Browse Forums Buying Land Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 2Nov 06, 2019 9:36 pm Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 4Nov 06, 2019 11:18 pm Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 6Nov 06, 2019 11:46 pm Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 8Nov 07, 2019 12:13 am Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 15Nov 10, 2019 2:43 pm ddarroch What is the block's orientation Philsta? For me, a home's orientation is EXTREMELY important. Getting northern sunlight into your living areas in winter, keeping the sun out in summer. Get this right & your home will be more comfortable year round, living areas will be brighter, & your bills for heating & cooling will be far lower. Building this way is called "passive solar design". This brilliant government website explains it all, http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design Getting access to winter sunshine in your living areas in can be very difficult for narrow blocks, due to overshadowing of neighbours. So I usually wouldn't recommend a narrow block on many occasions. This is especially true for narrow blocks with a northern frontage. The garage (usually a double) blocks northern light from entering the home. Making the home dark, cold & uninviting. Resulting in higher bills to light the home, & heat it in winter. A narrow northern frontage (or southern frontage) results in a long home with many eastern & western windows. These are very difficult to shade (as the sun is lower in the sky in this direction). Western windows create a LOT of problems with heat on summer afternoons/evenings. A narrow eastern/western frontage can result in a home with a lot of northern windows, which is good. But these can be overshadowed in winter (when you want direct sunshine). Also as living areas should face north, this can create privacy issues. In rare cases this could be a great orientation. If there is no northern neighbour (parkland). Or if the land is steeply sloping down to the north, so you look over the top of your northern neighbour. For two storeys this is particularly true for "upside down" houses, with living areas upstairs. So some narrow blocks can be ok, but many are not. So I'd be very careful when buying one. It's west/east facing. It was a block which has been split down the middle and the one immediately to the north sold first sadly. I can see overshadowing could be an issue. I can accept that it's never going to be ideal, but this sort of block is the only way I can afford to live in this area. The larger blocks are unaffordable, and I really don't want an infill battleaxe block and these are usually tiny anyway (and still crazy expensive). Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 16Nov 11, 2019 7:16 am The 50% /60% garage width rule only applies if your garage sits level or forward of your building line. If the garage is set 1m or more behind the building line then it can be wider. Thats probably how the single storey home in the link you sent was approved. Also your neighbour will be limited in what they can build because they will overshadow your house. The r codes take overshadowing into account. Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 17Nov 11, 2019 5:56 pm Philsta It's west/east facing. It was a block which has been split down the middle and the one immediately to the north sold first sadly. I can see overshadowing could be an issue. I can accept that it's never going to be ideal, but this sort of block is the only way I can afford to live in this area. The larger blocks are unaffordable, and I really don't want an infill battleaxe block and these are usually tiny anyway (and still crazy expensive). They do say the 3 most important things to consider are location, location, location. But for me, that doesn't just mean the suburb, & the street, it actually means the actual block. Which way it faces, where the neighbours are, & which way they face. As you say, the block's not ideal, but the budget is limited. Unfortunately, some of the design features to minimise overshadowing (such as skillion roofs, & cathedral ceilings with north facing clerestory windows) are expensive. One option is an "upside down house", with living areas upstairs. But you won't usually find this stuff on your average project builder's website. Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 18Nov 18, 2019 11:43 am ddarroch As you say, the block's not ideal, but the budget is limited. Unfortunately, some of the design features to minimise overshadowing (such as skillion roofs, & cathedral ceilings with north facing clerestory windows) are expensive. One option is an "upside down house", with living areas upstairs. But you won't usually find this stuff on your average project builder's website. Thanks so much for your comments. I have found some designs which I think would work well on the block and are around the $350k mark which is within budget for me. One or two in particular have a courtyard on the right-hand side (which would be the north side) which would be great for extra light etc. I'd consider putting a pool or spa in the courtyard which would be visible from inside the house through windows on three sides. Would probably make it a bit more difficult if the neighbour on the right builds a two story house which I don't (and won't) know and have no control over obviously. I am still umming and arring over it and the block could sell at any moment so it might be a moot point anyway but blocks in the area are rare and hard to come by. They keep knocking down and subdividing the blocks in the area but unfortunately they tend to subdivide into three which makes the blocks tiny and worthless in my opinion. The ones where they split it down the middle and have two narrow, though decent sized blocks is pretty rare. Re: Narrow block worthwhile? 20Dec 15, 2019 4:32 pm As tourier says, it's important to make sure that you won't be overshadowed from the north. You should be able to find out your council's rules on this quite easily, & determine the setbacks for the ground floor, & second floor (these setbacks may be larger than the ground floor). Gah, haven't dealt with this for quite some time. One of the popular floorplan softwares, can't remember it's name, will allow you to easily draw shadow diagrams. So you could see how a neighbour, built to the maximum allowable dimensions, would effect your block, & your home. A courtyard is a good option, which I left out. It will however increase costs a bit, as it increases the external surface area of the build (an expensive bit). Though it shouldn't be as expensive as other things like clerestory windows & cathedral ceilings I would think. Edit: the floorplan software was Google SketchUp. Haven't used it in a long time. May not even be free anymore. dimensions on your original plan are inconsistent and with accurate dimensions (including site plan, upstairs and down) i could make a proper scale drawing with furniture… 3 7573 Thanks again for this information. If you do hear anything different, would be great to know 4 8311 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 29236 |