Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 18, 2007 8:39 pm Hi There
My brother has purchased a block of land and had a Porter Davis employee to oversee the block to see if they are willing to build on it - It turns out that they are not prepared to due to it having 'Slope' I am definitely not a builder nor do I claim to know a thing about building but this 'Slope' I cannot see. I am totally clueless What do they classify as 'Slope'??? Are there many other competitive companies who scrutinize the blocks to this degree or is it a Porter Davis thing Anyone been in this situation? if so, what did you end up doing? His heart was set on a certain design with PD and now that they are refusing to build on this block I guess it leaves him no choice but to 1) sell the block or 2) find another builder. Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 3Oct 18, 2007 8:50 pm First time I’ve heard this one…..I’d say there’s another reason other than the so called SLOPE.
Why doesn’t your brother just use the plan, modified of course, changing a few things around on the plan…….and making it his own? I didn’t say that …….OK! Just forget I said that! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 4Oct 18, 2007 9:02 pm It's what is known as cookie cutter business.
If you vary from the - we always do this sort of site - and if you go away from that - then you start to loose money because you never know where your costs went - how to estimate it - and your will contractos will start to complain etc etc So a sloping block - is not in their cookie cutter model - so they avoid it. Steve Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 5Oct 18, 2007 9:03 pm Hi Amber27, this is pretty standard with volume builders. With our builder "H" you are allowed a maximum of 2m of fall over the building site. This means the back corner of the house to the opposite front corner of the house.
Ours is a fairly flat block, but ended up being a 800mm fall over the building area. The standard allowance is usually around 300mm, which is basically a dead flat block of land. And it can costs many 10's of 000's extra to build on such a block, if they say yes. "H" sales reps always said call us before buying ANY block & he will advise us whether they can build on it or not... One sales guy said he had had 5 enquiries from 5 different propsective clients who wanted one particular block, but he had to tell all 5 that they couldn't build because they had over 2m of fall over the building area. Also the major builders usually only build on slabs, which makes it a bit easier for them. The smaller builders will give you flexibility and then there are some builders that specialise in sloping blocks, eg. L.P. Warren homes in Melbourne... But i'm sure it would not be at the same sort of prices as the volume builders. What is the slope on the block.. They should have it in a soil report. Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 6Oct 18, 2007 9:13 pm We liked one of the PD plans, but they refused to build on our land at all because we are in an established area (on their map it was the "grey"area) the sales lady said that they don't like to build in our area because of existing powerlines and schools!!!!
Needless to say we walked straight out of there! I'm with Michelle on this one Ruth -Bought house in Melbourne inner burbs, knocked it down & now...we are owner builders! Completed OB project and moved in to our new home with our new baby in May 2009! Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 9Oct 18, 2007 9:28 pm WHO wrote that!!! NOT ME Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 12Oct 23, 2007 2:39 pm Hi Amber!
We had the same problem with Henley refusing to build on our block (see our blog for more details). Once you know the slope you are dealing with, it will be easier in terms of finding out pretty quickly whether a builder will build on it or not. We despaired that we might not find a volume builder who was willing, but we did! Get your brother to shop around! Cheers, Madmel http://marshallmansion.blogspot.com/ Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 13Oct 27, 2007 8:54 pm bmp IF they are desparate to use PD maybe they should have the block benched and then go back to PD??? Im sorry may I please ask what ''Benched" is? Cant you all tell that building is certainly not my Fort'e Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 14Oct 31, 2007 8:52 am Building certainly isn't my forte either.
Benched would mean earthworks to make your block flat - imagine a landscaped / contoured garden beds, but instead of rounded it has stepdown type benches. Here is a picture of a benched block: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: PORTER DAVIS refusing to build on a block 15Oct 31, 2007 9:08 am Pebble Building certainly isn't my forte either. Benched would mean earthworks to make your block flat - imagine a landscaped / contoured garden beds, but instead of rounded it has stepdown type benches. Thankyou so very much. After seeing that photo I can visualise what a benched block looks like. Thankyou once again Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 12320 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17507 6 11127 |