Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 05, 2013 10:34 am Hi everyone, Just wondering if any of you can help me figure out what to do in this situation. If anyone read my thread, we are currently tossing up between two builders despite thinking we had already found the one. This happened because we decided it was worth getting a second tender so we had a comparison on prices and something on which to base any questions that might come up. Anyway met with New builder and really liked his approach and he asked how the fall was on the block. I said from everything we've been told, it's not much. He suggested we go out together and check. We set up a rough perimeter of the house and he took levels with that lazer thingy that they use for that and that's when things got worrying. Apparently from the left front corner to the right back corner the fall is more then a meter. That means that by the time we get to the back corner, the house is a meter off the ground. The reason this is difficult is that from that point to the neighbors fence there is only a 1.5m setback. This is not enough room to get the fill back to ground level before the fence. New builder reckons that we might need completely different footings or to completely change the aspect of the house which would lose all our northern sun. However, he will talk to the engineer, maybe we placed the house markers out wrong (but I do not think they could be that far out) or there is something we're missing. At any rate I am enraged that Original builder never went and checked this. We have been talking to Original builder for the last 6 months about this house on this block and the plan has not changed the entire time. If he was serious about building our house like New builder is, he would have double checked and not just assumed. I am also upset that nothing was picked up by the engineers. I was wondering if anyone can explain better to me what kind of solutions could be made in this situation and also what I should do about Original builder and Engineer. We got our full council approval yesterday and it was all marred by the fact that if we have to change too much we may have to resubmit our application anyway and we don't have any extra to spare. I'm really starting to worry we may never get to build this house. edit: I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried when I got home yesterday and I had a bit of a tantrum about never building again and I don't even want a house any more, I just want to live in this falling apart rental for the rest of my life. Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Possible big problems :( 2Jul 05, 2013 11:08 am Hi lmille32 - sorry to hear of your troubles. Not sure that I completely understand - I would have assumed that you might have been able to cut some land from the front LH corner and fill the back RH hand corner and then only be left with about a 50cm height difference which shouldn't be too bad but imagine at least the second builder would have considered something like this if it were possible. I know it might feel like you've wasted 6 months talking to the first builder and may have to submit new plans etc but I'd rather waste 6 months at the start than live in a house for the next 10 years that was never quite what you'd imagined. I'd suggest going with your gut instinct (which I imagine to be this second builder) and put it down to experience. If you're not getting good service from this first builder even before you've committed to a contract can you really expect that they will look after you if a problem arises during the build? http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Possible big problems :( 3Jul 05, 2013 11:51 am I think the main issue is that the land has to be built up so much at the back that it is too high next to the neighbors fence. So there is like a set gradient of how steeply the fill can get back down to the ground and it can't like get there before the neighbors fence. So that if it rained on our block, the water would spill over into their yard because our building is still close to a meter higher then their yard. I dunno that's my understanding anyway, that the water moving around the house is the biggest problem with it. I'm no engineer! Which is why i was really hoping mine knew what he was doing..... Luckily no contracts signed as of yet! That's the beauty of going with smaller builders in that we haven't had to commit to a contract before we go through all the council, planning etc. It's once they give their tender that we agree to contracts etc. The only upside I guess! I think we will definitely be going to the second builder, especially if the first can't come up with a reasonable answer for us on Monday. Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Possible big problems :( 4Jul 05, 2013 11:54 am I don't understand how you could have full council approval if there's a problem of the type you describe? Doesn't council take all of those types of things into account before issuing that approval? Re: Possible big problems :( 5Jul 05, 2013 12:07 pm lmille32 So there is like a set gradient of how steeply the fill can get back down to the ground and it can't like get there before the neighbors fence. Wouldn't a vertical retaining wall be the answer?? I'm confused by the problem. We're having a fill retaining wall ON our boundary, and a cut retaining wall 1m off the other boundary and it's no problem... Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Possible big problems :( 6Jul 05, 2013 12:18 pm So are you saying they dont think they can retain near the fence?? Take a look at my thread. Pics below as well to show you how close we went to existing fences and properties. Doesnt sound right to me if thats what they're telling you. Do you have a site plan of some kind for us to look at to get an idea of where it sits on the block? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Possible big problems :( 7Jul 05, 2013 12:23 pm We have built a 900mm retaining wall on our boundary. Wasn't a problem at all. Hopefully it might be the other way around. Your first builder might have had a simple solution ie retaining wall and your second builder might be making it more difficult than it needs to be. Re: Possible big problems :( 8Jul 05, 2013 12:35 pm Yes I agree the second builder sounds quite weird! Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Possible big problems :( 9Jul 05, 2013 12:38 pm Excellent advice from robbie55 "People trust everything you say until something you say is not true then they trust nothing you say" I don't know who said that first but it's true. J Gillard could have learned from that. I think you have lost the trust in builder one, move on. 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: Possible big problems :( 10Jul 05, 2013 1:03 pm It's possibly not as simple as I'm explaining it. I wasn't 100% sure but here is the front page of my plans Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ . It's possibly because of the angles there. The engineer has designed a very basic wafflepod slab. So in that back corner the house will be 1m in the air and I guess a retaining wall can be built but I think what he's saying is that it will be much more expensive then the retaining wall they've built two houses up. Where their fall might only be ~500, ours is 1m. Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Possible big problems :( 11Jul 05, 2013 1:05 pm building-expert Excellent advice from robbie55 "People trust everything you say until something you say is not true then they trust nothing you say" I don't know who said that first but it's true. J Gillard could have learned from that. I think you have lost the trust in builder one, move on. With respect, without seeing the site plan from builder one you have no idea whether it is builder one or builder two that is full of it. We don't know whether builder one has proposed cut and fill and retaining wall or just cut and retaining wall in their design. Sounds like builder two is proposing only fill and in my opinion clearly has no idea if he thinks a metre fall over an entire block is a major issue requiring a complete redesign of the house. Without more information from the OP I don't think anyone can pass judgement on either builder. We don't have all the facts. You may be recommending the OP go with the worse of two options by suggesting they dump the first builder. Completed a knock down and rebuild in northern Melbourne. Handover completed 27/09/2013 and now moved in. Re: Possible big problems :( 12Jul 05, 2013 1:11 pm I think he's more worried about the design of the slab rather then the design of the house. He was saying something about possibly needing strip footings etc. rather then the basic wafflepod. Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Possible big problems :( 13Jul 05, 2013 1:13 pm Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Possible big problems :( 14Jul 05, 2013 1:16 pm Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Possible big problems :( 15Jul 05, 2013 1:16 pm lmille32 I think he's more worried about the design of the slab rather then the design of the house. He was saying something about possibly needing strip footings etc. rather then the basic wafflepod. Is he an engineer or a builder? I'd be going with an engineer's design rather than a builders supposition. For what it's worth you can have an engineered waffle slab over a much larger fall than 1 metre... Completed a knock down and rebuild in northern Melbourne. Handover completed 27/09/2013 and now moved in. Re: Possible big problems :( 16Jul 05, 2013 1:18 pm I think F5 is the bit he takes issue with Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Possible big problems :( 17Jul 05, 2013 1:23 pm Bit more background on the engineering. They gave us a discount because they did the slab design for the previous owner's house and so had all the engineering notes from the previous design. I do not believe the engineer has since visited the site or taken any of these measurements because they had done all that back when the old owners designed their house (this was like at least 6 years ago). That design didn't go as far over as ours did to the boundary i'm talking about so the fall would have been much less and not as close to the boundary (a good 3 meters away at least) so perhaps they didn't realize the fall was much greater on that side. Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Possible big problems :( 18Jul 05, 2013 1:25 pm lmille32 I think F5 is the bit he takes issue with Yes but ARE any edge beams to be founded on controlled fill? How deep are the edge beam details at that end of the house. I suspect they are designed to be founded on natural ground not fill and you're getting worked up over a set of standard conditions that are pasted on every document produced by that engineer. Check the actual edge beam details. Completed a knock down and rebuild in northern Melbourne. Handover completed 27/09/2013 and now moved in. Re: Possible big problems :( 19Jul 05, 2013 1:28 pm Ok I have no idea how to read these documents so try not to get too impatient with me, I've never done this before. Here is the edge beams page Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I have no idea how to read all this stuff. edit: I understand it must be really frustrating for you guys with my lack of experience and you're thinking 'Just trust the experts' but everyone you talk to in this game are experts and considering the background with my engineer I can't be convinced that they did do the necessary work, the second builder is the only one who has actually been and looked at the site in the last 6 years and looked at it properly which is why I'm concerned that he might be right. Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Possible big problems :( 20Jul 05, 2013 1:36 pm It may even be possible that there isn't a problem with the slab and what he was trying to say to me that the cost of building the retaining wall is going to be much more expensive then he thought it would, I'm really not sure! Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar You can wash over existing pavers with 10% solution of water and hydrochloric acid, then wash off. The acid will provide for required bond key with new concrete. 1 36969 0 9831 In Qld it is a requirement that a builder must have a cost breakdown, for building a home to the same specification, with the same inclusions and the same finish. So ask… 1 4360 |