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The Backyard, Done
The whole number · Outhaus

A granny flat costs
$150,000 to $225,000.
Whoever builds it.

True of ours, true of everyone else’s. The only real question is how much of it you do yourself. Below is every rung, what is in it, what is not, what the step up costs, and exactly what work is left on your side.

Doing the most yourself$158,800Kit, you build it
The whole number$191,600Finished and liveable, all-in
The gap$32,800And 320 to 490 hours of your own labour
RungsFiveStart anywhere, move up any time
The ladder

Five rungs. Pick where you get off.

Every figure below is the Standard 8.4, our one bedroom module at 28.6sqm. All six models are in the tables further down. Prices inc GST, pickup from the yard at Laceys Creek.

00

Plans

You build all of it.

$3,900proposedinc GST

The architect drawing set for your model. Yours to build from, or to hand to a builder who will.

What you get
  • Architectural drawings, plan and elevations
  • Structural and framing layouts, member by member
  • Footing design for standard soil classes
  • Form 15 on the structure as drawn
  • Materials schedule with quantities
What you do not get
  • Every physical component
  • Site-specific engineering
  • Council submission drawings
  • Any assistance building it
The work that is left to you

You take the drawings and procure every component yourself, at whatever price you can negotiate as a one-off buyer. Most people who start here end up buying the frame kit once they price steel on their own.

Trades you needEverything. Steel fabricator, carpenter, roof plumber, glazier, then the full fit-out list below.
Your own hoursNot measurable. This is a build project, not a task.
Elapsed timeSix to eighteen months, realistically.
All in, liveableVaries widely
00↓02
+ $56,000

Buys you: The welded skid, the full steel frame package, the insulated floor laid, the engineering certificate, and the entire weathertight skin. Colorbond walls and roof cut to length, windows, doors, every flashing custom bent to our drawings, fasteners, sarking, gutter.

Doing it yourself: Sourcing it yourself: $19,800 to $25,900 in materials, plus about twenty hours of take-offs and supplier calls, plus whatever you get wrong.

What the money removes: The take-off, the ordering, the custom flashing schedule, and the gaps you find on a Sunday with the roof open.

02

Kit

We kit it. You assemble it.

$59,900inc GST, pickup ex yard

The frame kit plus the entire weathertight skin, in one delivery. Standing seam Colorbond, glazing, and every flashing bent to our drawings.

What you get
  • The complete frame kit above
  • Standing seam Colorbond walls and roof, cut to length
  • Windows and doors
  • All flashings, custom bent to our drawings
  • Fasteners, sarking, gutter and downpipes
  • Assembly sequence guide
What you do not get
  • Assembly labour
  • Internal linings and insulation
  • Kitchen, bathroom, joinery
  • All plumbing and electrical
  • Floor coverings and paint
  • Site works, footings, approvals
  • Delivery
The work that is left to you

The same physical build as the frame kit, minus the procurement. Nothing to specify, nothing to chase, no gaps discovered halfway through. Every part arrives labelled against the drawing.

Trades you needYou or a carpenter. A roof plumber if you have not done standing seam before.
Your own hours170 to 240 hours of your own labour
Elapsed timeThree to six weeks to lockup, working weekends.
All in, liveable$158,800–$207,600
02↓03
+ $16,000

Buys you: Our carpenters assemble it weathertight at the yard. You collect a lockable building instead of a pallet of parts.

Doing it yourself: Doing it yourself: 170 to 240 hours of your own time. Hiring carpenters to do it: about $10,900.

What the money removes: Three to six weeks of weekends, and any question about whether the skin was detailed correctly.

03

Lock-up

We build it to lockup.

$75,900inc GST, pickup ex yard

Built weathertight by our own carpenters at Laceys Creek. Lockable, inspectable, ready for fit-out the day it lands.

What you get
  • Everything above, assembled by our crew
  • Weathertight and lockable
  • Standing seam skin fitted, flashed and sealed
  • Windows and doors installed
  • Inspect it at the yard before it ships
What you do not get
  • Internal linings and insulation
  • Kitchen, bathroom, joinery
  • All plumbing and electrical
  • Waterproofing and tiling
  • Floor coverings and paint
  • Site works, footings, approvals
  • Delivery, quoted by postcode
The work that is left to you

You run a fit-out. Insulation and linings, then services rough-in, then waterproofing, tiling, kitchen, bathroom, floor coverings and paint. In Queensland most owners can do this under an owner-builder permit, with licensed trades for electrical and plumbing. The work is manageable. The sequencing is the hard part.

Trades you needElectrician and plumber, both licensed and both mandatory. Waterproofer, tiler, plasterer, cabinetmaker. Six trades to book and sequence.
Your own hours150 to 250 hours of your own labour
Elapsed timeEight to sixteen weeks, driven by trade availability rather than your own time.
All in, liveable$174,800–$212,700
03↓04
+ $64,000

Buys you: The entire fit-out. Insulation, linings, kitchen, bathroom, all services certified, floor coverings, paint. A finished dwelling instead of a shell.

Doing it yourself: Doing it yourself: $60,200 to $85,100 in materials and trades, 150 to 250 hours of your own labour, and six trades to book and sequence.

What the money removes: Eight to sixteen weeks, the owner-builder permit, and being the one responsible when the waterproofing fails.

04

Complete

We finish it. Ex factory.

$139,900inc GST, pickup ex yard

The finished Class 1a dwelling, built at the ranch. Everything inside done, to the same standard as a site-built home.

What you get
  • Complete dwelling, finished throughout
  • Kitchen and bathroom, fitted
  • All electrical and plumbing, certified
  • Insulation, linings, floor coverings, paint
  • Ready to place on footings
What you do not get
  • Transport and crane
  • Engineered footings
  • Service connections on your land
  • Council approvals and certification
  • Site preparation
The work that is left to you

You engage a certifier, get a soil test, have footings designed and poured, run services to the pad, then book a crane. Nothing here is physical work for you. It is paperwork, scheduling and knowing what comes first.

Trades you needA certifier, and whoever does your footings and connections. You coordinate rather than build.
Your own hoursCoordination only. No tools.
Elapsed timeEight to sixteen weeks of approvals and site work, run in parallel with our build.
All in, liveable$176,900–$189,900
04↓05
+ $38,700 to $51,700

Buys you: Transport, crane, engineered footings, connections, and the approvals coordinated through to certifier sign-off.

Doing it yourself: Doing it yourself: $38,700 to $51,700, and eight to sixteen weeks of coordination.

What the money removes: Being the person who has to know what comes first.

05

All-in, liveable

The whole number, on your land.

$178,600–$191,600all in, on your land

The finished ex factory, delivered and craned onto engineered footings on your land, connected and signed off. We coordinate the approvals.

What you get
  • Everything in the finished ex factory home
  • Transport, with pilot vehicle where required
  • Engineered screw-pile footings
  • Craned into position
  • Service connections coordinated
  • Approvals coordinated to certifier sign-off
What you do not get
  • Nothing. This is the finished number.
The work that is left to you

The finished home plus delivery, crane, footings, connections and approvals. Any licensed builder can run it from our drawings; the number above is the whole of it.

Trades you needNone.
Your own hoursNone.
Elapsed timeTwelve to sixteen weeks from contract.
All in, liveable$178,600–$191,600
Read it straight

Doing it yourself saves about $35,000 on a $215,000 project. Sixteen percent, 320 hours of your weekends, and every risk on the job sits with you.

We would rather tell you that before you buy than let you find it out with the roof open. Most people who read this table pick a higher rung than they walked in planning to. Some buy the frame kit and do a better job than we would. Both are fine with us.

Every model

What you pay us.

Inc GST, pickup ex Laceys Creek. Delivery quoted by postcode.

RungCompact 4.816.3sqmStudio 6.020.4sqmStandard 8.428.6sqmWide 8.433.6sqmFlex 10.843.2sqmFamily 13.554.0sqm
00 Plans$2,900prop$2,900prop$3,900prop$3,900prop$4,900prop$4,900prop
02 Kit$39,900$44,900$59,900$62,900$71,900$93,900
03 Lock-up$47,900$55,900$75,900$80,900$94,900$121,900
04 Complete$99,900$109,900$139,900$144,900$144,900$199,900
05 All-in, liveable$138,600–$151,600$148,600–$161,600$178,600–$191,600$183,600–$196,600$183,600–$196,600$238,600–$251,600

What each step costs.

The gap between one rung and the next.

StepCompact 4.816.3sqmStudio 6.020.4sqmStandard 8.428.6sqmWide 8.433.6sqmFlex 10.843.2sqmFamily 13.554.0sqm
00 → 02$37,000$89,000$56,000$59,000$67,000$42,000
02 → 03$8,000$11,000$16,000$18,000$23,000$28,000
03 → 04$52,000$54,000$64,000$64,000$75,000$78,000
04 → 05$38,700–$51,700$38,700–$51,700$38,700–$51,700$38,700–$51,700$38,700–$51,700$38,700–$51,700

What it costs all in.

Carried through to a dwelling someone can legally live in. Site works and approvals included.

Starting fromCompact 4.816.3sqmStudio 6.020.4sqmStandard 8.428.6sqmWide 8.433.6sqmFlex 10.843.2sqmFamily 13.554.0sqm
From the Kit$132,600–$173,200$146,100–$192,400$158,800–$207,600$166,800–$218,800$175,900–$231,500$202,300–$263,000
From Lock-up$140,600–$175,800$157,100–$195,900$174,800–$212,700$184,800–$224,600$198,900–$238,900$230,300–$272,000
From Complete$136,900–$149,900$146,900–$139,900$176,900–$189,900$181,900–$169,900$181,900–$194,900$236,900–$249,900
All-in on your land$138,600–$151,600$148,600–$161,600$178,600–$191,600$183,600–$196,600$183,600–$196,600$238,600–$251,600

What it costs in your hours.

Your own labour, not trade hours. Based on what our crew clocks, allowing for the fact that you will be slower than they are.

Your labourCompact 4.816.3sqmStudio 6.020.4sqmStandard 8.428.6sqmWide 8.433.6sqmFlex 10.843.2sqmFamily 13.554.0sqm
To lockup, your hours110–150130–180170–240180–260230–330270–390
Fit-out, your hours80–140110–180150–250170–290220–380280–470
Total if you start at 02190–290240–360320–490350–550450–710550–860
The other half

What the rest of the project costs.

Standard 8.4. These are the lines every kit seller leaves off the page.

LineTypicalWhere the number comes from
Assembly to lockup$0 to $10,900Our own clocked crew hours at market carpenter rates. Nil if you swing the hammer.
Cladding, roof and glazing$19,800 to $25,900Retail supply if you source it rather than buy the Kit.
Fit-out to complete$60,200 to $85,100Linings, insulation, kitchen, bathroom, services, waterproofing, tiling, floor coverings, paint. Owner-builder rates, licensed trades for electrical and plumbing.
Approvals$16,700 to $19,750Certifier, survey, soil, energy, engineering. Invoiced on our completed Brisbane and Moreton Bay builds.
Site works and footings$20,000 to $33,000Engineered footings, service connections, crane. Driven by your site, not your model.
Honest about the numbers

Which of these we know, and which we estimate.

InvoicedApprovals, site works, and the all-in price

From a job we completed and invoiced in Moreton Bay. Approvals $18,700, site works $20,000 to $33,000, about $216,600 all in for a Standard 8.4. Real money on a real address.

EstimateFit-out, assembly, self-sourced cladding, and every hour figure

Derived from the gap between our lockup and our finished home with our builder margin removed, and from our own clocked crew hours. Close, and not invoiced. We replace them with measured numbers as owner-builders finish and tell us what it took.

ProvisionalKit and shell prices

Waiting on final steel, cladding and glazing quotes. These move, and this page moves with them.

ProposedPlans sold on their own

A new rung. Priced, not yet released.

Site works are about your site, not your module

A flat suburban block with services at the boundary sits at the bottom of that range. A sloping acreage block with a long service run, a bushfire assessment and a difficult crane position sits above the top of it. We quote it after we look at your land, never before.

Owner-builder rules

In Queensland an owner-builder permit lets you do most of your own fit-out on a secondary dwelling, with licensed trades required for electrical and plumbing. Check the current QBCC position for your situation before you plan around it.

Your council

The rules where you are.

Size caps, assessment pathways and which models comply, council by council. Researched from the published schemes, dated, and confirmed with our certifier before anything is quoted.

Kits, Australia-wide

Regional Queensland and interstate.

Kits freight anywhere. Prices, freight zones and wind ratings, area by area.