Levelling a sloping block can make a slab house possible – a favourite of Queensland homeowners.
But, the steeper the incline, the more expensive and complicated levelling becomes.
High retaining walls require more engineering and more approvals, drainage and run-off can create problems, and your home risks becoming ‘buried’ in the hill, cut off from breezes and sunlight.
A split-level house sidesteps those problems by working with your property’s natural landscape.
The result: a home unconstrained by slab size, with the views and ventilation that can make sloping blocks such a worthwhile investment.
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‘We built with Arista, formerly Hotondo Jimboomba. Great team with awesome service.
They were flexible with our floor plan and there were no price increases along the way.
We love our new home.’
Andrew & Sachiko
Most builders avoid split-level builds.
Levelling a block to make a standard home fit is easier, even if it costs the homeowner more and compromises the house design.
Your dream home shouldn’t be ‘easy’, though.
It should be right – for you, for your lifestyle, and for your property.
Our design team can help you explore different options for a custom build on a sloping block, ranging from dual slabs to a steel pier-and-beam structure.
Once we’ve arrived at a layout that matches your vision, we’ll liaise with our engineering consultants to work through the technical aspects of the build.
We specialise in steel-framed builds -
Ideal for steep blocks that require pier-and-beam structures.
‘As first home builders, we were quite unsure of the process, however Daniel at Arista Homes was extremely helpful and guided us through each step.
Our home was was built in 7 months, before the expected time, which was great as we were in before Christmas.
The customer service was good and all staff were always happy to help. Now being in our home, as expected there are a few defects, nevertheless,
Arista’s team are all over it and have been prompt in getting this rectified. I highly recommend!’
Kylie & Liam
A split-level home naturally gravitates to light, air, and elevation.
Adding a second or third storey builds on that foundation, creating a visually stunning design that blends function and privacy – ideal for maximising your sloping block’s value.
Book a discussion to talk through exactly what a multi-storey split-level could look like on your property.
In Queensland, all new home builds must have home warranty insurance – but that doesn’t mean you’re protected.
Lodging a successful claim often requires time and money that new homeowners don’t have.
It’s why every new home we build includes a complimentary 12-month maintenance period in addition to your insurance.
If you encounter any construction defects after we’ve handed over the keys, we’ll fix them for you – at no extra cost and as soon as the right trades are free.
All timelines are approximate. Inclement weather, trade and material shortages, and other factors can affect how long your new home takes to be built.
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A custom split-level home can be slightly more expensive than a comparable custom slab home. The difference, though, is normally offset by better ventilation and views. If your block is very steep (above 30 degrees), you might start to incur additional engineering costs.
Extensive groundwork – for example, trying to put down a slab at a gradient of 10 degrees or higher – will add substantial costs that a standard split-level home avoids. Trying to force a standard slab home onto a sloping block could quite easily add $70,000 to $100,000 to your total building costs. You also risk having run-off and drainage issues that could have been avoided with a more natural split-level or suspended design.
A single-storey slab home is completely flat. A split-level home, by contrast, is built on a combination of multiple slabs and/or pier-and-beam foundations that work with the slope of the land. That means a one-storey home might have multiple ‘levels’ connected by short flights of stairs. Some split-level homes are also multi-storey, featuring second and even third floors.
If your property’s slope is relatively slight (under 10 degrees), a single slab is normally the most affordable option. Moderate slopes less than 20 degrees often benefit from a classic split-level design, where the home is divided into multiple levels at slightly different heights, each with its own slab. Steep slopes of 20 to 30 degrees are cheapest to build with a pier-and-beam structure; sometimes, that might include a slab on the bottom level. If your property has a slope greater than 30 degrees, you’ll typically need a pier-and-beam or suspended slab structure, which will increase in cost as the gradient rises.
We can build any of our standard home designs on low-gradient properties that can comfortably include a single slab (normally, that means a slope of less than 10 degrees). If our designers and engineering consultants do recommend a split-level or pier-and-beam build, though, we’ll need to adjust your preferred design accordingly.
It’s also worth remembering that our standard designs are intended for slabs – the elevation of a sloping block means custom features, like large front decks and understorey garages, could be good options.
Ask questions. Get the information you need. No pressure-selling.
