Category: Starting

What’s on the Nature Strip?

Don’t forget to have a look at the Footpath and Nature Strip!

Often forgotten but what’s there can affect what you can do with the block, and general livability.

Some of the things that can affect you are:

  • Place of the Crossover If the driveway crossover isn’t where you want it it can cost you several thousand to have the existing one removed and a new one built. In some cases you may not get permission to move it particularly if it is close to a junction.
  • Street Light Pole Some people hate having a light pole outside their house. As for me, I love it, as I think it provides extra security.
  • Street Trees Street trees can be an advantage or a disadvantage. The advantage is they can be an excellent source of shade particularly if your house faces West. The major disadvantage are mature trees can affect the the location of your driveway and thus the house layout. On a new estate it can be much easier to have trees relocated.
  • Fire Hydrant As well as being an obstacle to any future driveway the fire hydrant will restrict parking outside your house.
  • Utility Inspection Covers If you have to incorporate a utility cover into a driveway it may increase the cost of construction.
  • Utility Poles Generally fairly rare on new subdivisions with services typically being underground. For an established block as well as potentially being in the way it may detract from the view.
  • Parking Restriction Not good if you expect lots of visitors who will need street parking.
  • Bus Stops Something I would really suggest you avoid with problems of privacy, litter and noise.

 

For more Information why not look at: The Guide to Buying a Block

 

Types of Fill

You will often find a reference to ‘Fill’ in your Geotechnical Report.

Your site may require ‘Cut and Fill’ to level the site.

Here is a bit of information about the various types of fill:

Ordinary Fill

Ordinary fill is normally excavated material from the site or from a unspecified location. After placement the excavator  tracks across it several times (known as Track Rolling) and then levels the top surface.

This fill is cheap but cannot be relied on for house foundations. You will either need to excavate through the fill to the underlying material, or use Concrete Piers.

Controlled Fill

Controlled fill is a known (tested) material either from the site or a specially imported material.

The filled area is constructed as follows:

  • The material is placed in layers, typically 150mm.
  • The water content is optimised, usually by adding water.
  • Each layer is compacted with specialised compaction equipment such as a vibrating roller.
Photo Courtesy of Coates Hire
  • At least 3 satisfactory tests of the compacted density of the filled area are carried out.

Providing the whole slab foundation will be on the controlled fill  your foundations only need to go down the required depth into the controlled fill.

No matter how well the fill was controlled I would not want to build where part of the house was to be on fill, and part on original ground…… In that case I would still like Concrete Piers, or Screw Piles installed through the fill to the original ground.

 

See Soil Classification for more information

 

Negative Investment

Negative Investment can be quite a problem…..but what is it.

Well it’s when the house is worth less than you paid for it. This can be a real issue if you need to sell the house.

There are three ways you can find yourself in a Negative Investment Situation:

Falling House Prices

For a long time a lot of people though that house prices always go up.

Over the past five years prices have been more up and down. Now they seem to be on the way up at the moment but there is no guarantee that will continue.

Unfortunately there is nothing any of us can really do about this problem in the short term. If you can wait long enough you should get your money back. In 1991 we built a house in Country Victoria for $130,000.  Ten years later we couldn’t sell it for the original cost.  After renting it out for another 5 years we were able to sell it for $200,000. 

At least with this type of negative investment it will also typically affect the price of any house you buy when you sell your existing house. That’s  good if you do keep in the housing market……….but not good if you have to sell and enter the rental market.

Extensive Upgrades

I have already mentioned that the builder provides the Typical Display Home with upgrades that increase the cost of the base house by 50%.

If you go for a similar level of upgrades you may not get your money back. This is because:

    • When you put the house on the market you will be competing with houses in the same suburb that didn’t cost as much. Those owners are happy to sell for less than you. This means you may only get minimal interest from buyers.
    • Taste is very individual. For instance prospective buyers may not be too keen on the ‘Special’ tiles you paid  thousands extra for.

If you keep the house for a long time,say 20 years, this effect of the upgrades diminishes as your original costs wil be long forgotten and buyers will be expecting to remodel.

Over Development

Over Development is the extreme version of upgrades. Its when you put the biggest possible house on your block….. Often loaded with upgrades.

With this you may now have a house that costs two or more times that of the average house in the suburb.

When you come to sell the problems are:

  • For the price you want most people will prefer a smaller house in a more expensive suburb.
  • Generally people want outdoor space in proportion to the size of the house. A narrow gloomy strip at the sides and back won’t cut it.

The trouble with Over Development is it can have a permanent effect on the value of the property.

Building On Rock

Based on the Soil Classification rock is considered one of the best surfaces to build a house foundation.

It comes under the Classification Class A.

That  doesn’t mean its going to be cheap especially for a conventional raft or waffle pod slab.

Any excavation such as leveling the site and excavation for sewerage and drainage trenches is going to be be expensive. This is due to it requiring a heavy excavator and rock breaking equipment.

Keeping Costs Down

If you have a site that has rock close to the surface the most economic base construction is likely to be Piers for Lightweight Construction. (including  Pole Houses and Queenslanders)

If  you want a Masonry House  (such as Brick Veneer or Double Brick) then you need to minimise the amount of excavation by going for suspended floors.
 

Also see Provisional Sums to find out the issues of finding rock during the construction.

 

Using Your Own Tradies

When you look at some of the prices that builders charge for things it makes you wonder if you can get things cheaper by employing your own tradies during the build.

Examples are things like:

  • Refrigerated air conditioning.
  • Extra lighting.
  • High end bathroom fixtures.

Unfortunately its not always that simple. Some builder will allow you to bring in your tradies, many refuse point blank, some will allow it if you pay an Admin/Supervision Fee.

Reasons for Refusal.

  1. Safety and Security  The builder is responsible for safety and security of the whole site. Through long contact with their existing sub-contractors they have developed trust. They will have concerns about having someone on their site that they don’t know.
  2. Time delays Because the builders regular contractors depend on the builder for ongoing work he can put pressure on them if things fall behind schedule. The builder is less likely to be able to pressure  independent tradies who could take their time and delay things further.
  3. Loss of Profit Builders like any most business make higher proportion of their profit on extras. if this opportunity is lost their overall return on the job will drop.

Admin/Supervision Fee

The Administration/Supervision Fee is to provide additional supervision, and security, and have an allowance for risk.

As a fee of up to $1,000 per trade is not unusual you need to be saving a lot of money before going for separate tradies for part of your new house build.

Also you may not get the price reduction you thought by deducting items from the contract as there is a Difference between contract prices and retail prices.

Check Early

If you think you may want to go down this route you need to check whether you builder is likely to agree before you get too far along the path to signing a contract.
 

Find out about the issues of Using Friends for Building works

 

Cubby House – Fail

What do you think of this Cubby House that someone built in their garden, soon after moving in?

Well it looks pretty good…………………………. Solidly constructed building, nice colourful paint job,  and securely bolted down to a convenient concrete slab.

So why is it a Fail?

Well have a look at this close up of that convenient concrete slab.

That solid concrete slab is actually the top of a sewer manhole on the Easement.

This particular manhole has two covers (You can see the front one on the photo) which need to be accessed for cleaning about every 18 months!

How would you like to move this?

 

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

To find out what you shouldn’t build on your block see Restictions

 

Can You Subdivide?

I would advise calling into the Council Planning Department and discussing your block as early as possible. I have always found them very helpful.

To be better informed here are 4 things to think about before talking to the planner:

State and Local Planning Zones, Schedules , Overlays,  Rules, and Guidelines.

What State and Local Planning Scheme Zone,  Schedules  Overlays and Rules apply to your Block?

Has the council got any Guidelines on:

    • Neighbourhood Character
    • Heritage
    • Strategic Planning

This information can usually be obtained from the Internet, as there should be links on your Council’s website.

The Block Size

Generally the minimum block size most councils like to see is around 300m2. Planners may be flexible depending on the Building Envelope.

I don’t hold too much trust in Real Estate Agents statements so I would either check the Title Plan (follow the link to see an Explanation of Title Plans) or even get a tape measure out.

Building Envelope

This the actual area within your title boundaries that it is legally, and physically possible, to build on.

This can be affected by a wide range of factors described in this post: Building Envelope

Additionally with many block subdivisions there are shared driveways  which usually becomes a separate  common area rather than being  included in the block areas.

This means that you will probably need the original block to considerably more than 600 m2 to get two acceptable blocks.

Precedent

A similar subdivisions in the area, which establishes a precedent, can improve your chances of an approval. It is therefore well worth having a walk around the area looking at what has already been built.

If you want to see what’s behind the fences I find Google Maps is a useful tool although it can be a year or two out of date. Another website is Nearmap.com, which generally have more up to date maps than Google,  but you will have to pay to view them.

Even though you may decide to use a Surveyor or Planning Consultant to prepare your application, your research will give you a better  understanding of what is likely to be successful.

 

For More information see Subdivision Process

Another useful post is Subdivision Costs

 

Restricted Site, Costs

People are astonished at how the builders costs soar when building on a restricted site!

A restricted site is generally when a the building takes up most of the block. Generally this means that there is little room to store materials and special techniques may be needed to construct the house.

Generally if you are on a new subdivision you should be able to avoid  restricted site costs but if you are looking to build in an existing suburb, particularly something like a Battle Axe block, then there is a good chance that you will be hit with the extra charge.

Here are some of the reasons why it can costs extra:

Double Handling, If all there is limited space for storage on site the builder may have to store some of the materials at his own yard. He then has the additional cost of reloading the material onto his truck and delivering to site.

Smaller Deliveries. When you buy building materials the charge is normally based on the cost of the materials and the cost of delivery. If you need 2 or more smaller deliveries rather than 1 the cost is going to go up.

Different Construction Machinery. In some cases the contractor may have to use smaller, less efficient, excavators. For really restricted sites it may need a much larger crane, parked in the road (which can mean traffic management costs) to position heavy items, like roof trusses.

Difficult Construction This can mean more hand work or dealing with building a wall on a boundary with limited access, and having to support foundations of neighbouring buildings.

Parking Fees Sound insignificant,  but if its going to cost the tradies $5/day each when they normally park for free so they are going to want be charging that to your job.

 

See Blocks for more information on buying land

 

Manhole

When I started in the drainage business 40 years ago we called them Manholes.

Since then due to political correctness we have had; Person Holes, Access Points, Inspection Pits, but now we seem to be coming back to calling them Manholes.

We are not talking about the small inspection covers less than 300mm across for the individual house system but pits big enough for someone to climb down to inspect the public sewer or council storm drain.

Some manholes look like the photo, some have round concrete covers and some have square concrete covers.

But what does it mean to you?

Appearance

The initial issue is that the manhole may spoil the look of your driveway or paved area of the garden.

Maintenance

Hopefully with most new developments it will be quite a while before something goes wrong. Rebuilding in a long established area you may not be as lucky. For older sewers tree roots getting into the pipes are a big cause of problems, which might need action a couple of times a year.

Well if something goes wrong with the public system someone will want access to the manhole

Don’t bury the manhole or cover it with paving. You don’t want to delay things if there is a blocked pipe which affect you.

When you plan your house It’s going to be easier if you can give access to the manhole without workmen going through the house, or garage. If not you might have to take some time off work.

 

Also see Easements

 

Noise

Noise pollution should be an issue to check when choosing a block.

Relatively low noise levels can affect how you enjoy your garden and allfresco areas. Bad noise  can spoil your enjoyment inside as well. (We rented for a few months near a railway and would miss 3-4 lines of TV dialogue every time a train went past)

Here are a few potential noise issues to be aware of:

Construction

Buy on a new subdivision and you are going to be woken up a few times at 6.30am as the tradies start until all the neighbouring properties are finished.

Construction noise can be aggravating but at least it does come to an end

Roads

It really depends on the sort of road.

    • Major Highways are built with noise walls which control the amount of noise in the house. You will still get a dull roar in the garden.
    • With major roads it really depends on the sort of traffic. The more trucks the more of a problem its going to be. Also look out for things like Fire Stations and Ambulance Stations. sirens every night can be a bit much.
    • If you live in Melbourne trams can be an issue especially on tight corners where the wheels can squeal.
    • For minor roads avoid living on a long straight road….much loved by hoons drag racing. Also check if the street is likely to be a ‘rat run’ used by rush hour traffic avoiding a busy junction.

Railways

Most people quickly become aware of local commuter railway lines. They don’t realise when the local trains stop some lines are used overnight by freight trains that seem like they are over a km in length, with three or four noisy diesel engines.

Aircraft noise

Just because no aircraft fly over the day you inspect the site doesn’t mean that with a change in wind direction you won’t have planes over every 2-3 minutes.

Photographed by Adrian Pingstone in July 2004

A useful link for checking airport approach patterns is Air Services Australia, go to ; http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/aircraftnoise/airport-information for noise specific information
 

See Blocks for more information on buying land.

 

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