Build Your Own House

hi all i intend on updating this regularly about our ob experience.we brought a house in bush with the intent to renovate make enough to move on and build without the banks all cash.it was only meant to take 12 mths ha ha now 3 1/2 years on we have finally sold.now its time to ob the red tape is a nightmare but we dont have much choice but to carry on as we dont want a mortgage and certainly dont want to renovate again.about 2 years ago i sent of plans to get quotes on aluminium cladding and windows the cladding was quoted at $5000.00 installed (not bad) but they wanted $8000.00 for windows.ive since down graded the house plans to build a smaller version of original plans to try and cut costs.we brought our land with water,power and sewerage for $7500.00 very cheap but we are living in the mallee and 100km from swanhill and 134km from bendigo so tradies are few and far between so we will pay more for them.we have learnt that our block dosent have road access but rang council and $1000.00 should rectify that problem.we have saved money by doing our own conveyencing $88.00 as apposed to the solicitor up here who wanted $500.00. i also decided long ago to find my own windows which fortunately i picked up on ebay the other day for $600.00 i couldnt believe it. 12 brand new windows with reveals (which may or may not be the right size but can be changed) sure there not in the sizes i had planned for but they will do at that price. i rang soil testers in swanhill and bendigo and couldnt believe the price differences from $330 to $550 so we will be going with the $330 guy lol.i still havnt found a drafty to draw up my plans so if anyone knows one that would be appreciated.anyway monday i have to ring for surveyors so ill let you all know what happens.despite the hassles we still have butterflies about building and are very excited.we have never even come close to anything like this before and just about everyone we tell say dont do it were mad but we know what we want and this is our way to do it.till next time bye all

hi everyone well today i got my book from the csiro "building your own home"by george wilke.first look at it and i went omg how am i going to do this ok ill just flick through and read the parts i want.ha ha not going to happen ok 1st page do it right lucky because page 1 the introduction told me to make sure im not in a fire zone and if the council have any restrictions on what materials you can use.not much point getting quotes if you cant use the materials your getting quoted for.i know what your all thinking if she dosnt know this, how the hells she going to build a house.well very slow with lots of research and plenty of mistakes.
i rang around a few more soil test guys but the cheapest in our area was $330.00 so thats the one ill use.rang council but building inspector not in till tommorrow.as were doing our own conveyencing on the purchase of the land i had to organize what we needed for that,rang the titles office to get a section 45 form sent out and rang council again(i must remember to get all questions for council ready so im not ringing 200 times a day.)lucky we have a good council and we know most of the people working there.i had to ring the water board to get a sewer plan so i can get quotes of plumbers that cost $8.00 so happy with that.well thats it today if anyone is interested in the book go to www.csiropublishing.com.au thanks guys bye

Hey there

Thanks for putting this on the forum. We have been in the planning stage now for about 2 years in total. First six months was spent researching the BCA & designing the house for a sloping site. Next 12 months was spent talking to numerous different builders with all of them wanting to change designs to suit their off the shelf project homes and the last 6 months quoting up the whole job, arranging finance and now arranging for approvals.

It is such a long process but will be worth it in the end to have control over the end product (most important thing for us).

Looking forward to your future installments. By the way, noted your from Wycheproof....played footy with a guy from there several years ago. Nice place!

your welcome its hard to get real step by step information so im hoping to bring this to others who like us have no idea i know we will make mistakes along the way but this blog should make it easier for others not to make the same mistakes its a bit of a release for me and feedback from others makes it worth it thanks and good luck with your project

hi all just spoke with my building inspector he is one of the nicest people extremely helpful he is 85yrs old and still working 3 days a week for our shire i asked him about soil tests and surveyors and he said not to bother that as long as i do stump holes to 1meter and 1.5 x 1.4 bearers and joists his happy with that also asked him if i could use archicad to put my plans into council and this wasnt a problem so in one phone call we just saved 2500 he is so laid back i want to marry him lol.of course everything still has to be built to australian standards but he said he would come and check up on us after each stage so we dont get in over our heads or make costly mistakes.i wish there was an award for best inspector because he would definately win.everyone ive spoken too including tradies absolutely love this guy and i can see why he dosnt put you down or make things impossible for you and is willing to help whenever he can he even gave me his home number if we get stuck.yeah ha no nightmare building inspectors here lol

Just make sure you don't take too long. He might not be around by the time you have finished

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Bruce
Draftie

lol ive already thought of that i reckon we have 6mths but im hoping his one of these 100 yr guys lol

hi all well ive been playing poker for the past few days so not getting much done on my ob project having said that i did have a huge revelation. the other night i was reading my ob book and i got to a section on specifications i had to read it 3 times before the pennys dropped,it was 3.30 in morn so that didnt help lol.
but it gave me the idea to build the house by lists so now ive started my lists.in them you have to include everything eg:foundation list,how to do a string line-what size and density of wood to use-how deep ect.. so now when i use tradies or do it myself ill know what is meant to be done and what materials should be used.
ok reading that back to myself it all makes perfect sense but it didnt at the time lol.so now ill have detailed lists and drawings i shouldnt make that many mistakes i did say shouldnt.
anyways got to go make lists now and stop playing poker bye all

Hey bingoshelly...or should that be pokershelly?

What book are you reading? Has it been helpful so far??

lol poker may be better the book i brought was "building your own home" by george wilkie.i got it from the csiro website it cost just under 50 delivered but its been very helpful if you live in nsw its even more helpful but as i know very little its helped us enormasly its become my bible and im not religous lol worth the money cheers shelley

hi guys well ive worked out my list for the setout plan of the house and after writing and drawing the plan for it im confident enough to do it ourselves we were going to pay someone to come and do the string lines and set out but ive researched it and now know how to do it properly its actually pretty easy when you get the method down pact.if anyone wants the formula for setting out the block let me know and ill go into detail all the steps invovled.when we get access to the block ill post pictures of the setout stage cheers shelley

hi all i ordered the archicad program from ebay $40 but after looking at it it may take quite awhile to get the hang of using it and im not that confident espeacially on my first project.so ive rang around a few draftsmen and the price differences once again were huge from roughly $700 to $1800 one lady i spoke to said it would range between $700-$1000 depending on what she needed to do she was really nice and was willing to see me on a saturday to fit in with my schedule.her name is narrelle and she is in bendigo if anyone is in need of a drafty ph:54430100 one more thing ive learnt is if your not confident doing something leave it to the pros but you can ring around and get a reasonable price draftsmen are great if your plans are pretty easy but if you want the tajmahal go to an architect they can offer you far more advice and although they cost a fortune they are worth their weight in gold and will save you money on your design by designing it the best economical way. just make sure whoever you use you have to get along with them on the phone if you dont feel their listening to you then find another person communication is the key to the whole building process ive found some tradies are yep thats the price see you later while others ive talked to are willing to offer advice and guidance without being pushy.another major tip from my ob book dont pay cash in hand to some tradies espeacially when that trade may cause some problems in the future eg:plumbers-carpenters-floor guys-foundations-framing members.saving 10% now could end up costing you in years to come and if you pay cash you have no come back on the tradies if something does go wrong.there are some areas you should save and others you shouldnt just use your common scense.ive just finished my stump list and i need 77 stumps so a few holes to dig and fill once my plans are drawn up ill get quotes on getting stumps done by the pros but if their to much i will consider doing this myself as there is lots of info out there if i get stuck ok guys bubby started kinder today and i have to go pick him up see you all soon.i hope this blog is helping some of you im trying to put as much detail as i can into this to make it seem possible not impossible to owner build cheers guys bye for now

Apart from actual ability, what a draftie will provide can vary considerably. At the bottom end of the scale they will just convert your sketches into CAD drawings and that is that. Then they may start adding in engineering details to make construction more efficient or economic. A decent draftie will adjust the design to take into account the BCA and R codes, standard fixtures and fittings etc. They may provide 3D modelling, electricals, site plans etc. Or not. At the high end of the scale you will have proper designers who will help you work out what it is you want, rather than just doing what you tell them.



Ask for some references and speak to previous customers, preferably OBs.



This just isn't true. I can list lots of cases where architects have specified unnecessarily expensive solutions, and several cases where architects have drawn designs that are simply unbuildable. In my mother's extensions the builder was able to shave about $100K off the cost of the project by changing the specifications for things like doors and windows from commercial grade to residential. Presumably the architect could have done this too, but he didn't offer it even though the quotes came in well over budget.

Of course there are lots of good architects who are very good at what they do and will save you more than they charge. You just can't assume that the qualifications will guarantee a good service.



Absolutely.

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Bruce
Draftie

thanks bruce the lady i spoke with did say that she would have to find out the requirments of the planning officer for my shire and depending on what design limitations they required or site plans ect.. that would determine the final cost. and as you said not all draftsmen/architects want to save you money but if you go in prepared with exactly what you want and what materials you want to use then anything they suggest to save you money you will have to go away and research before you agree.remember your the customer and ultimately you have the final say dont be intimidated by anyone in any trade yes they know more but a decent tradie knowing your an ob will help you not put you down for your lack of knowledge.listen carefully to what they tell you or suggest then go and ask around and see if their advice is ok or if their trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
a great example of this is when i rang several stumping guys to find out what they needed me to do just about everyone i rang suggested different materials and methods and told me that the other guy was trying to rip me off.by the end of the calls i was so confused i didnt know who was trying to save me money and who was trying to rip me off.so i went and researched on my own and now know exactly what materials i want to use and what i need them to do so when i send off the plans to get quotes they will all be quoting on what i want including the stress grade of the materials.
thx bruce for your input the more people who can give advise on their own experiences the better and easier it will be not to make the same mistakes.cheers shelley

well my solicitor is giving me the run around we sold our house to a couple in qld who were stuck in floods so we couldnt contact them my solicitor used this as an excuse not to send paperwork as they may not get it they rang up 2wks ago asking for the contract she told me she had sent it only just found out they didnt get it till friday last week so now i have to wait for them to get the contract signed and back to us before i can sign the contract on the land so as we knew the people we brought the land off i went and saw them explaining why we havnt signed up yet they were cool lucky but my solicitor wanted to do the land purchase as well as being the solicitor for the people we are buying the land off.we live in small town so only 1 solicitor in region but how can she act in both our interests i dont know i dont even think its legal to do that conflict of interest thingy.anyway told her we were doing our own conveyencing on the land purchase its costing us 200 as apposed to her 600 its only a section 45 form so no biggy i rang council and water to find out if there were any debts owing on land but its all clear title search cost 10 so a bit of running about but pretty easy overall.now just waiting for contracts so everything can go ahead settlement on house is 5th march so not much time left settlement on land is 15th march so hopefully all will be cool and we can go go go yeah