Month: May 2014

How Many Construction Inspections?

DIGITAL CAMERAWell I do my own inspections, so for my houses they have been at least once week. . . . . but if you are paying $4-500 an inspection for a professional you might want to consider the options below!

Just remember the fewer professional inspections the more you should take an active interest yourself.

Option 1

Five Inspections based on the Standard Progress Payments

  1. Base – Best to inspect before the slab is concreted to check:- The slab is in the right location, plumbing is in the right place, and site is properly drained to avoid the ground becoming waterlogged.
  2. Frame – This is the main structural component of your house. It should be assembled properly and according to the engineering details. The slab can also be checked for problems.
  3. Lock Up – Time to ensure that the outer shell of the house is weatherproof and the brickwork is satisfactory. At this stage check  if pipe work and electrical cabling are in the right places. You may also be able to check if  the insulation is correctly installed.
  4. Fixing – Waterproof membranes in wet areas correctly installed.  Architraves, skirting, doors, baths, basins,  sinks, troughs, wall cabinets, cupboards, bench tops, shelves, properly fixed in correct locations.
  5. Practical Completion (PCI) – The last chance to get mistakes and omissions sorted before Handover.

Option 2

Three Inspections

To save money you could reduce the number of inspections to the following three.

  1. Base – As 1 above.
  2. Pre-Plaster – As the frame is still visible before the plasterboard is installed this becomes a combined Frame, and Lock Up  Inspection.
  3. Practical Completion (PCI) as 5 above. 

Option 3

Some people might only be prepared to pay for one inspection and go for the PCI.

My thoughts would be the Pre-Plaster Inspection would be the one to choose.

This is a chance to pick up any serious structural issues before they are covered up.

The PCI Inspection really is more about picking up finishing quality issues than structural issues.

 

See the PCI Guide for advice and extensive checklists….only $4

 

Solar Power – No North Facing Roof

Conventional wisdom has been that you needed a North facing roof to mount your solar panels . . . . . . but it might be time to re-think!

Cost of Panels

In the early 1990 when people first really started looking at solar power for the home the cost of  pv panel alone was in the order of $7-8/watt and installation efficiency was very important.

Now with panels costing less than $1/watt, installed, adding a few extra panels isn’t as big an issue as it used to be.

Efficiency

The efficiency drop  off from moving away from a North facing roof is not as much as you might think.

For instance panels on a roof facing either East or West can still produce more than 80% of the power of a North facing panel. (see Solar Alignment for more information)

More Effective Spread Of Power

A few years ago we were paid for every watt we put into the grid, at more than it cost to buy a watt from the grid. This meant that systems that produced lots of power when we weren’t using that power (typically around noon) had real advantages.

For new systems you are now typically paid less for every watt you produce than a watt costs to buy. It therefore makes sense to be generating power when you need it across the whole day so you use as much of the solar power yourself.

A couple of options are:

  1. Split the panels evenly between say Westerly and Easterly facing it you are looking for an even spread of power across the day.
  2. Concentrate on westerly facing if your main power use is in the afternoon and evening.

A Few Final Points

  • Although this post has been mainly written for grid based systems there will be some benefits for more even power generation for stand alone systems, as it could reduce the battery discharge cycles,
  • In the past, to maximise efficiency, systems were built with mechanical trackers to follow the sun. With the current low cost of panels I don’t think trackers can be justified due to cost and increased complexity.

Also see West Facing Solar Hot Water

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