Author: Brian Ashworth

Removals -The Easier Way

A guest post from Stephen Hodges of Easier Move

So it’s moving time to your new house.

This phrase can conjure up images of previous terrible moves that took all weekend, caused arguments about how items should be packed or the dreaded plan of ‘doing it ourselves, cause how hard can it be?

In order to make your life a little easier,here are a few simple tips on some ways to reduce the stress and hassle when moving house.

Be Organised

Moving house is not the thing you want to be thinking about after a hard day of work but as soon as you know your moving date, make contact with service providers.

Spring and summer are the busiest months to move and if left to the last minute you may be forced to use a less than professional removalist as the reputable ones are booked up.

Contacts

Don’t forget the utility companies and book in the date for the power to be on the day before you move in.

There is nothing worse than moving all day to find you have no hot water for that well deserved, long, hot shower.

Throw It Out

Avoid moving anything you don’t really need. If you don’t use it now, you most likely won’t use it later.

As a guide if you have not used something in the past 9 months, are you really going to use it again? If you have trouble throwing things out, get a friend in to do it for you.

Trust me, you will thank yourself later. If you can’t throw it out, pack it in a box and donate it to a charity shop. That may make you feel better about where the items are going. The more you throw out the less you have to move or pay someone to move for you.

Assign A Budget

You will have to pay something to move house, whether in your time – such as most of your weekend – or money.

Let’s face it no one wants to pay a lot to move house but remember, these are your treasured possessions that are being moved.

It is not until they are broken, scratched or torn by friend or a ‘no frills’ removalists that was charging half the price of the professionals you will start to see the value in using a reliable company.

Make sure any company you use is insured for the work they do.

For more advice see Moving House

Can You Build On The Boundary?

I have previously talked about Setbacks but with certain limitations it is possible to build on the boundary.Generally  rules about building on a boundary apply to all buildings constructed on or within 150mm of a side boundary.

Typical Rules

Walls of a building including carports can be constructed to the side or rear boundary of a block provided:

  • The maximum length of wall on a shared allotment boundary, with an adjoining property, must not exceed 10m plus 25% of the remaining length of the shared boundary.
  • The maximum average height of a wall or carport on or within 150mm to a side or rear boundary must not exceed 3.0m and the maximum height must not exceed 3.6m.

NB If the neighbouring block has a wall on the boundary that exceeds these dimensions then your wall  can be constructed to the same height and width of the wall it will abuts.

As rules vary for different council areas check your councils website so you are sure of what rules apply to your block.
 

For more information about where you can build on your block see see Building Envelope.

 

 

Underground Pipes

It’s important to make sure you are getting the right type of pipes and fittings that will be underground…..you don’t want to be digging up you garden, or paths, in case of blockages.

Pipes

Some plumbers will want to use, and bury, 90 mm diameter rainwater pipes, basically plastic downpipes.

You need to make sure you are getting as a minimum 100 mm PVC pipes rated as DWV.(Stands for Drainage, Waste and Vent).

The reasons are:

      • The 90 mm pipe is thin walled and can be easily deformed once buried. This means you lose capacity without realising it. The DWV is a much thicker and thus stronger pipe.
      • Although the increase in pipe diameter is fairly small the flow capacity of the larger pipe is over 40% higher. That makes a difference in storm conditions.

Pipes are normally marked at 1m intervals with the type, manufacturer, nominal diameter, material, and the Standards reference (AS/NZS1260).

This is printed on the pipe every 1m.

Protect Underground Pipes

It’s important to protect your underground pipes.

One of the problems during a new house construction is that concrete tend to fill underground pipes, causing blockage.

A hydraulic impact cutter can remove concrete in drains and sewers.

Other problems include leaking or burst pipes caused by corrosion, tree roots, and collapsed pipes.

Roots tend to grow toward the direction of the water so a loose connecting or weak point in the underground pipes triggers tree roots to wrap around them until they burst.

That’s why the design of the pipe system is crucial to ensure a problem-free plumbing.

They should be away from trees and other structures to avoid these problems. 

You can use an experienced plumber to help protect your underground pipes.

A qualified and experienced plumber will detect common leak indicators in the underground pipes and repair them. They’ll test the repair and fill the trench.

Bends

Bend refers to a term for any change or offset of direction in the pipes, which includes elbows.

They’re fabricated as per piping specification requirement.

Elbows come in standard or pre-fabricated and are available off the shelf. 

Bends are available in 4 different angles for DFW pipes as follows: 15 degrees, 30 degrees, 45 degrees and 90 degrees.

Although 90 degree bends are available, I would NOT install them underground due to the blockage risk….. If you need a 90 degree change of direction underground:

      • For a drain or a sewer use a junction pit.
      • For a charged (pressure) rainwater system use two 45 degree bends with an inspection ‘T’ in the middle.

Setbacks

When you are buying a block one of the issues that controls what you can put on a block is the Setbacks of the main structure.

Setbacks vary from council to council and can also vary between neighbourhoods in a council area.

To give you an idea here are typical Setbacks:

Street Setbacks

  • From the front title boundary the minimum setback is typically 5.0m, which is enough to park a car on the driveway.
  • In low density suburbs larger front setbacks may be required.
  • For older inner city suburbs the allowable front setback may be much less.(to match existing properties).
  • Side setbacks for corner blocks are generally less than the front setback, with 2.0m being typical.
  • Some councils will also have maximum setbacks,such as 1/3rd the total block length.

The following structures are usually permitted to project into setbacks:

  • Porches, verandahs and pergolas, with a maximum height of 3.6m.
  • Eaves, fascia, gutters, sunblinds, shade sails, and screens.
  • Decks, steps, or landings less than 800mm in height.

Side and Rear Setbacks to Adjoining Properties

Typical setbacks are:

  • Side 2.0m, plus 0.6m for every metre of height over 3.6m.
  • Rear 3.0m, plus 0.6m for every metre of height over 3.6m.

In addition to the encroachments mentioned above encroachments are also usually allowed for;  masonry chimney backs,  flues, pipes, fuel tanks, water tanks, and heating & cooling equipment.

 

Don’t want any setback?….see Building on Boundaries

 

House Photo – Fail

Black sock on the railing—The universal symbol for a depressing one-night stand

Do you get fed up with all those pictures in the magazines about fancy houses that are unattainable to the rest of  us?

Well this picture comes from the Unhappy Hipsters web site which posts pictures from posh houses together with funny captions?

So don’t get depressed at what you can’t afford…….have a laugh at the pretentious wackers!

 

For more Unusual Houses and Fails go to What the………………….?

 

Fire Risk

Understandably there is a lot of talk about Bush Fires at this time of the year…….. but did you know that in a typical year there are around 13,000 domestic fires in Australia.

There are also around 80 deaths a year which fire brigades describe as preventable!

Causes

The top causes according to the NSW Fire Brigade are:

  • Cooking Equipment – Why not invest in a fire extinguisher and fire blanket for your new house?
  • Appliances – There appears to be a rise in tumble dryers fires so make sure you keep that lint filter clean.
  • Heating Systems – If you are going for  a fire or wood heater a bigger hearth is safer. For things like fan heaters make sure you keep them free from dust. 
  • Faulty wiring – Hopefully this shouldnt be too big a risk for your new house with modern Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers (ELCB’s).
  • Air conditioning/ Refrigeration – Don’t forget to clean any filters and occasionally vacuum the back of the fridge and freezer. 

 

Also see Your Garage – A Fire Risk?

 

Building Envelope

If you need to fit a large House onto a small block one of the issues you will have to deal with is ‘The Building Envelope”.

What this means is the actual area within your title boundaries that is legally and physically possible to build on.

The building envelope can be affected (reduced) by:

  • The size and positioning of Easements.
  • Required Setbacks from roads.
  • Restrictive Covenants.
  • Setbacks from adjoining blocks.
  • Ability to Build on Boundary.
  • Significant trees.
  • Existing buildings/structures that can’t /  won’t be removed.
  • Neighbourhood amenities.
  • Location of driveway crossovers.
  • Requirement for vehicles to leave the site travelling forward if the block is on a main road.
  • Nature strip assets such as Fire Hydrants.

So when you are looking at buying a block don’t think you can automatically build on all……. or even 75% of the block.

All councils will have different requirements and may even have varying requirements for different neighbourhoods.

It can be worthwhile talking to the council about permissible Building Envelopes, particularly if you want to  build on more than 50% of the block or are on a corner block.

 

See Blocks for more things to think about when buying a block.

 

 

 

Dream House

This is me sitting in an armchair in the ‘Dream House’.

It’s actually a sculpture by Frank Veldze.

A full size representation of a miners cottage, but built with the springs from 65 mattress.

Even the easy chair, which is surprisingly comfortable, is made from the bare springs.

This intriguing sculpture is currently being exhibited at the Incinerator Gallery in Moonee Ponds. (The Incinerator is an interesting building designed by Burleigh Griffin and is well worth a look.)

For more Unusual Houses and Fails see What the………………….?

 

Rainwater Tank – Outlet Modifications

In a post on Outlet Location I talked about improving the water quality by avoiding taking water from the bottom of the tank.

This post shows how you can keep the floating particles on the top of the water out of your supply for just a few dollars.

Mid Level Outlet

In order to avoid the floating particles you need to take the water from at least 100mm below the surface, and avoid siphoning the water out of the tank.

To do this you will need:

    • A valve socket, to be screwed into the existing tank outlet.
    • A 90 degree bend.
    • 2 ‘T’ junctions.
    • Around 2.5 of plastic pipe.

I would recommend at least 25mm dia pipe although larger would be better if it will fit in the tank outlet.The components are assembled as shown in the photo on the right.

The top pipe should finish above the water level of the tank when full.

In normal use the water is taken from the level of the Bottom ‘T’. When the level drops to the level of the horizontal pipe the air coming down the vertical pipe will act to stop a siphon forming and sucking down the top level of water.

Low Level Outlet

The only additional component if you are going to improve the existing low level out let is an extra 90 degree band.

It is however assembled in a slightly different order as shown in the photo on the right.

The only problem with this arrangement is it means that the Water below the outlet cannot be accessed unless you have an extra bottom outlet. (or use a submersible pump dropped into the tank)

 

For more about tank water quality see Rainwater Safety

 

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