I see a fair bit of discussion in forums about whether to go for a plain concrete driveway of the additional expanse of an exposed aggregate surface.
While I was in Japan last year I saw this concrete driveway which was a plain slab with black stones pressed into the concrete at irregular internals.
Minimalist but distinctive.
I think it looks very effective.
Do you like the idea?
Most of us are used to the traditional Australian roof drainage connecting to down pipes . . . . but this isn’t how everyone sees it.
Travelling around Hawaii I was quite surprised to see how many houses completely dispensed with any form of roof drainage like this photo.
No Gutters and no downpipes.
OK as long as you aren’t building on Reactive Clay
Not a problem in Hawaii where it is mainly volcanic sands or rock.
I recently talked about visiting some Frank Lloyd Wright ‘Prairie Houses’ in America.
With the ‘Prairie House; style there was an emphasis on horizontal lines.
To avoid the strong vertical lines of the downpipes Frank just got rid of them.
To collect the rain below each discharge point he positioned a pit like this one.
The only problem is that in the slightest breeze there is going to be a lot of spray.
For small flows the water drains through each cup to the one below it.
With heavier rain the flow runs on the outside of the cups where it is held to the cup by surface tension.
If you can’t get hold of the Japanese cups a simple chain can work just as well.
For the rest of us it is something you should be aware of.
If you have lowered your suspension, installed a body kit, or have a sports car then it could be critical.
For proper drainage of the driveway you will need a minimum gradient of 1 in 100 (1%, or 10 mm per metre)
This could be either along the driveway or cross fall.
Local Authorities rules on maximum slopes do vary (so check) but typical gradients are:
At the top of slopes there is a risk of the underside of the vehicle grounding.
At the bottom of the slope the front or rear of the vehicle can ground.
For standard vehicles a change in gradient of 12.5% is typically the point where problems can start to occur. (For lowered vehicles it may be much less than 10%)
A typical way to minimise the risk is to have a transition section of around 2m long between the two gradients.
For example
To go from a Flat slab (gradient 0%) to a gradient of 15% a transition section would be 7.5% ( [0% + 15%] / 2 )
Perhaps you should think about some alternatives using a slope.
What you need to consider is how to make sure at that erosion is prevented when rainfall gets washed down the slope.
A great example is this slope has been protected by large boulders carefully placed to appear like a natural rock outcrop.
Another approach is to construct something like a drystone wall but laid back at an angle of around 45 degrees like this second example.
For more inspiration just try Google Search ‘Rockery’ for hundreds of ideas.
How about this picture of the water missing the drain?
Is this a design failure?
Well that’s what www.diply.com, where I found this photo, thought!
Actually its a construction quality failure that is more common than it should be.
Whats happened is the drain is deeper than the base of the paving so the construction crew have had to dig down to solid ground.
The paving has dropped around the drain because
Too often a poor quality paving job looks good when its new. . . . but after a few months these sort of problems emerge!
Guest Post by Aaron
Each method has its own advantages and some are more popular than others.
Most Australian builders are used to building brick veneer, with the exception of Western Australia masonry(double brick),double are more popular.
There are also many alternative construction methods and materials.
The choice of method affects the finished look, the eco credentials, the ease of manually handling the materials and the budget.
It is important to choose the best building method for the outcome you require.
It not only affects the cost and design of your home but it also affects the maintenance requirements and long term value.
It can even affect your home’s efficiency, influencing your monthly bills.
Here are the different types of construction methods to help you decide which is right for you.
Masonry homes are built from block, stone or brick.
Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is a common lightweight block that provides strength and is an excellent insulation and sound blocker.
It can be covered with render, stone veneer or even clading for an easy and cost-effective finish.
Brick homes typically include an inner wall of block and outer brick or stone veneer wall.
Wood framing consists of the main structure of prefabricated panels and trusses connected using nails or screws to form walls, floors, roofs and ceilings.
It is low cost and has design versatility as well as being quick and easy to construct.
A drawback of wood is that, if incorrectly treated, suffer damage in the form of rot, swelling, mould or attack from termites.
Being very lightweight it is quite a poor sound insulator insulator although added insulation can give great acoustic and thermal insulation.
Budget houses can be clad with timber or covered with a brick skin (brick veneer).
This is similar to wood framing but offers more long-term durability and fewer flaws.
It costs slightly more than wood but has a predictable finish that results in straighter walls and a tightly constructed home.
Although steel framing is a thermally conductive material proper detailing can address the problems
Homes constructed with concrete can use cast-in-place concrete, precast panels or insulated-concrete forms that contain integral insulation.
Whichever method you choose, concrete homes provide long-lasting durability and strength with very little maintenance.
Concrete constructed buildings require specialist concrete repairs and this material is most commonly used on heritage buildings.
The restoration can be challenging but the use of this method offers a high level of fire and pest resistance and it can withstand high winds and tough storms.
Concrete homes tend to cost more than the more conventional ways to build a house and often require specialist builders to ensure quality finishes.
Eco-friendly built homes include straw bale, mud brick, and earth mound methods.
These homes are energy-efficient and can be built on a budget provided you are prepared to put in a fair bit of effort yourself.
Straw bale homes represent a sustainable and eco-friendly design with enormous potential.
Earth mound homes, including those made from adobe and those sheltered underground, provide another energy-efficient design possibility.
Structured insulated panels (SIPs) are one of the most widely used green construction methods.
They consist of sheets of foam insulated sandwiched between sheets of aluminium, steel, plywood or fibre cement.
These panels form the walls, floor and ceiling of a home to create a virtually unbeatable level of energy efficiency and watertight construction.
A SIP home tends to be well insulated and draft free, so it needs less energy to heat and cool than a typical stick frame.
This means you will need a smaller heating and cooling system, saving you money and the environment.
What do you think of patterned brickwork?
I think it can look well if its used with restraint and understanding.
Unfortunately I don’t think this example that I recently saw qualifies.
Those triple block features at the window are supposed to represent Quoins (stone blocks to reinforce corners) . . . .that and the over complex single pattern on the building corners are the opposite of what you would see on a genuine old patterned brick house.
A much better option would be to have the ‘Quoins’ on the corners and a plain brick window edge.
Do you agree? . . or do you think I’m just being picky?
Guest post by Andre Smith
In the end, it was discovered the biggest risk was the construction companies themselves. The reason for this is because they’ve become dinosaurs unable to keep up with the pace we’re progressing at.
It’s not that they’re not capable of changing, but they are simply set in their old ways and don’t see any problems as things currently stand.
Only this week a Queensland building company went into administration with a number of half built houses.
Some weeks later when the builder carried out his investigations the price may have increased by more than 30%.
This immediately creates a sense of conflict between the builder and the customer.
Let’s use steel sheds as an example.
The customer expects to see a low price.
There are no definitive rules in regards to site specific engineering, so a customer could ask for it to be placed anywhere.
On the top of a hill and there will be extra costs due to high wind forces.
In a valley and there may be soft ground meaning larger and more expensive foundations.
Thanks to nearly two hundred thousand residential dwellings being built it beats out the non-residential market at a rate of nearly two to one.
Customer are pouring around $66 billion per year into the industry so it needs to be efficient.
They shouldn’t just be quoting a cheap price…….they should be educating their customers to ensure that their customers have a realistic expectation of price.
If they don’t the customer may be over optimistic then run out of money before the house is completed leaving a half built ‘Ghost House’ . . . . with the builder still being owed a substantial amount of cash.
With land prices continuing to increase the pressure to build cheaply will remain but the number of people able to afford to build is likely to drop.
It’s been predicted more than half of current residential builders in Australia won’t be able to survive over the next decade, because they’ll not be able to handle less profits.
Builders that survive will need to be able to educate their customers and better manage expectations.
A lot of the issues relate to damp, particularly:
Although a lot of the problems mentioned relate to apartments I am sure there are similar problems in many houses.
With regards to leaks through ceilings I would think that a lot of the problems are related to a flat roof.
Well the overall Warranty only applies to the main elements of the house
Here are some typical limits to cover:
Generally will only cover structural failure such as
There will be a wide range of exclusions that are likely to include
As you can see that Warranty is not as comprehensive as most people think,
The above doesn’t mean that you can’t have defects fixed that are outside the Warranty . . .but you could have a fight!
