Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 24, 2008 4:34 pm Can anyone tell me if having a lot of fill on your site is always a bad thing?
There was an old house on our site, and now it has been removed there is a lot of fill required. I have had a survey sent to me buy the developer, and it looks like there will be around a 1 - 1.5m of fill over the back half of our block. This means our slab will have about the back half of it sat on fill. We are building a two storey. Does anyone know what sort of impact this amount of fill is likely to have cost-wise? We are still a week or two away from being able to have soil tests done, so I'm trying to ready myself for any big surprises. Cheers. Re: Site Costs? 2Jul 24, 2008 8:24 pm Our site costs were up near $50,000. We're on quite a slope with a lot of fill. I got two quotes. I've heard of others with similar circumstances having low site costs. I think it depends on the builder and the block. Fi has moved in!! Re: Site Costs? 3Jul 25, 2008 7:08 am $50k - Jeez......if it's anything like that, we'll have to cancel the bloody build! Re: Site Costs? 4Jul 25, 2008 8:58 am Basically fill means unstable ground and they need some way to stable it. It may only mean a thicker slab (ie P class) or it may mean screw piles and a reinforced slab. I am not an engineer but they will look at your site and determine what measures are needed to stabilise it so the building is structurly sound.
1.5m of fill shouldn't be too bad but you won't know till your soil test and engineers report come back. don't worry it could be a lot worse, we are sitting on up to 6.5m of fill which could translate to to $50K just for screw piles and then more for the reinforced P class slab!!! Re: Site Costs? 5Jul 25, 2008 9:04 am I'm just getting a bit anxious I think. Everything else is all fixed now as far as costs go, and we are right at the top of our budget - can't go any higher without sacrificing something.
We allowed for an 'M' class slab upgrade at the outset anyway, ($3,800), as the block had an old house on it to come down, so we knew there would be some ground disturbance. We also put in an allowance of $5,000 for additional site works as we have some very tall trees within a few meters of the long side of the house. We're just hoping that the upgraded slab and already allowed 5k will be enough. Actually, we're hoping it will be more than enough and we'll get some back! We're about a week away from soil tests, and three weeks from that for costs. It's the last 'unknown' cost before we go to contract. Re: Site Costs? 6Jul 25, 2008 9:50 am We are building on soft sandy silty soils with a fall of about 1m across the block. This means a cut and fill, and the fill side will be along the boundary where the garage will go. We are extremely lucky that we don't require retaining walls, but the part of the slab along the boundary will have deeper piers, and another part of the slab will have to be reinforced where the 'silt' is deeper than on other parts of the site. This was all 'guestimated' after the first soil tests, but we will know more after the second tests, once the house comes down.
We are lucky to only pay just over $15,000 in site costs. It may change if we also require root barrier for some neighbouring trees. Good luck! Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Site Costs? 7Jul 25, 2008 10:01 am Sorry to interupt the thread guys - I seem to be making a habit of it lately
Stormy, When they did your initial soil test to get your site costs did they just do this in a vacant spot on your land where the house wasn't sitting? We need to have an initial soil test before demolition and I'm hoping it will be able to give us a fairly accurate site cost allowance, I'm just wondering how they measure the amount of fall on the land etc when there is a house in the way My karma ran over your dogma Re: Site Costs? 8Jul 25, 2008 10:18 am haywgl We need to have an initial soil test before demolition and I'm hoping it will be able to give us a fairly accurate site cost allowance, I'm just wondering how they measure the amount of fall on the land etc when there is a house in the way The fall of land is not an issue - I could do it for you with a string line and some tomato stakes. They won't lock in a site allowance until they can do a soil test right where your house is located - it's total BS because a few metres means bugger geotechnically all but it's the way builders work. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Site Costs? 10Jul 25, 2008 10:32 am Tony & Emma I'm just getting a bit anxious I think. Everything else is all fixed now as far as costs go, and we are right at the top of our budget - can't go any higher without sacrificing something. We allowed for an 'M' class slab upgrade at the outset anyway, ($3,800), as the block had an old house on it to come down, so we knew there would be some ground disturbance. We also put in an allowance of $5,000 for additional site works as we have some very tall trees within a few meters of the long side of the house. We're just hoping that the upgraded slab and already allowed 5k will be enough. Actually, we're hoping it will be more than enough and we'll get some back! We're about a week away from soil tests, and three weeks from that for costs. It's the last 'unknown' cost before we go to contract. Th extra fill may require an upgrade to a 'H' class slab. That would cost about $3k depending on your slab size. The engineer may determine that a drop edge beam is required at the rear. This would be another $2k. Hitting rock or discovering loose soil below the fill will increase costs even more. If you hear the term "screw piers" they prepare yourself for a price shock. As a rough estimate large trees should cost around $500 each to remove, provided there is complete access. It may cost more if they are near existing homes which need to be protected. Re: Site Costs? 11Jul 25, 2008 10:45 am floorit Th extra fill may require an upgrade to a 'H' class slab. That would cost about $3k depending on your slab size. The engineer may determine that a drop edge beam is required at the rear. This would be another $2k. Hitting rock or discovering loose soil below the fill will increase costs even more. If you hear the term "screw piers" they prepare yourself for a price shock. As a rough estimate large trees should cost around $500 each to remove, provided there is complete access. It may cost more if they are near existing homes which need to be protected. Thanks. I got my slabs mixed up in my first post, it is an 'H' class we have allowed for anyway, quoted originally at $3,365. The salesperson said to allow for piers for the rear half of the slab as this is where the news slab foot print would overlap the front of the old original house. She put in an allowance of $5,000 for this. So, we're hoping the $5,000 plus the upgraded 'H' class slab will be enough. I'm really anxious now - just want to get these costs ironed out ASAP. We can't remove the trees as they are on the neighbouring property, (an orchard). They are very tall pine type trees that run along the border between our block and the orchard. The ground seems to me to be clay. It's very 'claggy' - total nightmare when you visit after rain, it sticks to your shoes like the proverbial poo to a blanket. We're building on the Chase, Berwick, at the very top corner next to the orchard. I know there are a few on here that have built on the Chase, would be good to hear what those site costs were. Our block on the engineering drawing only has 800mm of fall from one corner to the other, it's 32m long and 20m wide. However, they found a cellar under the old house which is one of the reasons why we are looking at so much extra fill. Oh well, looks like the evap, bifolds and double glazing might have to be cancelled in order to cover site costs! Re: Site Costs? 12Jul 25, 2008 11:01 am Tony & Emma floorit Th extra fill may require an upgrade to a 'H' class slab. That would cost about $3k depending on your slab size. The engineer may determine that a drop edge beam is required at the rear. This would be another $2k. Hitting rock or discovering loose soil below the fill will increase costs even more. If you hear the term "screw piers" they prepare yourself for a price shock. As a rough estimate large trees should cost around $500 each to remove, provided there is complete access. It may cost more if they are near existing homes which need to be protected. Thanks. I got my slabs mixed up in my first post, it is an 'H' class we have allowed for anyway, quoted originally at $3,365. The salesperson said to allow for piers for the rear half of the slab as this is where the news slab foot print would overlap the front of the old original house. She put in an allowance of $5,000 for this. So, we're hoping the $5,000 plus the upgraded 'H' class slab will be enough. I'm really anxious now - just want to get these costs ironed out ASAP. We can't remove the trees as they are on the neighbouring property, (an orchard). They are very tall pine type trees that run along the border between our block and the orchard. The ground seems to me to be clay. It's very 'claggy' - total nightmare when you visit after rain, it sticks to your shoes like the proverbial poo to a blanket. We're building on the Chase, Berwick, at the very top corner next to the orchard. I know there are a few on here that have built on the Chase, would be good to hear what those site costs were. Our block on the engineering drawing only has 800mm of fall from one corner to the other, it's 32m long and 20m wide. However, they found a cellar under the old house which is one of the reasons why we are looking at so much extra fill. Oh well, looks like the evap, bifolds and double glazing might have to be cancelled in order to cover site costs! From your description I think you'll be OK. Since the 'H' class slab is already accounted for, your $5K should cover the drop edge beam and tree removal. Re: Site Costs? 13Jul 25, 2008 11:04 am Lets hope so.
As said above though, we cannot remove the trees as they are not ours. I have heard that sometimes a root barrier is required? Are these expensive? Cheers. Re: Site Costs? 14Jul 25, 2008 11:17 am Hi Tony and Emma,
Just a quick question about your 800mm fall. We have bought a plot at Arena at Officer and our plot has approx 830mm of fall across the 18x32 plot. Just wondering if your builders have considered this a prob or what costs they have estimated for this? we haven't had this discussion yet as we are quite early on in the process! Our plans also state there is some fill, over 200mm whatever that means! Anyway, the developers have said that this has been compacted to an M clas slab, still awaiting the compaction report to see if this is accurate lol Cheers Re: Site Costs? 15Jul 25, 2008 11:23 am Hi Peppapig,
I'm no expert on these things - hence my original post. What I can say is what our builder initially told us:- 800mm fall over that size is very good, (I think they work on a max fall of 300mm over the slab area). M class slab is a basic slab I believe. Our builder includes basic site woks and an 'M' class slab as standard. We allotted $5,000 for any additional site works and $3,365 or an upgrade to a 'H' class slab as the salesperson for the builder told us that most slabs on our estate had been upgraded, so it was a safe bet our would also need to be. We're hoping that the above will cover any additional site works costs over and above what the builder includes, but as we have a lot of large trees adjoining, and we have a lot of ground disturbance due to the removal of an existing house, then we're worried we'll be in for a shock. To me though, yours sounds fairly straight forward? There's only one thing for certain - it doesn't matter who tells you what, at the end of the day it'll cost what it costs and that won't be determined until your builder has access to the site for soil tests. Good luck. Re: Site Costs? 16Jul 25, 2008 11:23 am Tony & Emma Lets hope so. As said above though, we cannot remove the trees as they are not ours. I have heard that sometimes a root barrier is required? Are these expensive? Cheers. Ahh.. OK. Sorry I must have misread early. Cost will depend on the length of the barrier required and the depth. For a barrier 1.5m deep you're probably looking at upto $200 per metre. So 20m of barrier is going to cost $4k. Re: Site Costs? 17Jul 25, 2008 11:27 am So, do you always need a root barrier - or is it tree species dependant.
I had heard that if they were mature there would be no need? Getting more wooried by the minute! Screw piles, root barriers......oh dear. A few sleepless nights until the costs come in. Re: Site Costs? 18Jul 25, 2008 11:35 am We are quite near to you in the chase. We had a H slab (most of the chase is H). We also had an 800mm over the block (we are on the high side of the street). I think all up the site costs were around $12K. We ended up getting a bit back as there was a rock allowance that wasn't needed, retaining wall not needed in the end, and temp fencing rebate for one side as owners moved in week temp fencing was to go up.
Hope this helps and good luck with the build Re: Site Costs? 19Jul 25, 2008 11:39 am Tony & Emma So, do you always need a root barrier - or is it tree species dependant. I had heard that if they were mature there would be no need? Getting more wooried by the minute! Screw piles, root barriers......oh dear. A few sleepless nights until the costs come in. Don't think about. There's not much you can do anyway. When the costs do come in make sure you go over every detail precisely and clearly with your builder to satisfy yourself that you're not getting overcharged. Re: Site Costs? 20Jul 25, 2008 11:41 am mudtrilogy We are quite near to you in the chase. We had a H slab (most of the chase is H). We also had an 800mm over the block (we are on the high side of the street). I think all up the site costs were around $12K. We ended up getting a bit back as there was a rock allowance that wasn't needed, retaining wall not needed in the end, and temp fencing rebate for one side as owners moved in week temp fencing was to go up. Hope this helps and good luck with the build 12K !!! Sheesh - I was hoping we'd get some change from our $8.5k. You say that your temp fence allowance was in that though? Was there anything else in it other than slab and site costs? (i.e. termite treatment etc). Our current allowance are:- 'H' class slab - $3,365 Site Cost Allowance - $5,000 Temporary fencing - $1,200 Termite Treatment - $1,600 Please tell me your $12k included termite treatment... I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 13091 Is anyone building with Mojo and have a recent site cost tender 0 15951 Henley should give you some indication of site costs. Too many variable to give you any reasonable accuracy 1 1879 |