Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 15, 2010 2:59 pm Hi folks, I have a slopey block of land up Far North Queensland. I am in 2 minds whether to build a post and beam or a slab on ground with concrete block wall. There are 2 variables that are playing in my mind. (1) The slopey nature (gradient 1 in of the block means that I would ned to go in for cut and fill. This would play havoc with the drainage of the block not to forget that I would be belwo the lavel of the land. However, the cost to build a slab on ground house is very cheap (for QLD standards C2 rating) at $1100 per square meter. (2) I would consider a post and beam house built such that it makes use of the slope in terms of views and more importantly, would not touch the drainage aspect of the land. However, the cost to build this is a ridicoulous $1500 - $1600 per square meter ! I am raking my brains wondering why a post and beam is more expensive to build than a slab-on-house ?? Any ideas out there? Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. Re: Building post and beam house 2Sep 15, 2010 4:33 pm One of the biggest costs in building "high" houses is the scaffolding. Because it is all certified these days the scaffolding hire companies charge an arm and a leg for it. I would imagine they would add some extra to allow for the trickiness of putting scaffolding on a sloping block. Have you looked at using pre-fab modules - that can be quite a cost-effective way to build on a sloping block. Ark homes build out of Townsville and have some interesting designs. (Ooops! I just went to their site and they've gone belly-up!) Nu-steel kits might also be an option but you would still have to find a builder. Another kit home group that I just love the designs is Bush and Beach out of the sunshine coast. Re: Building post and beam house 3Sep 16, 2010 8:20 pm kb46 One of the biggest costs in building "high" houses is the scaffolding. Because it is all certified these days the scaffolding hire companies charge an arm and a leg for it. I would imagine they would add some extra to allow for the trickiness of putting scaffolding on a sloping block. Have you looked at using pre-fab modules - that can be quite a cost-effective way to build on a sloping block. Ark homes build out of Townsville and have some interesting designs. (Ooops! I just went to their site and they've gone belly-up!) Nu-steel kits might also be an option but you would still have to find a builder. Another kit home group that I just love the designs is Bush and Beach out of the sunshine coast. Thanks a lot for that info kb46. I would love to be an owner builder, but I am situated in Melbourne and would be very har dfor me to coordinate. I will have a look at Nu-steel kits and see if they can recommend a builder to build on of their kits for me - I am reasonably sure that companies sich as this would provide builders who know their construction system and other gotchas. In the mean time, if you do come accross any ideas , could you please let me know. One more thing, is it more or less advantageous to build a house on a suspended concrete slab OR do I stick with a wooden floor ? Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. Re: Building post and beam house 4Sep 16, 2010 9:56 pm All I know is suspended slabs cost a bundle! I'm afraid I don't know why it would be better (other than thermal mass) but a friend of ours is a builder and he built his own home with a suspended slab. My husband and I both prefer timber underfoot so we never really researched flooring types. Other prefab builders to check out would be Modscape and Prebuilt Must be tricky trying to build from afar. You wouldn't have the ability to fully "check out" the local builders and then not being around while it is all happening - I don't envy you at all! Re: Building post and beam house 5Sep 17, 2010 8:47 am Hi, I'll watch this thread with interest because I am facing the same dilemma here in WA. Here post and beam doesn't seem to be as marked up as there but I haven't been as scientific as you and worked out the price / m2. We're really leaning towards a pole home because our land slopes 2.5 m from corner to corner of the "house" and a pad would be ugly and intrusive. In fact, in an adjoining subdivision there's a pole home right next to a pad home on similar slopes and the huge pad looks like hell! Best of luck with your project! xanthrope - love your quote about trees! Re: Building post and beam house 6Sep 17, 2010 10:51 am We just finished building on a slopping site, we used a combination of concrete stab and suspended floor on beam to work with the site. I know you are looking at the per sqm rate, but just remember it may be cheaper to build on a concrete slab but you will have alot more costs that are not included such as site costs, dirt removal, water proofing, retaining which could in the end make in a more expensive home in the end to build. Working with the block you will end a with a home that will sit better on the site, and one that can have a lot better air flow which I think you would need up north. Have a look at the Look home web site, which has some great ideas of using lighter wieght products for this style of building which will reduce costs. http://lookhome.com.au/ I have a link to my blog below which has plans and elevations of what we have done. 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: Building post and beam house 8Sep 17, 2010 11:49 am vegemate Hi, I'll watch this thread with interest because I am facing the same dilemma here in WA. Here post and beam doesn't seem to be as marked up as there but I haven't been as scientific as you and worked out the price / m2. We're really leaning towards a pole home because our land slopes 2.5 m from corner to corner of the "house" and a pad would be ugly and intrusive. In fact, in an adjoining subdivision there's a pole home right next to a pad home on similar slopes and the huge pad looks like hell! Best of luck with your project! xanthrope - love your quote about trees! Hi Vegemate: Just to let you know that you would need to compare apples with apples in determining per square meter building costs. In FNQ (Far North QLD) , the ratings for buildigns are a diferent kettle of fish. FNQ is rated as a cyclonic area (think hurricane Larry) adn the ratings for dwellings are Cyclone rated (C1,C2 or C3). Hence the vast difference in costs. If you are building a C rated dwelling in Perth, then you can compare the costs. Also, the Building code for QLD is far stricter than any other state - any builder will tell you that. One more thing, after speaking to a lot of builders you can get a feel what the pricing structure and then know if you are being taken for a ride in terms of pricing. You are absolutely correct when you suggest that a pole frame/post-and-beam home is far more beautifull than a slab on ground - I agree. You should always design your house to suit the block. I am building a suspended slab - I know it will cost around 45,000 more - but what the heck - it will be well worth it . Think of the resale value. Here are salient points of what I would like to build: (1) Suspended concrete slab to take advantage of the slope and the resulting views , also, I can park my car underneath and use that space as a store room (2)hardi plank walls with corrugated iron roof , colonial casement windows and a lovely front porch. (3) I have decided not to include a rear verhanda as of now due to the immense cost. I would rather build this out of timber (hardwood) later on separately as it will work out a lot cheaper. Thoughts anyone ? Thanks for the compliment on the quote ! Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. Re: Building post and beam house 9Sep 17, 2010 12:03 pm xanthrope (1) The slopey nature (gradient 1 in of the block means that I would need to go in for cut and fill. This would play havoc with the drainage of the block not to forget that I would be below the level of the land. However, the cost to build a slab on ground house is very cheap (for QLD standards C2 rating) at $1100 per square meter. (2) I would consider a post and beam house built such that it makes use of the slope in terms of views and more importantly, would not touch the drainage aspect of the land. However, the cost to build this is a ridicoulous $1500 - $1600 per square meter ! FWIW I just worked out our house is coming in at $1300 per sq.m (including covered decks) C2 rating on a level block which was pretty average when we got our quotes - didn't matter whether we wanted a house on stumps or single storey on slab. (Double storey block homes were much much dearer per sq.m - 30% more for the two quotes we got.) In Mackay, we have a distinct regional mark-up as our builder comes from Rockhampton and he is always talking about the price differences between the two (and has even gotten us some quotes from Rocky suppliers to prove it to us ). Don't know whether this problem gets worse as you go further north... Re: Building post and beam house 10Sep 17, 2010 12:08 pm hmmm.... looks like I would need to talk to a vew more builders about the post and beam construction. What I found out was that prices for a slab on ground home were around the $1100 per sq meter price. - This was the general concensus - around 5 builders. The price for the post and beam was got from one builder - has won a few awards in Innisfail (remember cyclone Larry ?) and he was the only builder I have spoken to . I will contact at least 3 more buidlers in Cairns and get their opnions. $1300 on a level block - I wonder if it the fact that the block is level that factors into the cost. Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. Re: Building post and beam house 11Sep 18, 2010 1:07 am xanthrope vegemate Hi, I'll watch this thread with interest because I am facing the same dilemma here in WA. Here post and beam doesn't seem to be as marked up as there but I haven't been as scientific as you and worked out the price / m2. We're really leaning towards a pole home because our land slopes 2.5 m from corner to corner of the "house" and a pad would be ugly and intrusive. In fact, in an adjoining subdivision there's a pole home right next to a pad home on similar slopes and the huge pad looks like hell! Best of luck with your project! xanthrope - love your quote about trees! Hi Vegemate: Just to let you know that you would need to compare apples with apples in determining per square meter building costs. In FNQ (Far North QLD) , the ratings for buildigns are a diferent kettle of fish. FNQ is rated as a cyclonic area (think hurricane Larry) adn the ratings for dwellings are Cyclone rated (C1,C2 or C3). Hence the vast difference in costs. If you are building a C rated dwelling in Perth, then you can compare the costs. Also, the Building code for QLD is far stricter than any other state - any builder will tell you that. One more thing, after speaking to a lot of builders you can get a feel what the pricing structure and then know if you are being taken for a ride in terms of pricing. You are absolutely correct when you suggest that a pole frame/post-and-beam home is far more beautifull than a slab on ground - I agree. You should always design your house to suit the block. I am building a suspended slab - I know it will cost around 45,000 more - but what the heck - it will be well worth it . Think of the resale value. Here are salient points of what I would like to build: (1) Suspended concrete slab to take advantage of the slope and the resulting views , also, I can park my car underneath and use that space as a store room (2)hardi plank walls with corrugated iron roof , colonial casement windows and a lovely front porch. (3) I have decided not to include a rear verhanda as of now due to the immense cost. I would rather build this out of timber (hardwood) later on separately as it will work out a lot cheaper. Thoughts anyone ? Thanks for the compliment on the quote ! Hi xanthrope ( where's that from???), Thanks for the info and news. We haven't had to worry about cyclones here in Perth since Cyclone Alby decades ago but where we want to build is in a seismic zone! Seems Mother Nature is always making you remember her before building......... Sooooooo, a pole home flexes MUCH better ( in an earthquake ) than the usual double brick and tile on a slab that they build in Perth as bricks are so damn cheap. We must have lots of cheap clay or something...... We're sure leaning heavily towards a pole home but there is some pretty intense marital negotiating going on at the moment. ME, I want to build ASAP ( because I want to get out of the big smoke ) - the design SHE prefers. SHE is getting cold feet. Watch this space - I'm sure we're not alone in being a couple hesitating before we leap into the stressful spending of $$$$$! Good luck again with YOUR adventure! Re: Building post and beam house 12Sep 19, 2010 10:12 pm Quote: Hi xanthrope ( where's that from???), Thanks for the info and news. We haven't had to worry about cyclones here in Perth since Cyclone Alby decades ago but where we want to build is in a seismic zone! Seems Mother Nature is always making you remember her before building......... Sooooooo, a pole home flexes MUCH better ( in an earthquake ) than the usual double brick and tile on a slab that they build in Perth as bricks are so damn cheap. We must have lots of cheap clay or something...... We're sure leaning heavily towards a pole home but there is some pretty intense marital negotiating going on at the moment. ME, I want to build ASAP ( because I want to get out of the big smoke ) - the design SHE prefers. SHE is getting cold feet. Watch this space - I'm sure we're not alone in being a couple hesitating before we leap into the stressful spending of $$$$$! Good luck again with YOUR adventure! Wish you the best of luck. IMHO , now is a pretty good time to build as the market has died down somewhat. In Victoria, it is plodding along at around half the rate it was around 9 months ago. However in QLD, things are a lot quieter. You can negotiate a better qualty of house for the same price as I dont think builders will lower their prices - but this is stil a positive outcome for you,. Hope this helps convincing your partner. I still have another 4 -5 days before I get the contour survey, after which I will contact at least 2 more buidlers along with my plans (thanks to Google Sketchup) and see what they quote overall. Stay tuned. Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. Re: Building post and beam house 13Jan 16, 2019 1:47 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The above photos are 4 houses being built on an undulating block using screw piles and XL-Floor as the subfloor system. XL-Floor has an R value of R2.6 Winter ad R2.4 Summer Hello everyone, After some suggestions and ideas about how to put a concrete path around the drop edge beam area on our new build. We are required to have a concrete path… 0 11021 The distance between my DEBs varies from 4.1m at the narrowest to 8.1m at the widest. 5 25913 |