Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 11, 2014 6:31 pm We have recently had a second soil test done with our new builder, this was based upon their recommendation as they have had other people in our situation use the company recommended to us by the first builder who then came to them and had their soil test redone only to find that their soil was a higher grade than the initial report suggested. We did not want to take that risk and had the soil test redone. Our initial test showed an M, we were expecting a H1 for our area so it was somewhat surprising to get a report with an M. Now we have received our second report which is a H2. My question is, why is the result so different? If the report had come back H1 I wouldn't have been all that surprised but to go up two levels on the exact same site seems unusual. Does the initial soil tester have any accountability for the result they provided? Given that this seems to have happened on more than one occasion it does make me wonder what happens to those people who don't get second reports and the problems they may have had. We also bought our block on the condition of the soil test which seems to be incorrect. Does this happen often or have we been unlucky or has someone screwed up? Our Blog: http://werelivingthedream2.tumblr.com Re: Soil test results wrong? 2Nov 11, 2014 8:58 pm It all depends on how many drill holes were drilled and where they were drilled. Company A may have only drilled 2 bore holes, whilst Company B may have drilled 4, or drilled 2 but in different places to previous. Soil can change a lot in a short amount of space. I have Class S, neighbour Class P, other neighbour Class S, across the road Site M and across the other road Class H1 - so it is theoretically possible to go from Class M to H2. My advice is to check both reports and check where the drill holes were drilled and how many holes. If still in doubt then you can either get a third test or just go with H2 - even though site costs will be more costly, one thing you cant afford to sacrifice is your slab Dale - Building Newbie Proserpine, QLD Re: Soil test results wrong? 3Nov 11, 2014 10:13 pm Thanks for your reply. The drill holes are the same between both companies. We will definitely be going with the H2 slab, we are definitely not prepared to sacrifice the slab, no feet no horse, no slab no house!! I just want to know if there should be some accountability for the results they provided, we bought our block based on their assessment, we would have built an M slab if we had continued with the first builder and it scares me to think that the same thing may happen to others. The other concerning factor is the engineering company from our new builder won't accept reports from the first soil testing company anymore as they have had too many problems like ours. Surely there should be some accountability? Our Blog: http://werelivingthedream2.tumblr.com Re: Soil test results wrong? 4Nov 12, 2014 8:53 am You'd like to assume there is some accountability, cant help you with that though. Hopefully someone else can offer some advice. They do have an Australian Standard that they have to follow, but i dont know if any independent body checks compliance Dale - Building Newbie Proserpine, QLD Re: Soil test results wrong? 5Mar 28, 2015 5:59 pm You may test Soil pH level and variety of major and minor nutrients. As quantity of available nutrients in the soil determines the amount of fertilizer that is recommended in Soil Testing Services Re: Soil test results wrong? 6Mar 28, 2015 8:33 pm Soil test results can vary based on the engineers interpretation, I remember doing 2 houses side by side flanked by 2 others by another builder. Our footings were 600 deep with bored piers and internal beams, one with 3 x Y16 bars. The other was the same except it had 3 x Y20 bars. The other builder came along and dug 300 deep footings with 3 bar Y12 trench mesh, no internal beams in the footings just in the slab. The price difference in the footings alone was around $20K This was about 20 years ago, I drove past the houses not that long ago and all of them are still standing. Go figure. Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 6491 Thanks for your reply. I will just wait and see I guess. Trying to get some more information from our builder. 9 11713 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 24787 |