crumpy10

Hi all.....

we are planning to build our own place, with solar and ground source heat pump.

does anyone have any idea how much builders charge on a build???? i know everyone is different, we have had an extension done in our house and our builder charged us roughly £1000.00 a square metre.


do kiwi builders have a rough ready reckoner like this????

Thanks

Anna

garfield250

Guys,

It would pay to look at the web sites of builders doing the new builds as they will have estimates there. Try Jennian, GJ Gardner, Devon Homes etc (although it may pay to contact smaller independent builders).
As prices for the build will vary one of the bigger companies estimate the cost for the house only at between $234K and $284K PLUS cost of the section, excavation, council fees and installation of services, then add on the solar and heating system.
Our last property cost $210K to build plus $120K for the section, plus the fees on top, services such as power and phone were already installed by the original land owner, water was supplied via a rain water harvesting system. Heating was via a wood burner. (Please bear in mind these prices were applicable in 2005).

Justcol

A lot of builders only operate withing a certain region.
Theres no point looking at a builder in Chch if your planning
on living in Auckland.
Gj's and Jennian are the biggest national builders so i would look
at them first.
Make sure your builders are certified biulders and ensure the work they
do will carry a guarrantee. there are LOTS of experianced but unqualified
builders down here and stories of jobs turning into nightmares are
regular occurances.

CAN2NZ

You should budget $1200 per meter. You can do it for less some builders price based on $800 per meter. However, if you have built before, you will already know that you are in charge of how much you will spend and that you can spend a great deal of money if you want and can.

Am Loolah

Hi Anna,

I was looking for a website that specialises in self-builds that I've seen advertised on TV - but can't remember what it's called. But I found this site that may be of interest.

george toni

yep also bear in mind build quality here IMO is crap!

for what you end up paying all you really get is a wooden frame ,building paper a decorative brick,bit of gib,bit of insulation crap heating if any (they still think a wood burner in the lounge will heat an entire house!)

oh and dont forget the aal important biy of kit sold as a moisture remover ie suck out cold air from roof and pump it around the house!might as well leave the windows open

Add to that alluminium windows and a tin roof and there you go!

choose your build company very well and ask who they sub out what work to.

george

Justcol

If your chooosing to build you can spefify what spec ever you want,
as long as it meets NZ regulations you can have it. So if you want a "proper brick built home with a slate roof then tell em thatwhat you want.
There are planty old older buildings around built to what we would call
traditional standards its just that no one asks for them them the builders
wont build them.
If you go for taditional kiwi style builds then i would ask for extra insulation in ALL the wall and roof. double glazing throughout and seriosly consider whether you need floor to ceiling height windows (kiwis like those) in every room
as all they do if let heat pass through them.

minky

We are just in the process of costing our build at the moment we are around $1300 per square metre that is with hebel block double glazing the trouble is when they see a large sqm house they think that they can charge more!We have found a builder and seen what he is building at the moment which has similar requirements to us eg solar, heating etc.
We also ensured that the builder has met the architect as they will spend time with each other so they need to get on with each other!

Hokey-pokey

We are in the early process of building.We have budgeted for $2000.00 sqm.( considered a fair quality build ) . The garages will be less. The price does drop as the house increases in size, as the kitchen and bathrooms are the main money drainers.
Personally Iam a huge fan of wood houses with tin roofs. They sway nicely during earthquakes and the thought of being found dead amongst brick and tile rubble does not appeal.

crumpy10

Ahhhhhh

Many many thanks for all your help!!!!

i will check out the link from you am loolah later, ta very much!!

we are planning a self build, hubby is an oftec qualified heating engineer, and we run our own heating and plumbing business here at the moment....

so we hope to be able to 'help' with some of the build, but obviously as he isnt recognized with the PDGB, yet, he cant do it on his own........

any experiences will be soaked up like a sponge if anyone would like to share???

is it not a legal requirement to have a registered builder construct the building??? or it wont get signed off by building control???

thanks again for all the replies, keep em coming!!!!

Anna

SidNZ

Hi Anna,

We are just having a house built which is nearly finished so we will be moved in for Christmas.

Platinum Homes are doing the build for us and the price is per square metre is $1,600. This includes extra earthworks, all services, gas warm air central heating for the whole house, carpets, curtains, concrete drive & patio and upping the spec on a lot of things such as adding tinted windows.

Overall I would say that for what we are paying we have got a well built house with good quality fixtures and fittings.

Cheers

Sid

crumpy10

Many thanks Sid.

I have been on to platinums web site and i must admit they look fantastic!!!

We will certainly be getting in touch when we go....

Keep me posted on the build, and maybe post some piccys too????

did you add or change any of the plans for your place?

have included the link for anyone else who maybe interested

http://www.platinumhomesnz.co.nz/site/home

Thanks again,


Anna

Gill and Rob

We have chosen Platinum to build for us.

Gill

crumpy10

AHA I see a trend forming!!!

i wonder if you get commission for advertising

Any info/advice would be great, and some photos too please, if you dont mind??

keep me posted,,,,

thanks

Anna

SidNZ

I forgot to include a commission clause in the contract.

We went for the Barcelona plan as we loved the shape of the house and it suited our section. We did change the plans quite a bit and increased the overall area by 21 sq metres by extending the garage and two of the bedrooms. We have a half height wall in the garage to form an alcove for the dogs to sleep in at night. Other changes included:

-Upgrading the vanity units in style and with ceramic tops
-Central heating
-Upgraded the hob and oven
-Upped the spec on floor tiles
-Changed the kitchen to provide more space and changed the plain doors to patterned ones
-Bricks over the windows rather than the strips of board
-Square powdercoated down pipes

At the last tally I think that there was around 29 different changes that we made to the standard specification.

We got the vast majority of our changes into the contract before we signed up as they can make a big difference to the base cost that the builder quotes and this helped control the overall budget. The changes that we have made during the build are small and the overspend will be around $2,000.

Will try to upload some pictures later in the week.

Cheers,

Sid