Our Statesman Dutton on 10 acres in S.A.

Hey all,
I’m starting this thread to share our build process with others. It is partly due to the wealth of info we have got from others, and I’m hoping to give something back.
We have signed with Statesman Homes, Construction Services Australia (also trading as Hickinbotham Homes).
The house is a slightly modified Dutton.
We have a 10 acre block. The property already has a small cottage on it, we had intended to extend it when we brought the place. But after a couple of years of deliberation we have decided it was better to build a new home.
We felt that we could have a blow out on the reno and still have half an old house to show for it. Not to mention the poor insulation quality of the old part.
We really liked the Adelaide Mk2 but it didn’t suit the position on the block.
So we modified the Dutton to suit and are pretty happy with what we came up with. The only thing we might of done was make the kitchen a little bigger.
The main reason for going with Statesman was the price and design, and as they build the most houses in Adelaide (so I’m told) they must be doing something right (or mostly at least).
Like any of the big building companies I have heard of a few bad experiences with them. We even had a friend cancel the contract with them after paying the deposit.
The large company they choose instead, poured a trapezoid shaped slab rather than a rectangle. Resulting in one end being cut off and the other being added with a repour. Presenting a nice entry for termites.
What I’ve taken from this is do your home work, then do your home work again. Don’t trust them trust you. If at all possible use a good independent building inspector at as many stages as you can afford.
I believe none of the large builders are immune to admin and building errors.
I think a lot of the bigger companies issues are their administration / site supervisor work loading and lack of good tradies . Given the current slow in the industry I think it’s a great time to build.
Having said all of that I have still strapped ourselves in and braced for the worst!
We are hoping to keep the existing house on the block and convert it to a B&B.
This means we have to submit a non complying application to council. It is done in two stages which we will have to pay a private planner to sort the second stage.
So unfortunately it will take longer and cost more to get the approval.
Council at this stage sound really positive about it but time will tell.
So at this stage, we’ve signed and payed deposit, plans and submission is at council, soil and survey report complete and I’m just waiting to read site work price variation and report.
We can also book selections but I think we’ve got a lot more visits to display villages prior to that!
Cheers for stopping in.






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Hi claypot, plan looks great and it sounds like you've made the right choice to build rather than renovate.
Look forward to following along.

Hi Claypot, good to see you've started your thread

hi Claypot! What an exciting prospect!! New home, B&B, huge block.... awesome!!

Hey thanks guys,
Have just worked my way through the site work paper work.
As suspected the soil report was P, E-D meaning (trees and extremly reactive) Soil movment was calculated at 98 mm (from wet to dry) Which is really the worst soil you could build on.
I had expected the variation to be around $10,000. But it came in at $11,446.
$8000 for footings, $2500 for electrical, $1380 for water.
The salesman had estimated $30,569 in the price, now $42,015 all up. Thats alot of money to push some dirt around, pour some concrete, fit some extra pipes and cables!

The plans look great, I love all the additional living areas you have!

Argh siteworks, aren't they the most scary thing. It is amazing how quickly the price jumps up once they start testing and digging.

Do you have an idea of how long it will take to go through the council process? I know some of them are quick and then some of them are so overworked/busy that getting approval takes months.

Hey Pellana,
No not really, the first stage should be no more than 12 weeks. But the second stage will be any ones guess.
I gather if the private planner gets it all right and there are no objections it should be just a rubber stamp exercise.

Hi Claypot, any updates?

You didn't mention where in SA you are, North or South?

My wife and I built with Hickys about 4 years ago and my one piece of advice is don't give them any money until you're happy with their work. We build the San Marino Alfresco which is a beautiful home but some of their contractors are terrible. The tiling in our bathrooms is the worst I've ever seen.

Hi Claypot, look forward to some kind of update, we are building with Stsman also in Mt Barker
Good luck!

Hi Claypot your plans are great! I agree site work $$$ seems like such a waste of money! Our site has suspected rock and that's loads of money down the drain then!
Good luck with everything

Hey all,
Thanks for the support.
ScottsRX, we're South near Aldinga beach, I agree with some of the contractors. Can't help but think it must be better now with the slow in the industry. As surely the first contractors they let go are the least skilled?
Well the latest is we have now gone full circle and back to extension and reno.
We had completed selections and were further waiting council approval.
Council had supported it and we had no objections from neighbours.
Council still wanted the following :
Pad to be a further 400mm higher to satisfy 100 year storm flooding. Plus a couple of easily complied tasks.
Mean while the fact we needed to have a larger power transformer and cable runs not already factored in ( Transformer $7000, cabling and trenches $10,000ish)
Plus some opened ended P.C items meant our projected build of X was now XYZ.
I’d also never really come to terms with the fact I had to cut quite a few 30 – 50 mt high trees to put the new house. As they are great shelter among other things. And part of the new house was going to get belted by the sea and hill winds.
We had also been put onto a great builder who had already completed two friends of friends period villa extensions and reno’s for a great fixed price, and they were really happy with the result. So with the new house now costing XYZ, and the reno looking like we may get away with only Z. We have cancelled the contract. Statesman were really good and it cost us nothing to cancel. I did feel for them as they had really been great all the way through.
So now to get in touch with a draftsman and start planning all over again…….

Excellent, we built up place at Sellicks Beach, not far away.
Wow, that's terrible news. I fell your pain with the costs to get power on. We're in the process of getting a new transformer for our place and the cost of that plus the electrician is going to run out to a bit over 10k.