The First 5 Things You Should Know About Building with a Volume Builder

Ok, so I probably should have posted this information earlier in the process we are going through, but hopefully it can help people getting started in the house-building process.

 

If you are engaging a volume builder to build your home, then here are a few truths that are worth keeping in mind, so that you understand what is important and what is not.

 

1. Despite Appearances, You are Building a Timber House

It is highly likely that your new home will have brick exterior.  However, the house itself is supported by a timber frame and, so, from an engineering perspective, it is more correct to say you are building a timber house with brick cladding.  This is true in nearly all volume-built houses.  The bricks give it a nice appearance and help keep the weather out, but they offer no structural value whatsoever to the house itself.  This is important because timber is a natural product and, over time, it will move.  In the years to come, this can result in cracks in plaster and other damage and (within reason) these are inevitable.  To complain about this (as I see many people doing in on-line forums) is a bit like complaining that your tyres get worn out when you drive your car.

2. Volume Builders only Build Houses on Flat Land

Your land needs to be flat, or flattened - volume builders do not take any slope on your land into account and the house is not modified to meet the needs of the land.  Rather, the land needs to modified to meet the needs of the house.  This can be a significant expense under the heading of site costs, as even a gently sloping block can require excavation, retaining walls, and levelling before work can actually commence.

3. The Load-Bearing Walls are the External Walls

Nearly all new homes built nowadays use the exterior walls (rather than internal walls) to carry the weight of the house and the roof.  There are lots of reasons for this, but as a home-owner, one of the main benefits is that you can have large open living spaces.  This is also the reason that the sales people will be happy to discuss changing the interior wall configuration of the house and the costs will often be (relatively) low.  If the interior walls do not do anything for the structure of the house, then moving them, re-configuring them, adding extra doors to them (and so on) will not materially impact the structural integrity of the house.  By contrast, changing the exterior wall configuration will change the roof-line and structural support for the house and costs will rack up quickly as you make these sorts of changes.

4. The "Base Price" is just a starting point.

The Base Price of a house in a Volume Builder's catalogue provides the most minimal and rudimentary version of the house and you can be assured that it is absolutely nothing like the display home you might have wandered through.  By the time you have made the home attractive and liveable, you can expect to have added somewhere between 30% - 60% of extra costs onto the house.  And this will almost certainly not include driveways, landscaping and other things you will need to budget for.

5.  Some Builders May Not Want to Touch Your Block of Land

If you have:

• an irregular sized block
• trees
• power lines
• a busy road
• schools nearby
• or public transport nearby

then it will be important to get the builder to inspect your property early on and confirm that they are happy to take on the job of building your house.  Volume Builders are successful because they work on the basis of producing a relatively standard product over and over again.  If your site looks too hard or complicated, they may simply refuse to build your house. 

Enjoy!