charge around $2000 and give you a safe list of suppliers to import all your kitchen tiles bathroom everything top end etc direct from China. Works well for Gold Coast style McMansions, but with a small basic place you could just do Bunnings for everything. Take your builders lic in to register for trade prices. You should get that everywhere.

cauncy that flat roof looks like a lot of muck around and hotter than the traditional pitched roof with iron on your neighbours houses? what's the thoughts there? They are pretty non existant here in NQ. might have something to do with the rain etc. also we use masonary block which would be a lot quicker to lay and stronger and if you are rendering looks the same anyway.... nice looking spot and house.
Also can i ask did you have to use a lot of support for your kitchen top? mus tbe heavy. and did you coat in some sort of two pack epoxy clear coat or something?

It's a really good looking pad Cauncy. Can you tell about the render and its longevity. We have problems over here with sand and clay foundations with render. In the old days with brick and mortar finish, cracking wasn't a problem; but with most render you notice every bit of movement. Can take years and different weather seasons but eventually you can get movement. I prefer to do shorter feature walls rather than long single planes for that reason. Those lightweight engineered H beams/joists are great.... so easy to work with, eco, strong and have a dead flat finish.

Is that house gravity proof?

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myusernam said...
cauncy that flat roof looks like a lot of muck around and hotter than the traditional pitched roof with iron on your neighbours houses? what's the thoughts there? They are pretty non existant here in NQ. might have something to do with the rain etc. also we use masonary block which would be a lot quicker to lay and stronger and if you are rendering looks the same anyway.... nice looking spot and house.
Also can i ask did you have to use a lot of support for your kitchen top? mus tbe heavy. and did you coat in some sort of two pack epoxy clear coat or something?

I had a big background in elastomeric roof systems, here's the advantages
High elasticity so no creaking or groaning on days where the sun and cloud are in and out
No effect from the elements, zero metal fixings
A class 4 tech last approx 18 mths before corrosion require attention or replacement
Minimum all heat transfer
A tin roof on a hot day here exceeds 70 deg in the roof void, easily half with membrane
Cost, on comparison with tin
Life span, product gaurentee of 30 years if applied correct
Traffic able , in Europe the roof is used as a garden or entertaining/ patio area
This is my next project
Zero noise in heavy rain compared to tin
Downside, maybe labour in the initial stage
You carnt land a chopper on the neighbours pitch roof


As for benchtop a wall was built in a c shape to provide support and insert for kitchen carcase,
The wall was then paneled in matching door laminate
The finish can be a highper finish
Resin bonded polish from 50 to 3000 grit
Inc a grout and density coat
Approx 20 polishes
Or a grind with cup grinder for exposure
Grout, then polish with 50 grit
5 coats of lustre seal with a light sand of 180 between

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pearl said...
It's a really good looking pad Cauncy. Can you tell about the render and its longevity. We have problems over here with sand and clay foundations with render. In the old days with brick and mortar finish, cracking wasn't a problem; but with most render you notice every bit of movement. Can take years and different weather seasons but eventually you can get movement. I prefer to do shorter feature walls rather than long single planes for that reason. Those lightweight engineered H beams/joists are great.... so easy to work with, eco, strong and have a dead flat finish.

How olds the house pearl
As new should have a geo report
Your engineer will then provide info regards foundation specs
I've built places with sprinkler systems to the ground, especially in high clay content areas
The problem is expansion and contraction in dry and wet seasons,
A lime mortor mix was always used in Europe for rendering,
Expansion joints IMHO are a must and placed in correct points
Masonry will always try to pull apart at it's weakest point, this is why I place mine above doors or windows , my main wall runs 33 Mtrs
And I've 5 expansion joints,
You buy a special tie for brickwork and leave an open joint in render,
The Tillings beams are great .3of a millimeter in tolerance, I used the 400 by 90 @ 450 centres
These span 9 Mtrs, you get them pre drilled for plumber and punched for electrician to run services, h3 treated for termites and straight as a dye