Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jan 08, 2014 9:07 am Hello everyone, My ex-wife (yes, we are still friendly) has just finished building a new home on a fairly difficult site in Sydney. The block slopes fairly steeply from front to back and ultimately she went to a home builder who specialises in sloping sites. End result is that due to the sloping of the block, the garage needed to be located on what is intuitively the wrong side of the home. The whole front facade of the home sits about 700mm-900mm above finished ground level, which meant that substantial landscaping was required. It also meant that almost all of the front garden is driveway. That's the history. At the time the house was built, my ex was heavily pregnant. She moved in within a week or so of the birth. As she had no time to project manage the landscaping, she chose a landcaper who claimed that he could look after the whole project for her, including retaining, planting, driveway pour etc. The cost was in the order of 55k, not insignificant. The full builders plans and site survey were given to the landcaper and he returned with nice computer generated shots of the work. References checked out and his web page claimed that he was licenced and insured. He started work not long afterwards. Within about a week, issues started to arise and it became evident that the landscaper had absolutely no idea what he was doing. His labourers were sourced from Gumtree and he was not on site supervising their work on a full time basis.The block work retaining wall at the rear of the property was very poorly constructed with blobs of mortar not raked out properly. I am sure the neighbour would have complained. The retaining wall was constructed without any approvals and higher than originally stipulated. Luckily, Council have permitted the works. Other issues included the weep holes of the home being covered by soil and turf, which would void her termite warranty and timber garden fences being used as retaining walls, causing them to come apart under the loads. Added to that, there was no drainage installed and water issues are major. The problems are just about everywhere. Almost the whole front yard is driveway and all of the water runs down towards the house.... the only protection is a painted on membrane. No ag line, no proper driveway drainage. In all, it has been a disaster and although the landscaper is trying to fix the issues, I fear that he really has no idea. I have conducted checks and the licence number that he quoted has never been issued by Office of Fair Trading and he was trading partially insolvent at the start of last year. End result.... not a licenced tradesman, not qualified to do the work and does not have the financial capacity to fix up his stuff ups. You have no idea how much i want to publish his business name here but unfortunately that would end with me in court. Another issue was discovered today. When looking at the plans, there should have been a retaining wall built across the front of the house, to retain the 700mm of soil which is now currently resting against the house with a 10cm thick driveway slab over the top. There is nothing supporting the brick wall and I am very concerned that the pressure of the soil will cause issues with the brick courses under the garage and other areas of the front of home. I think that it may also cause water to get into the underhouse area and cause damage in the dwelling. A properly constructed retaining wall and drainage would have reduced this likelihood. I have posted a picture of the home which should make it easier to understand. I guess my question is that she / we have no idea who to turn to. I know that we can go down the penalties path with Fair Trading and the Tribunal but our priority right now is trying to get the work finished to a good standard and ensuring that it is safe. My ex is very worried that her house will be damaged by the fill and driveway resting against the brickwork of her home - the plans stated that there should have been a retaining wall constructed but this has not been done. Any rectification would involve cutting out a part of the driveway and digging out the soil before building adequate retaining. This is major work that neither she nor the landscaper can afford. I would lay odds that no insurance policy is in place so there is no recourse there. Are there any qualified landscapers / builders / engineers out there who could maybe suggest the correct way to move forward here? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Thanks Greg. Re: Massive Problems with Landscaper - Is this new home ruin 3Jan 09, 2014 8:27 pm The soil is gonne hold moisture which will cause issues.. really the only course of action I can think of is wgat you have already auggested.. move the soil away and build the retaining wall. Photos woukd help Re: Massive Problems with Landscaper - Is this new home ruin 4Jan 09, 2014 8:29 pm Hi Nikki. Thanks for your reply. I will get some photos and post. Can't believe the bad luck. Hi, Wondering anyone has any recommendation of good landscaper for new home in southern Sydney? My land is a bit sloppy down need a good design. Thanks. 0 2033 I am not a brick expert, but rendering would be 1 option, it would be costly to do the entire house though.... 2 6680 Hi all, has anyone been ask to do the weeds in their property while in the middle of build? We are under the impression that they are in control of the site while they… 0 2774 |