Browse Forums Paving & Concreting 1 Nov 03, 2012 12:16 pm This question may be unanswerable without knowing details I don't have but I'll give it a go anyway. My builder tells me he used 97 cubic metres of concrete for our H class raft slab with a footprint of 168 square metres. The fall on the land was about 500mm from W to E and 300mm from N to S. Does this sound like a feasible amount of concrete? Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 2Nov 03, 2012 1:40 pm 97 cu.m. Seems quite a lot. A 'H1' type waffle raft slab for a 12m x 14m floor (168m2) will need less that 30 cu.m. of concrete. Post some plans to get peoples comments, also what is the building made of? are there piers needed? More info needed....... ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 3Nov 03, 2012 3:25 pm Hi, thanks for the reply. I can't post the plans because they are copyrighted to the building designer. The house is a one story basically weatherboard house with a Colourbond roof. The front facade is half brick veneer and half weatherboard. There were no piers needed - just a very straightforward L-shaped slab. Also the slab is not a waffle slab it is a stiffened raft slab - is that what they are called? Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 4Nov 03, 2012 3:53 pm Liliana Also the slab is not a waffle slab it is a stiffened raft slab - is that what they are called? Yep, that's what it is called. From what you've said then 97 does sound excessive. ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 5Nov 03, 2012 4:17 pm Hi Liliana It does not matter how much concrete builder has used, it's his cost that is unless he is trying to charge you extra. If he is then he has to justify why it was not allowed for properly in his price, why has it exceeded provisional sums (if any) and would have to prove with delivery dockets. Having said all that this sounds about two to three times normal amount. I would be asking a lot of questions. If you are not happy with the answers get builder's claim professionally checked. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 6Nov 03, 2012 6:17 pm Hi BuildingExpert and billpam, The reason I'm asking this question is that I recently found out, thanks to this forum, that as the builder had put down our concrete slab as a provisional item in our contract he was supposed to supply us with invoices and receipts before we paid for the slab to establish the exact sum. He never did this and our contract administrator as usual was missing in action. This week I asked him for the receipts and he has sent me two invoices from the same contractor. One invoice has 44.6 cubic metres of concrete and the other has 44.6 plus an extra 11.3 cubic metres charged at a different rate. The pour of our slab was delayed because there was some problem with site levels and we had to go back to the surveyor to change the permit. The first invoice is from before the change of permit, the second from after and I suspect it is the same invoice and the second one actually reflects the amount of concrete used because of the changed circumstances. That is why I was wondering if it was feasible that both lots of concrete were poured. Obviously next week I can ring the concreters and get an honest answer. He is also now claiming that the provisional sum for the slab, which was just written down as "1 concrete slab" contained $1500 for a land surveyor and his and his employees hours which he doesn't have an invoice for. Do you need to pay your builder for his hours? Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 7Nov 03, 2012 6:56 pm I would not be paying anything unless it is properly documented. I have never heard of the entire house slab as provisional sum. The more you talk about it the dodgier it looks, you are probably being taken to the cleaners. I can only repeat "get builder's claim professionally checked". You can PM Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 8Nov 03, 2012 7:34 pm Too late Building Expert. We paid the final payment in July. If the builder only paid one of these invoices for the slab then we paid twice as much for the slab as we needed to. I also am becomingly increasingly convinced that we overpaid for the entire house but there is nothing I can do about that now. We listened to our building designer who told us there was nothing unusual about the costs and we signed up for it.
Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 9Nov 03, 2012 8:11 pm I guess you better start facing the truth and look deeper into things and get your stands. After all it is your house not theirs. Also, from your other posts regarding weatherboard, when looking together with this one, it gives me the feeling that you are being ripped off. If it is ok, may be you tell us how much you pay for the slab as 97 m3 is definitely way over what you need. Re: Does this amount of concrete sound normal? 10Nov 03, 2012 8:34 pm The provisional sum for the concrete slab was $24,000. The two invoices together come to about 21,000 but if only the second invoice reflects what the builder actually paid to the house slab company then it cost 12,000 and he pocketed 12,000. WOW you are spot on. Those trees are on council land and have already caused significant problems. A few years ago the builder had to come back and install a root barrier… 7 2183 Do you have solar on the roof, because if its not a laying defect it looks almost like someone has been walking all over the roof in the mid section of the tile (weakest… 2 1900 Hi We have a road close to our place and only an old flimsy wooden fence between us and the Neighbour closest to the road. Any ideas on a sound proof modular fence. Like… 0 7458 |