Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 26, 2009 8:51 am Hi All We are looking to purchase a block of land on a slope, we have two options 1) cut into and retain at the back 2) retain at the front and fill. I am trying to work out expected costs of the slab in regard to piering, slab class etc. How is compacting done and measured. The site is currently S class so would like to keep it that way if possible but want to try and keep the elevation. Any experience and advice would be appreciated Cheers Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 2Dec 26, 2009 7:22 pm Why don"t you work with the slope and build a split level home? Cheers Lou http://take2-customdesigndownslope.blogspot.com 07-10-09 omg they have cut the block 14-05-10 we finally have the keys Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 3Dec 27, 2009 8:45 am take2 Why don"t you work with the slope and build a split level home? Cheers Lou Thanks Lou, Basically due to cost, seems all the project builders only do slabs and the others are charging over $1500 per sqm which blows the budget right out. Thats why I am trying to find out what the site costs would be to see if the slope option is more viable. I would still need to do some retaining walls but not as much and I could cut into the block for now a batter it off and retain later. Just want to build a house that is viable now but can be utilised a lot more in the future. Appreciate your reply. Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 4Dec 27, 2009 8:51 am Yeh but how much for site works that could add another $140-300 sq mtr to your build? Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 5Dec 27, 2009 10:06 am onc_artisan Yeh but how much for site works that could add another $140-300 sq mtr to your build? Thanks Again, appreciate you sharing your knowledge. This is where I am trying to asertain the difference between the two options, I would actually prefer to work with the slope for the house and retain a smaller part which is about $200 per sqmtr for the wall and the cleanfill wouldnt need to be conmpacted. So far the retaining and site works would be around 20k but I expect would need piering etc, at the moment it is S class so seems a waste to not utilise this. Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 6Dec 27, 2009 10:14 am All fill HAS to be compacted Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 7Dec 27, 2009 10:18 am onc_artisan All fill HAS to be compacted Cheers , Do you know how to get it compacted and then certified? Also and the cost associated with this. Is it possible after compaction that no piering would be required. The only bad thing about this time of year is that you cant ask those in the industry and we are looking to sign off on the block next week. Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 8Dec 27, 2009 10:32 am Planning prevents PPP Yes I do know but without the equipment you have no chance. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 9Dec 27, 2009 2:27 pm Hi, It is not so much the compaction of the soil that is expensive - but rather the containing of soil. We had a 2.2m slope across our building envelope. We ended up cutting 1m at the back and filling 1.2m at the front left corner. This area at the front which is now raised will requite a dropped edge beam to support and contain the new raised ground level. The actual cost of building up and compacting the soil to the new height was very minimal (less than $1000) as the soil from the cut was used for the fill. We did however have around 200tonne of soil left over from the cut (this was after some was used for the fill) which had to be removed at a cost of around $3000. The dropped edge beam will cost us around $4000 (I cannot remember the exact amount per m2 used to calculate). Also - we will need to install a retaining wall at the rear of the property to contain the newly cut section. We are going for rendered concrete block work - which works out around another $6000 (approx $500 per sqm). The piering was also slightly more - as the front peiring needed to be a bit more than standard (I cannot remember the cost - I think around an extra $3000) So all up, our sloping block is costing us around $17,000 extra compared to if we built on a flat block. But we are going to have some nice views, as our ground floor is still around 3m higher than the the street/road level - which to us is well worth the extra cost. Hope that helps, Regards, hills_builder Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 10Dec 27, 2009 2:51 pm kaindec onc_artisan All fill HAS to be compacted Do you know how to get it compacted and then certified? Also and the cost associated with this. Is it possible after compaction that no piering would be required. The only bad thing about this time of year is that you cant ask those in the industry and we are looking to sign off on the block next week. To achieve the best possible outcome the fill process needs to be supervised, inspected and tested to ensure compliance with "Level 1" geotechnical testing (AS3798). This will give you a certificate which indicates that minimum compaction standards have been met and that the placement of fill was in accordance with the relevant standard and suitable for residential construction. It does not mean that additional foundation work may not be required, but simply that in designing the foundation the designer will be able to assumed that the fill has been "engineered" and is not the worst case scenario of an ordinary fill. The foundation design will take into account the fact that it is fill, all fill consolidates over time, but the degree of initial compaction - and therefore the predicted consolidation - will determine the type of foundation you will need. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 11Dec 27, 2009 6:44 pm hills_builder Hi, It is not so much the compaction of the soil that is expensive - but rather the containing of soil. We had a 2.2m slope across our building envelope. We ended up cutting 1m at the back and filling 1.2m at the front left corner. This area at the front which is now raised will requite a dropped edge beam to support and contain the new raised ground level. The actual cost of building up and compacting the soil to the new height was very minimal (less than $1000) as the soil from the cut was used for the fill. We did however have around 200tonne of soil left over from the cut (this was after some was used for the fill) which had to be removed at a cost of around $3000. The dropped edge beam will cost us around $4000 (I cannot remember the exact amount per m2 used to calculate). Also - we will need to install a retaining wall at the rear of the property to contain the newly cut section. We are going for rendered concrete block work - which works out around another $6000 (approx $500 per sqm). The piering was also slightly more - as the front peiring needed to be a bit more than standard (I cannot remember the cost - I think around an extra $3000) So all up, our sloping block is costing us around $17,000 extra compared to if we built on a flat block. But we are going to have some nice views, as our ground floor is still around 3m higher than the the street/road level - which to us is well worth the extra cost. Hope that helps, Regards, hills_builder Thanks mate, this is the advice I was looking for, our slope is around the same as yours was and in fact sounds like you built on our block... I will factor in an additional 25k as our build envelope is 818msq but the cuts etc are similar. Thanks for the heads up Cheers Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 12Dec 27, 2009 6:49 pm to_do_list kaindec onc_artisan All fill HAS to be compacted Do you know how to get it compacted and then certified? Also and the cost associated with this. Is it possible after compaction that no piering would be required. The only bad thing about this time of year is that you cant ask those in the industry and we are looking to sign off on the block next week. To achieve the best possible outcome the fill process needs to be supervised, inspected and tested to ensure compliance with "Level 1" geotechnical testing (AS3798). This will give you a certificate which indicates that minimum compaction standards have been met and that the placement of fill was in accordance with the relevant standard and suitable for residential construction. It does not mean that additional foundation work may not be required, but simply that in designing the foundation the designer will be able to assumed that the fill has been "engineered" and is not the worst case scenario of an ordinary fill. The foundation design will take into account the fact that it is fill, all fill consolidates over time, but the degree of initial compaction - and therefore the predicted consolidation - will determine the type of foundation you will need. Thanks, this is the part where I dont know who to contact etc. We have a guy that does retaining walls and earth works but assumes that all will be ok. He has the labour part, I need someone that has the technical part to sign off and advise as we go. Do you know what profession this is? Thanks again Re: Compacting of site- how does this work 13Dec 27, 2009 7:42 pm You'll need a geotechincal engineer...if you do a search on the online yellow pages for Brisbane using the tag "soil testing" you'll get some reasonable hits...here's one at random to get you an idea of what you are looking for http://www.thesoiltesters.com.au/SERVICES.htm ...that's not a recommendation just an example. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Approvals are covered in the cost we are paying to the pool company. The only thing stated in our home build contract for the additional cost is engineering support. … 3 7137 Block of two storey townhouses requires painting on the roof. A brick parapet wall separates each unit and extends above the tiled roof. The parapet walls require sealing… 0 3503 I posted the floorplan on Houzz.com forum and got some really good ideas and advice from people there. Then we reached out to a couple of renovation companies and one… 5 10106 |