Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Apue's home building 41May 03, 2012 10:18 pm That is a little crazy. I must say though, demo approval in 2 days is very good! SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Apue's home building 42May 08, 2012 8:49 pm jj1 Will be great to follow your build Apue. Did you give any thought to "giving away/selling" the existing house instead of incurring demolishing costs. We went down that path which saved us $6000 +, mind you it did take a few months for the house mover to move the house. edit: don't forget,when you have the services disconnected from the old house (elect etc) give consideration to whether you want single or 3phase power for your new house...we had the old supply (single phase) connected to the new pole when the old house was moved. We now find we need 3 phase which could have been done when the new pole was erected last year.... just something else to consider..... Sorry for late reply.. Yeah, Luckily I was able to sell a heat pump (3 years) for $500. No.. I couldn't find time to sell each part individually. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 43May 08, 2012 8:59 pm Hi guys.. I'd like to share some bad story about my house going. The tree inspector finally came up my site yesterday. She said she can give me a permission unless I receive 'DA' approval. Two days ago I had a tree cutter to cut some small trees and prune. The inspector's face became serious and raised her eyebrows says if I received a consent to cut small trees and branches. I told her that all the rest were shorter tree and got confirmation from the tree remover. She wouldn't believe what I'm saying and tried to give fine for each instance of cutting tree. Fortunately, I had some photos of the trees in my Iphone and able to prove them. She advised I can't build the granny both left or right side because of neighbour's tree. I think she liked to scare other people. Also she encourage to get approval via DA not CDC. I think local governments dislike CDC? My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 44May 08, 2012 9:21 pm oh dear... first of all - good on you to have photos of the trees. As for pushing towards DA rather than CDC, I think a lot of Councils are losing work (and control) with the CDCs so they prefer DA. I am sceptical, but it seems so many people have negative experiences with draconian Councils. I hope you don't get a fine... As for not being able to build the granny flat - why is that? How is the neighbour's tree stopping you? Does it overshadow or something...???? If you have the energy, I would read the regulations about trees and see if she is wrong. Our Council tried to stop us doing a few things (such as second driveway and cutting back roofline), but I wrote in a strong letter. For the driveway I got a petition from neighbours to support keeping it. We also had a planning company do our Council plans and submission (which included an excellent Statement of Environmental Effects, plus a letter in dispute when they tried to complain about a minor roof non-compliance). The planning company process cost us $14K though! SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Apue's home building 45May 09, 2012 9:16 am Bloomin'... councils I agree you should get a letter from your neighbour(s) if you can saying they are happy for the granny flat to be built - we did that when we built our pergola and I'm sure it helps it go through council as there are no objections from neighbours to worry about ... good luck with the bureaucracy! For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Apue's home building 46May 09, 2012 10:14 am Hi Apue If I understand this correctly you now have to decide whether to - 1. apply for council DA so you can hopefully get approval to remove the tree and build the granny in your preferred position on the right, or 2. continue through CDC but you would have to build the granny on the left The problem with the council DA is that there is no guarantee they will ultimately give you permission to cut the tree down. Then there is the issue of the neighbours trees. The whole thing might drag on for a while. I think you are with Hornsby Council and I'm not sure what they are like. Applying for DA may have one advantage though. With my DA through Baulkham Hills Council I was able to have the house brought forward reducing the front setback by a couple of meters based upon the average setback of my neighbouring properties. I wonder whether your council allows this but it would depend also on your neighbours setbacks so it may or may not be relevant in your case. So that is a possible plus with going with the council DA. Re: Apue's home building 47May 09, 2012 11:24 am SunshineT oh dear... first of all - good on you to have photos of the trees. As for pushing towards DA rather than CDC, I think a lot of Councils are losing work (and control) with the CDCs so they prefer DA. I am sceptical, but it seems so many people have negative experiences with draconian Councils. I hope you don't get a fine... As for not being able to build the granny flat - why is that? How is the neighbour's tree stopping you? Does it overshadow or something...???? If you have the energy, I would read the regulations about trees and see if she is wrong. Our Council tried to stop us doing a few things (such as second driveway and cutting back roofline), but I wrote in a strong letter. For the driveway I got a petition from neighbours to support keeping it. We also had a planning company do our Council plans and submission (which included an excellent Statement of Environmental Effects, plus a letter in dispute when they tried to complain about a minor roof non-compliance). The planning company process cost us $14K though! Yeah. I'm reading the complying dev housing code issued by the state government. Apparently we've doing some wrong things against the CD code. I'm working with Jerue to correct them. In front of meriton Apt in my area I saw a big sign erected by the parramatta council saying "This is an unsupported development by the council". Problem is that I'm knocking down my house tomorrow so I am hesitant to be dragged by the council's slowness. It's ridiculous to hear answer 'No' in 4 weeks time. Who wants to deal with the Council pleasantly??? My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 48May 09, 2012 11:57 am nerak Hi Apue If I understand this correctly you now have to decide whether to - 1. apply for council DA so you can hopefully get approval to remove the tree and build the granny in your preferred position on the right, or 2. continue through CDC but you would have to build the granny on the left The problem with the council DA is that there is no guarantee they will ultimately give you permission to cut the tree down. Then there is the issue of the neighbours trees. The whole thing might drag on for a while. I think you are with Hornsby Council and I'm not sure what they are like. Applying for DA may have one advantage though. With my DA through Baulkham Hills Council I was able to have the house brought forward reducing the front setback by a couple of meters based upon the average setback of my neighbouring properties. I wonder whether your council allows this but it would depend also on your neighbours setbacks so it may or may not be relevant in your case. So that is a possible plus with going with the council DA. Thanks for the valuable advices! Yes, it's true that I may be able to push forward the front setback. and I will have a chance to have Granny where the Gum tree is sitting. But the council processing time is really slow. that's the problem. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 49May 09, 2012 1:00 pm Mclaren Bloomin'... councils I agree you should get a letter from your neighbour(s) if you can saying they are happy for the granny flat to be built - we did that when we built our pergola and I'm sure it helps it go through council as there are no objections from neighbours to worry about ... good luck with the bureaucracy! It's quite interesting to know discrepancy between the council and state code. The council tree lady said I need to ask permission any tree taller than 3 meter near 5m radius. The State housing code says I can build 3m radius for 6 meter tall. What a retarded! Also the certifier says I don't need to worry about neighbour's land/tree even if it's closer than 3 meter. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 50May 09, 2012 1:13 pm Apue Mclaren Bloomin'... councils I agree you should get a letter from your neighbour(s) if you can saying they are happy for the granny flat to be built - we did that when we built our pergola and I'm sure it helps it go through council as there are no objections from neighbours to worry about ... good luck with the bureaucracy! It's quite interesting to know discrepancy between the council and state code. The council tree lady said I need to ask permission any tree taller than 3 meter near 5m radius. The State housing code says I can build 3m radius for 6 meter tall. What a retarded! Also the certifier says I don't need to worry about neighbour's land/tree even if it's closer than 3 meter. Isn't it crazy - explains why more and more people are choosing CDC! Re: Apue's home building 51May 09, 2012 3:16 pm Hi Apue, I just had a look at the CDC guide and I'm sorry to say I gave you some wrong advice before. It seems that under CDC there is allowance given based on the setbacks of neighbouring houses. I don't know where I got the idea that it was only through the council DA. I'm now going off to read the whole document in case I decide to go down that path myself. Re: Apue's home building 52May 09, 2012 8:50 pm nerak Hi Apue, I just had a look at the CDC guide and I'm sorry to say I gave you some wrong advice before. It seems that under CDC there is allowance given based on the setbacks of neighbouring houses. I don't know where I got the idea that it was only through the council DA. I'm now going off to read the whole document in case I decide to go down that path myself. In fact I became nervous after the tree lady stirred up with BullSh*t information. I've contacted the duty planner and two certifiers. I still found different information between two Certifiers and the duty planner in the council. With council, they said their rule overrides CDC (except set back rule) but the certifiers say CDC is independent from the council guideline. The council rule is more strict in light to the floor space ratio with inclusion/exclusion. Regarding the distance of setback, there is a room to negotiate if I choose 'DA'. So DA would be better choice for setback distance. But for all the rest, it's no brainer. CDC works better to me. The council people are full of bureaucratic and incompetent people, given that it took 4 weeks to get 'No' answer for removing one tree not to mention providing wrong information and bullying the residents. I wish to demolish the council office before demolishing my home.. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 53May 09, 2012 9:02 pm I received another Bad/Good news from Mat. Both Wisdom & Eden brae use Rafeletos Zanuttini company for soil testing. Both builders are using the same company so it's obvious to get same result which is Class 'M'. Mat said the result is 'P'. Mat said it is understandable to have H1 or H2 but from having 'M' to 'P' is extreme variation. I haven't read some technical info but the soil test from Wisdom and Eden is entirely wrong according to Mat. 1. Good news; If I went with Eden, they put 'M' class concrete slab and my home might be in sinking in soaking days. It was lucky to know the exact type of soil before constructing. 2. Bad news: it'd cost another 6k more than 'M' class treatment.. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 54May 09, 2012 9:27 pm Apue - if it is any consolation, that company (Rafelotos Zannutini) were the ones who did our driveway and hydraulics plans and they were terrible. Our DA plans took months longer to prepare because of their incompetence (and then further months in Council as these were the main issues Council had with all our submissions). There were things on the plans that even we could tell were incorrect. So there is an upside in that you probably have the correct soil result now. But a question - did Zen test your soil before demolition? We had to have our soil survey after demolition, which I thought would delay, but then we had the storm water pipe disaster that delayed us anyway. In terms of CDC and Council, if you can do CDC and your plans comply (very important - make sure they do comply) then I would choose CDC over Council. Mainly for the time and cost factor. Councils are painful. For us we didn't have the CDC option, but in any case our house (particularly deck) would not have complied so DA was our only option. I would not recommend it. As for tree - can you get support from the neighbour (like a signature to a petition or a letter) to remove it? That's what we did with our driveway issue... Sorry to hear about your delays. I thought you were brave to give notice to your tenant and arrange demolition so early. I hope things get sorted for you soon. T SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Apue's home building 55May 09, 2012 9:32 pm The block we bought, originally has a soil test done by wisdom and it came back 'M' class, a soil test was done on registration and is documented within council as 'H', with our soil test with zen parts of our soil came back as 'P'. our soil is very saline and our council DCP states we must have 32mpa concrete as a result through whole estate, not sure how wisdom ever came up with the 'M' class Re: Apue's home building 56May 09, 2012 9:40 pm Are you sure the tree is healthy? I got permission to cut down a massive gum tree in my backyard because it was suffering from some sort of branch rot. My neighbours were very relieved as they were worried that a branch was going to crash down and damage their property. I had an arborist come and inspect it and then a council rep came out to look at it too. I guess the council lady must have thought your tree was healthy though. It's a shame it's not diseased because that would solve your problem! Re: Apue's home building 57May 09, 2012 10:16 pm SunshineT Apue - if it is any consolation, that company (Rafelotos Zannutini) were the ones who did our driveway and hydraulics plans and they were terrible. Our DA plans took months longer to prepare because of their incompetence (and then further months in Council as these were the main issues Council had with all our submissions). There were things on the plans that even we could tell were incorrect. So there is an upside in that you probably have the correct soil result now. But a question - did Zen test your soil before demolition? We had to have our soil survey after demolition, which I thought would delay, but then we had the storm water pipe disaster that delayed us anyway. In terms of CDC and Council, if you can do CDC and your plans comply (very important - make sure they do comply) then I would choose CDC over Council. Mainly for the time and cost factor. Councils are painful. For us we didn't have the CDC option, but in any case our house (particularly deck) would not have complied so DA was our only option. I would not recommend it. As for tree - can you get support from the neighbour (like a signature to a petition or a letter) to remove it? That's what we did with our driveway issue... Sorry to hear about your delays. I thought you were brave to give notice to your tenant and arrange demolition so early. I hope things get sorted for you soon. T Well I decided not to bother with the Gum tree.. I'd rather try the left side. The left side tree in neighbour is Jacaranda and it's not in Hornsby's indigenous tree list. I'm now negotiating with the neighbour to cut the tree. Let's see how it goes. I should bribe him. Yes, I was so naive. I should have check every detail before giving the notice to the tenants. But did you know the notice period is 90 days? I expected the tenant would have stayed up to 90 days as my rent was alot cheaper than the street price. The tenant just gave me 1 week notice before leaving so I had no choice to commence to demolish. We've obtained 149 certificate and had a pre-discussion with a certifier. I hope we can get the approval. At worst case we might have to go with DA and time loss would be 2 months or so.. Fingers crossed! My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 58May 09, 2012 10:18 pm gogo65 The block we bought, originally has a soil test done by wisdom and it came back 'M' class, a soil test was done on registration and is documented within council as 'H', with our soil test with zen parts of our soil came back as 'P'. our soil is very saline and our council DCP states we must have 32mpa concrete as a result through whole estate, not sure how wisdom ever came up with the 'M' class Don't you think it's another tactic to suck the money from the buyer? When it turned out to be 'P' class after demolished, I have no choice to pay the money to pay to continue.. What option could I have in that scenario? My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 59May 09, 2012 10:27 pm nerak Are you sure the tree is healthy? I got permission to cut down a massive gum tree in my backyard because it was suffering from some sort of branch rot. My neighbours were very relieved as they were worried that a branch was going to crash down and damage their property. I had an arborist come and inspect it and then a council rep came out to look at it too. I guess the council lady must have thought your tree was healthy though. It's a shame it's not diseased because that would solve your problem! I don't think it's healthy that's why my neighbour wanted to cut it off. Even I thought of removing the tree and pay the fine in case I got caught. Whilst I was checking my yard, I found another interesting thing. My rear fence was incorrectly installed. The fence guy was hired by the rear side owner and he put the fence as much as 30 cm away from correct borderline towards my side. Of course I paid half though. It's quite obvious to see because one original pole was there. Fence was even taking my next door neighbour's land. I rented the house for too long. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Apue's home building 60May 09, 2012 10:28 pm Apue gogo65 The block we bought, originally has a soil test done by wisdom and it came back 'M' class, a soil test was done on registration and is documented within council as 'H', with our soil test with zen parts of our soil came back as 'P'. our soil is very saline and our council DCP states we must have 32mpa concrete as a result through whole estate, not sure how wisdom ever came up with the 'M' class Do you think it's another tactic to suck the money from the buyer? When it turned out to be 'P' class after demolished, I have no choice to pay the money to pay to continue.. What option could I have in that scenario? Yep probably! We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16289 go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110592 |