When to get your renovation or new home plans drawn up?

​You have great ideas for a home renovation, and you are super excited to get your home extension underway and built.

As this is your first time going down this path you are not sure who you need to engage first to get an idea on cost and what you can and can’t do?
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 Sound familiar....

​Don’t worry it sounds very familiar to us, we get approached on a regular basis by potential clients with this problem they are just not sure where to start, as this is their first time renovating their home or building a house.
 
They approach us as renovation builders with questions such as:
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• How much will a full home renovation cost?
• How much will a home extension to the front of my property cost?
• I want to build a new bedroom with bathroom, walk in robe and ensuite how much will it cost?

 
 We are always happy to provide our potential clients with a rough ballpark figure, but that is what it remains until they have plans and specifications to present us.

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​As a small builder we don’t have an in-house architect or building designer, we use a third-party company and work alongside them very closely.
 
We are advocates of getting a third party to design and draw up the renovation and/or extension plans.

 It is a good idea to approach a builder with your ideas initially as they can help you to work along side a building designer or architect to draw up plans that will remain within your budget.

Sometimes architects or designers have the tendency to blow out budgets with “wowing’ features.
If you chose to work with a bigger builder who has in house designers you need to be mindful of a very important issue and that is: in 99% of cases the builder you have signed up to will have copy right over your plans and you will not be able to take them to other builders with the design.
 
Working with a third-party company and not signing a preliminary agreement with the builder gives you the client an added layer of protection that you will not lose out on thousands of dollars and valuable time lost designing the perfect renovation for your home. And lets face it, you need all the protection you can get when building there are a few cowboys out there!
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So, in my opinion, the first steps in getting started with your home renovation or new build are:

• Brainstorm ideas on Pinterest or on paper what materials, specifications and room sizes you are after IN DETAIL (the more detail the better the rough ball park)
• Then approach a builder to get a rough ballpark figure
•  Use their recommendations or a friend for a Third-party draftsman, building designer or architect, to then start the design process and get your plans drawn up

Once the plans are drawn up you will then be able to get  an accurate construction estimate for the building works. If, throughout the process of planning you decide to go to another builder due to any number of reasons you are free to take your plans and build through another builder, or in some cases go owner builder and mange the construction yourself.

​The choice will be yours and you will not lose out on the cost of plans, which can be anywhere between $1,100 upwards of $10,000.
 
So, is it the builder first or the plans?

There is no right or wrong answer but make sure you know what you are getting yourself into first before heading down the path of the unknown.
 
If you have a renovation project or a new build you would like help with feel fee to give us a call or send us a message and we will happily provide you with a rough ballpark for this. Distinct Renovations are here to help you.