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Yes per the contract, the lot is the builder's until hand over but the builder must allow external parties representative of the owners to enter for inspections. Don't worry about theft, its covered under the builder's insurance.. apparently its quite common. I had to kick out a bunch of kids the other day when I found them inside my property!
I can't speak for others but for me personally it is the fear of vandalism, not so much theft (though even with theft, damage is inevitable). And in this day and age, there is probably a "how to pick" video for every commercial lock out there ever sold
I bought an expensive ($60) lock from Bunnings 5 months ago only to find such a video put up on Youtube that very evening! So locking up a fenced off building site is only going to deter the laziest, casual, opportunistic passers-by. It isn't going to stop any pro or semi-pro from getting in.
Quote:
I do however have permission to start the retaining wall. I need to backfill the block to level it out. I need advice on how to build a retaining was with a fence on top! I'm thinking of using sleepers.
I would recommend if at all possible you push the budget and get a retaining wall with proper footings underneath it and one of the concrete block retaining wall systems for the wall itself. I know it is going to stretch the budget, but you've put so much effort into it all so far I'd be concerned that using treated hardwoods is a bit of a compromise (though treated hardwood
Sleeper" doesn't necessarily mean timber - concrete sleepers are an option too.
I built a concrete sleeper wall myself earlier this year, with fence brackets pre-welded to the steel posts (concretesleeperretainingwallsbrisbane.com.au/sleeper-categories/fence-brackets-fence-posts). I'll get the actual fencing done after my build.
One tip would be to determine what type of fencing you plan on having before you build your wall. Colorbond means you can use 3mm brackets and 50mm sleepers (with 60PFC/UC posts). I want timber, and the additional mass meant 6mm brackets and 75mm sleepers with 100PFC/UC posts instead (and wider diameter footings, which made digging the footings an absolute pain as the post-hole digger I rented was technically only rated to for a 300mm auger diameter but I was using a 450mm auger which requires more torque to work effectively).
Check the installation manual for your chosen product to confirm all this, and remember to confirm MBRC's engineering requirements too. Most Councils require it for walls taller than a metre, but BCC advised me that they also require it for walls supporting fences where the combined height is great than 2m.
Quote:
I do however have permission to start the retaining wall. I need to backfill the block to level it out. I need advice on how to build a retaining was with a fence on top! I'm thinking of using sleepers.
I would recommend if at all possible you push the budget and get a retaining wall with proper footings underneath it and one of the concrete block retaining wall systems for the wall itself. I know it is going to stretch the budget, but you've put so much effort into it all so far I'd be concerned that using treated hardwoods is a bit of a compromise (though treated hardwood sleepers are better than treated pine).
Only reason I am mentioning this is that with my first build 20 years ago I did not realise the extent of retaining walls needed - I budgeted for the main wall out the front but not the ones towards the back of the property. So I had to compromise and went with a combination of a proper footing system and concrete blocks for the main wall and then treated hardwood and pine for the ones out the back.
Whilst the wall out the front with the proper footings and concrete blocks looked like it had been built yesterday 20 years down the track, the other walls were going to need some serious maintenance and rebuilding (though as I intimated earlier, the hardwood had done a lot better than the pine). And I simply did not have the money to re-do them 20 years later. But had I gotten the concrete blocks right at the very beginning for all of the walls, I never would have had to touch them again in my lifetime.
If I look at one of the new estates near where I am living at the moment, every single block has already had retaining walls added by the estate developer and they are all built with proper footings and concrete blocks. That way the future owners will never have to worry about walls again. So if you reckon you'll be living in your new home for the long haul (say, 18 years plus), maybe it might be better to take the pain now. Plus your fence will thank you versus if you'd stuck it up on top of a treated wood wall. With concrete blocks you can drive the fence into the blocks - with wood it will just sit on top of the backfill. Again, not a good look over the long term as the fence won't be as well supported.
Thanks for the info
I should have mentioned that it's not so much a "retaining wall" - I'd say its about 300mm step down to the next block. I'll be using concrete sleepers with a membrane. I've got to head out there and do some measuring next weekend. The house next door is a rental, I've requests that the owners get in contact with me a few times, but haven't heard from them at all. I doubt they will shell out any money to replace the slat fence that's there now.
Yes per the contract, the lot is the builder's until hand over but the builder must allow external parties representative of the owners to enter for inspections. Don't worry about theft, its covered under the builder's insurance.. apparently its quite common. I had to kick out a bunch of kids the other day when I found them inside my property!
I can't speak for others but for me personally it is the fear of vandalism, not so much theft (though even with theft, damage is inevitable). And in this day and age, there is probably a "how to pick" video for every commercial lock out there ever sold
I bought an expensive ($60) lock from Bunnings 5 months ago only to find such a video put up on Youtube that very evening! So locking up a fenced off building site is only going to deter the laziest, casual, opportunistic passers-by. It isn't going to stop any pro or semi-pro from getting in.
Oh - I know that a combination bike lock isn't going to stop anyone from getting onsite, nor any lock on the house from getting inside. But yeah - it will stop a bunch of kids who are just out to cause some random damage to a nice new house.
I feel for you mate. Going through precisely the same emotions now my house is only a few weeks away from PCI. Hang in there and think the best of humanity!
I feel for you mate. Going through precisely the same emotions now my house is only a few weeks away from PCI. Hang in there and think the best of humanity!
Cheers - I know it will be fine.
What a week already!
House is officially locked up! WOOOOOOOH!!!
Internal d
oors being hung today Kitchen and fittings to be started tomorrow.
We got a call from the SS this morning asking if we were happy to have our floor tiling done while the build is happening.
BACK STORY...
We have elected to do the main floor tiling after hand over - we got a few quotes and ended up using the same tiler that is doing our build.
Now he has asked if he can do all the tiling at once - I guess so he doesn't have to come back... I'm very happy with that, mainly because getting a tiler to do such a large job right before XMas will be almost impossible. The risk we run is damage. It wont be covered by the builder. I'm happy to take that risk if it means we get it done before the move date. Have already contacted the tile supplier to organise delivery
We have an appointment with the tiler on Monday morning to go over our choices and confirm what goes where.
News from the work side of things..... I was rated suitable for a position I applied for a while ago, and was placed on an order of merit. Not a bad result - lets call it a draw...
Anyway - I received a call offering me a 3 month position! I'm really happy, and it comes with a substantial pay rise - like very substantial... If I do well I should be offered an ongoing position in that area.
In other news - got a call from the current real-estate agent that we are renting through - the owners are looking to sell the place once we leave. It makes no difference to us I guess - having people looking through the place either to rent or sell.. I would buy it as its a great place, but does need some work.
Trying to get rid of some stuff that we don't want to take to the new place - gumtree is a nightmare.... even when giving stuff away, people just seem to make it so difficult. Anyway - ill end up taking it to good will as I just can't be bothered with people in general at the moment.
Congratulations on the new role!!!
Locked up already woohoo!!!! Winning on the tiling, we have opted to do our flooring after handover too ( not tiles though) i would love for them to get in their early to do it would save us having to reattach the skirting and patch up nail holes.
Congratulations on the new role!!!
Locked up already woohoo!!!! Winning on the tiling, we have opted to do our flooring after handover too ( not tiles though) i would love for them to get in their early to do it would save us having to reattach the skirting and patch up nail holes.
Thank you!
Congrats Brent! Don't let lifestyle creep get to you though! Good timing with all the life changes!
Week 12 - Tiling
Met with the SS and the tiler this morning. Walk through was great - everything looks perfect.
Tiling - did the approval of what goes where and made some minor adjustments to heights in the ensuite. Only because where the shower tiles wrap round and meet the feature was were different heights, So popped into Up Tiles and ordered some more feature tiles to do an extra 4 rows.
Now the floor tiles....
These are what we are getting - When Allison arranged the quote she must have just said we just had long floor tiles or something like that - because once the tiler saw these, he wasn't happy with the pricing he thought he gave. See - It was an over the phone quote, and I don't know what Allison said to him or his wife when getting the quote. Anyway, it turns out the he needs to charge $90 per SQM - we are getting about 170 sqm of floor tiling.. do the math.
He did however knock $10 a sqm for the confusion. I did say that I have the quote in an email, but he said at that price he would need to do half the job for free.
Anyway - I did think he was very cheap as the rest of the quotes were in the $80 - $120 per sqm.
So tiling this week - he seems like a hard working bloke that takes pride in his work. The way he was talking, he has about 5 other jobs on the go also. Busy man.
I have a bunch of pics to upload - doing that now.
Week 12 - Tiling
Met with the SS and the tiler this morning. Walk through was great - everything looks perfect.
Tiling - did the approval of what goes where and made some minor adjustments to heights in the ensuite. Only because where the shower tiles wrap round and meet the feature was were different heights, So popped into Up Tiles and ordered some more feature tiles to do an extra 4 rows.
Now the floor tiles....
These are what we are getting - When Allison arranged the quote she must have just said we just had long floor tiles or something like that - because once the tiler saw these, he wasn't happy with the pricing he thought he gave. See - It was an over the phone quote, and I don't know what Allison said to him or his wife when getting the quote. Anyway, it turns out the he needs to charge $90 per SQM - we are getting about 170 sqm of floor tiling.. do the math.
He did however knock $10 a sqm for the confusion. I did say that I have the quote in an email, but he said at that price he would need to do half the job for free.
Anyway - I did think he was very cheap as the rest of the quotes were in the $80 - $120 per sqm.
So tiling this week - he seems like a hard working bloke that takes pride in his work. The way he was talking, he has about 5 other jobs on the go also. Busy man.
I have a bunch of pics to upload - doing that now.
and here I am trying to keep my flooring budget to $2K and under.. man that's crazy prices...
Week 12 - Tiling
Met with the SS and the tiler this morning. Walk through was great - everything looks perfect.
Tiling - did the approval of what goes where and made some minor adjustments to heights in the ensuite. Only because where the shower tiles wrap round and meet the feature was were different heights, So popped into Up Tiles and ordered some more feature tiles to do an extra 4 rows.
Now the floor tiles....
These are what we are getting - When Allison arranged the quote she must have just said we just had long floor tiles or something like that - because once the tiler saw these, he wasn't happy with the pricing he thought he gave. See - It was an over the phone quote, and I don't know what Allison said to him or his wife when getting the quote. Anyway, it turns out the he needs to charge $90 per SQM - we are getting about 170 sqm of floor tiling.. do the math.
He did however knock $10 a sqm for the confusion. I did say that I have the quote in an email, but he said at that price he would need to do half the job for free.
Anyway - I did think he was very cheap as the rest of the quotes were in the $80 - $120 per sqm.
So tiling this week - he seems like a hard working bloke that takes pride in his work. The way he was talking, he has about 5 other jobs on the go also. Busy man.
I have a bunch of pics to upload - doing that now.
and here I am trying to keep my flooring budget to $2K and under.. man that's crazy prices...
Right.... It was one of those "It seemed like a good idea at the time" ideas. Got all excited about the tiles, didn't really understand that with such a large porcelain tile, it cost 3 times as much to lay. Someone told us that "yeah, should only be about $30 a square metre"... nope.
Pic uploading now.
Get ready for some photo spam!!
While I was talking with the tiler - him and his wife kept saying "Such a beautiful house! So much space!".
Main hall
Front hall
Main hall
Media
Bed 3
Powder Room
Main Hall
With bath. People thought I was crazy to put the bath in the middle like this - look who's laughing now!!!
Bathroom
Bed 4 - Dialysis room
Bed 4 - Dialysis room
Ensuite - Free standing bath to be installed on the wall to the left - shower and toilet behind that wall.
Ensuite - His and Hers
Bed 2
Butlers pantry
Kitchen - pantry doors
Kitchen
Butlers pantry - dishwasher cavity
Butlers pantry - overheads
Kitchen - Oven and microwave tower
Enjoy
And yes - the little cupboards do look funny in that last pic - the kitchen people made an error - but to be honest - its perfect for chopping boards and baking trays
The overhead one is perfect for spices
Smashing photo. It's little eccentricities like that, that make a kitchen look interesting and personalised. Nice.
f*ck so nice.. can't wait to see more
f*ck so nice.. can't wait to see more
Great photos, shame about the tile pricing but what do you do. From someone that knows nothing i kind of thought it would be easier to lay bigger ones as theres less of them hahaha.
Great photos, shame about the tile pricing but what do you do. From someone that knows nothing i kind of thought it would be easier to lay bigger ones as theres less of them hahaha.
Takes waaaaay longer apparently. A lot harder also. We are getting the 1/3 brick pattern which puts the price up even further.