Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 2Feb 06, 2009 10:39 am Building Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13002 Site start: 8th July 2009 Handover: 11/12/2009! 5 months total build time. 40 sqs of luxuary...Bliss! Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 3Feb 06, 2009 11:52 am Yeah I would loved to get reverse cycle aircon, but I think I read in a few threads that they are over 10K, which at the moment is way over our budget.
I lived without aircon in Perth for about 7 years (definately not recommended), so I thought any type of aircon is fine, as long as we have one. Maybe I'll buy a lotto ticket and my problems will be all solved ![]() Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 4Feb 06, 2009 3:10 pm I have been told that whatever u get from builders, they keep a little bit of profit in that. ![]() ![]() If u get it done with the builders, (assuming u will have ducted heating as well) u get just one duct (for heating and cooling) and even just one outlet for both. but I THINK, not 100% sure, the drawback is that both will have to run on electricity. if u do it later u will have 2 ducts running in the roof and will have 2 seperate outlets for each. but then u can run heating on gas and AC i think runs on electricity ![]() Ask ur builder , which company's evap cooling they use and u give them a call and get a quotation !!! we dint get the builders to put the refrigerated unit coz it wud have blown our budget too (11-13K for us) ![]() Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 6Feb 06, 2009 3:52 pm We are also in Perth and our soakwells (which the builder installed) were $6600. I wish I had thought it through at the time and researched putting underwater rainwater tanks in the ground rather than the soakwells.
Also, there was a drama with hitting limestone when they went to put the soakwells in. Luckily the builder went with Plan B which was to move them from the front yard to the back where they started digging and fortunately didnt hit any limestone... We were told that the cost of digging out the limestone could be around the 10K mark ![]() Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 7Feb 06, 2009 8:04 pm ![]() Hi there, No idea about the soakwells, but I could not think of anything worse than evap. a/c in Perth. What about upgrading to a reverse cycle refridgerated unit? Sooooo much nicer. We had evaporative aircon in Perth for 10 years. It was terrific but it depends on where you are planning to build. we also had a decent system not the barely able to manage our squ m size. It also depends on the brand. We also had ceiling fans in the main bedroom and lounge room for those really humid times. Not everyone likes the feel or has the money for refridgerative aircon. I know if we decide we need aircon again we'll be going evaporative again. Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 8Feb 06, 2009 9:34 pm We are doing our soakwell after handover. The person quoted us between $1900 and $2400. That is one soakwell with 10 downpipes...the higher cost was for 'worse case senario'.
As for our evap, when we were getting a quote, they said that most people/builders put in a size that will barely cover their Sqm, to cut cost, builders also use the cheaper system (with the minimum amount of outlets), rather than the better system. We are getting one that is larger than what we need so that it is not working overtime to try to cool the house. We also went for the better quality. For 11 outlets ours is going to cost approx $5k, and gold duct piping rather than the silver. (We only have one quote for the evap, we just neded to get it for the loan, but we will be talking to a couple of different companies for price and different brands also). Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 9Feb 06, 2009 9:43 pm We are also doing our soakwells after handover. Dh really would have loved to have gotten them done before had but we were worried about the additional cost that might go on to the price given our rocky ground. Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 10Feb 06, 2009 9:46 pm I should add that $6600 was for 3 soakwells. I am sure it was the standard ripped off builder price too, and had we shopped around or done it ourselves we would have saved some money. Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 11Feb 06, 2009 9:59 pm I think ours were 300 or 500 each from the builder. We were half considering getting just the front ones done by them but in the end decided to can the lot.
DH is now cursing since one is near the front door and one is between the garage and the front door one. Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 12Feb 06, 2009 11:30 pm We did our own soakwells. Using the builders plans which will include where to put the soakwells
We installed a large concrete soakwell at the back and one at the front, cost about $800 delivered from somewhere like Maddington concrete in Perth. Next we paid someone with a bobcat to drop them in the ground ($200) with a pipe sticking out. Then later on once downpipes were installed we did the plumbing bit. Just bought the plumbing required from bunnings ($250 ish) and spent a weekend installing the pipework with some mates. Job done for less than $1500 Lloyd Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 13Feb 07, 2009 12:45 pm Quote: Not everyone likes the feel or has the money for refridgerative aircon. Yes, very true, everyone's prioritys are different and we don't mind spending $14k on GREAT heating and cooling and going without on other things. Building Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13002 Site start: 8th July 2009 Handover: 11/12/2009! 5 months total build time. 40 sqs of luxuary...Bliss! Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 14Feb 07, 2009 1:56 pm ![]() If u get it done with the builders, (assuming u will have ducted heating as well) u get just one duct (for heating and cooling) and even just one outlet for both. but I THINK, not 100% sure, the drawback is that both will have to run on electricity. if u do it later u will have 2 ducts running in the roof and will have 2 seperate outlets for each. but then u can run heating on gas and AC i think runs on electricity ![]() This is completely incorrect. Evaporate cooling and ducted heating use different ducting and outlets. Their will be different outlets for each in each area. The heating will be gas and the evap will use electricity. They don't both have to run on electricity. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 15Feb 07, 2009 5:56 pm ![]() Quote: Not everyone likes the feel or has the money for refridgerative aircon. Yes, very true, everyone's prioritys are different and we don't mind spending $14k on GREAT heating and cooling and going without on other things. Everyone to their own choice. Isn't that a wonderful thing in this world. Personally I don't find refridgerative aircon" GREAT". It makes me feel ill. I prefer the feel of the evap and like being able to open a door or window. Add ceiling fans and I'm in heaven. If you are in country Victoria and don't have the benefit of coastal breezes I'm sure it would be a different matter. DH would happily have put it in as he doesn't have a problem with it and it would have solved our heating problems as well. Our closest neighbours near our new build have it and it has worked really well according to them. But it's not for us. I also dislike split system aircons. We have one in this rental. It gives me headaches, a dry throat and a snuffy nose. it's taken me 2 hot summers to be able to barely tollerate the sound. I do so only because I am desperate to be cooler. Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 16Feb 07, 2009 9:01 pm I dug my own soakwells (with help from Father and Grand father) - cost $600 in supplies from Bunnings and two back-breaking days of labour.
Thankfully we are in a sandy spot - but if/when I build again I will definately be getting the builder to do this for me. For reference (and sanity) I tried calling 2 soakwell installers and neither showed up to quote the job ![]() I wouldn't recommend digging by hand... Regards P1T Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 17Feb 09, 2009 10:38 am ![]() ![]() If u get it done with the builders, (assuming u will have ducted heating as well) u get just one duct (for heating and cooling) and even just one outlet for both. but I THINK, not 100% sure, the drawback is that both will have to run on electricity. if u do it later u will have 2 ducts running in the roof and will have 2 seperate outlets for each. but then u can run heating on gas and AC i think runs on electricity ![]() This is completely incorrect. Evaporate cooling and ducted heating use different ducting and outlets. Their will be different outlets for each in each area. The heating will be gas and the evap will use electricity. They don't both have to run on electricity. One of my friend who built with Snowden has Refrigerated Ac and heating (Company is Bonnaire) on the same duct and has same outlet for both. Only thing is the outlet has to be upgraded to handle heating and cooling both . ![]() Also my builder told me the same thing, that if u get both at the time of building it will be same duct. (but i am talkign about refrigerated AC and heating duct, not evap cooling and heating duct. May be its different with evap cooling) And yes Jo I found out that heating will use gas and AC uses electricity.. but i wasnt 100% on this before ![]() Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 18Apr 19, 2009 3:30 am Quote: We installed a large concrete soakwell at the back and one at the front, cost about $800 delivered from somewhere like Maddington concrete in Perth. wow thats pretty expensive, bunnings/landscaping places sell the concrete ones for $75. We looked at the concrete ones but after a bit of research we went with what the tradies use which are these plastic cubes that click together like lego. Once installed they are actually stronger than the concrete, cheaper to buy ($55) and you only need a standard car to pick them up as they come flat packed. Hired a dingo for the day $100 + optional auger(?)-hole drilling attachment $100. All up with the pvc & attachments it cost us $800-$900. We did all 10 of ours in 1 day, before handover. Its your house, your land they cant stop you, no matter how much they whinge. We sure as hell weren't going to rip up the brand new front paving & driveway just coz they didn't want us doing it before handover. Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 19Apr 19, 2009 3:41 am Quote: Also, the builder quoted $5k for evaporative aircon, what are your views on getting aircon. Should I let the builder do this or find someone else? who quoted that? your salesperson or someone at the office? If it was your salesperson call the office & find out if it is standard. We asked the sales guy that many times if it had a/c he kept saying no, gave us that t.v package & when the contracts came through it said the t.v was in leiu of the a/c. I tried to warn you dude that company is fully dodge. Worst decision we ever made. Re: Soakwell & aircon - do I let the builder do this? 20Apr 20, 2009 10:44 am ![]() Quote: We installed a large concrete soakwell at the back and one at the front, cost about $800 delivered from somewhere like Maddington concrete in Perth. wow thats pretty expensive, bunnings/landscaping places sell the concrete ones for $75. We looked at the concrete ones but after a bit of research we went with what the tradies use which are these plastic cubes that click together like lego. Once installed they are actually stronger than the concrete, cheaper to buy ($55) and you only need a standard car to pick them up as they come flat packed. Hired a dingo for the day $100 + optional auger(?)-hole drilling attachment $100. All up with the pvc & attachments it cost us $800-$900. We did all 10 of ours in 1 day, before handover. Its your house, your land they cant stop you, no matter how much they whinge. We sure as hell weren't going to rip up the brand new front paving & driveway just coz they didn't want us doing it before handover. Nice can you give us more info on these plastic cubes? How big are they? Where did you get them from? We have to do ours ourselves (in Piara Waters) and our plans show 2 large soakwells, 1.5m wide each. I have no problem doing this myself, but unsure of the best way to go about it. Thanks One corner of my shed slab will be directly over a 1400mm diameter concrete soakwell. Is it feasible to fill the soakwell with concrete then lay the shed slab over the… 0 6181 I have a few polypropylene soakwells and they are brilliant, however they are all in locations with no trees and hence no roots. Just wondering if anyone has any… 0 4912 retail its around double the price of a similar sized actron/dakin system from memory, They are excellent systems though. But with how builder gouge on AC/heating, you… 4 36189 |