2010 (January) Decide that we need more room in our house and that it is rotting and needs some serious $$ thrown at it.
2010 (June) Visit Metricon display home. Headline number looks good, but renovation still looks $100,000 less.
2010 (October) Meet with a number of architects/building designers
2010 (November) Engage architect to add second storey and gut current home
2011 (March) First drawings
2011 (July) Geotechnical, soil, energy plans
2011 (October) Finalise plans
2012 (March) Send 1:100 drawing and fitting and fixture schedule out to tender to four builders
2012 (June) Get quotes back from 4 builders. Horrified by costs – almost double the new build cost.
2012 (August ) Start visiting display homes. Quickly rule out most volume builders based on facades and room layouts
2012 (September) Focus in on Metricon – and the Salamanca design. Now learn that the base price is just that. Very base (basic)
2012 (September) Visit Metricon and do the first quote/estimate dance!
2012 (November) Deposit paid to Metricon
2013 (February) Preliminary contracts signed
2013 (February) Start preparing site for demolition. Cross over permit, tree removal, etc
2013 (March) Studio M
2013 (May) apply for set forward permit
2013 (May 17) Sign final M contract
2013 (June) Beaumont tile appointment
2013 (June) Move into rental
2013 (June) Abolish power, gas, water, telephone
2013 (July) Ebay entire house and part cover the upcoming demo cost
2013 (July) Still stuck in council. Doh!
2013 (August) Sign final contract drawings
2013 (September) Issue with rear stormwater drain. Need to dig a deep trench at rear of block
2013 (October) Assured a start date is just around the corner
2013 (October 9 ) Day 1. Pegs and site scrape
2013 (October) Slab
2013 (November) Framing
2013 (December) Brickwork
2014 (January) Brickwork
2014 (Feb) Roof, plaster, lockup, cabinets
2014 (March) Painting,
2014 (April) tiling, floors, balcony, wet areas
2014 (May) PCI
2014 (May) Keys (234 day build)
E and M's Metricon Adventure 
Holy Moly, what a long ride. Glad to hear the build part is very quick!
Hi,
Thanks for all your efforts in this fabulous blog, it’s really useful for those considering building. I was wondering if you could help me with the time frame. I understand that metricon builds for two storeys are approx. 12 months- though they say they’ll probably do it quicker. I’m trying to get my head around when the clock starts for the build – contract signing? Site commencement? It seems like the paperwork stage can take at least 6 months, if not a lot more, so the whole process is 18 month at a minimum.
Hi Teresa,
Thank you for your kind words. My goal is to help others on the journey as other blogger have helped me so much. The clock starts when the build actually starts.
The start date is effectively when they peg your site. They say a build is around 380 days (contract) but I think ours will be around 230 days. I think most M builds land around 250- 270 days.
You are correct, the total time invested in the process is more like 18 months to 24 months. I have heard of much faster runs through but to be honest there is a lot of work involved in the six months of planning approvals, selections, demolition etc. You’ll be shocked how much paper work there is to consider. Good luck with your journey!
Thanks for that, we are also in Melbourne (Eastern suburbs) and looking to build a Salamanca 34, so I will be combing your blog!
Awesome choice! I think you’ll love the sala!
Please feel free to ask any questions, or if you’d like to take anything offline, please contact me at:
metriconblog(at)internode.on.net
Thanks, I think I might just take you up on that. Also, I love your timeline post, not all the home building bloggers do this, but it is super helpful.