Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum Re: EcoStay building project 6Apr 12, 2015 7:48 pm A great build ( again ) . I'll be following. I hope you get the rest of the bricks in then fill that dam. Re: EcoStay building project 7Apr 27, 2015 1:18 pm Mudbrick production is now complete! With 2150 mudbricks in 3 sheds and 200 bags of mud mortar. Re: EcoStay building project 9Jun 27, 2015 6:02 pm Great work you guys have been busy Build thread http://tinyurl.com/llgc7yk Re: EcoStay building project 10Jun 27, 2015 10:49 pm Planning permission has come back from council. Next we need to apply for a building permit. Re: EcoStay building project 11Sep 22, 2016 9:55 am It's been well over a year since I last posted here. Life came along and intervened. We never got the Owner Builder permit. The builders registration board put up ever increasingly large hurdles until we got disheartened. The final one was a requirement that we have a registered builder formally employed as a supervisor. The Mudbrick art studio http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=70956 has been a great success, to the point that the council have stepped in and halted the art classes we were running there. They now require us to submit planning applications for the building's new use. This will also require us to fill out yet more forms, pay more fees and jump through more hoops. We have an engineer and building surveyor coming today to check everything (again) so we can lodge our "change of use" forms. We have now completely redrawn the plans for our proposed EcoStay. This building will now be our new house and our current house will become our "EcoStay". Instead of being two storey it will be split level so hopefully that will make the building permit less onerous to obtain. I have done all the drafting myself but the new plans have yet to be stamped by an engineer. Re: EcoStay building project 12Sep 23, 2016 12:15 am So, we're going to need a lot of timber for this build. Big chunky lintels, door frames and structural members to match the mudbrick and natural stonework. We've got jarrah trees growing on the property and they make decent building timber, beautiful too. Using a lot of scrap metal, machinery parts and ingenuity I built a sawmill. I can now mill all the timber required for the build. I have the capacity to mill up to 400mm wide by 200mm high and 6m long. 250mm wide door frames and lintels. Slabs for benchtops and tables. 300mm stair treads. Now all drying undercover. So satisfying to be able to produce your own timber. And the dimensions we require..... for a fraction of the cost. Re: EcoStay building project 13Oct 08, 2016 6:09 pm what a project! Hope you get an easier run this time. How long do you expect the change of use app to take? Build thread http://tinyurl.com/llgc7yk Re: EcoStay building project 14Oct 09, 2016 10:31 am The optimistic version is "a few weeks" but the pessimistic version is "probably this year". So, I guess it's somewhere between the two. Re: EcoStay building project 15Feb 12, 2018 3:03 pm It’s been 18 months since my last post here. In that time we got our “public building” status and have been running art classes in the studio. The EcoStay project ground to a halt when our application for extension on our DA was refused. We had all our engineering and energy efficiency approvals done and were waiting on the BAL report. We had to restart the entire process, now taking into account all the new and updated rules and regulations. Our planning official seemed determined to refuse our every response to the point that we lodged an official complaint about her conduct. After much stress and time we have just been given our extension and the planner has been referred to counselling. However in the mean time we haven’t been idle. We drew up plans for a couple more sheds, gained council approval and a building permit and have since completed them. We used the experience to trial out a few ideas for the EcoStay build. 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 ⋅ 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 ⋅ 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 ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The photos didn't appear in order but you probably get the idea. Oddly I don't have any pics of the completed project so I'll just go and take some. Re: EcoStay building project 16Feb 12, 2018 3:35 pm The finished job. 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 ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Built using stone from the property, our own mudbricks, mud plaster inside and coolroom panels for the roof/ceiling. It's at least 38 outside right now but reasonably cool inside the rooms. Re: EcoStay building project 17Mar 11, 2018 6:04 pm Considering our ongoing issues we've had with council's planning department we have employed a building surveyor to help coordinate and smooth the process. The theory being that council staff may respond more favourably to a more highly qualified professional (more qualified than the council officers). So, we have cleared the site and received our BAL compliance certificate and all the relevant paperwork (in triplicate) is with our surveyor. So, once he has verified and endorsed everything we will lodge form BA1 and apply for a building permit.
Cleared siteLike ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ It was a shame to remove so many trees but "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette" . I know that once the build is complete and the environment around the site recovers everything will feel like it belongs. The trees and rocks we removed will be re-used as building materials in the house. Re: EcoStay building project 18Mar 12, 2018 9:18 am RuffTuff Considering our ongoing issues we've had with council's planning department we have employed a building surveyor to help coordinate and smooth the process. The theory being that council staff may respond more favourably to a more highly qualified professional (more qualified than the council officers). The independent Building surveyor has the same qualifications as the Council Building Surveyor who is just doing their job, mate.If you wanted to go outside of the NCC building code guidelines you should have employed a design engineer and you would have saved a lot of time & money with less stress. You should have seriously looked at Stone Veneer Faced Tilt-up Engineered Concrete Panels? Goodluck Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: EcoStay building project 19Mar 12, 2018 1:03 pm I guess you haven't met officers from our local council. Fortunately it seems the "troublesome" one is being moved on. Stone veneer concrete tilt up panels are not for us. We have an abundance of stone and mud (suitable for mudbricks) on our property and are aiming for as natural and sustainable a build as we can manage by ourselves. Re: EcoStay building project 20Mar 18, 2018 1:10 pm Our paperwork is now with the council and we're waiting for our building permit. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile we're collecting some building ,materials. These free bricks were left over from a commercial builder just down the road. They were destined for the skip bin! So much waste in the building industry. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We'll be using these to form the inside leaf of the foundation retaining walls. Following these simple steps will help you mitigate unwanted costs, have your expectations met and give… 0 4794 As a tradesmen get a private inspector although I don't think there worth it in their profession themselves the reminder they serve to the tradesmen doing the work is… 3 27980 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 19817 |