Sloping block build in rural Victoria - Question

Good morning.

We are planning on owner building our home on an acre block next year. My husband is a tradie and knows lots of tradies.

When it comes to planning the build we have a few questions about the process. We have contacted a few different draftsmans/building designers and have found that they haven't returned our calls or emails. I have a new contact that I'm hoping will be more helpful.

Is it the building surveyor who requires a soil test? Also, when do you need an engineer involved in preparing plans? If you are building a fairly standard rectangle house do you need an engineer to go over it? We are planning to build on stumps and we have a sloping block.

I guess the draftsman should be able to answer these questions but thought I would ask here in the meantime.

Thanks

Just a word of caution - do you have funds in place already for the build? Owner builder loans are notoriously hard to get, there are only a few mainstream lenders who do them and they normally cap the loan to a smaller amount then if it was a normal construction loan.

Before you go to a draftsman I suggest that you get a soil test (& percolation test if on septic) with footing recommendations and also have a contour plan prepared.

This info can then be incorporated by your building designer into your detailed drawings.
If you plan to built in a bushfire risk area, you need to have a BAL assessment carried out.

Thank you for your replies. We are selling a house and we almost have enough equity in our house to build. If we can't get a loan from a traditional bank, we have a good credit rating with "The Bank of Dad" for the last few $'s.

Thank you Beetaloo, I will look into getting those tests and a contour plan done.

Since you are building on an acre, see if your neighbours on both sides are building down the front of the block, and if they are, set your house up at least at the middle or back of the block. It'll make your block appear bigger because you won't be right next to the neighbours. After all, you bought 1 acre for the land, why not make it work for you.

I realise it will cost you more to get water and power up to the house, but that's a small cost compared to the extra value you will get out of the house in the years to come. This is what I have done, my house is towards the back of the block with a 90m driveway.

You do as you wish, I'm just offering you a suggestion that is worthwhile considering.

If the plans are for the DA you don't need them to be engineered as such. Talk to the council about what they require.
But when you actually want to build then you need an engineer. An engineer will design the foundations for your home. They will require the soil test to design the foundations. If you are doing the framing yourself you will need to construct according to the BCA. If you get prefab frames and trusses the supplier will give you engineered drawings for the frame and truss.

I would advise to just get the soil test done yourself sooner rather than later to reduce waiting at a later stage, and then pass the results on to whoever needs it - engineer, council, etc. I wish I had gotten it done sooner but had a lot of trouble figuring out what NEEDED to be done as compared to what I was told SHOULD be done. For example, I was told that I needed a survey done for $1000+ but then council said that a 10m contour map is fine. Make sure you get lots of quotes as they differ A LOT - from $733 to $2750 !!! Needless to say I chose the lowest quote! The guy was really lovely and it was fascinating to watch the beautiful colours come out of the ground at different layers, and completely different for each hole when it is only a few metres between holes.

BUT

* Make sure you know EXACTLY where your house (and also septic) is going on your block FIRST as that is where the tests have to be done - they may have to be re-done if you decide to put your house in a slightly different place. Mark out the corners of the house with pegs for easy site identification. If getting a septic, then work out where that will go and make sure the soil tests are done for building as well as for the septic.

* Try to make sure that the house site is accessible by vehicle as the soil testing drill will be mounted on the back of a ute. We weren't told this beforehand so the guy just got as close as he could - about 5 metres uphill which was luckily close considering the site is mostly trees. Not sure how to get council approval to remove trees when need soil test first to get council approval!!!

Thank you very much for all the advice. I am meeting our draftsman on site on Wednesday. Once we have decided on the site for the house, the shed and the septic I will get some quotes for soil testing.

Settlement is 15 August. I am hoping (it could be wishful thinking) that we will be in a position to start applying for permits (septic, building and owner builder consent) shortly after settlement when our names are on the title.

We would like to build a 3 bedroom plus study, 2 living area brick house. I will be including some solar passive design in the plans.

I am sure I will use this forum regularly during this process and will appreciate any advice given.

Can someone please give me a link for how to upload photos or explain it to me simply.

Thanks again.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=58434&start=20

About fourteen posts down
This is for uploading a photo to photobucket.
Other file hosting sites are similar.
(Note: You wont see the image until you post your message/topic)

It has to be on a picture sharing website like photobucket or imgur and then you pop in the link between [img]...[/img]

You basically sign up to photobucket or similar, then upload your photo there. Once you've done that you click on the share link and copy the img code and paste it back into your post here. Baby steps in my link above but once you've done it a few times its easy peasy.

You should also put your location into your signature via the user control panel so we know where you are and forum members in that state can help you better.

Stewie

Thanks Stewie. I will attempt to add some photos of the block soon.

The road is south of the block. It is a battleaxe block with an 80m long and 8m wide driveway.

Nice ! Green rolling countryside.

Stewie

Lovely block, look forward to seeing more about your build

We have preliminary plans. Any comments are appreciated.

I would love some opinions on our preliminary plans if anyone has a minute to have a look.

Hi AJB,
I'm picturing sitting on your veranda looking out onto the lovely countryside
It all looks good - my only question would be natural light in the front hallway….are you having some sort of skylight? I'd just be concerned that it may be a little dark.
Best of luck and I really look forward to seeing your plans progress into reality
Lyndall

Thanks Lyndall. I am also picturing myself sitting on my verandah enjoying the serenity.

A skylight would be a good idea for the entry. Thanks. Do you have a thread for your build? Did your sanity stay intact?

Haha….NO! Sanity went out the window years ago Sometimes I think you have to be a little bit insane to undertake Owner Building!! My thread is titled something like "Paal Camden Lower Hunter Valley"…..We're on the tail end of our journey now and finishing off the fiddly bits…..it was a thrilling ride though!!
Best of luck!

Looks great