Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Sep 20, 2009 10:27 pm Hubby and I are hoping to raise our house (i.e. not slab). Can we do this regardless of our soil type? We are yet to do a soil report, but our designer is basing everything on us raising the house. Should we get a soil report conducted before finalising our plans in case for some reason we can only build on a slab? Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Question re soil report and foundations.. 2Sep 21, 2009 12:55 pm you can basically build on any soil type the only problem is the cost of doing it. one of the major buildings in the city has 7 floors deep of cement down at docklands they used piers and they went down several hundred meters so its possible to build anywhere no matter what the soil type and by any method you want you dont have to be limited to just a slab most builders use slabs as its cheaper and quicker in the long run but i have noticed a few new houses using stumps lately so if cost is a major issue then get a report done to consider your options good luck hope all goes well stay safe happy building Re: Question re soil report and foundations.. 3Sep 21, 2009 3:26 pm bingoshelley one of the major buildings in the city has 7 floors deep of cement down at docklands they used piers and they went down several hundred meters Which building is that???? Pat. Re: Question re soil report and foundations.. 4Sep 21, 2009 4:42 pm Pat the draftie bingoshelley one of the major buildings in the city has 7 floors deep of cement down at docklands they used piers and they went down several hundred meters Which building is that???? Pat. sorry pat cant remember the name of it but our lecturer told us about it yrs ago they origanally poured 3 levels but it dropped so they filled in 4 more levels i thought it was amazing but i guess those skyscapers are pretty big hey! stay safe happy building Re: Question re soil report and foundations.. 5Sep 21, 2009 5:50 pm bingoshelley Pat the draftie bingoshelley one of the major buildings in the city has 7 floors deep of cement down at docklands they used piers and they went down several hundred meters Which building is that???? Pat. sorry pat cant remember the name of it but our lecturer told us about it yrs ago they origanally poured 3 levels but it dropped so they filled in 4 more levels i thought it was amazing but i guess those skyscapers are pretty big hey! Reason I asked was I do a lot of commercial work, and I never heard of.....'Piers that went down several hundred meters'.....In fact Im sure its not humanly possible. The furthest any pile would usually be driven would be about 40-50 meters. The furthest a pile could be bored is only about 30 meters. Several hundreds meters is getting into the realms of deep sea oil exploration! Me thinks your lecturer was pulling your leg. Pat. Re: Question re soil report and foundations.. 6Sep 21, 2009 9:24 pm really !!!! we just believed him cause he was in charge of the building course at rmit he said they were in port melbourne and every time they put a pole in they dissapeared man that guy made it sound true lol ok another thing he said was in mexico the soil is that bad when they built a library the front door dissapeared into the earth so now they poor the slabs wait awhile then build the front door up 3 storeys so it settles at the road once they build the rest i guess now im typing it it dont sound right lol stupid blonde bimbo lol stay safe happy building Re: Question re soil report and foundations.. 7Sep 22, 2009 9:38 am I dont believe the bit about building a library front door 3 stories up in the air, and waiting for it to sink back down to ground level either. I reckon your lecturer was an absolute joker.....I reckon he'd be good value at a dinner perty. Pat. On a serious note though, I do in hindsight question and query a lot of what I was taught by my lecturers, Im now in a position (through experience and the school of hard knocks) to challenge and dismiss a pretty bit portion of their teachings. The first thing my first ever employer said to me....'OK, welcome aboard Pat, now forget everything they've taught you...were starting again....the way its really done' End of life observation, Pat. Re: Question re soil report and foundations.. 8Sep 23, 2009 8:33 pm [quote="Pat the draftie"]I dont believe the bit about building a library front door 3 stories up in the air, and waiting for it to sink back down to ground level either. I reckon your lecturer was an absolute joker.....I reckon he'd be good value at a dinner perty. Pat. I think most of the lecturers out there are jokers. Just because they have a class full of naive young apprentices they tell a few far fetched stories. I now know mine did all those years ago. But hey they sounded good at the time and probably sounded impressive when we relayed them to our family and friends Dirk Re: Question re soil report and foundations.. 9Sep 24, 2009 10:35 am Soooo..... does that mean I can build on stumps regardless of soil report? Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! our situation was a bit of a guinea pig in that structural work by the previous builder was defective and the house was almost completed, and our structural engineer… 1 5001 Hi Building Expert, Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated, there is also a code of conduct for building surveyors which they need to follow as well. I am looking… 4 3691 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 37570 |