Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 11, 2016 7:08 am Hi, After over a year having plans designed by an architect and many thousands down, we are unable to use them thanks to the quotes all coming in well over budget (a common story i know). The design was 30 sq plus garage and had one storey from the front and double storey at the back with one 17 tred staircase to get down to lower level. My question is, knowing that really the only way to get the cost down is to reduce the size of the house, would a split level design (like perhaps 3 levels) stepping down/up gradually be a better use of squarage than the one big staircase and a long hallway to get from the front to the back of the house? Our block slopes down from the road, has about a 5m fall from front to back of house and has lovely views at the back. If we are going to pay someone else to design another smaller house we want to know the design will be affordable and also the best use of sqs so that we don't find ourselves in this situation again or paying for a small house that won't suit us. TIA Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 2Feb 11, 2016 8:16 am Your best bet might be to find a builder who does their own drafting in-house; they're more likely able to give practical advice in this regard re: costing vs design. We designed our own floorplan and our quotes came in well over budget (~$440k vs $300k) and the builder we chose in the end worked with me to determine what I needed to change on my plan to make it buildable within budget. Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 3Feb 11, 2016 8:36 am Hi mjklimec An all too common story..you need to find someone you can trust, who can optimize your site & design to your budget. In that, I mean a complete service-> Design->Engineering->Construction. unfortunately the system is geared "to extract as much money from you as possible"..LOL and it's always someone else's fault & clients get tired of playing pass the parcel (of money)...go figure Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 4Feb 11, 2016 8:44 am We had the exact same problem except we ended up with a single storey. We had our plans drawn up by an architect and the quotes we were getting from builders were way too high. There are many factors that affect your build price. We were advised to reduce overall size (shrinking the rooms) and eliminate some expensive features. What we ended up with was still over budget but we didn't want to compromise too much on our dream home so we ended up with a compromise we were happy with. Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 6Feb 15, 2016 7:34 pm Most high volume builders these days want seem to want to build on concrete raft foundations. If building on a steep block this equates to expensive retaining walls. My house was built on a very steep block. It was built by a volume project house builder. There are no retaining walls associated with my house. The house sits on suspended platform floors supported on steel posts. The house is spilt level to step down the natural slope of the land. Similarly the roof and ceilings also run downhill following the natural slope of the land. This is a very economical way to build on a steep block but these days many volume builders shy away from building high set houses on suspended platform floors. Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 8Feb 15, 2016 7:44 pm That sounds fantastic Beetaloo can you tell me who the company was that built it for you? Beetaloo Most high volume builders these days want seem to want to build on concrete raft foundations. If building on a steep block this equates to expensive retaining walls. My house was built on a very steep block. It was built by a volume project house builder. There are no retaining walls associated with my house. The house sits on suspended platform floors supported on steel posts. The house is spilt level to step down the natural slope of the land. Similarly the roof and ceilings also run downhill following the natural slope of the land. This is a very economical way to build on a steep block but these days many volume builders shy away from building high set houses on suspended platform floors. Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 9Feb 15, 2016 7:46 pm Can I ask if you gave your architect a budget to work to? Can you not get your architect to revise the design instead of starting from scratch? Assuming you went all the way to construction issue drawings, if you start again, you will have to pay for a new site plan, new working drawings etc. More money. Also, you have to be really honest with yourself about how those costs escalated. Did you keep adding on 'small' changes and features? I speak from experience with my Reno. I had a budget, but it is so easy to say what about a bigger bathroom? Etc Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 10Feb 15, 2016 9:03 pm Hi Joynz. Yes the major part of the brief was the budget. We said design a house to this budget and so when he came to us with the design we thought great we can get that for our budget! Well, no we can't! ! Just need about $150k more! !! Yes he could make it smaller and change some of thr design features but I don't want to give him a dollar more than we already have to be honest. And we would have to pay for those amendments as he doesn't see it as his fault. Joynz Can I ask if you gave your architect a budget to work to? Assuming you went all the way to construction issue drawings, if you start again, you will have to pay for a new site plan, new working drawings etc. More money. Also, you have to be really honest with yourself about how those costs escalated. Did you keep adding on 'small' changes and features? I speak from experience with my Reno. I had a budget, but it is so easy to say what about a bigger bathroom? Etc Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 11Feb 16, 2016 5:59 am The best advice I can give is work with the land rather than against it. Perhaps look at a house on steel stumps that sits 'on' the block rather than having lots of expensive excavation, retaining walls and foundations. Most people and most builders shy away from sloping blocks, but if you ask me I think that a well designed home on a sloping block is the best to live in. Usually (but not always) a sloping block means you're on a hill, which means you probably get some views and breezes which you would not get in a flat, barron new housing estate. We are on a sloping block, 800m2 and slopes front to back about 5 metres in elevation from front boundary down to the rear boundary. The house is partly on slab (the high part at the front), but mostly on stumps. Majority of floor area is upstairs but we have about 65m2 downstairs where the block slopes away. Minimal excavation and retaining needed, except for a 1m sandstone retaining wall on the top side of the pool which is at the back of the block. Now our house is 50 years old but the principle is the same. Unfortunately most builders these days are geared up to build cookie cutter boxes on flat blocks. They don't like anything challenging. So you might need to seek out a good builder who builds bespoke houses. They should also be able to give you some sound advice on how to modify your current design to meet your budget. One cost-saving suggestion I would make, and this will totally depend on your block, but use the slope to your advantage and instead of building a garage, build the house up higher and use underneath for covered car parking and storage/utility rooms. A garage is an expensive house for cars, they really don't need it - and that's coming from a car enthusiast who treats his cars like children. These days you can't steal a car without the keys so as long as your car is protected by the elements and you don't leave valuables in it it's all good. If someone wants to steal your car they'll break into your house and grab the keys (and maybe your TV and iPad on their way out). Also possibly look at building downstairs but not building it in. Just a concrete slab with sufficient height to be built in later when you can afford it, or maybe get it built as just a big open space that you can fit out and partition later. Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 12Feb 16, 2016 7:57 am Joynz Can I ask if you gave your architect a budget to work to? Can you not get your architect to revise the design instead of starting from scratch? Assuming you went all the way to construction issue drawings, if you start again, you will have to pay for a new site plan, new working drawings etc. More money. Also, you have to be really honest with yourself about how those costs escalated. Did you keep adding on 'small' changes and features? I speak from experience with my Reno. I had a budget, but it is so easy to say what about a bigger bathroom? Etc Agreed. We were lucky with our architect. We gave him a budget and 2 of 4 quotes came bang on budget. Of course there's the inevitable creep over with bits and pieces but we came in pretty good. - keeping wet areas together will be more cost effective - would you consider lightweight cladding upstairs. Products are better than they used to be. Custom knockdown rebuild Newcastle NSW viewtopic.php?t=78271 Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 13Feb 16, 2016 8:05 am I don't know what your budget was but if you look at your 30sq + garage ( 1 sq = 9.29 sq m ) lets say all up around 315 sq m including garage you should look at a base price per sq m. The prices are for the house only. Site works, piering , retaining walls etc are extra. Project home builders are around $1,500-1,800 per sq m Larger private builders start at $2,000 - $2,500 per sq m Custom builders $2,500 - $3,000 per sq m Obviously site access, slope, complexity of the design etc play a big part in the final costs. For a custom one -off design like yours of 315 sq m you should be looking at a budget to start with of around $785,000 Location also plays a big part too. Rural is generally cheaper for labour , slightly more for material ( transport costs ) Stewie Re: best use of squares on a sloping block 14Feb 16, 2016 8:44 am Thanks Stewie. Yep that all sounds about right. Our awesome builder tried very hard to suggest changes that would reduce the price and we did get it down to a point but not far enough. Anyway, we are writing off the $20k spent on the architect and an extra years rent than we had hoped for, and moving forwards to hopefully a more positive experience with a medium volume builder. I'm keeping in mind the comments about minimising excavation and retaining walls (as this was a big factor in the cost of our original plans) and will be kindly interrogating the plan they come up with! !! Hopefully we can move forward with a more enjoyable building experience! Give Jonathan a call. Tell him you know me. He is in my opinion the best surveyor I have ever worked with. His number is 0425 285 622 All the best Simeon 3 12415 i did click it, still couldnt make it out rofl. in any case, doesnt look like too extreme a slope, you may be in luck. Just shoot out some emails to volume builders in… 3 18569 |