Thread: Got a quote from a builder

Originally Posted by rambunctious

What is 6 months off work going to cost you ?

Also a few things not mentioned so far

Pest control/barrier
Plumbing for future granny flat/laundry/kitchen/bathroom
Even if plumbing fixtures are on external walls you will still need pipework in walls or you will be removing cladding later to fit it out
Drainage for granny flat/kitchen/laundry/bathroom (running a sewer line under the slab capped is not enough) you will need risers for shower/floor wastes at the least
Storm water connected to existing or street
Power for future flat.
Windows/sliding doors
Depending on the site you may also need a silt barrier installed

Edit.. and there is approvals/certification costs
and you will have to do an owner builders course with QBCC
and of course some subbies will see you as a nuisance and will quote accordingly.

FWIW I am giving you this info, not to put you off but as an insight into extras that are often not factored into costings

Good luck

That's why I wanted to get a builder. I could easily do it myself, but I've got, at the moment, the best job I've had in 20 years. If I pull the pin and leave for six months, I lose my position as no. 1 and all the perks I've built up. The money isn't great, and with such quotes it's a no brainer, I'd be saving 10s of thousands if I did it myself. So it's more the intangibles I need to weigh up. But the good news is I know the quote is BS and I'll keep shopping... Things appear to be slowing so I should be able to find someone... Just have to be patient.

The rest, yup, spent the last year planning this so all that's been accounted for. The way it was designed, I can skip the need for a surveyor* at $2000 (just to show up), and probably skip the engineers, at $4500, as I've nominated to go with the original build and put it on piers.

* By simply not digging down 150mm to match the level of the existing house but have a 150mm step up has meant I don't need a surveyor. Literally, the footprint is the same.