Tips to reduce construction costs on a development.

[albanga]

Hey All,
I wanted to start a thread about how you can reduce construction costs whilst still maintaining a nice finished home for development purposes.

I am undertaking my first development and am keen to look at areas I can reduce costs as my initial inclusions list to builders was a bit on the costly side. I have been able to work with them to already reduce costs with things such as:

Changing the bedrooms and upper floor landing from hardwood floors to carpet.

Changing the kitchen glass splash back to a subway tile (which I actually prefer anyway)

Reducing the amount of render on the facade.

Changing the garage door to colourbond as opposed to timber.

These are just a few ideas the builders have come up with but I am definitely keen to hear what other things developers do to reduce costs where possible.

Thanks in advance

 

[westminster]

- higher ceilings in living areas but standard height in bedrooms
- nice cornices in living areas but standard coved in the bedrooms
- tiles and carpet are cheaper than wooden floors - providing you don't go overboard with your choices
- aluminium slimline venetians are perfectly adequate window treatments in most areas.
- oyster fluoros are also adequate together with some LED downlights. Perhaps add some pendants over a kitchen bench in an upmarket area.

 

[Scott No Mates]

Coloured undercoat and one finishing coat of paint.
Paint is cheaper than good timber with varnish.
Don't paint behind any inbuilt furniture eg kitchen cupboards, vanities.
Preprimed timber/doors.

Keep all plumbing work in clusters to avoid extra excavation or pipework.

Use mixed power/light circuits.

 

[Timmyd]

Simplest one is, find a cheap builder and he can tell you what the best options are. He will have, cheap material, cheap trades, cost cutting techniques. Builders can vary hugely in price depending on they preferred type of construction, how busy they are, what the job is, ect....

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

1. Light weight construction (timber construction) if and where possible

2. Ensure you use a good engineer as a bad one could result in excessive use of building material (transfer slab, etc)

 

[westminster]

1. Light weight construction (timber construction) if and where possible

2. Ensure you use a good engineer as a bad one could result in excessive use of building material (transfer slab, etc)

Correct as well as a good designer. A complicated roof and excess variation from a square shape mean more cost.

Plumbing should be back to back where possible - ie kitchen next to laundry, ensuite backing onto main bathroom etc

 

[oc1]

Depends how far you take it. Be wary of reducing the end value. Some examples:

Eliminate/reduce eaves
Smaller windows (bricks are cheaper)
Box-like roof line (cheaper truss)
LED living meals kitchen area. Batter/oysters in other rooms

 

[albanga]

- higher ceilings in living areas but standard height in bedrooms
- nice cornices in living areas but standard coved in the bedrooms
- tiles and carpet are cheaper than wooden floors - providing you don't go overboard with your choices
- aluminium slimline venetians are perfectly adequate window treatments in most areas.
- oyster fluoros are also adequate together with some LED downlights. Perhaps add some pendants over a kitchen bench in an upmarket area.

Hey westminster,
In regards to higher ceilings and nice cornices even if you only put these in certain rooms, it would still be an increased cost outside of the standard ceiling height and cornice?

Are you more saying that these will deliver more value to your home for sale but are only really noticed in main areas? So they are a good ROI?

 

[westminster]

Hey westminster,
In regards to higher ceilings and nice cornices even if you only put these in certain rooms, it would still be an increased cost outside of the standard ceiling height and cornice?

Are you more saying that these will deliver more value to your home for sale but are only really noticed in main areas? So they are a good ROI?

It really depends on the market you are developing in.

If doing a whole house at one level is std in your state and suburb then I would leave as is. When you are building a small house in a development then vertical height helps distract from lack of horizontal width (ie small rooms)

In WA having 31 course ceilings is a nice to have - 31 is about 2.7m. Standard height is 28 courses or 2.4m.

When you add that extra 30cm to living areas is greatly improves the look and feel but it's not necessary for bedrooms/bathroom etc unless it's a higher end location.

So yes it costs more, but it costs less than if you had originally told your builder that you want 2.7m throughout.

Builders can charge exorbitantly for ceiling height increases so beware of it and think about if you need it or not.

Same for cornices. Stick with standard if it's boganville, upgrade some if it's not too expensive for a nicer area. If you can only choose one upgrade on a house then I'll go with 2.7m ceilings in living areas.

 

[albanga]

Thanks so much for all your advice Westminster!
The house is in a good area and if I decide to sell I am hoping for high 6's so I guess it is something I should consider, but as you said maybe just in the main living area.

Could I just ask and please excuse my building ignorance here but how exactly does this work from a construction point of view? The development is a double story and let us say on the ground floor living/dining/kitchen open plan I raise the ceilings to 2.7. In the other ground floor rooms though like the master, en-suite and laundry I keep them at 2.4.

This would then mean I have uneven heights in the gap between the floor levels? So I am thinking the carpenter would need to add 300mm timber framing so the second level flooring will be flat?

 

[pinkboy]

1. Light weight construction (timber construction) if and where possible

Lightweight construction cost more here.


pinkboy

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

As it double brick w/ concrete slab vs brick veneer and timber or something else?

Curious to know as I am interested in doing a development in QLD but not sure about construction prices.

 

[Brady]

Best Path for Development

Could some of the experts provide some advice on ways to reduce total development costs, by suggestions on be path.

At the moment I'm stuck at a cross road on where to start.

- Approached an architect who has provided quotes for all the way up to DA, along with quotes from engineer.
- Approached a builder who suggested only getting prelim drawings completed as each builder would prefer to do the final plans to suit there techniques
- A town planner has suggested that should be looking at higher yield, more dwellings. But obviously wants to be paid to investigate further.


I guess wanting to know what do you all believe the best place is to start, reading different thread you often see people state they wish they had approached X before Y as it would of saved $.

 

[pinkboy]

As it double brick w/ concrete slab vs brick veneer and timber or something else?

Curious to know as I am interested in doing a development in QLD but not sure about construction prices.

Im speaking for Mackay only, having built several places here.

Cheapest is Slab/Brick Veneer, by slight margin over Slab/cinder block/render/paint, which again slightly cheaper than timber construction with Scyon products (Linea/Matrix etc)/paint.


pinkboy

 

[westminster]

Could I just ask and please excuse my building ignorance here but how exactly does this work from a construction point of view? The development is a double story and let us say on the ground floor living/dining/kitchen open plan I raise the ceilings to 2.7. In the other ground floor rooms though like the master, en-suite and laundry I keep them at 2.4.

This would then mean I have uneven heights in the gap between the floor levels? So I am thinking the carpenter would need to add 300mm timber framing so the second level flooring will be flat?

If it's 2 storey then you'll need one height for the ground floor so I would suggest 2.7m for the ground and 2.4 for the upper floor. That may also allow you to lower the ceiling on the ground floor for plumbing if there is anything above it on the second floor. So if the upstairs bathroom was above the laundry you could lower the ceiling in the laundry to cope with plumbing pipes.

 

[WesternRat]

- standard bayonet points in each room, then just fit those DIY lights that slide over the bayonet fitting after handover. saved a pretty penny (costs for light and sparky labour) in my duplex development

- organise some trades after handover if you can, and avoid paying the builder their markup. they just organise similar trades anyway, so why pay them 30% more for the same thing? it will mean running around a bit after you get the keys, and if you are in a different state, it will be difficult

- can you paint yourself? save a fortune there if you have a spare couple of weeks

- render only the front facade and side visible from the street

 

[MargfromTassie]

Ceiling heights

Yes, I agree about not skimping on the ceiling height.
Skip the quartz bench tops in the kitchen and excess tiling in the bathroom, but
higher ceilings of 2700, if only in the living area, make a big impact, not only adding value, but can lead to a quicker sale. Not just in small living areas, but also in larger living areas, as a large expanse of 2400 ceiling can be very oppressive overhead.
The only time when living area ceilings are ok at 2400 are perhaps in a unit, where there are big windows on more than one wall.
Re units, I wouldn't want to buy a house with a so called 'European laundry' ie a washing machine set up in the kitchen. Too noisy. If wanting to save on the cost of a separate laundry, better to have washing machine/trough against back wall of an attached garage, or if 2 bathrooms, in the non-ensuite bathroom, provided there is a separate toilet.
Nice looking garport with separate backyard garden shed rather than fully enclosed garage with doors, another way to save. Depends on area.

 

[albanga]

Just further following up on my post but what about organising SOME of your own trades after lock-up stage? I am just thinking of trying to minimize the builders additional cost on things that should be very easy to arrange myself like painting, landscaping, driveways, cabinetry.

Does anyone have experience doing this? Will most builders not go for this as it limits their profit margin?

If it is something that can be done then I would love some suggestions on other things that can be completed myself after hand over (when I say myself I mean organising the trade).

 

[Brady]

Just further following up on my post but what about organising SOME of your own trades after lock-up stage? I am just thinking of trying to minimize the builders additional cost on things that should be very easy to arrange myself like painting, landscaping, driveways, cabinetry.

Does anyone have experience doing this? Will most builders not go for this as it limits their profit margin?

If it is something that can be done then I would love some suggestions on other things that can be completed myself after hand over (when I say myself I mean organising the trade).

Pending builder to name a few...

Landscaping, air conditioning, flooring, paving, fencing, painting, driveway, window treatment, rainwater tank

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

Im speaking for Mackay only, having built several places here.

Cheapest is Slab/Brick Veneer, by slight margin over Slab/cinder block/render/paint, which again slightly cheaper than timber construction with Scyon products (Linea/Matrix etc)/paint.


pinkboy

Thats definitely not the case in sydney. Suspended concrete slab on each level is a bomb.