building a narrow house in Perth

4 years ago

Hi, I’ve never built before and have a few questions about our narrow lot build. Any advice would be great, TIA. Our lot is 10x44 and house will be roughly 260-270sqm, double storey. Budget is tight...$300k, therefore looking for ways to save money.

is it worth paying a designer to design our home layout considering it’s a narrow lot? And then get quotes from different builders? How much would a design cost does anyone know? Or would it be much cheaper to just go through the builder for a design.
just wondering how much we would save if we had the brick laying and plastering deleted from the build and had our mates do instead and not through the builder? I think builders builders charge a 20% profit margin? But I’m not sure how much a bricklayer and plasterer would be.
would it also be cheaper to arrange site works ourselves to save money? Or is this a major hassle?

Cheers

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Comments (5)

dreamer
4 years ago
If you have never built before, then my suggestion would be to have conversations with well known builders in Perth. Ross north, new level homes, dale alcock homes, just to name a few. They all specialise in 10 metre wide, double storey homes, around the $300k value.
When we built, we approached a well known builder, as above, and they designed a home which suited our block, the cost for this design, $1000 was then deducted from contract.
There is more to building than laying a slab, and erecting walls. There are council regulations, energy ratings etc etc, that need to be considered. Therefore, expertise at paperwork submissions, in your council is a benefit.
If you have no experience in this, or more importantly no time, or no money to extend the budget, if things are not done correctly, then I would definitely suggest going with experienced builders.
dreamer
4 years ago
In Perth, well known builders have buying power and efficient teams of bricklayers, plasterers. With thinking that you can save money by "getting your mates" to do it, may cost you more in the long term. But, if your up for the challenge.......then go ahead.
If you were building your second or third home, then my suggestions would be different.
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The house looks very livable. I love that you have concentrated on creating one nice bath with separate walk in shower and a windowed tub! Since you have already thought of it, I'm going to assume that the attic is for future expansion and cannot be adapted for use as the current "away room." We are also in the process of designing a small house, and we've designated our study as the "away room." Ours will open off the dining room. If you switched the locations of the Study and Bed 1 on the same side, you could put french doors or an extra wide door with etched or decorative glass from the hallway into the right hand corner of the study. This would give you a really long diagonal view through the lounge and out the french doors, and from the lounge through the study to the window at the far end... The study window should be increased in width to match the neighboring window in Bed 1, and it then becomes ripe for a small window seat, either a clip on bay bumping out, or a "built-in" bay using narrow built ins on either side. Or both: build "in" for now, putting file cabinet drawers under the window seat, and angled corner units in for storage, and add the bump out bay later when you know whether your offspring would prefer a really cute desk, or a window seat, or a bed nook. You would, alas, lose the door from Bed 1 into the bath.... but honestly, there are lot of doors into that bathroom already, and that one has substantial collision potential. It might be best to make the single access point that door from the laundry. Either a glass panel set high in the bath room doors or a transome would make it easy to tell when someone is in the loo. Other ideas would be to split the nook under the stairs, so that half the depth opens to the lounge, and the other half to Bed2... with the wall thickness, you probably get close to 600mm or 2' on each side. Add a deep bookcase or other built in, and you're easily at a depth that makes both spaces very tucked in. Lastly, if funds allow a shallow bay window over the kitchen sink would visually expand the kitchen, particularly if you could arrange it so that the counter runs right into the bay.
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@Tribbletrouble44152k7 Trek, no not necessarily.. it fulfills it's purpose if you buy the one that is correct for what you want it for.. a bit of a catch22 and up to the store to point out that the thin stuff may dent.. in fact any of it can... there are many things that will void warranty of laminate floors.. here is a good website dealing with the cleaning and care .. http://www.baneclene.com/articles/laminate-care-consumer.html Remove shoes with spiked or damaged heels before walking on the floor. Spike or stiletto high-heel shoes may cause denting and related damage to wood floors due to the extremely high compressive force they generate. Such footwear can produce dynamic loads in excess of 1,000 pounds per square inch, even when worn by someone of slight or average build. Worth reading the whole thing.. Just worth reminding people that laminate flooring is mdf with a picture of wood printed on the surface with a couple of protective layers of clear coating over the top..it cannot be wet or steamed.. it will swell. Make sure you ask questions.. Wood vinyl planking is very durable and hardy, and bamboo is considered to be one of the strongest timbers.. if you choose to have floors redone with any of the above products please look them up on google and find out the qualities.. I vote for wood vinyl.. looks brilliant, can float or be glued (recommend glue for wet areas such as bathrooms, laundries) is hard wearing and cost is comparable with mid range wood laminate flooring and hardier. Hope that all helps. If you must have wood laminate then go for 10 - 12 mm.. anything less will flex. Must have underlay and be laid on a level floor.. There are self levelling compounds you can use to make this easier... hope all this helps.
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Kate
4 years ago
Just make sure any separate toilets have basins accessible
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papercourtyard
4 years ago
Hi Kel,

without looking at your budget or plans properly, I'd say that your budget is impossibly tight, with an estimated cost at $1200 per sq m and the kind of home that you are going to get for that, you won't be able to save money as the builder will almost definitely be able to do it cheaper than you can and if not, they'll probably not be interested in the hassle of dealing with other third party contractors.

You have mentioned the size of the property that you want and the price of the property that you want but you haven't mentioned the quality of the project that you want. Have you considered talking to an architect or building designer? Their initial consultation will be either free or very inexpensive? They might be able to steer you in a direction that allows you to have a smaller home of higher quality, or look at ways of phasing the build so that you don't need to construct everything and therefore pay for it upfront. Especially if you are open minded to creative solutions.

Let me know if you would like to chat.
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Monia Basso Architects
4 years ago
Hi Kel, I certainly think you should have someone to work on the design with you, the result will be better. If you would like we can have a chat with you over the phone and explain how we work and how much our design services cost. Monia

building a narrow house in Perth

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dreamer

dreamer

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papercourtyard

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