The question of the chicken or egg. The best approach to a renovation or custom home is to ensure you are talking to your builder and architect at the same time. 

If you find your architect before your builder that is fine, and likewise your builder first. The most important thing is to be discussing the project from conception stage with them both. This ensures that the design is correct and the brief is met, though also the sequence and finish will be practical and achievable. 

Every renovation and custom home is different from the last. It is important to understand the process and be confident in your builders ability to schedule and organise in a timely manner. Without careful planning, it is the same as asking how long is a piece of string!

The best tool for you as an owner is to ensure your builder has a detailed schedule that you have access to. Project schedules ensure setbacks, delays and unforeseen things are dealt with and accounted for so they do snowball the completion date on what should be an efficient project. 

Anything is possible… It is true, gone are the days of builders being able to say “sorry you can’t have that”.

This is your dream and it is our task to extract that and turn int into reality. Sure, certain things are harder than others, though that is why we discuss, brainstorm and challenge every request and idea no matter the complexity. 

We’ll be frank, the cheapest usually isn’t the best.

When selecting your builder there are a few important things to consider. Firstly and always the most important is your gut feeling, if you feel like Daveos’ dodgy sounding sales pitch isn’t quite right then chances are it isn’t.

Secondly and arguably equally important is service. If you feel like you are not important to your builder through your initial meetings, then it won’t be hard to figure out that this usually trails on. Good builders will ensure high levels of communication and strive to give you the confidence needed to take on a renovation or custom home. 

Sometimes it can be difficult or expensive to move house while you are renovating. We understand this, that is why we have developed a process for keeping you and your family safe and happy living in your home while we renovate. We just hope that you are morning people for the duration of the project as we do like to start our work days bright and early!

There will be instances where living at home during the project won’t always work, though where possible we do like to section the house off, provide secondary access and undertake daily tasks to ensure your home is clean and safe. 

Only if you cut corners. If you follow the basic process with designing and selecting the right builder. You have nothing to worry about. Choose a reputable builder who is licenced, insured and has a healthy legacy of happy clients. 

Try not to use this method for your renovation. There really is a mountain of things that will affect your square meter cost. You will likely be disappointed if you attempt to estimate your costs based on some online tradies forum stating the average square meter rate for a custom build has only three digits in it.

Be sure to talk to your builder. It is the only way to accurately ensure you avoid disappointment after weeks of planning and designing.