[DaveW]

Yeah pretty much. If you have a rainwater tank you have to have a soak pit to handle the excess runoff.
I'm trying to simply divert to the stream instead..... waiting to hear back from the council about that.

 

[Westy]

There are neighborhoods near me where the ground is sinking due to ground water level changes from everything running off. Lots of cracked foundations and roads that look like they are from a earthquake disaster film. Luckily I knew about this when I bought a house and chose a place on bedrock vs an old peat bog.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

There are neighborhoods near me where the ground is sinking due to ground water level changes from everything running off. Lots of cracked foundations and roads that look like they are from a earthquake disaster film. Luckily I knew about this when I bought a house and chose a place on bedrock vs an old peat bog.

...from everything running off...?

 

[DaveW]

LOL drying out isn't the problem on this spot, high rainfall area, most of the grass paddock is 50% moss.
Also the house is on poles not a concrete slab on the ground.

 

[Westy]

...from everything running off...?

As more ground is paved or is covered by a roof enough rain runs off into streams or storm sewers instead of soaking into the ground.

 

[chuffer]

Does it rain there all year round? 30,000 l doesn’t really seem like a lot of water. I have 3 2,500 gallon (~10,000 l) rainwater tanks and while they are big they’re not that big.

Also, what type of filtration you gonna use? Do you think the water will stay cool enough in summer?

So many questions! I am considering building a 25,000 gallon cement cistern for irrigation and fire protection. I think about water a lot these days…

 

[Westy]

Does it rain there all year round? 30,000 l doesn’t really seem like a lot of water. I have 3 2,500 gallon (~10,000 l) rainwater tanks and while they are big they’re not that big.

Also, what type of filtration you gonna use? Do you think the water will stay cool enough in summer?

So many questions! I am considering building a 25,000 gallon cement cistern for irrigation and fire protection. I think about water a lot these days…

LOL.

In most places rain is an all year round thing and not cycles of mildew and smoke.

 

[DaveW]

Pretty much year round rain.... technically Wellington gets more annual rainfall than Vancouver's North Shore.
So a 30k tank with a 1k header tank should be plenty for a small 1 bedroom house.

 

[DaveW]

Any way, it looks like I've drawn "Captain Pedant" from the councils roster of consents staff.
paperwork submitted Wednesday, I received & paid the council consent fees on Friday.
By Friday lunch time the RFI's (Request For Information) started.

Council question
Chapter 14I 2.1.1: Please can you provide a detailed earthworks plan.
Architects reply
There are no proposed earthworks. The building is located above the existing ground level which remains untouched, other than the pile footings shown on sheet 30-12.
(The sum total of the earthworks is 8 x 300mm holes drilled to 1.2m..... That's it.)

Next council question
Thank you for your response - Are the piles existing?
Architects reply
No. They are new piles. These are shown on sheet 30-12. There are 8 piles.

Next council question
Yes I see the piles on the plans, how will you be installing those piles without moving any earth?
Architects reply
No reply yet, he'll get back to them on Monday morning.

The fun and games have begun.......

 

[stevew]

40,000 gallons of rainwater

 

[chuffer]

LOL.

In most places rain is an all year round thing and not cycles of mildew and smoke.

Haha. Yeah, I kinda started realizing that as I was thumbing-in my post. This year has been especially tough. It hasn’t rained here a single time since early April! Two false hopes was all we’ve had so far this summer.

 

[chuffer]

Any way, it looks like I've drawn "Captain Pedant" from the councils roster of consents staff.
paperwork submitted Wednesday, I received & paid the council consent fees on Friday.
By Friday lunch time the RFI's (Request For Information) started.

Council question
Chapter 14I 2.1.1: Please can you provide a detailed earthworks plan.
Architects reply
There are no proposed earthworks. The building is located above the existing ground level which remains untouched, other than the pile footings shown on sheet 30-12.
(The sum total of the earthworks is 8 x 300mm holes drilled to 1.2m..... That's it.)

Next council question
Thank you for your response - Are the piles existing?
Architects reply
No. They are new piles. These are shown on sheet 30-12. There are 8 piles.

Next council question
Yes I see the piles on the plans, how will you be installing those piles without moving any earth?
Architects reply
No reply yet, he'll get back to them on Monday morning.

The fun and games have begun.......

At one…err, actually, several points during our build / renno process, I was seriously considering just saying fuck it and walking away. Like emptying my bank accounts, telling the bank, county and state to fuck off and moving to another continent.

Pedantic self serving bureaucrats are the fucking worst. It seems that some pretty quickly forget what “public” servant imples…

 

[DaveW]

Well shit.
So I got the quote (not including steel work) tonight and it's blown sooooo far past the budget.
Getting close to $11.5k per sqm or including the architect and council fees about $12,000 per sqm.
So I've got some heavy thinking to do;
What can I cut?
How much can I do myself (more than the average person BTW)
How much can I get away with cutting?
Do I just cut my losses of about $50k so far, and walk away?

For how much can I cut, to be honest after 3 winters now in a 2nd hand caravan I'd be kinda "fuck it that'll do for now" if I got to the stage of a lined weather tight lockable shell with a functioning toilet (ok and maybe a shower....Not always convenient on the weekend to use the one at work).

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Well shit.
So I got the quote (not including steel work) tonight and it's blown sooooo far past the budget.
Getting close to $11.5k per sqm or including the architect and council fees about $12,000 per sqm.
So I've got some heavy thinking to do;
What can I cut?
How much can I do myself (more than the average person BTW)
How much can I get away with cutting?
Do I just cut my losses of about $50k so far, and walk away?

For how much can I cut, to be honest after 3 winters now in a 2nd hand caravan I'd be kinda "fuck it that'll do for now" if I got to the stage of a lined weather tight lockable shell with a functioning toilet (ok and maybe a shower....Not always convenient on the weekend to use the one at work).

Good luck!

 

[Jozz]

Well shit.
So I got the quote (not including steel work) tonight and it's blown sooooo far past the budget.
Getting close to $11.5k per sqm or including the architect and council fees about $12,000 per sqm.
So I've got some heavy thinking to do;
What can I cut?
How much can I do myself (more than the average person BTW)
How much can I get away with cutting?
Do I just cut my losses of about $50k so far, and walk away?

For how much can I cut, to be honest after 3 winters now in a 2nd hand caravan I'd be kinda "fuck it that'll do for now" if I got to the stage of a lined weather tight lockable shell with a functioning toilet (ok and maybe a shower....Not always convenient on the weekend to use the one at work).

That seems excessive. How many sqm do you have planned?

 

[chuffer]

Fwiw, I vote to stick with it, but cut hard and do the stuff you can yourself.

What is included in those costs? Is that turn-key?

 

[DaveW]

That seems excessive. How many sqm do you have planned?

Building footprint is 49.6sqm
BUT i realized today when I calculated the per sqm price last night, I didn't add in the mezzanine floors, which bring it to a floor space of 71sqm.

 

[DaveW]

But rough and ready reevaluations today showed at least $90k I can cut out of that price as well.
That said I still have to get the price of the steel work which is a very pricey component.

 

[CBJ]

For those of us who don't live upside down. What's a soakpit for? To mitigate erosion from runoff?

its for soaking

 

[DaveW]

 

[SkaredShtles]

its for soaking

<unmarried Mormon men have entered the chat>

 

[DaveW]

Whom ever it is at council consents is apparently back from holiday and firing out more RFI's.
Some I can understand, some are just bullshit.... Like provide a copy of the hot water heaters manual, or "what size are the water pipes".

4.
B1: Please provide details on balustrade support around the deck.

5.
B1: Please provide calculations for the deck bracing.

6.
B1: Please provide bracing calculation for the subfloor - is bracing being provided from the deck? If so, please provide a detail on how the deck is connected to the house to...

7.
B1: Please show on plans and provide details on the lintels for windows JE 0.52 and JE 0.51.

8.
B1: Ground floor bracing calculations show B2 and B3 as being GS1-N but plans show them as being JHD. Please amend these to match.

9.
B1: First floor bracing calculations do not match the first floor plan. Please amend these to match.

10.
B1: Please provide the manufactures specifications for JHD bracing element.

11.
B1: Please consider bathroom extractor fan penetrating through bracing element. Please state on plans that the wall penetration will be no bigger than 100mm and no closer to the...

12.
B1: Please provide the Futurebuild LVL design guide.

13.
D1: Please provide details on the existing access way to the building from the road, including the cross fall of the drive way.

14.
D1: Please provide details on access to the mezzanine floor.

15.
E1: Please provide details on the size and gradient of the storm water pipes.

16.
E1: Please provide calculations and specifications for the proposed soak pit. Plans state that its engineered but calculations and drawings have not been provided. Please also...

17.
E1: Please provide details on the size of the down pipes.

18.
E1: Please provide details of the gutter to prove that it has an adequate cross sectional area complies.

19.
E3: Please provide manufactures specifications for the cement board (Scyon interior floor)

20.
E3: Please provide manufactures specifications for the wall linings (Villaboard)

21.
E2: Please provide BRANZ appraisal for the ridge flashing.

22.
E2: Please provide certificate for the proclimba eaves and ridge details.

23.
E2: Please amend risk matrix to show the eaves width as being very high risk.

24.
E2: Please provide an external corner detail for the profiled metal wall cladding.
Saved

25.
E2: Please provide manufactures specifications for selected flashing tape.

26.
E2: Please provide BRANZ appraisal for selected flashing tape.

27.
F2: Please state on plans that the shower door and windows in the bathroom are to be Grade A Safety glazed.

28.
F4: Please provide handrail detail for the mezzanine floor.

29.
F4: Please state the height of the steel flats for the JE0.2 window on plans and change labeling on elevation from JE0.1 to JE0.2.

30.
G12: Please provide details on the water supply.

31.
G12: Please provide manufactures specifications and installation manual for the selected HWC.

32.
G12: Please state on plans the size of the water pipes.

33.
H1: Please amend wall calculations from plywood to plasterboard.

34.
Woodburner E2: Please provide details on the watershed flashing for the flu penetration through roof.

 

[DaveW]

Oh and I got the pricing on the steel work for the foundations.
$25.5k

 

[kidwoo]

Oh and I got the pricing on the steel work for the foundations.
$25.5k

 

[chuffer]

Whom ever it is at council consents is apparently back from holiday and firing out more RFI's.
Somed I can understand, some are just bullshit.... Like provide a copy of the hot water heaters manual, or "what size are the water pipes".

Doesn’t your local government have professional inspectors on staff for on-site inspections? It seems like a lot of those questions are “is it to code” questions, which is what inspectors are for, no? Or is this like a preliminary review of design? In which case, why isn’t the architect, builder or engineer answering? Isn’t that why you pay them - so that you don’t need to deal with shit like this…? The process you are describing aggravates me and I have zero skin in the game…

 

[jimmydean]

Whom ever it is at council consents is apparently back from holiday and firing out more RFI's.
Somed I can understand, some are just bullshit.... Like provide a copy of the hot water heaters manual, or "what size are the water pipes".

That's ridiculous.

 

[Westy]

Whom ever it is at council consents is apparently back from holiday and firing out more RFI's.
Somed I can understand, some are just bullshit.... Like provide a copy of the hot water heaters manual, or "what size are the water pipes".

You clearly haven't bribed the right person yet.

 

[kidwoo]

You clearly haven't bribed the right person yet.

 

[DaveW]

Doesn’t your local government have professional inspectors on staff for on-site inspections? It seems like a lot of those questions are “is it to code” questions, which is what inspectors are for, no? Or is this like a preliminary review of design? In which case, why isn’t the architect, builder or engineer answering? Isn’t that why you pay them - so that you don’t need to deal with shit like this…? The process you are describing aggravates me and I have zero skin in the game…

The architect is dealing with it, which is a good thing, as I'd have had trouble not chucking my toys by now if it was me doing it.
A lot of it is the consents officer putting us off to buy time, as they are slammed with work and understaffed for the work load.

 

[mykel]

There is a term for those people - Jobsworths.
They must have a huge amount of inner Karen to be effective.
Looks like you got a good one - sorry.

Good luck.

 

[DaveW]

Happy news at last!
I just got home to my trailer from walking the dog to find an email saying my building consent has been approved!
So that's my last winter living in a caravan folks!

 

[DaveW]

Builders have started on the setout, marking out where the building goes and where the piles go etc.
The pink 2x4 cross bar way above that builders head in the pic is 1.1m BELLOW the finished height of the lower floor. so the lower floor height will be somewhere around the top of that tallest post.
I was quite eye opening to get this new perspective of the size of this.... I can see why the steel work was so expensive more easily now.
Had another 100m worth of 2x4's dropped off today, and the digger will turn up while I'm away on a training course to drill the 450mm wide holes for the foundation piles next Wednesday. I think the drainage guys should turn up to start the waste water systems about then as well.

 

[DaveW]

Came home this evening to find 8 very large and deep holes drilled into the earth!
Steel work was ordered last Thursday, and has a lead time of 14ish days, so hopefully towards the end of next week/ early week after that will arrive.

 

[HardtailHack]

Good to see things are happening.
My auntie and her now dead fuckwit of a husband built a place in the Taieri George, he refused to listen to people who knew stuff about building and planning and died broke with an unfinished house.
You sound like you have a solid plan and accept that you have to butt heads with gov morons at times, will be keen to see this all progress, go you good thing!

 

[eric strt6]

You need one of these for roasting Pigs or Lamb at ou moving in part. This is a full pigs leg on my Brother in laws

La Caja China Roasting Box and Accessories

Want To Roast A Whole Pig and Have No Experience? Well, we can help you. Our roasters will roast a whole pig in less than 4 hours; No Experience is necessary!

lacajachina.com

 

[DaveW]

Had 300kg of steel rebar turn up for the piles today, I've just finished carrying it all up from the road by hand as the truck was in no way making up the driveway, it ran out of traction just 20m up with about 180m to go to the house site.
Next up is is assembling all the bits and pouring concrete.

Next up is

 

[DaveW]

More progress today!
So the rebar is assembled and in the holes, they will be back tomorrow to do the boxing up on 5 of the 8 holes to hit the right finished heights.
The engineer is booked for Thursday morning to do the pre concrete inspection.
Builders are hoping to pour concrete either Friday or Monday (Wasn't sure if the big concrete pump would be free on friday).
It's a lot of concrete! Those holes are going to use up a bit over 8 cubic meters of concrete.
A large concrete truck will only carry 6m2
The big steel portals have been built, and should be good to install end of next week.

 

[DaveW]

The construction company has a team finishing up another build mid to late next week, and they are getting moved over to my build just as the steel portals/sub floor are ready to go in.
Things should start moving a bit more rapidly after that.

 

[DaveW]

I have all the concrete poured!
I got home from working a 12.5hr overnight shift just after 7 this morning to find the builders there waiting for the concrete guys.
By 10am they had arrived set up a concrete pump that was able to shift the concrete 80m up the hill (elevation gain of 25m) and get 8m2 of concrete poured into the holes.
Was enough left over to do a 6m length of the driveway as well so we quickly did the section where delivery trucks always lose traction and grind to a halt.

 

[DaveW]

Weather was drizzly rain all day today so the job site quickly became a mud bath.