Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 11, 2009 5:19 am Hi all,
I'm very new to this forum. And I'm a novice to this house building thing as well. We like a particular block of land very much but our builder says we get from the developer something like a 'compaction report' for the land, so we could avoid any nasty surprises and he could determine what slab type it's gonna be and work out the site costs satisfactorily. However when I asked for a copy of the report from the agent I was told there was none available, at least at this moment. Does everyone get a report something like this prepurchase? And how important is it? We like this land a lot, I'd like to know whether there is anything I can do to make sure what my builder warns me about. Thanks in advance... Re: Land Question 2Jan 11, 2009 6:14 am Welcome shermike!
To my understanding - a compaction report is usually produced when the block is comprised all/partly of land fill. So the compaction report tells you about how well settled in the soil is (air gaps etc decrease over time). If the site has had fill put in/on it - I'd say that a compaction report is essential. Poorly compacted soil can cause lots of issues once a house is completed - part of the house may subside causing cracking in your slab. In a worst case scenario - the back half my parents' home was sliding off a cliff because the soil was not compacted correctly. (this was a house built in the 1970s and engineering technology was not as good back then) After 4 years - we're in! Re: Land Question 3Jan 11, 2009 8:03 am Hi Stonecutter,
Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry if what I'm asking doesn't make sense. But how do we know whether or not the block has fill in it. Well, I have this drawing in which there is something mentioned like Fill/Cut on the legend. I'll be grateful if someone could tell me from the attached drawing whether anything can be interpreted from the criss cross pattern on the top row of blocks and the dotted lines running diagonally across the bottom row of blocks. I'm interested in Lots 304, 325 or 328. Cheers... Re: Land Question 5Jan 11, 2009 8:36 am You can attach either a photo using the IMG tags or a website by using the URL tags. I don't think you can attach any other types of files.
Does the land development have a website? That might be the easiest way. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Land Question 6Jan 11, 2009 9:49 am Is the block titled yet? Or is the development still under construction? If it's all complete and set to go, then (assuming there is fill in the subdivsion your block is in), you should be able to get hold of the report.
If it's still under construction, you'll have to decide whether to wait and risk someone else buying the land, or buy and hope that the site costs don't cripple you financially. We took a chance with our block, buying long before the subdivision was completed, because it was the only block in the estate that was the right size and shape, faced the right way and wasn't next to power lines or something else unacceptable to us. We knew a few things for sure, including that the soil in the area was clay with lots of basalt (risky, could have been BIG rocks underground) and some river silt, that there were no trees or other vegetation that would require removal, and that the block was pretty much dead flat. It turned out that there was quite a lot of fill on our block, and that added $4000-6000 onto what we'd been given as a ball park figure for site costs. The soil compaction report, which we got from the developer after our soil tests were done, reduced that by $2000. Could have been worse.... Your image files need to be hosted on the net somewhere....Photobucket, Flickr, Imageshack, or another of those free photo hosting sites is your best bet if you don't have a site of your own. Re: Land Question 7Jan 11, 2009 11:13 am Thank you guys.
Well, I'm just repeating my earlier post here. I'm sorry if what I'm asking doesn't make sense. But how do we know whether or not the block has fill in it. Well, I have this drawing in which there is something mentioned like Fill/Cut on the legend. I'll be grateful if someone could tell me from the attached drawing whether anything can be interpreted from the criss cross pattern on the top row of blocks and the dotted lines running diagonally across the bottom row of blocks. I'm interested in Lots 304, 325 or 328. Here is the link to the drawing: http://flickr.com/photos/shermike/ Cheers, Mike Re: Land Question 8Jan 11, 2009 11:50 am From my interpretation of the legend/key - block 305 looks like it's on fill. The other 2 don't. After 4 years - we're in! Re: Land Question 9Jan 11, 2009 7:25 pm I go the other way.. Looks like block 304 is a cut block... Check the legend... Its cross hatched, which to me indicates cut... If it was just lines on angle it would be fill...
Best ask anyway... The dashed lines across the whole development would be contour lines... Probably 0.5m apart... Electrical Engineer... Don't hold that against me... And keen owner builder... Mainly the building part!! Yeah I don't know why I came to a forum. Place is full of wierdos/pedos thought internet may help but I suppose I'll try my luck with someone in person. Cheers. I tried… 0 6438 Need advice on the backyard plan above. Should I excavate and cut all of the dirt to level with the house slab or semi-excavate as per photo above? Both left and right… 0 24852 13 6631 |