Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 03, 2009 3:41 pm Hi all, I'm looking at house & land packages in the Melton (west vic) area (yes, seriously). The salesman found a corner block, with a 700mm fall. My father immediately said no, that's too much, but the salesman was convinced this was "normal" for Melton, and I wouldn't be able to find much better. So I'd really like to know what people think, and in particular, if anyone is building (or has built) in the Melton area. Basically, I know the soil is pretty bad, and since I'm doing my own landscaping and have a very small budget, I don't want to have large site costs and out-of-pocket expenses for retaining walls and any future problems! Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 2Apr 03, 2009 3:45 pm 700mm is nothing. You will get hit a couple of k, but you'll struggle to find land flatter than that anywhere, let alone Melton. If you like everything else about the block don't worry. I can't see why you'd need retaining walls. If the total fall is 700mm you'll have around a 350mm cut max.... no retaining wall needed for that. I have over 2m of fall and a cut over 1m.... and I don't need retaining walls! I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 3Apr 03, 2009 3:48 pm I agree, 700mm is nothing.. I have a block with 1.5-2.5m at the front.. This is also fine.. Anything more than 2.5-3 over a short distance is difficult for volume builders. Most builders will scrape 500mm off the top of your land anyway before laying the slab. Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 4Apr 03, 2009 3:53 pm My only other "issue" is that I don't want a corner block, and it always seems like wasted space out the front & side! So looks like 700mm isn't as bad as my dad made out! I basically want as little trouble as possible with the land. Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 5Apr 03, 2009 3:58 pm webbiegareth My only other "issue" is that I don't want a corner block, and it always seems like wasted space out the front & side! So looks like 700mm isn't as bad as my dad made out! I basically want as little trouble as possible with the land. I think your Dad is trying to be helpful and doesnt want you to have any problems at all. But honestly as the others have said 700mm is nothing!!!! no big deal at all. Whe you hear of people with 8-10mtr falls then run away unless you have a lot of money put aside for site costs. But for 700mm, no probs Living in Caloundra Thread****** Lovin my house all finished!!! Now tackling the HUGE task of the Garden- viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14782 Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 7Apr 03, 2009 9:18 pm hi webbie, i chose a corner block (not intentionally,mind you! ) and am very happy with my choice - block has great postion & street appeal, only a 500 mm fall and not having a house on one side will hopefully still let the lovely breezes get to my alfresco! the main reason i chose this block though was because of it's size - it was 20 x 40 for the same price as all the other available 20 x 30 blocks in my estate - the point being that if there is something that specifically pleases you about this block, it will not matter that it is a corner block!!! 2014 - Prepping to build the Soho 4 with Plantation homes, industrial style 2009 - Built the Brampton with Coral Homes viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15399&start=280 Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 8Apr 03, 2009 10:09 pm Agreed 700mm is perfectly reasonable. For comparison I have a 4 metre fall over 40 metres. Luckily it's on the high side of the road. Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 9Apr 03, 2009 10:16 pm Hi - There are flat blocks in Melton South (Exford Road for example). Don't forget a bit of fall means better drainage so there are plus's and minus's. Also... The soil in Melton is no worse than anywhere else out west. Good luck Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 10Apr 03, 2009 11:03 pm Again, many thanks for all the advice... I am completely new to this, so I'm having to learn fast! For myself, I plan to rent it out *eventually*, so I'm after a smallish block of land, with minimal frontage, for ease of maintenance of the yard... which is why I wasn't after a corner block - they generally seem to need more "upkeep" out the front, and I wouldn't want my place to look the worst on the street Re: Slope/fall on land... any advice? 11Apr 08, 2009 1:59 pm To update.... he's had a look for me around the estates, and found three so far... but they're all corner blocks! So I guess a corner block it'll have to be (damn, that means I have to pay one side of the fencing myself!) The original 492m2 corner block, 700mm fall, for $105k. A 515m2 corner block, "flat land" (he wasn't sure exactly), for $110k. A 553m2 corner block, "flat land" (as above), for $110k. I guess if the bigger blocks are less than 700mm fall, I'll get a slightly bigger block! My main concern was for a 700mm fall was having to put a retainer wall afterwards... but the general consensus is that I'm worrying for nothing. Need advice on the backyard plan above. Should I excavate and cut all of the dirt to level with the house slab or semi-excavate as per photo above? Both left and right… 0 24831 Hi All, We have recently purchased a sloping block (3.5m fall building envelope, 6m overall). Just wondering if you know of any good builders that you would recommend for… 0 1752 Thank you Splashers. Tomorrow I might check if I can get a few packs of 300x300 in the same tile finish. 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