Building a new home is an exciting journey, but if you haven’t built before, it can sometimes be difficult to know what to expect.
At Live Green Homes, we offer an end-to-end building service, guiding you through the entire journey from your first enquiry and initial design through to construction and handover.
With our process managed in-house, each stage is connected. Design, drafting, selections, estimating, documentation and construction are coordinated by our team, helping to create a more streamlined experience and ensuring the original vision for your home is carried through from concept to completion.
Whether you’re building a custom home, high-performance home, Certified Passivhaus or undertaking a knock-down rebuild, our team is there to guide you through each stage.
1. First Enquiry & Initial Chat
Every home starts with a conversation.
Your initial enquiry gives us the opportunity to learn more about you, your block and what you’re hoping to achieve with your new home.
We’ll discuss your ideas, priorities, budget, preferred style, sustainability or performance goals and any particular requirements you have for the way your home needs to function.
This early conversation is also your opportunity to ask questions about Live Green Homes, our building process and the different options available to you.
2. Understanding Your Block
Your block plays an important role in shaping your home.
Before progressing too far with design, we consider the characteristics of your site, including its orientation, slope, access, surrounding environment and any planning or site-specific requirements.
Orientation is particularly important when designing a comfortable, energy-efficient home. Understanding how the home interacts with the sun, prevailing weather and surrounding properties from the beginning can help us make better design decisions rather than trying to address these elements later.
For knock-down rebuild projects, this stage also involves understanding the existing property and what will be required before construction of the new home can begin.
3. Design & Preliminary Stage
Once we have a clear understanding of your goals and your block, we can begin bringing your home to life.
During the preliminary stage, we work through the design, floorplan, layout and overall direction of the home. This is where your ideas start developing into a considered design that responds to your lifestyle, site and budget.
As part of our in-house design process, you'll have the opportunity to meet with our drafting team to discuss your plans, explore design ideas and work through the finer details of your home. This collaborative approach allows us to bring your vision to life while considering the practical elements of construction from the beginning.
Because Live Green Homes specialises in custom design, our homes aren't based around a one-size-fits-all approach. Existing floorplans can provide a starting point, or we can develop a design specifically for you.
With our drafting, estimating and construction teams working together, buildability, budget and performance can all be considered throughout the design process.
For clients choosing a high-performance or Passivhaus pathway, performance considerations are incorporated from the beginning, ensuring they work together with the architecture and construction of the home.
4. Colour & Material Selections
This is where your home really begins to feel like yours.
Our selections process brings together the colours, finishes, fixtures and materials that will shape the finished look and feel of your home.
Selections are completed with our team using our dedicated Colour Selections room at our Ocean Grove office, where you can see and compare a range of products and samples. We also visit the GT&B showroom for tile selections and other fittings.
From external materials and roofing through to cabinetry, benchtops, flooring, tiles, tapware and paint colours, we work through the details together.
Our comprehensive range of standard inclusions also provides a strong starting point, with upgrade options available where you would like to personalise your home further.
5. Working Drawings, Engineering, Documentation & Permits
Behind every finished home is a significant amount of planning and documentation.
Following the completion of your Colour Selections, our in-house drafting team will prepare your detailed Working Drawings, incorporating your design, selected materials, finishes and other important construction details.
You'll have the opportunity to review these drawings and discuss any required amendments with our team before they are finalised and the project progresses to the next stage.
Once the Working Drawings have been finalised, the necessary engineering, energy assessments, reports and supporting documentation can be coordinated.
Depending on your project and location, this stage may also include town planning and other relevant approvals before the building permit can be issued.
As part of our end-to-end service, our team coordinates these different elements of the pre-construction process, helping you navigate what can otherwise be a complex stage of building.
While it may not be the most visible part of the journey, getting these details right before construction begins is an important step towards ensuring a smoother building process.
6. Contract Stage
With the design, scope and documentation developed, we move towards the building contract.
The contract formally sets out the agreed scope of works, specifications, pricing and other important details relating to the construction of your home.
Our team will take you through the documentation, so you understand what is included and what happens next.
Once the necessary contracts, permits, approvals and pre-construction requirements are in place, we can start preparing for one of the most exciting milestones, construction.
7. Construction
It's time to see your home come to life!
Construction progresses through a series of stages, from site preparation and the base through to framing, lock-up, fixing and completion.
Throughout the build, there is a huge amount happening both on site and behind the scenes. Our team coordinates trades, suppliers, materials and construction details while keeping quality and the performance requirements of your home front of mind.
Keeping you informed throughout construction is an important part of our process. You'll receive fortnightly progress updates, including photos of your build, so you can follow along as your new home takes shape. You'll also have the opportunity to arrange site inspections with your Site Supervisor, allowing you to see the progress firsthand and ask any questions along the way.
Because we've been involved throughout the earlier stages of your project, our construction team has a clear understanding of the design intent, selections and performance goals established along the way.
For our high-performance and Passivhaus projects, particular attention is given to elements such as insulation, airtightness, thermal bridging, windows, ventilation and building-envelope detailing.
These are often details you won't see once the home is complete, but they can make an enormous difference to how the home performs for years to come.
8. Practical Completion
As construction nears completion, the focus moves to the final details.
Practical completion is an opportunity to review the completed home, work through any outstanding items and make sure everything is ready for handover.
After months of seeing your home progress through drawings, selections and construction, this is an exciting stage where all of those individual decisions finally come together.
9. Handover
And finally, welcome home.
Once the final requirements are complete, it's time to hand over the keys and for you to start enjoying your new home.
For us, handover is about much more than completing a construction project. It's the culmination of the entire journey, from those very first conversations and sketches to a finished home designed around the people who will live there.
There is something incredibly rewarding about seeing our clients walk into their completed home knowing how much planning, collaboration and craftsmanship has gone into bringing it to life.
Thinking About Building?
Whether you're only beginning to explore your options or already have a block and ideas in mind, you don't need to have everything worked out before starting the conversation.
At Live Green Homes, we specialise in custom homes, high-performance homes and Certified Passivhaus throughout Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast.
If you're considering building, we'd love to hear about what you have in mind and help you understand the next steps in your building journey.