Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 02, 2014 5:45 pm Hi everyone, My husband and I have just bought a block of land for our very first home ever! The land slopes from higher at the back to lower at the front. Its about a 2 metre slope so not enormous. The back fence is well build and already on a retaining wall and the total height of that is about 10ft. We are going to build a project home because we've never done this before and both work full time so we can't have time consuming building issues to deal with... we don't know yet who we are going with but are happily researching I have a few questions and hope someone can help with the answers please? 1. Is it cheaper and best for us to get our own soil testing and site survey done? 2. If we build a single story home we need to cut into the land to make it level. Would it be a lot cheaper to hire a bob cat and get them to level it to as flat as possible to make it easier ( approx. $1000 for the day) or should the project home we choose do that? 3. Does anyone have experience regarding the difference in cost- we don't know if we should build a split level ( which is dearer than a single level) and that might mean less levelling therefore less site costs OR should we do the single level (about $30,000 cheaper) and probably pay more in site costs to level it. Any advice would be absolutely and gratefully welcomed thank you!!!! Re: Question about a sloping block 2Nov 02, 2014 5:57 pm A survey may be worthwhile so you can get quotes for various options but building a single level house could cost in excess of $20,000 for that slope. It's not just leveling the site. If you level by cut and fill building on that fill can mean extra foundation cost and additional retaining walls. You may also need drop edge beams (see http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2013/07/drop-edge-beams/) 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: Question about a sloping block 3Nov 02, 2014 6:11 pm i built on a sloping block have a cut and fill split level custom home. the builder did the site works etc and included in price. he also designed the house with me. by talking to him i found out it was better and cheaper site costs wise to build split level/ i also needed as bashworth has said drop edge beams / retaining walls etc. i went to several builders and some were not interested in building on sloping sites/ and others happy. go to couple of builders around and discuss with them your site. i had another builder who did the soil and surveys but when i went with my builder i could only use the soil survey ad had to get another site survey. one builder was going to build single level and with site costs huge and the house the size i wanted i was told i would only have a bare shell. with the split level i have all the extras i want. on my thread will show you the site works that went into my build on the slope/ Re: Question about a sloping block 4Nov 02, 2014 6:55 pm Thanks guys! Rocky1 I just looked at your link and your home is beautiful. I just got an email response from M-n Project Builders and she found when investigating our address that she had already quoted for a single level home on our block for the previous owners so had the initial site inspection report to go off. She said they'd quoted $67,800 for the site excavation alone on a single story home with a smaller footprint than what we are interested in because of the slope and the cut and fill and the retaining they'd have to do. She recommended a spilt level as well. How do I put a photo on here please? Re: Question about a sloping block 5Nov 02, 2014 7:23 pm I notice in the OP that you stated you want to use a project home builder because your both busy and don't have time to deal with issues. Don't fool yourself thinking this, you will have issues with all builders you will need to deal with. I think you need to read around a bit more and determine if the project builder or private builder is for you. Plenty of stuff here to learn. Keep reading and don't jump in too quick. It's good that you have a starting point with M. If you're happy with those site costs then see if they will fix them, don't go into it with provisional costs, you may just find they blow out. Anyway keep asking questions happy to help Re: Question about a sloping block 6Nov 02, 2014 7:47 pm Thank you We aren't starting to build until September next year so I'll be doing A LOT of research and am very glad to have found this forum! From what I've read so far project homes can be quite difficult too and I think our block will provide a few worries for us. I think we will research split level homes and get a few people out to quote. Re: Question about a sloping block 7Nov 02, 2014 7:48 pm thanks new i use tiny pic to download pics and others use photo bucket there is a thread somewhere about pics i will try and find it; my builder was a small builder at the time but has now grown. ask the builder who is quoting cost for a split level home so you can compare as well. Re: Question about a sloping block 9Nov 03, 2014 5:44 pm It looks like split levels are $300,000 and above. Eeek!!! We will be saving extra hard for the next year now !!!!!!!! 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 12401 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 18563 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 20151 |