About the House……….

The Perils of designing your own home explained

One of the most frequent questions we receive as Building Designers is How does the process work?

Many people aren’t sure where to start when they want to design a custom home. It’s easy if you want to build a project home. You go to a display village, look through a home, talk to a sales consultant and 6-12 months later you’re moving in.

It’s all fairly simple………and all a bit sanitised to be honest!

That is unless you like driving around new suburbs picking out homes that look just like yours.

Those independent thinking folks come to independent thinking designers just like us. And I’m here to tell you the design and building process through us can be just a simple. What’s more you will have a building which is unique and one that meets your every need rather than compromising because the extras charge is just too much for altering that Volume Builders standard floor plan. Why choose from half a dozen façade options when your house has its very own character? Tell us what you want and we’ll make it work.

There must be a catch you say….well, not really. Agcad Design has been doing this for over 25 years.

Here’s how it works.

1. Find us on your favourite medium and contact us in your preferred manner. We talk all manner of modern communication.
2. Make a time to see us and bring along some scribbles no matter how much they look like a kindergarten kid’s scrawl. We used to draw like that too once! Photos of that house you’ve been admiring for ages may also help us get inside your head.
3. At our meeting we will talk through all aspects of the design and even interpret your scribbles. We’ll describe the process some more and possibly identify any gremlins involved if we’re concerned about what you’re proposing. If you’re not a scribbler don’t worry, simply make a wish list. That’ll do.         Trust us we’ve done this before…..
4. With the meeting concluded we’ll send you on your way but follow you up in the next day or so with a fee quote for our services. I’m sure the pain won’t be too great given our motto is Experience you can Afford. If you love it, sign it and send it back as quick as you can. We will often also order a detailed survey for you at this point in time as well as identify any other helpful consultants we may need. We know the ones to use and will organise it on your behalf
5. Here’s the interesting bit. The Concept Design. All the information you have given us about your dream now goes into my head and gets tumbled around with a dose of design nous and planning guidelines. We add a dash of common sense and deliver you our interpretation of your design brief. This usually entails site and floor plans and some pretty cool 3D images to help you interpret the concept. Hopefully we’ve gotten pretty close to the mark, we usually do and typically then we go back and forward with you refining the design until it’s just right.
6. Then it’s down to business. This is when we do our thing and all the heavy lifting occurs. We prepare architectural working drawings as well as prepare energy ratings and a planning document for Council called the Statement of Environmental Effects. At this time we will further engage consultants if required for such things as say a bush fore report or perhaps something Heritage or Flood related? Your project will need to stay standing so we will also prepare the engineering drawings and get our friendly consultant Engineer to Certify the design. You’re almost there.
7. One of our front of office types will be in touch next regarding the lodgement to Council for your plans. Forms to sign and cheques or deposits to arrange will come next as part of the lodgement process. These will include the local water authority as well as Council. We lodge it and all being good it will come out approved sometime in the following 6 weeks. Then you’re ready to go. Grab a builder, don’t worry we have a list, and set the wheels in motion for one of the most exciting rides of your life, building your own home!

The process really needn’t be that hard for anybody to design and build a custom home. It’s just about getting the right advice and we’d like to think we can give you that whether it’s your first time or you’re a compulsive new home person. There surely cannot be anything more deeply satisfying than having an input into the shelter you build for your family rather than just taking the cookie cutter approach.

Contact us now at agcad design for experience you can afford