Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 17, 2020 8:25 pm I'm new to the world of knockdown and rebuild. Can someone help me understand what are the site costs involved in a KDR? Also, what can one do to avoid expensive surprises? Based on the little information I have, couple of questions - 1. Can I arrange for soil test before purchasing the property? 2. If the existing house is on slab, doesn't that rule out the chances of running into big rocks etc post the knockdown? Re: KDR site costs 2Jun 18, 2020 6:13 pm acaboi I'm new to the world of knockdown and rebuild. Can someone help me understand what are the site costs involved in a KDR? Also, what can one do to avoid expensive surprises? Based on the little information I have, couple of questions - 1. Can I arrange for soil test before purchasing the property? 2. If the existing house is on slab, doesn't that rule out the chances of running into big rocks etc post the knockdown? Normally a soil test can not be done if you don't own the property, but most KDR sites will normally come back as H1, if a house is already on a slab does not necessarily mean you will not encounter rock, even the soil tests can not guarantee to tell you if there is or isn't rock on site Depending on the council, the size of the block, the size of your home, on site detention could be a requirement and can be as little as $1500 and upwards of $70K (normally on duplex projects in Ryde ) Danger with KDR is during demolition is the unearthing of asbestos, majority of home build prior to 1981 has asbestos in it Re: KDR site costs 3Jun 19, 2020 11:56 am Soil test involves taking a core sample. Highly unlikely a vendor will let you do that before purchase (they could arrange it if they wanted to provide it with the sale). With my KDR the builder did a soil test at the front an back of the house with a hand machine before demolition and did a site cost estimate. They wouldn't fix the site costs until the house was demolished and they could get a machine in do full tests . Fortunately for me the actual site cost came is less than their estimate, which was around $35k! Re: KDR site costs 4Jun 22, 2020 10:32 am brokenstick Soil test involves taking a core sample. Highly unlikely a vendor will let you do that before purchase (they could arrange it if they wanted to provide it with the sale). With my KDR the builder did a soil test at the front an back of the house with a hand machine before demolition and did a site cost estimate. They wouldn't fix the site costs until the house was demolished and they could get a machine in do full tests . Fortunately for me the actual site cost came is less than their estimate, which was around $35k! Thanks for that. My understanding is that most builders will allow for a certain amount for site costs in the tender, which will be covered under the building mortgage. Anything over that allowed amount will have to be paid out of pocket, is that right? Re: KDR site costs 5Jun 26, 2020 1:32 pm I'm new too Have purchased but waiting on settlement so just ahead of you. Demo - I budgeted $20k based on what it cost my friend, except that he had a septic tank on the block and mine has double the amount of trees. The quotes came in about $18k. Things to look out for are asbestos in house/fencing, old lead pipes (impact soil), slabs (cost more to demo), trees/vegetation, service connections. Feature and contour survey - Quotes came in around $900 but every builder I've talked to said they can't give me a figure for site costs without this. Soil survey - I'd been looking in the area for a while so had been talking to developers/people who had subdivided and sold the land so wasn't too worried about this one, most of the builders I've spoken to have built in the area so had a rough idea of the soil profile. You could probably arrange one with the real estate agent pre-settlement if the house is vacant. I recently did an enquiry on Dial before you dig (it's free) as I'm doing a demo and it shows you the map of services/assets (water/sewerage, electricity, gas etc). These will also impact your site costs, if it's an old house will probably still be overhead power, you'll need to pay for a green dome to convert to underground. If there's an easement on the land it changes the way you can build (if you do build over it you'll need piers (?)). If there's a high pressure gas line within 15m you have to get permission. I had a guy from a project builder offer to come out and do a feasibility study (I didn't take him up on it but if you wanted some expert help I guess, keeping in mind they are salesmen). Also keep in mind shape of block, orientation, contour (I just looked on the council map and the change in elevation was minimal enough, I also stood in the corners of the land and guesstimated the slope, be wary of giant weeds in the corner they might cover an unexpected dip), trees on council land, condition of fencing, overhead power lines. I'm in WA so I'll have to put in soakwells (for stormwater) but I'd have to anyway if it was a vacant lot. Hope this helps. See if any of the builders are willing to fix site costs, I don't know what it's like in NSW but doesn't hurt to ask. Re: KDR site costs 7Jun 28, 2020 6:39 pm GrahamB acaboi I'm new to the world of knockdown and rebuild. Can someone help me understand what are the site costs involved in a KDR? Also, what can one do to avoid expensive surprises? Based on the little information I have, couple of questions - 1. Can I arrange for soil test before purchasing the property? 2. If the existing house is on slab, doesn't that rule out the chances of running into big rocks etc post the knockdown? Normally a soil test can not be done if you don't own the property, but most KDR sites will normally come back as H1 I can understand how a KDR will result in a P site classification but how can a KDR change a soil type to be highly reactive. Re: KDR site costs 8Jun 28, 2020 8:58 pm theshack GrahamB acaboi I'm new to the world of knockdown and rebuild. Can someone help me understand what are the site costs involved in a KDR? Also, what can one do to avoid expensive surprises? Based on the little information I have, couple of questions - 1. Can I arrange for soil test before purchasing the property? 2. If the existing house is on slab, doesn't that rule out the chances of running into big rocks etc post the knockdown? Normally a soil test can not be done if you don't own the property, but most KDR sites will normally come back as H1 I can understand how a KDR will result in a P site classification but how can a KDR change a soil type to be highly reactive. It doesn't, in my experience providing prices for over 2000 homes over the years, most KDR classifications in the Sydney region come back as H Class We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 36911 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 13053 Is anyone building with Mojo and have a recent site cost tender 0 15929 |