Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 09, 2011 11:36 pm We were advised today that our site costs would be $25K to $30K. This we were expecting as we have a 2 metre fall across the build area, need to cut in 500 mm down for build and need retaining walls. This however only covers the actual built site. If we want to level the surrounds of the house eg so we dont live in a hole in the ground with a moat this will be a further $20k approxmately. The additional cost is to build walls of between 400mm and 800mm in height and 1 metre width across the whole back fence (approx 17 m) and the RHS of the block (approx 20m) Does anyone know if you can level your site and build retaining walls prior to handing over to HH? They suggest that we level the remainder of the site after they hand over the finished house and build retaining walls then to save $$$. I would have thought this was a round about way to do it? Any advice is welcome, we know very little about this process but need to become experts in a hurry! Re: Retaining Walls $$ blow out 2Jun 10, 2011 5:40 am if you are going to be building lots of retaining walls one thing which adds to the cost is poor access. If your access after the house is built is poor then I would say get the walls built first. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Retaining Walls $$ blow out 3Jun 10, 2011 7:14 am At least have the footings excavated and poured, much more cost effective to do retaining walls at stages with house. Excavation ,Concrete, Blockwork etc., But this very rarely will happen unless the builder requires it for house construction purposes or not a project build. Landscape Design & Construction http://cherub.squarespace.com/ Re: Retaining Walls $$ blow out 4Jun 10, 2011 9:51 pm I'm currently having a similar issue... We just received our first quote off Metricon with a 50K site fee due to the slope. Retaining walls are definitely a blow-out. We've asked a Metricon rep what the process would be if we were to look at preparing the block to their specifications with an independant excavator. I think it would be a mojor cost saver to go down this track. However, although it may save $$ initially, you have to make sure the independant excavator does his job, because if your builder has to touch up the work you've already paid for, it could give them an opportunity to charge you extra. I think it would be wise for the builder/excavator to form a good working relationship... this way you can ensure they are working together to produce the right outcome for you. But is it in the builder's interest? Probably not... I'll be interested to hear what the outcome is!! Good luck Re: Retaining Walls $$ blow out 5Jun 18, 2011 9:36 pm Thank you for your replies. We are waiting to get a copy of our survey with our site sitting on it from our builder. Once we have this we will see what the difference is in cost between our builders quote and an independant company. I agree that the concern will be that the site wont meet builders specs and we will get charged for builder to re do and costs will be back where we started. Wishing we had bought a flat block right about now!! Will keep you posted. Me_Me1983, what have you decided to do? Re: Retaining Walls $$ blow out 6Jun 19, 2011 1:27 am Me too. You don't know until you experience it hey! Lol Our site costs were 50k too and most of that was for a huge retaining wall and lots of dirt fill! Arghhhh You will get over it once you decide what to do. Mel Render your bathroom walls, two opinions versus the one, makes you wonder. 3 6057 The spacing of the studs looks pretty large especially for a load bearing wall. 3 11108 Nope, only on the inside, I've literally has my ears to the brick outside and can't hear anything. I can sort of 'reset' the noise by pressing firmly on the studs. This… 10 11758 |