Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 24, 2010 2:54 pm Hi all, I have been reading this site for a while and thought I would post to ask for some advice on my current situation. We have just purchased a block of land in Hornsby, Sydney and are looking for options to build. The block slopes up from the street approx 2.5m to 3m over the build footprint. http://i42.tinypic.com/2a6kntf.jpg In addition to the slope there is a rock wall towards the back of the block that restricts the depth of the house we can build. Leaving some space for a back yard, we would ideally like to keep the depth of the house to around 9m (and up to 16m wide). We have been looking into either a two storey pole home or a split level. Most of the project home builders we have spoken to have not been interested due to the slope or the restircted depth. We have come across a kit pole home builder who will build on our block and we have been given a preliminary budget cost of approx $300k to build the following house to completion. It would be harditex with acrylic render finish with an enclosed double garage underneath. http://www.ezyhomes.com.au/PDFs/Ezy%20H ... 20page.pdf I would like to get peoples thoughts on what our options are keeping in mind that we would like to keep the cost to around $300k. Is a split level, brick and tile, 4 bedroom, double garage house possible for this price? Or are we best to go with a clad, double storey pole home. We will be building it to live in but resale will be an important factor for us. Does getting a kit home built to completion by a builder defeat the purpose of a kit home i.e. are you paying a premium for the kit aimed at owner builders when in fact the builder could build from scratch cheaper anyway? All input is welcome, particularly from people with sloping blocks. We are going around in circles at the moment trying to decide the way forward. If anyone know of any builders in the Hornsby area that build on sloping blocks then I would love some contacts (either reply or PM) Thanks in advance Trent Re: Sloping Site - Advice Needed 2Mar 24, 2010 3:16 pm Hi Im not by any means an expert in the area but can add from our experience. We have a sloping block with roughly the same slope but going down from the street level. We have gone with a large project builder and have modified the home. Your right some builders have no interest and are not willing to look at building for you when they see the slope, but some big builders will. M****erton and EB were willing to modify existing homes but of course this comes with a cost. we looked at the block across the road from us- which had the slope upwards and were told we would then have to drop the garage floor to ensure the gradient for the drive was correct. We have added dropped edge beams to our house to minimise retaining walls and for a neater finish i think. We have also put a 0.5mt split through the back half of our house- which we had to do but I think will be fantastic as it gives us nearly 10ft ceilings through back of house. Sorry, so I guess what i am saying is it can be done. For such a small length I would imagine you would need a two story to fit it all. We looked at a splitlevel but that added around 60,000 to the price of what we got done. Good luck in finding what you are looking for Built our Granton in 2010 Handover December 3rd- wooohooo! Now the hard work has began.... Retaining walls and landscaping Re: Sloping Site Sydney - Advice Needed 3Mar 25, 2010 7:23 am Thanks danniellec, Hopefully some others will also chime in with some advice and some builders. Does anyone have any plans to suit a 16m to 17m wide x 10m deep foot print in split level or two storey? Also what are people thoughts of going harditex and render as opposed to brick. I have read that some think it is prone to leaks, cracks and warping and also that it has poor insulation properties and may need significant amounts of insulation work to achieve basix. Opinions? Regards Trent Re: Sloping Site Sydney - Advice Needed 4Mar 25, 2010 9:04 am Hi Trent, Welcome. My building envelope is 24(council length restriction)x9 with 2.5 mtr fall to the back in the Hornsby Shire. I am building with Eagle Homes. I customized one of their existing project home (the frame is their's and what's inside is totally mine design). They also offer complete customization too. The contract price is well within your budget and of course by the time we move in, it will need a lot more. I love my sales consultant and I will PM you his details. Re: Sloping Site Sydney - Advice Needed 6Mar 25, 2010 8:00 pm I have sketched up the kit home in google sketch up. There will be windows on the side but I just didn't get around to drawing them. http://i43.tinypic.com/zqxvt.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/4rrrxd.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/j94z85.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/sdlmb5.jpg It is obviously a little different to a normal project home. What are peoples opinions? Anyone built anything similar or built with blue board? Thanks Howdy all. I am looking for feedback on what people would do to maximise and make an area as flat as possible. First, out the front of the house is a sloping hill, pretty… 0 20138 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 12372 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 18545 |