Fully Customised Home Building Process Canberra

From standard home designs, to fully customised ‘passive houses’ we’ve been building our clients dream homes in Canberra for over 21 years.

When you first engage us for an obligation free quote, you’ll discover we are highly organised with a sharp attention to detail. (check out Maureen’s testimonial below).

And we carry this through all the way to completion and beyond with our new ‘Energy Boost’ 3 step monitoring system, created to help you settle into your new home once it’s  completed.

With complete transparency at every step, you can access our project management system through your very own members portal to find out exactly what’s happening at any time of the day or night.

Here’s what Lisa had to say about her experience working with us:

“Richard, you built us a beautiful home I’m so proud of and cannot wait to show off to all my friends… You made the process so easy, even though at times I had no idea! Once again thank you so much!” – Lisa

1. Complimentary ‘home design’ strategy session: so you can take advantage of our 21 years of experience to reduce costs, increase energy efficiency and get more home for your money.
2. Detailed itemised quote: (with no ‘estimates or PC items) so you know exactly what your costs are before we begin.
3. Meet onsite: to discuss your home plans and how to best orient it to the site (to optimise views, sunlight & radiant heat) – if you haven’t bought a block yet, we can meet at a potential site and assist in your purchase process. Just like we did for Shane and Helen (see more below)
4. Fixed price agreement: once you are 100% satisfied with your proposal, we’ll incorporate everything into a highly detailed agreement written and organised in layman’s terms, so it’s easy to understand.
5. Members Portal Access: this is the exciting part – you get your logins and see your new home start to take shape.
6. Begin work: Starting with foundations, footings, site mark ups and ordering materials – we’ll hit the ground running thanks to our clear and concise understanding of your vision.
7. Manage your budget: We pay close attention to the budget at every step of the way to ensure there are no cost blowouts.
8. Oversee the entire construction process: As we manage every step from foundation to handover, you’ll be able to follow the progress in your client portal without having to step onsite.
9. Quality control & walk-through: Only once we’ve triple checked everything is perfect will we walk you through your brand new home, show you the ropes and pop the champagne. (And of course, hand over your brand new set of house keys)

It’s vitally important to be able to see and understand what’s happening at every stage of the build, which is why we deliver daily updates through our highly detailed online client portal, allowing us to share volumes of information with you in real-time.

It’s your window to the exact project management we use so there’s nothing held back.  With  24/7 access you’ll never have to wonder what’s happening, or spend anxious moments waiting for a call back from your builder.

Your client portal captures all these and more:

• Updates,
• Changes,
• Specifications,
• Conversations
• Decisions

From both your side as the client, and our side as the builder. Our client access portal ensures there’s never a miscommunication, so you get the dream home you’ve always wanted.

If you’ve lived in Canberra for even one winter you’ll know: we’ve got a very cold climate (to put it mildly), and this brings its own set of unique challenges. When we build your home with our unique ‘passive home’ process, we make smart use of the environment at every step of the way.

Here’s how we build Canberra’s most comfortable and energy efficient homes:

• Orientation: the position you place and face your home is something that money can’t buy. If you choose a good block, you can get a unique orientation which will maximise sunlight all through winter
• Windows: by looking at which direction they face and how much radiant heat tey allow in, we protect the outside envelope of the building and make it as airtight as possible.
• Room usage: we help you get clear on where to place the most used rooms in the home to maximise sun exposure and warmth, while ensuring you also enjoy the  best views possible.
• Eaves: if it makes sense we’ll use larger eaves to provide more cover for exposed windows.
• Veranda’s or alfresco areas: these can provide excellent protection for windows that don’t get much sunlight anyway.

Trees: when strategically placed (we bring in saplings and mature trees), nature’s shade providers can immediately add to the energy efficiency of your home.

From 2016 – 2017 we worked with some wonderful clients: Shane and Helen. For a year and a half we assisted them to find the perfect location before completing a knock down rebuild. Just 4 months later they were in their home with an 8.4 Star Energy rating!

Sidebar: A 6 star home consumes 140 megajoules a square meter per annum, while an 8.4 star home consumes just 60 megajoules. That’s over 57.15% less energy which means Shane and Helen are comfortable all year round, with less than half the energy costs.

Rather than leaving you at the front door after handing over keys, we’ve adopted a whole new approach: Our 3 Step ‘Energy Boost’ Monitoring system helps you settle in to your new home over your first months:

1. We sit down with you at the beginning and look at your objectives alongside the heating and cooling systems you’ve chosen in your home.
2. Next we’ll meet once a month to report and discuss your energy efficiency levels. Along with suggestions to help save you even more money like: identifying the prime time for buying power (when it’s not sunny enough for solar), or which blinds to operate and when to increase radiant heat and minimise thermal leak through the glass.
3. After 65 days we’ll triple-check no defects have arisen, then continue to help you settle in to your new home

We know you’ve worked hard to build your own home, and we want you to enjoy it to its fullest. It takes time to settle in, and we thoroughly enjoy supporting you for as long as you need us after the handover.