Home Building Advice & Design Insights

Building for the Future: Incorporating Resilience into Home Design

With climate change driving more extreme weather events, building homes that stand the test of time is not only practical—it's essential. At L O'Grady Constructions, we specialise in crafting resilient homes tailored to each client’s lifestyle and environment. From bespoke acreage homes to renovations and extensions that embrace heritage charm, every project reflects our commitment to quality, sustainability, and resilience. Here’s how we integrate resilience into our designs, with real examples from our portfolio.

Introducing 'The Emily': Where Volume Home Affordability Meets Custom Builder Quality

Are you exploring volume homes but longing for the superior quality and personalised touch of a custom builder? Choosing between a custom home builder and a volume builder is a decision that significantly impacts the quality, design, and overall experience of building your new home. L O’Grady Constructions has combined both with The Emily, a single-storey home that blends the affordability of volume homes with the meticulous craftsmanship of a bespoke builder.

Navigating Challenges: The Art of Building on Unique or Sloping Blocks

Australia offers some incredible blocks for family homes – from sprawling acreages under starry skies to charming valleys boasting beautiful mountain views. But with these stunning backdrops comes many unique challenges for construction, whether you’re facing a steep slope, bushfire-prone land or a nearby flood plain. In this blog, we’ll share our specialist building knowledge to help you navigate potential hurdles, overcome challenges and turn your unique block into a custom family home.

Ready to kickstart your project but feeling unsure about where to begin?

Have you spent countless months or even years scrolling through Instagram and Facebook, dreaming about your ideal home? Perhaps you've found yourself in heated debates with your partner about your current living situation or felt envious of friends or family who have embarked on home building or renovation projects while you've remained stuck in indecision.

Unveiling Macedon Ranges: Our Local Expertise Shaping Your Dream Home

Nestled in Victoria's breathtaking landscapes, the Macedon Ranges offer a unique blend of natural beauty and vibrant community life. It's here, against this stunning backdrop, that L O'Grady Constructions brings dreams to life by building custom, beautiful family homes. Since our start in 2008, we've been driven by a vision to create spaces that are more than just places to live - they're places to thrive.

What should you anticipate from a Builder's Quote or Proposal?

Constructing a house can be an inherently stressful endeavor. As you embark on the journey of planning your dream home, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the complexities of the process and inundated with a deluge of information. Whether you're meticulously compiling a checklist of necessary businesses to contact or grappling with financial concerns, the experience can be daunting.

9 Tips to Mums when Building or Renovating the Family Home (from one Mother to another)

I’ve been trying to write this blog all school holidays but you know Mum life and running a Construction business got in the way!!

"Some Days are Diamonds and Some Days are Stone"

The whole process of planning, designing and building/renovating your custom home will be overwhelming, exciting, frustrating and rewarding. You will have some great days (diamonds) and days that just won’t go to plan (stones). That’s human nature. Even with the best team with the highest preparation, things can occasionally go pear shaped.

How to spot a financially stable Builder

Hi everyone, It's hard times for the Construction Industry at the moment with many companies having to go into Liquidation.

Can I get a Relative or Friend to help build our new house?

We get it. Building a home is expensive. As soon as you receive the quote from your builder you start looking at ways to save money on the build. Then, you think about your brother or best friend who is a plumber or painter and you think they can do it for free or at ‘mates rate’. You’ve heard horror stories from other people that have chosen this path but you think, “We’ve known these people for ages, it’s not going to happen to us”. Take my word for it, it can and it will happen.

Top 6 Home Building Myths

We get it. Building a home can be scary, hard and very overwhelming but there are many misconceptions of Custom Home Builder’s. This blog will debunk the Top 6 Myths about building a custom new home or renovating in the hope that it will put away your fears and inspire you to take the big leap in 2022.

What Systems and Processes do we use in our Construction Company to ensure project’s run smoothly?

When choosing a builder for your new build or extension/renovation there are so many factors that can go into your decision making. I have spoken about many of these factors in my previous blogs but one critical element that is always overlooked is, ensuring your builder has set systems and processes in place from the very beginning of a project right through to completion.

When a Builder Buys a Farm.....

My apologies for being very quiet on social media lately. Life has been very hectic. Juggling lockdowns, material shortages, home schooling, quoting, project management, husband going on a holiday to sunny QLD (lucky him) and just to add in a little more stress…… we purchased and moved into a farm.

What is the tool most builders and owners fail to use well when building or renovating?

When open and honest communication happens between the builder and owner it helps projects run smoothly, on time, achieve great outcomes and creates beautiful well built homes. And yet, when it’s not done well, it is the thing that can really throw project off its tracks and cause headaches and potentially fractured relationships between the builder and owner. Did you know that communication, and its failure, is at the root of most disputes in residential building?

How to keep your marriage together while renovating or building

Lonnie and I have been together 15 years and in that time we have renovated and built new homes numerous times. In that process we have learnt a lot about each other. What our great traits are….. and what our not so great traits are.

The differences between real life renovating and reality TV

Over the weekend I spent some time watching “Selling House Australia” and “The Block”. I mean who doesn’t love a good renovation show, seeing the transformation of these homes change before your eyes. Am I right? They're awesome and great inspiration for people that are looking at renovating or building in the near future! However, they are not real life........

Choosing the right concrete floor for your new home

This week we completed the Polished Concrete grind and seal at our project in Bullengarook. Back at the start of the year our client’s visited the Showroom @Policrete and decided on the look they were wanting to achieve for their concrete flooring. There are a few options to choose from and it can be very much personal preference. The decision for the look you are wanting of your polished concrete look needs to be decided well before the concrete is actually poured, generally during the planning stages of your project.

What Permits Do You Need to Build or Renovate your Home?

Are you confused about what sort of Permits you will need before you can build or renovate your home? If so, don’t worry – you are not alone! I’m here to clear the air and explain these permits in easy to understand terms.

8 things to look for in a trustworthy builder

Trust. It's a very important aspect when building or renovating your home. How do you know if you can trust a builder before you sign a contract? It’s the million-dollar question people ask themselves when looking for someone to build their dream home. A builder may seem lovely and engaging and advertise their business with lots of glossy pictures of completed homes, but can they really be trusted?

Build Smart Blogs. Supplier Alert "Regency Windows"

When it comes to building or renovating your home there are a myriad of decisions to be made, but none more important than Windows and once you start looking at them it is easy to feel overwhelmed and confused by the options out there. I noticed this with many of our clients so that is why I met with Jon Hromin, who is the Domestic Sales Manager at Regency Windows to help make sense of it all.

How to get the best bang for your buck when Building or Renovating

During these times people are wanting to make sure they use their money wisely and invest in the right things when building or renovating their Family Home.

Should I Renovate or Rebuild?

Do you Renovate your current home or do you Demolish and Rebuild. It’s a very common question and now, more than ever, we all want to make important financial decisions surrounding your home and lifestyle. Along with your budget there are many other factors to take into account in your decision making. We can help make this decision a bit easier for you by considering these important factors.

Why you Should Collaborate with your Builder During the Early Stages of Designing your Home

All too often, builders meet with clients who have been working (sometimes for nearly two years!) designing their dream family home with their chosen Architect/Draftsman. The client will give the Architect a construction budget, expecting that they will know the costs involved in building their design. But unfortunately many of them don't!

5 Ways to Integrate Sustainability into Your New Home

The sustainability of your new home influences more than just the environment. While we aim to better the planet in the long run, you can also increase the quality of your day-to-day lives by building an eco-friendly, low impact home. By implementing more sustainable features into your home, you can lower expenses, make your home more comfortable, and create a beautiful space.

How to Build a Home That Will Help Your Family Thrive

Here at L. O’Grady Constructions we’re not architects or draftsmen, it’s true. However, we do have a family and we have built many family homes over the past ten years, including one of our own.

Using Timber Floors in Your Custom Home

Clients often approach us with the desire to incorporate timber floors into their custom home. Timber is a stylish and sustainable option for any home, offering a beautiful base palette for the overall design of your space. In addition to being kind to the environment, timber is long-lasting and durable with many high-quality species lasting for 15 years or more.

How Is a Custom Home Builder Different to a Volume Builder?

Building a home is one of the most important financial decisions you can make. That’s why it’s important to have the correct information upfront to make that decision a sound one.

6 Watch Outs When Renovating a Heritage Home

Victoria is home to countless heritage houses found all over the state, including all parts of Melbourne. They are a reflection of the architectural movements Australia has experienced over the last few centuries and feature many of the design elements we still see in modern homes.

6 Indicators of a Quality Builder

Building or renovating your home is a huge investment – both financially and emotionally – so it’s important to surround yourselves with the right team. The builder forms an essential part of this and as such, choosing who to entrust with your home is one of the most important decisions you can make.

What is Natural Building?

Modern-day construction causes massive amounts of waste during the building process. While most of us know the benefits of incorporating sustainable processes, like solar power into our daily living, natural building is another way of reducing the environmental impact on society during and after construction.