Concrete slab under a pole house

[ryanstev]

Just regarding the pile that looks like it's falling over, it's not, when the concrete was poured in the hole, it was when the ground was there and it was on a slope, that means the top of that concrete originally followed the slope and isn't level, giving the impression from the picture I posted that it's leaning.

I'm still not allowed to post links or images to this forum, but you can view a picture here: kaitaia.com/foundation2.jpg

While I'm uploading, here's another shot of the big steel girder: kaitaia.com/foundation3.jpg
You can see the poles from the exposed foundation look like they're partially carrying that girder, so that's possibly the piling work that the real estate agent is talking about, the thicker poles to the right may be the repiling work he was referring to.

[Meehole]

I've been speaking with the real estate agent I'm buying this house from and he's informed me that the previous owners (well, current owners, technically as it's not in my name yet) recently paid $27,000 to have the house repiled, he's got documents, which I haven't seen yet, which confirm this all.
I have the agent on record, via email, telling me about the work done, to council specifications, and that he'll get the documents showing the work that was done.

Now in saying that, there's no way these exposed foundations look new, but I have the agent on record, he works for a large real estate company, so there will be recourse if he's not being honest.


I've had a foundation guy around too and he wasn't really very concerned with the foundations, obviously they needed to be fixed, but he thought it was all straight forward.

There is no way that the house has been repiled based on those photos. $27,000 someone was taken for a ride or there is a lack of decent repilers so they charge what they want. The good ones have moved South for the rebuild!

[Davo36]

ryansteve, I'd be pushing very hard to get those repiling documents before you settle. Should only take 5 mins for the agent to send them via email.

[Meehole]

ryansteve, I'd be pushing very hard to get those repiling documents before you settle. Should only take 5 mins for the agent to send them via email.

If ryansteve contacts Akld City Council asks if there is a consent to undertake repiling work at the address they should be able to tell him yes or no. It's classified as restricted building work so there would be a design submitted along with the consent. The replier should also be LBP for foundations.

[ryanstev]

I've called the council, just now, they weren't able to give me many details, but they said there was a "Requirement to fix" which has been marked as "Completed" he said it was related to "Earthworks"
I asked if this meant that an inspector would have visited and specifically marked it off and he said yes.

So this is a bit more reassuring.

Ofcourse, he couldn't give me dates, but there's nothing else that needed work on the house or property, until I get the paperwork from the real estate agent, I'm guessing that the work wasn't to replace any piles, since they're all quite old, but was instead to fit the big steel beams on the tall piles, which are taking the load from the first row of piles, the ones that are badly exposed.

[Maccachic]

Have you got a copy of the property file and the lim?

[ryanstev]

Hi, just an update, I moved into the house last Friday.

On Thursday the Real Estate agent showed me the paper work, the house wasn't re-piled, there were 3 new piles put in, the big ones I mentioned, which are taking the load of the foundations that were fully exposed.
The paperwork actually says "Dig 2 meters into bank and reinforce foundation" so they put the new piles in, then dug in and exposed the foundations of the three piles, but didn't remove them.

This still means the other three foundations are partially exposed, but it got council sign off, so the inspector was happy that only a bit was exposed, so they must go down quite far.

This also means the concrete block wall I want, won't have to be load bearing, so that'll save me a bit and I can use it as a retaining wall to prevent any loss of the bank.

[Meehole]

Hi, just an update, I moved into the house last Friday.

On Thursday the Real Estate agent showed me the paper work, the house wasn't re-piled, there were 3 new piles put in, the big ones I mentioned, which are taking the load of the foundations that were fully exposed.
The paperwork actually says "Dig 2 meters into bank and reinforce foundation" so they put the new piles in, then dug in and exposed the foundations of the three piles, but didn't remove them.

This still means the other three foundations are partially exposed, but it got council sign off, so the inspector was happy that only a bit was exposed, so they must go down quite far.

This also means the concrete block wall I want, won't have to be load bearing, so that'll save me a bit and I can use it as a retaining wall to prevent any loss of the bank.

Let me know the address, if it ever comes on the market I will know to avoid it.
Would love to know what the paper work entails and would love to know what inspector signed it off. Putting in 3 new piles does not replace digging 2 metres into the bank and reinforcing the foundation.
Foundation work now requires the sign off of either an engineer or someone with LBP Foundation to their name. Just so you know when you go to move it on.

[ryanstev]

I suppose I didn't word that clearly. I'm just going by memory for this.

The paperwork was
1. Dig 2 meters into bank (so there's more room down there)
2. Reinforce foundation.

For step 2, they put new poles in, close to the fully exposed foundations, these are taking the load of the house rather than the poles with exposed foundations.
Basically you could remove the old foundations that are fully exposed, they aren't supporting anything anymore.

The reinforced foundations were the next ones up, the partially exposed foundations, they have bracing, etc.

[ryanstev]

Hi all, so 5 1/2 years later, I thought I'd give an update.

It cost $13,000 for the building plan, engineer's report, consent, etc. (all the paperwork)
$27,000 for the work. Of that $6,000 was for the excavation, as a digger and tracked front loader was required get the soil up the drive to the dump truck.

The work hasn't finished yet, I have the concrete flooring done, the 6 lots of foundations removed and the concrete block wall built in place of one row of the foundations and the framing on top of that, which is supporting the house.

I still need the framing and cladding to go up for the other three walls, I've been tentatively quoted $11,500 by the builder for that and I'm waiting on the official quote and for him to start working. I'm not having internal walling done, it's just a garage, bare framing on the inside is fine by me, I'll do that myself if I ever change my mind.

Assuming the quote is correct it'll be $51,500 in total. I'm not getting the garage door yet, that'll have to wait until I can borrow from the bank.

Here are a couple pictures to show it as of 4 months ago. Excuse the mess, the guttering droops and overflows, so I have some roofing iron in front of the Falcon to stop the water splashing into the garage. I'll fix that one day.

https://imgur.com/CYoKyfJ

https://imgur.com/NGY7tcB

[Davo36]

Nice to see an update, thanks. $51.5k for a carport is pretty good going.