Ground Conditions
Building On Sand
Building on sand at first seems to be an issue…… although I have heard it said that sand is actually the easiest ‘soil to build on. If you live in West Australia there is a good chance that your house…
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Contracts – Provisional Sums
All new house building contracts will have a section for Provisional Sums. These are used for work that MAY be required, but the builder can’t provide an accurate estimate at the time of signing of the Contract. The main area…
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Building On Clay Soils
Clay is a fairly common soil type. Although it is quite suitable for building one issue is that some types of clays (‘Reactive’ or ‘Desicated’ clay) that shrink or swell depending on the level of moisture. This can lead to…
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Buying A Sloping Block.
It doesn’t take much of a slope to mean that costs will increase. For the last house I built, in 2005, a 0.8m slope over a 26m wide by 32m deep block added $4,800 to the cost. That’s for much…
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Site Investigation
As part of the design and approval process of building your new house you will require a ‘Site Investigation Report’ sometimes referred to as a ‘Geotechnical Report’. For a typical suburban subdivision for a one or two storey house on…
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Soil Classification
Before you can build your new house you need to know what sort of foundation is needed, which is based on the ‘Soil classification’ Geotechnical Investigation A Geotechnical investigations is required to provide a report stating the soil classification. The…
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Saline Ground Conditions
Salinity doesn’t have to be as bad as in this photograph to cause problems in new homes. It’s also quite common for land that has not got salinity issues to develop salinity over several years. Building Problems Due To Salinity Problems can…
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Potential Acidic Sulphate Soils
Look to buy a block on a coastal plain, alongside a river, or a reclaimed wetland and you may see the area described as Potential Acidic Sulphate Soil (PASS). Well PASS doesn’t mean OK! Why, And Where It Occurs These types…
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Pre-Wetting A New House Block
Reason For Pre-Wetting If you are Building On Clay that is dry there is a risk of Soil Heave. This is due to expansion of the clay if the moisture level increases with particular risk factors being: Building after a…
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Stormwater Discharge Point
One check that is often forgotten when buying a house block in an established suburb is how storm water is removed from the site. Forty, or more, years ago when land was cheaper, it was not unusual for blocks to be…
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