While some people want to save with DIY, and others want everything done for them, people who become owner-builders for their Backyard Pods project can have the best of both worlds. Owner-builders don’t necessarily do any of their own building work! They handle their own project management and coordinate the trades for themselves, just like a builder would do. It saves money, of course, and also gives people great peace-of-mind to maintain complete control of their budgets and building schedules. If you’re interested in becoming an owner-builder for your backyard building project with Backyard Pods, we can help you with things you’ll need including getting your approvals organised.
IMPORTANT NOTE: To become an owner-builder in most states of Australia you need to complete and pass a short course. Then you can act like a real builder in taking charge of your project management.
DEAR CUSTOMERS: Please send us more pics and stories because other people love learning from what you’ve achieved, like these examples:
While every Backyard Pod project begins with the flatpack building kit, it’s the choices made by our customers that determine the desirability of the completed result. Our customer in Chiswick, a bayside suburb in Sydney, got approval organised through our NSW architect partner and made design decisions that really show how deluxe a Backyard Pod can be.
You may love where you live but just need a little extra space to focus on work or study, do some yoga, have guests for a sleepover, or let your hair down with a band rehearsal. With an approved 3.6m x 5m ‘multi-purpose room’, our customers in Coburg, Melbourne, are delighted with their new Backyard Pod and the finish achieved by their own builder following the step-by-step instructions.
The cost of extending an established home to create an extra room is usually prohibitive, yet many people living in the inner-city need just a little extra space to work from home in peace and without disruption to family life. Our customers at Five Dock were able to get a spacious 12sqm home office approved and constructed to enhance their home and lifestyle without breaking the bank.
When it looks ‘impossible’ to build a granny flat, that’s when you call Backyard Pods. Our customer in Bli Bli wanted a deluxe poolside granny flat that would hide a nightmare of tanks and plumbing underneath. With a custom design from our network architect, approval was gained for the standard 3.6m x 9m flatpack building kit to be cut down in size to 8.5m in length, gaining every available square metre available from this very compact site.
Understated outside, bright and stylish inside – this superb Brisbane granny flat reflects clever choices made by the owners. They wanted a self-contained cabin that wouldn’t detract from their main residence. The large, battleaxe block with steep, bushy slope and restricted access would challenge most types of construction. Step inside now and you’ll feel right at home.
We can help with granny flat installations in most areas but many of our customers are DIY owner-builders. Our customers in the Blue Mountains got our help with approval and flatpack materials, then undertook their beautifully designed 2-bedroom secondary dwelling as a family project. With meticulous attention to detail and innovative ideas, this ‘granny flat’ will house family and visitors for now, and have future income potential as a luxurious holiday cabin or long-term rental.
This sleek Backyard Pod in Colorbond Monument 4m x 11m with eaves cost less than HALF what builders had quoted for a conventional home extension in Brisbane. The family now enjoys a huge multi-purpose living, media, and rumpus room with versatile facilities to allow for future use as a self-contained granny flat or extended family accommodation.
Our customers in Anglesea, southwest of Melbourne beyond the famous Bells Beach, wanted a guest cabin including an ensuite at the rear of their property. With sufficient previous building experience and the right tools, they successfully undertook their project as DIY owner-builders using a flatpack building kit from Backyard Pods. They shared their construction pics so you can see how they did it.
Our customer wanted a small home office pod against the boundary fence (usually a no-no) and it had to be an exact non-standard size to suit their design. They also wanted the low-cost structure to be attractive-looking to enhance the desirable coastal home with its existing focal-point backyard entertainment area. The finished home office pod, with its timber surrounds, proudly achieves its purpose inside and out.
In Bald Hills, a suburb of Brisbane QLD, when our customers wanted to build a home office and rumpus 3.6m x 8m in their backyard, it needed approval. We helped with approvals and now you can see from these images how much they are enjoying their personalised Backyard Pod as a detached home extension for living.
If you’re building a granny flat on sloping land using Backyard Pods, you don’t necessarily need to excavate. Our customer at Ocean View, a bushfire-prone district north of Brisbane in QLD, chose to elevate their granny flat on one side, using extra-long piers, rather than cutting into the natural hillside. It’s in Colorbond Ironstone with Surfmist and black accents.
Looking at the original view of this property in Oxenford, northwestern Gold Coast QLD, with its tight confines and drastic slope, it seemed impossible for anyone to build a granny flat there. Yet, with the help of our QLD network partners, you can see this sky-high elevated granny flat, based on a custom-sized Backyard Pods kit using special piers, successfully nearing completion.
This so-called ‘granny pod’ in a suburb of Newcastle, once featured by us on Channel 9 News, was originally proposed for a member of the extended family who would be able to join the family for meals inside the main house, and use the main laundry. Time went by, needs changed, and today the ‘granny pod’ serves beautifully as a poolside guest cabin adjacent to the main home’s deck and barbeque area.
It’s always a pleasure for us to help schools with cost-effective building solutions. While we have helped many private and public schools, Condell Park Public School in Sydney, with 5x Backyard Pods, is perhaps the most outstanding example of our flatpack building kits helping budgets stretch further when a school needs an extra storeroom, activity room, or staff room.
What can you build in Sydney without approval? A non-habitable structure up to 20sqm. This cute little art studio in leafy Hunters Hill, Sydney, was undertaken as an exempt development for workshop purposes. We supplied the flatpack building kit and double-glazed windows and doors. Our customers organised their own builder and now, their backyard studio is complete. You can see how they love the place!
This family needed a low-budget granny flat so an elderly mother could be cared for close to the family home, whilst still maintaining her independence and privacy. The budget was super-tight and the list of needs included a spacious bathroom with plenty of storage for linen and towels, a queen-sized bedroom with ample wardrobe space,…