Pouring the slab: the week your house gets a floor
Site cut, footings, steel, the engineer's check and the pour, day by day (sample diary).
We design your house, then we build it
Hollowbrook Homes (sample) is one team of designers, site supervisors and carpenters in Springfield. Here is how your home goes up, stage by stage, and what you pay at the end of each one.
1
Site visit
Week 1
Free
2
Design
Weeks 2 to 9
Design fee
3
Permit and fixed price
Weeks 10 to 17
5% deposit
4
Base
Weeks 18 to 21
15%
5
Frame
Weeks 22 to 26
20%
6
Lock-up
Weeks 27 to 33
25%
7
Fixing
Weeks 34 to 42
20%
8
Handover
Week 44
15%
Weeks and payments for a typical single-storey home of 200 m² (sample). Payments are shares of the fixed contract price.
What we build
New homes, extensions and knockdown rebuilds within 30 miles of Springfield. Prices per square metre are for the whole build, design and permit included.
Single storey homes
Three to five bedrooms on one level, on flat or gently sloping blocks. Easy to live in at every age.
Two storey homes
More garden on a smaller block: living rooms downstairs, bedrooms upstairs, and room for a study or a guest suite.
Homes on sloping blocks
Split levels and suspended floors that follow the ground, instead of cutting it flat and building retaining walls.
Extensions
Kitchens, family rooms and second storeys added to the house you have, while you keep living in it.
Knockdown and rebuild
Keep the street and the neighbours, lose the old house: demolition, permits and a new home on the same block.
Example prices, for homes built in 2026.
Homes on site and handed over
Each home shows the stage it has reached, drawn the same way as the strip at the top of this page.
House on Ridge Lane
Stage 6 of 8, lock-up
Week 31 of 44 (sample)
Place
Springfield (sample)
Home
Split level on a sloping block, 3 bedrooms
Floor area
196 m²
Build
Handover planned for February
Rear extension, Station Street
Stage 5 of 8, frame
Week 6 of 18 (sample)
Place
Old Town, Springfield (sample)
Home
Kitchen and family room extension
Floor area
46 m²
Build
The family stays at home during the build
Courtyard house, Fenwick Road
Stage 8 of 8, handover
Handed over March 2025 (sample)
Place
Springfield (sample)
Home
Single storey, 4 bedrooms
Floor area
212 m²
Build
43 weeks on site
Family home, Orchard Rise
Stage 8 of 8, handover
Handed over August 2024 (sample)
Place
Hollins (sample)
Home
Two storey, 5 bedrooms
Floor area
268 m²
Build
46 weeks on site
Projects, places and dates (sample).
What the fixed price covers
You sign one contract at stage 3, with one price for the design, the permit and the whole build. It only changes if you ask for a change in writing.
In the fixed price
- Design, construction drawings and the engineer's details
- Soil test, survey and the building permit
- Site cut on blocks up to a 1-in-10 slope
- Insulation and double glazing throughout
- Kitchen, bathrooms and laundry from our selection range
- Driveway, paths and a tidy block at handover
Not in the fixed price
- Landscaping beyond paths and the driveway
- Retaining walls on steeper blocks (priced after the soil test)
- Furniture, curtains and blinds
- Council and water connection fees, paid at cost
The people who draw it build it
Your designer leads stages 1 to 3 and your site supervisor leads stages 4 to 8. They sit in the same office, so the drawings and the site never argue.
Building homes since
2009
Designers
4
Site supervisors
Each runs four homes at a time, at most
3
Our own carpenters
11
Team facts (sample).
Questions we hear on the block
Can you build on a sloping block?
Yes. Up to a 1-in-10 slope the site cut is in the fixed price. Steeper than that we design a split level or a suspended floor, and price retaining walls after the soil test.
When do we pay, and how much?
Nothing for the site visit, a design fee for stage 2, a 5% deposit when you sign the fixed-price contract, then a progress payment at the end of each build stage: 15% base, 20% frame, 25% lock-up, 20% fixing and 15% at handover (sample).
Can we change the design once building starts?
Small changes are possible until the frame stage, as a written variation with its price before any work is done. After lock-up, changes to walls, windows and plumbing get expensive.
How long does a new home take?
About ten months from the first site visit to the keys for a single-storey home: eight weeks of design, eight for the permit and the contract, then 36 to 44 weeks on site (sample).
Can we visit the site?
Yes, with your site supervisor. You get a walk-through at the end of every build stage, and you can book a visit any other week. Closed shoes, and children stay outside the fence.
From the site diary
Frame stage: why we stop and wait for the inspector
Studs, trusses and bracing go up in about five weeks, and nothing is covered until the inspection passes (sample).
Fixing: the longest stage, and the one you see most
Plaster, kitchen, bathrooms, doors and paint: nine weeks where the house starts to look like home (sample).
Send us the address of your block
Tell us where the land is and what you would like to build. A designer calls you within two working days and books a free site visit: an hour on the block with the person who would draw your home.