Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Jun 17, 2014 3:47 pm Hi there - I am hoping to ask a few questions as I get started on my owner-builder story - We have purchased 17 acres of rural land and have pin-pointed the location of the house while negotiating BAL ratings and distance from the intermittent creek, we have had the soil tests done, and the On-Site Sewerage Management Plan done, and have paid the deposit to Best Sheds for their Granny Flat 2-bedroom steel-frame kit home (which is to lock-up stage), and so we are now waiting for them to come back with the engineered footings so that we can put our application into the council. We are doing absolutely everything ourselves that we can, and so are going to be living on the property in a caravan while we build, with a small and a large-ish shed to help keep us and our belongings out of the rain! Question 1 - We will need to have someone come out and help remove most of the trees around the house site, probably with a backhoe as we found someone local who seems like a nice fellow. We are not sure whether they should all be pushed over roots and all, or whether it would be better to have some of them cut down with a chainsaw, so we can use the stumps as tables etc. around the garden. None of the trees would be much older than 20 years, so around 40cm diameter as a rough estimate. We are going for a BAL 29 which is at least 33 metres of reduced fire load around the house, but we don't need to completely clear everything, so will just concentrate on the trees that are close enough to be able to fall over onto the house. Question 2 - I am not sure of at what stages the council needs to come out and do the inspections. We are going to have a dry-composting toilet and a grease-trap connected to the caravan sink installed before we can live in the caravan, but not sure if we need a plumber to install something so simple, and the council has been a bit unresponsive, but I am sure they will need to inspect that before giving permission to live temporarily in the caravan. We are going to have raised footings so we are looking at getting another relatively local person to come in with an auger (attached to a bobcat or something) to dig the holes. Does the council inspect after we have laid out the exact plans of where to drill the holes for the piers, or after we have poured the concrete? Would love to hear back from anyone who has done this, especially if in the Tenterfield shire area! It has been a fun ride so far, but I am getting a bit tired of being stuck in the city while we play the waiting game! I will update on my progress and surely have plenty more questions along the way Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 2Jun 18, 2014 12:53 pm If you're intending on doing as much of the work as possible, a great place to start is on your shed. You said it is a kit so all (most) of the planning and materials sourcing has been done and you just need to construct it. This will give you great practice and insight into the building of your house. Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 3Jun 18, 2014 3:18 pm 1) Just read the regs and ask a local rural fire guy what they recommend. 2) that will depend on your council and how pedantic they are. Some like to do all critical stage inspections and come out - when you do your footings - pre-slab to check the steel - framing just before cladding inside and out to check bracing, tie-downs etc - final lockup Take lots of photos anyway - pier in the ground with a measuring tape to show how deep it is, with the reo in place, then after you have poured the concrete etc etc Ring the council and find out. Our local councils have this as part of the DA approval with a page or so of what is required. The rest is usually given to the builder by the certifier as to what he requires ( NSW ). Stewie Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 4Jun 19, 2014 10:54 am Re Question 1 - Take the trees out roots and all. A backhoe may not have the grunt to push them over once the roots are grubbed out, so make sure the backhoe guy looks at your site before coming out. Otherwise use a dozer. In regard to which trees you remove, think about the low sun in winter. Your house might be in shade during the winter. Not good, especially if you have solar panels. So you might like to clear to the north to some extent. Trees 50 metres away can still block the sun. If you're putting down a slab on a treed site, have a look at the other threads here - consensus seems to be to let the soil dry out up to a year to balance out the overall soil moisture. If on adjustable stumps, not a problem though (this is what you mean by raised footings?). Re Question 2 - Councils are very individual on allowing owners to live in sheds/caravans whilst building. Make an anonymous call to yours and scope them out on their rules. Many people do so without permission, which is not a problem if your neighbours are cool, so you need to be click with them if going down that route. X2 on Stewies advice, photograph everything, with a metre rulers with big number markings that can be seen in photos. Most times councils will accept photos in lieu of actually sighting something. Can you give us any info (price, inclusions, etc) on the Best Sheds kit? Would be good if you could do a blog on your build - good way to get advice as you go. Good luck. Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 5Jun 19, 2014 9:52 pm Yes, get rid of the roots as well as the tree. A backhoe is quite likely not to be big enough to do that. A dozer or large excavator might be the go. Try and let the ground settle for as long as you can before you build, as that'll allow moisture levels stabilise across the entire slab area. Don't forget to extend the tree knockdown on the northside, particulary if you ever intend to put solar pv on your roof. It also helps to get some of that low winter sun during the cooler months. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 6Jun 20, 2014 7:26 pm RuffTuff - We already have a couple of sheds on the property so that is actually one thing that we do not need at this stage! We did build a small garden shed for the temporary phone install so that was a fun practice run, yes we put a couple of pieces upside-down but it all come together in the end By the way your place looks amazing - you seem to have plenty of room to move which is awesome Stewie D - I think I will need to ask the RFS what they will require for the felled trees, as to whether I can just have them laying around (outside the BAL zone?) or will they create too much of a fire hazard? I can sell for firewood but there will be a LOT and I would like to keep for future use anyway. The council has replied re: inspections, they say before pouring footings, so I am guessing that this is AFTER we have dug the holes out with an auger. They will also need to visit the site before that to inspect our composting toilet and mini-greywater system to give us permission to live on the property in the caravan, but we are still negotiating whether we need to have a plumber involved at this stage. We don't have a builder and are doing everything ourselves so can't depend on other people to help us out with info, and the local council will be the certifier. Thanks for the tip on taking lots of photos, that is something that I will constantly need to be reminding myself about! Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 7Jun 20, 2014 7:41 pm qebtel - thanks for the tip about taking the whole tree out. We have had a local guy with a medium backhoe who says he reckons he can do the trees. On the house site itself, the biggest 'tree' is only about 10 cm diameter so that's the least of our worries. Yes we have considered that we will require more sunlight for solar power, it is a fine balancing act between than and making sure the place doesn't get too hot in summer! Probably the best solution is to have the solar placed a little further from the house to ensure optimum position. Our BAL is 29 which is 33 metres reduced fire load around the house, and most trees are probably 20-30 metres tall at a random guess. Yes I mean adjustable stumps by raised footings, we decided it would be easier all round than a slab and we both prefer not to have slab for various reasons anyway. Our soil test came back P due to the trees but otherwise an M site, hopefully the engineers report will not require footings holes which are deeper than about 900mm as that's as far as the soil rig could penetrate before hitting rock Yes we have been discussing living in a caravan with the council and they are pretty used to it as a lot of people due it in the area, this is despite it getting pretty cold in winter! In fact they are a bit worried that we might end up being one of those people who just live in the caravan forever, I wasn't sure how to convince them otherwise because that it definitely not in my plans! I am sure that we could get away with it but we want to make sure that we are doing everything by the letter - at this point in time anyway! There are no neighbours in sight so that would be the least of our worries Handy hint about council accepting photos in lieu of a site visit, since it is quite a trip for them and they like to charge extra for the distance! We have decided to go through Best Sheds who are otherwise known as Stone Homes, and they will provide us with a steel-frame kit-home. They have quoted us around $27,000 for a 2 bedroom 'Granny Flat' which includes the raised footings, a small verandah, steel cladding, steel roof, gutters, BAL 29 rated windows and internal chipboard floor, so everything to lock-up stage. I have started a blog on blogspot, not sure if that would be the best place? Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 9Jun 23, 2014 11:02 am bpratt - I have been recommended by a soil engineer that perhaps it would be best to chop down the tree, then have the stump ground down, in order to minimalise ground disturbance at the same time as discouraging the tree from re-growing. That sounds expensive so unlikely to happen The trees which are in the area of the actual house site are basically just shrubs, it's the 33 metre BAL 29 zone around the house site which will be having the larger trees removed, so I don't think we need to wait for the ground to settle, also since we are not having a slab (we are having raised footings/adjustable stumps) it is not an issue. The back-hoe is an 8 1/2 tonne machine and the guy said he could do the job when he was on site, should I be worried that he will be having trouble? We will be basically knocking down all the trees between the house and the fenceline on the north side, so should be getting plenty of sunlight for solar. I am planning on planting some shrubs along the fence line (maybe fruit trees?) which only grow to 2 metres high so that we will still have complete privacy for when the block next door sells (hopefully never!) We don't really have the luxury of waiting for the ground to settle anyway, as we have received the Regional Relocation Grant (fantastic government scheme!) and need to start the foundations in the next couple of months to qualify! Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 10Jun 23, 2014 12:27 pm Althom - Yes there are lots of ferals, it's partly what attracted us to the area! We had a conservative real estate agent (who is also a beef farmer) showing us some property south of Casino, and he warned us against the Drake area because it's full of 'poofs and lesbians' which we thought was pretty hilarious, since we are the types of freaks that he was warning us against! I would have thought it was obvious by looking at us what with all the piercings and funny clothes but I guess he just cound't help himself Needless to say we didn't buy the property that he showed us - it was all in a flood plain and only 100m wide and 4m long - pretty useless for privacy! Instead we bought through a lovely guy based at Tabulam who we couldn't recommend more Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 11Jun 23, 2014 1:21 pm We have been waiting for the engineered plans back from the kit-home company for over a month now, and it's a bit frustrating cos otherwise we are pretty much ready to put the council application in. I don't know if this is a normal amount of time to wait, and they keep telling me that it will be ready in a couple of days.... weeks pass... I wonder if anyone else can tell me how long they have waited for the plans back after paying the first deposit? Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 12Jun 23, 2014 7:00 pm Sounds like you've got it all under control now. If the backhoe guy says it'll do it, and he's quoted a fixed price then you should be okay, but if he was charging per hour you want to be careful. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 13Jun 23, 2014 8:31 pm Keffufal We have been waiting for the engineered plans back from the kit-home company for over a month now, and it's a bit frustrating cos otherwise we are pretty much ready to put the council application in. I don't know if this is a normal amount of time to wait, and they keep telling me that it will be ready in a couple of days.... weeks pass... I wonder if anyone else can tell me how long they have waited for the plans back after paying the first deposit? That is frustrating! We are planning on buying a small industrial shed from them. I'd keep calling - we popped in there on the weekend, and they had quite a few staff on, and have been good at answering emails. Surely it can't be that difficult for them??? Build thread http://tinyurl.com/llgc7yk Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 14Jun 24, 2014 1:38 pm bpratt - hmmm yes he has only given a per hour quote ($90) and we forgot to ask how long he thought it would take to do it, the other guy with a bulldozer said $10,000 which included some driveway work but jeez, we could get a lot of hours to make it up to $10,000 !!! Bigblock7 - We have had pretty good service from Best Sheds overall, I have been dealing with a guy called Mark but he has to pass the plans over the drafts-people and wait for them, and there perhaps seems to be a bit of a loss of communication somewhere along the way. BTW here's my blog http://keffufal.blogspot.com.au/ Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 15Jun 24, 2014 11:24 pm Keffufal bpratt - hmmm yes he has only given a per hour quote ($90) and we forgot to ask how long he thought it would take to do it, the other guy with a bulldozer said $10,000 which included some driveway work but jeez, we could get a lot of hours to make it up to $10,000 !!! Bigblock7 - We have had pretty good service from Best Sheds overall, I have been dealing with a guy called Mark but he has to pass the plans over the drafts-people and wait for them, and there perhaps seems to be a bit of a loss of communication somewhere along the way. BTW here's my blog http://keffufal.blogspot.com.au/ Hope they get it sorted quickly for you Build thread http://tinyurl.com/llgc7yk Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 16Jun 25, 2014 12:41 pm Keffufal hopefully the engineers report will not require footings holes which are deeper than about 900mm as that's as far as the soil rig could penetrate before hitting rock 900mm deep will do it it if you raising just up to a metre or so off the ground, especially since you're hitting hard ground. Keffufal Handy hint about council accepting photos in lieu of a site visit, since it is quite a trip for them and they like to charge extra for the distance! Dont get me wrong, it wont substitute for mandatory inspections, its just useful sometimes when they arent sure about something that cant be readily seen after the fact. IT is just a good practice to get into to photgraph everything, it can come in handy at sale time if you have a photographic history that shows things were done properly. Keffufal We have decided to go through Best Sheds who are otherwise known as Stone Homes, and they will provide us with a steel-frame kit-home. They have quoted us around $27,000 for a 2 bedroom 'Granny Flat' which includes the raised footings, a small verandah, steel cladding, steel roof, gutters, BAL 29 rated windows and internal chipboard floor, so everything to lock-up stage. Not bad for 27K, Unless your budget is severely restricted, Id go at least 3 brm. 2 brm homes on rural blocks have a poorer resale value - you're wiping out a whole lot of family buyers with kids. Whats your blogspot link? Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 17Jun 25, 2014 1:26 pm qebtel - Not sure how high we will be off the ground as yet, we have about a 60cm fall and there are minimum heights for bushfire and council inspection requirements. Yes unfortunately our budget is tiny, but our area doesn't seem especially family friendly anyway! Besides, the mere fact of having an actual 'council approved' dwelling is the biggest selling point around here, since when we were looking there are a lot out there that are not!!! And we didn't want to buy one of them because it seemed like it would lead to trouble My blogspot is http://keffufal.blogspot.com.au/ Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 18Jun 25, 2014 1:41 pm Like you I have a tiny budget. I've also been asked by friends why I don't add an extra bedroom and maybe an en-suite as well as it will increase resale value. But I will more than likely stay until carted out in a box - so resale isn't an issue!! Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 19Jun 25, 2014 1:49 pm And when you have a large property, then you can just build lots of 'sheds' Re: Owner Builder at Drake NSW 20Jun 25, 2014 8:23 pm I think building for yourself is always 1st preference if you are planning on living there Build thread http://tinyurl.com/llgc7yk If so what were the "special circumstances" under which it was granted? "Note: If the development consent is for 'dual occupancy' an owner-builder permit can only be… 0 14071 Being an owner builder is no walk in the park. It’s a challenging endeavour that requires dedication and hard… 0 10005 |