We have several problems that we need help on. 1. Sub floor. The house is raised (above a double brick garage and concrete stilts). The sub floor is floating pine, no underfloor insulation. The pine is not completely sealed around the edges. How do we approach this situation, just lay underfloor insulation, or air tight then insulate? If we air tight what do we use, acrylic caulk? 2. Thermal mass. The sub floor is double brick, half of it is acting as a retaining wall for the soil as its built on a slope. There is a stairwell in the middle of the house that goes downstairs into the garage, half of it is exposed double brick. It's literally freezing, often feels colder than outside. There is no space in the stairwell to insulate it. There is no cavity between the double brick. Could we use a reverse brick technique where we wrap insulation around the outside of the brickwork and use it as a thermal storage? Is there any point as it always feels cold because it's below soil level, so not sure if insulating will do anything. Also, in order to promote thermal storage, wouldn't it need to gain the heat form somewhere for a period of time.

Hi Rob , You are entering an exciting time with a new home, good luck with it all . Just a couple of suggestions : (1) Any reason you are note considering an architect to be involved ? When chosen carefully they can be very cost effective , plus they will create the unique custom one off that you are after. Their design concepts will go far beyond just what the exterior looks like Rob, they will also consider ( for example) how a skillion roofline has other functional benefits like incorporating high line ( clerestory) windows that will bring fabulous light into the centre of your new home etc. They will also advise on orientation and wind etc etc and lots more . (2) Regardless of whether an architect is involved, I would suggest that you seriously consider getting someone to create a 3D walkthrough of your new home so that you can walk through and around it before you spend your money on construction. It really does let you see the visual effects, plus because the 3D is to scale , it will help you sort out any potential issues with design and /or construction in advance( i.e. saves you time and money during construction ) . The 3D's can be created once you have your plans and elevations completed. You can get the 3D's created fairly cheaply ( a few hundred $'s ) on www.freelancer.com where professionals from around the globe compete for your project . It is money well spent , and you can see the colours and textures in lifelike scenarios , so it takes away the mystery and what if's . Good luck with your project , and sorry, I don't like the dark blue at all :-) . Cheers Glenn

I work for an insurer. You can't insure the contents of the building until you have key handover after the final inspection & payment - precisely for this reason as you have no control of who accesses the property. HOWEVER builders do not cover for any contents you have purchased to be installed. It would only be their liability if they purchased it & stored it there whilst awaiting installation. :( These kind of robberies are more & more common now.

I'd say it's an easy min. $250K minimum flagfall on a relatively basic/not fancy spec/fit-out in a super good package deal. You're essentially renovating an entire house including moving plumbing, walls replastering, new floors throughout etc....not to mention lights, rewiring etc etc, it goes on and on.......This scope would still cost a builder themselves $150K, not factoring in their own time/labour, paying cash for sub-trades and getting super deals on all materials....and then you could only really potentially roll this type of operation out if you actually have the money in the bank. If you need to borrow then you'd need a building contract which then brings in market rates, profit margins and GST. Take profit and GST out from $150K and there's barely enough left to cover materials alone, when the labour/materials ratio (of a construction cost) these days, particular for renovations is labour being the most significant cost involved.............you can fine tune and perfect a floor plan like you have (which I reckon is pretty good as a plan), but when push comes to shove it always comes back to budget and costs, which is why we always are encouraging people to utilise design professionals who manage the challenge of designing within budget limits. If you separate budget/costs from the design process (rather than integrate it) more often than not it will leads to disappointment and misalignment of your expectations of what is realistic.