Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 30, 2011 1:11 pm HI all, Im hoping that someone on here can help me. My husband and i have block number 69 on hold - its in Tuscan Avenue (we have the contract and are about to sign the contracts to purchase the land) in Golden Grove's the Settlement. its an odd shaped block and also has 2 big trees on the neighbouring block. As the trees have to have a certain set back from them which we can not encroach on - we have to set our house to the side 5 metres as to not damage the roots of the trees. We finally found and were happy with a design from hickinbotham that would fit on the block nicely and also not encroach on the trees. Now we are worried about a few other things. 1 - Someone advised us that because of the trees next door our footings will be very very expensive. Our builder has allowed for $30k but we were told it could be a lot more 2 - We got the preliminary soil report and in there it mentions that on one of the bores they drilled which was 1 - 1.8 metres that it was "inpenetrable on base on suspected quartizies" - we are scared that this means there is rock on the block which will be a budget buster 3 - We have spoken to the council about the trees as we were told that sometimes Land SA gets the setback wrong and it may in fact have to be more than the initial 5 metres. We cant seem to get a straight answer though as the council says that we have to contact Land SA and Land SA say that they get their info from the council Can anyone comment at all on any of these. Has anyone else on here built on Tuscan Road and have they hit rock? Has anyone had to build with those massive trees on or next door to the block and were there any problems in terms of crazy footing costs, council approvals etc. Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated. Re: HELP!!! Building in Golden Grove's "The Settlement"- adv 2Mar 30, 2011 2:44 pm Hi Can't help with SA legislation but with regards to your soil test........ If the only rock was 1.8m deep rock it should't add to much too your budget. The standard test hole is 2m deep unless it hits rock. As long as the rock is below your slab level which is probably only 500mm below ground you should be OK. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: HELP!!! Building in Golden Grove's "The Settlement"- adv 3Mar 30, 2011 7:28 pm Make an appointment to see the planning officer at Council; I understand that it is free to take your plan in for advice. Find out from the Encumbrancer (Realty SA) how they check the plans (I am not at that stage yet so don't know) whether you can email or fax your plan to them for pre-approval maybe? as both the Encumbrancer and Council have to approve it. From memory it does say in the guidelines to run everything by the Encumbrancer before submitting to Council so you could use that line if they say they get their info from Council (check your guidelines - I haven't got mine handy). I haven't had my block tested yet apart from the prelim one done in 2009 so I can't give you an answer on rock but if you're lucky you may run into some of the neighbours who have substantially built on Tuscan already - I see them there occasionally because we all want to check out the progress! They should also be able to help in regard to the trees as there are so many blocks with trees on. I think it is Lot 60, a R0ssdale home that is nearing completion and has a large tree at the back as well as trees to the side. I have Lot 55. No trees on the block but trees at either end. The block is large enough that they shouldn't have too much impact (I hope). https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43937&start=0 Bought a block in Golden Grove - Jan 2011 Finally finished our design, Mar 2012, *yay* Signed with ADH council consent June 12 Re: HELP!!! Building in Golden Grove's "The Settlement"- adv 4Mar 30, 2011 9:14 pm We are a few blocks down from you, we also talk to others that already building on Tuscan and have not heard of any rock. Our builders engineer report was better than the prilim . Our footings are 26k Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 15650 Yes, unless you are in a low intensity rainfall area or the area is protected from rain. Do you have access to NCC Part 2 or can you download it? I can email you a copy… 10 12462 All 3 items listed are defects and are of concern. Please seek qualified independent inspector and/or legal advice for your state. 1 8203 |