No chalkboard or anything written down, but for over 40 years our friends and family know that me casa es su casa.....my house is your house. Always welcome.

Many factors can influence demo cost, such as the mentioned asbestos, but also site access, scale, complexity (is it full or partial demo?) and also if there is any potential value/salvageable aspects. The quicker the job the cheaper it will be. If it's deemed and easy crunch and level then it will be cheaper, if it's more fiddly with asbestos or possibly needing to work around/retain a portion of existing or if its at the back and harder to get machines in then that can increase the cost. It's not a simple flagfall cost of demolition. It's also pays to select an appropriate contractor for the particular scale/nature of the job, i.e. if you go for a company geared up for a larger job and yours is small then you won;t get much love.....sometimes it's a quicker/easier job for the builder to integrate it in with the contract and they simply allocate labour +bins and it ends up more efficient/cheaper ....it ultimately depends, it's horses for courses....if it's smaller scale you may be able to save by stripping some of the cosmetic stuff yourself and getting eh builder to finish of the messier/larger stuff and bring in specialist asbestos removers as required (no getting around that one, it is what it is)...otherwise shop around for a contractor appropriately scaled/suited to handle your particular job effectively/efficiently....best of luck :)

Hi Sue This is the hardest part of the building process. Trying to compare quotes is a bit of a nightmare and I understand your frustrations. I am a builder and we design & build custom homes for our clients and the advice that we provide our clients is to ensure that 1 - The quote is a fixed price quote - Is this a preliminary quote from the builder - is this price still subject to x,y,z eg is it still subject to engineering, soil tests etc. You may chose based on a cheaper price and then find that this builder has only provided preliminary pricing based off their standard pricing (which may be a different soil type to yours). You want to have a final quote that is specific to your block of land, your final design, your inclusions & engineering 2 - Has the builder provided a quote detailing specific inclusions eg does the quote list a specific make/model of oven or does the quote just have a P.C (prime cost) amount? If it is a P.C amount is the amount allowed a realistic amount for that item eg floor tiles at $25 sqm (can you actually buy tiles for that price). Unfortunately some builders low ball these items and then you find you have to spend more to get the items you want. The unsuspecting client (in good faith) believes that the builder has allowed enough for the items only to find everything costs more upping your costs. I have seen quotes where builder has specified toilets at $100 per one (you being the client think that is the price of a toilet - but if you search on Bunnings site there is only 4 toilets under $100 and 3 out of the 4 have PVC cisterns not made of china (are you happy to settle for that?) 3 - You need to think about making the best long-term decision for yourself. You need to think about will you be happy with the decision you make today in 5 years time when you are siting in your home, will you be wishing you didn't go for the cheapest price because you didn't get the quality you thought you would, or you are glad you took the time to assess all aspects of your your project and make sure that you decision is based on get x,y,z from the builder that helped you avoid a,b,c. - Price is not always the best way to make a decision on such a big-ticket item you also need to consider your relationship with the builders as well, do they (all-day, everyday) build the style & quality of home your are going to build? Do the have a good reputation (can you you chat to a previous client - look at their home) and do you feel comfortable & have you built trust with the builder (as it is a long & more often than not a stressful project) they need to be a trusted advisor to you and help you make the best decision for you and your circumstance throughout the whole project. Make sure that the builder takes the time to walk you through their quote so you can ask them questions about different aspect you may be concerned about (or did they just email the quote to you and your trying to blindly judge which one is the best for you?) They should be focusing on what you need and what you need to get out of the project not just them getting another job! As far as the best way to compare apples with apples - I do not think there is an answer for that as every builder presents and quotes their jobs differently. Maybe making a spreadsheet table with each item and ticking against each item either included or not. But watch out for the sneaky things like - flyscreens on windows. Ok the client goes oh they have included flyscreens (but see the word on windows - there is no mention of sliding doors) these are the typical little details that at first glance you see one thing but it means something else. I hope that make sense and helps you to some extend with making your decision. Ange

The Your Home may say that a northern frontage block, like yours, is a good orientation for energy efficiency. But this comes with one major caveat, the living areas MUST face north & be unshaded in winter time. This means building a home with the garage or back (if there's a rear lane), or pushing the home back a bit & building a carport or garage at the front, which is separated from the home ( & won't shade it). But this is not what usually happens. Usually a large double garage is located at the front, taking up a large portion of the northern aspect. Robbing the home of northern light. Your block is reasonably narrow, at around 11m. Take out the side setbacks (if you're not allowed a zero lot boundary for the garage) & you have 9m for the home's maximum width. 6m width for the garage, more for the entrance, add the thickness of the walls. What you're left with is very little, & you wouldn't even have enough room for a single north facing room. In this scenario your block orientation is a very poor choice in terms of energy efficiency & comfort. The home will be dark, & cold in winter. With increase bills for heating, lighting & maybe even cooling (if you have a lot of eastern & western windows). So I'd you are planning on building a pretty normal home with a big double garage at the front, & have the option to choose another block, is highly recommend you do so. The blocks on the opposite side of the street are the idea candidates. A southern frontage, where a large garage could be located, without shading the home. Importantly, north facing living rooms located out the back. These will be light, warm in winter, cool in summer (shaded by eaves). If you are unable to change blocks & don't have access to a rear lane for a garage, there's a few things you can do. But you'll have to be a bit adventurous to get good results, or forego a double garage if that's what's in the plans. As you don't have a very large block, there's not much room to push the home back, & separate it from the garage. A different option is to build an 'upside-down home'. With living areas upstairs, bedrooms below. Locating the living areas towards the front of the home will mean they will be light, & warmed by the sun in winter, with access to cooling breezes. Bedrooms will be cooler & darker. Ideal. I'm actually living in an upside down house right now, with north facing living areas 😁 If this type of design is too much of a stretch, & you'd like a more familiar design, there's options to limit the dominance of the garage in the northern aspect. Reducing its width by building a single garage or a tandem garage. If you must have a double garage, & don't have a zero lot boundary, the only way to fit a north facing room would be to have a side entrance to the home. Shortening up the hallway length, leaving part of the northern aspect to one northern room. As you can see, your choice of block, with a northern frontage is a poor choice from an energy efficiency perspective. But you can overcome some of these limitations with good, inventive design. You won't get this from an average volume builder.