Lessons Learned - Building a House

[Punk Rooster]

tip-
hire a skips bin for tradies to put their rubbish in. It will keep the site clean & save a costly clean up at the end

That should be the builders responsibility but do they do it................ highly unlikely. Best thing to do is to wait until it gets messy then contact your supervisor or Project Mangager continue to contact him until he gets off his arse and fixes the problem

lol... believe me, either demand your builder does, or do it yourself (before it gets messy- especially once gyprock/painters start). Save inconvenience, & any neighbours will appreciate 1) less an euesore 2) no rubbish blowing to their property.
Or the site supervisor demands trades clean up after themselves

[Squawk]

[quote="dont think do"]How are you boys going?
Things are starting to move for us, they have started doing the footings which is great news for us after 10 months waiting. quote]

Congrats there mate. What date was the first sod turned and what is the scheduled completion date?

I'm still praying for a March 20 start date.

[dont think do]

Thursday 1st of March was the day that they turned up with all the gear and graded the site, then did all the digging in the pic on the 2nd of march. We haven't been given date that it will be finished by but have been told it should be between 5 -6 months.

Heres hoping as its taken us 9 months to get to this stage when we were told it would be 4 months.

But I can say its so much better as soon as they start building as at least you can see something is happening. Have met/spoken to our future neighbours and some of them are having delays problem's as well (different builders).

Just hoping it moves along smooth from here as need to be moving in before the last Saturday of September.

[Punk Rooster]

once the site works start, the process is streamlined- it's all the council beauracracy that makes building anything near impossible.
Devine complete a house in 3 months & their work is no worse than other builders.

[Squawk]

Just hoping it moves along smooth from here as need to be moving in before the last Saturday of September.

That's my goal as well!

[Dog_ger]

Life is what you make it...!

Everyone complains......!

Who builds and is 100% happy...?

Understand the headaches in building...

There are still headaches in buying established....

Appreciate your investment and over time you will make it your Palace...!

Everyone makes mistakes in renovations or upgrading....

Enjoy the ride of life...!

[Dutchy]

well looks like the weeds are getting pulled from our block as I speak....hopefully have a report tonight with a photo!!!

[dont think do]

I **** believe it we even had progress on the weekend,

Dutchy, can only hope that its ready by the last sat in september but you and I are both at the G watching the Roos win (wishfull thinking I know but we are 2 from 2)

[Psyber]

The first thing to remember is that the builders screw the subbies down and some try to claw it back by skimping on the materials they have to supply as part of being a subbie, so keep checking.

A builder once told me to never go for dark tinted mortar - if you do it doesn't show if they skimp on the cement in the mortar and you don't notice it flaking out from between the bricks until the warranty is well and truly up. In a light mortar the skimping is visible because the colour is wrong.

Keep checking and make them fix things as they go even if it causes delay - it will never get fixed later! Don't hesitate to get in an independent expert if anything looks doubtful. It is money well spent.

It is my opinion that there is no such thing as a properly damp-proofed cement slab. If the membrane is intact the cement takes too long to cure and causes delay, so a few judicious pokes witha crow bar and it drains away through the membrane and the concrete slab cures more quickly. The damp spots don't show for many years.

Make sure the damp course in the walls is not covered with soil or cement paths - that breach becomes a conduit for damp - especially in SA where the salt content of soils is high.

That's enough to put anyone off! The stories are legion....

[Punk Rooster]

It is my opinion that there is no such thing as a properly damp-proofed cement slab. If the membrane is intact the cement takes too long to cure and causes delay, so a few judicious pokes witha crow bar and it drains away through the membrane and the concrete slab cures more quickly. The damp spots don't show for many years...

What type of advice is this?
Voiding Warranty springs immediately to mind...

Make sure the damp course in the walls is not covered with soil or cement paths - that breach becomes a conduit for damp - especially in SA where the salt content of soils is high.

ideally, there should be a minimum of 50mm between the top of your paved/concrete paths to the bottom of your dampcourse (which should be trimmed back level with your bricks)- I've never believe in having additional DCP against the slab edge, as it visually impairs the slab edge for termite inspection (which is a necessary part of termite management)
Also, do not forget to get a perimeter handspray done, either prior to your concrete being poured, or before the header course is laid (ie base & bedding sand is down)

Should anyone want some free advice or a quote, feel free to PM me with your questions.

[Dutchy]

well the block was cut yesterday, go to have a look last night to find we had excess soil and 300 tonnes of soil was on our neighbours block...get a phone call last night asking if I saw all the extra soil and do I know anyone that needs it!!!...FFS, its now costing us an extra $3k to get rid of the soil...cant be avoided I guess, they did ask around to see if anyone needed some fill but as most blocks have slopes everyone is cutting into the slope so fill aint needed...

so first day of the process and we are an extra $3k out of pocket!....its almost worth it just to see some action, anyway trenches and plumbing should be done this week ready for the slab pour....Ill post a photo of my 300 tonnes of dirt tonight!!!

[smac]

Make some calls, get some quotes to remove the soil yourself. $3k seems a little excessive to me. It may be your responsibility to remove it, but you can choose your own contractor for such work.

I am referring to old contracts, from about 1996 - so things may have changed.

[Dutchy]

$10- a tonne is the quote, usually $12 but doing it cheaper for us..we know the guy well and he wouldnt screw us...

[dont think do]

Dutchy

Good to hear its started for you and know what you mean about at least something is happening its a good feeling.

I sent our site plans back 3 times as they had a spot on the front of the block for the excess soil, and I kept marking on the plans and telling them that i want the excess soil left at the back of the block (we have a 1800sq block).

They got it right it in the end and things have started in a hurry, just hope they keep moving this quick.

[Squawk]

I'm hoping we will start in the next week or two. Have asked for surplus topsoil to be left at the rear of our block too! 300 tonnes sound huge though!

I'm starting to feel a bit excited now and I've told a couple of people how it is interesting to be swapping tales with people in similar positions. I'm just waiting on the wall and truss finalisation (but have been told it is an extra $1800 to have the upper floor strengthened to carry a 250kg load for a pool table - seems ridiculous to me!), then private certification and council approval no more than 5 days later. Also waiting to get permission for an independent inspector to periodically check building progress...have waited 3 months to get an answer to that question would you believe and have made about 10 phone calls plus about 5 emails. Still no answer!

Dutchy - your photos better be taken in panoramic scene setting and if you haven't got one, post a pic of the tailings at a mine somewhere - sounds like you have one big sandcastle or more to the point, your neighbour does! I cant believe they dumped the soil on your neighbour's plot so maybe your neighbour should have them up for illegal dumping and make THEM remove it since they put it there and left it there!

[Dutchy]

Ill whack a pick up tonight...went past again this morning and its all happening with retaining walls etc being put in place and preparation for the trenches to be done...slab should be done next week...

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Looks like I'm in the race now, Missus has just signed up for the building of a rental property.
Anyone got the guts on the new pump driven water tanks that have to be installed to the stormwater ? My brother in law, building two properties in Tranmere has been quoted 7k each.

[Dutchy]

welcome to the race Sheik...as promised heres some picks, first from Monday and my pile of dirt and the second tonight which shows more progress...

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Brave man Dutchy, I can see lots & lots of retaining walling there.
Do you (or the builder) have to retain to the right of the pic behind the bobcat?
I've just seen too many tears after the buildings up denying access for exterior trades.

[heater31]

Looks like I'm in the race now, Missus has just signed up for the building of a rental property.
Anyone got the guts on the new pump driven water tanks that have to be installed to the stormwater ? My brother in law, building two properties in Tranmere has been quoted 7k each.

how f**king big are the tanks???????? The new code states that it must be plumbed into a WC and only take a cetain percentage of the roof area which I cant remember at the moment.



Where I work I allow a PC Sum of around $1800 to $2200 depending on size constraints and client needs. That includes the cost of a plumber