Building experiences & knowledge?

[Laava]

its more than mainstream in some localities it the only way to meet the building regulations for insulation

Correct. It is all part of the building envelope matrix calcs.

[Ocean1]

Read up on passive solar design, make your south wall almost windowless, design a heat sink in your living area to collect the warmth of the day, a large conservatory with glasshouse attached to the living area, draw in heat from ceilings

This. Think BRANZ had a tolerably comprehensive brochure thingy that was worth reading.

Oh, and spend some extra to get a site facing N to NNW.

With a stream.

And a couple of paddocks, for a wee dirt track...

PS: pay someone else to handle compliance issues, if you try it yourself you'll end up in pokey.

You can get these in a kitset.

Nice. Where from?

[Swoop]

Avoid any products with "James Hardie" on them.

[dangerous]

Just out for any and all advice, be it good, bad or otherwise.....the Yods are considering building so interested to hear from those in the trade or others who have gone through it....

good/bad products/materials? good/bad design decisions/options? let's have it.....

LOL... I always like listening to the banter of peoples building beliefs, some misguided some right on the nail ohhh I did a pun...
Mr yod any further questions ask away, 1st decide what you can afford and what you like http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...erous+creation

[mashman]

Don't build in weather like this... some poor sod's house is unbuilding itself down the road. The fire brigade have been there to secure as much as they can, but we saw a part of their roof whip past the window and next door have their pink batts in the garden. Oh, and someone down the road has acquired a trampoline.

[yod]

Don't buy any shit of TM and expect a tradesman to be happy about fitting it.

....I was gonna give you a call shortly.....

How big is yer plot? Got any hills you can build into for insulation? yadda yadda yadda

Edit: and Cat 5 the house with a port in each room.

1.3 hectares (if we get it) yes it has a hill but the building platform is not on it....

Like any project, know and scope what you want from the outset. Altering along the way or retrofitting can be costly. Building from scratch is an excellent way to incorporate all the little things you want, and it's cheaper than trying to renovate an older house etc.

Touching on what Maha said, and just like motorbikes, you can get the good brands and then you get the cheap brands. Why do we avoid the cheap chinese bikes? They're crap. Same thing with building products (and everything else). Get a reputable builder, and find out what kind of warranty you can expect, should things go wrong. Document all communication (shouldn't need to be said, but there you go... make sure).

Don't try cutting corners, but you'd be surprised what some have found. Friends of my brother bought a house that turned out to be built by asian builders (not first owners). Found they'd used low grade wiring, overloaded the circuits instead of spreading the load out, so now things trip, and the network wiring was the bare minimum for connection, ie, not a whole cable to each port. Just mentioning this sort of stuff so you know it DOES happen... don't want to be one.

As others have said, don't go for some architects dream. Keep it simple and solid, and you shouldn't have too many issues. Remember to maintain...

yeah, trying to plan as much as I can, (measure twice, cut once, etc)

Hire somebody extremely dodgy, let them sodomise you every which way, and then sell your story to reality television for megabucks.

....I was gonna give you a call shortly.....

Cowboys no longer lives in the area though.

....so now's the perfect time to build as all property values have skyrocketed

This. Think BRANZ had a tolerably comprehensive brochure thingy that was worth reading.

Oh, and spend some extra to get a site facing N to NNW.

With a stream.

And a couple of paddocks, for a wee dirt track...

yep we can pretty much face the house the way we want so all good there, might need a CRF to climb the hill methinks

LOL... I always like listening to the banter of peoples building beliefs, some misguided some right on the nail ohhh I did a pun...
Mr yod any further questions ask away, 1st decide what you can afford and what you like http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...erous+creation

cheers ears, will do

[unstuck]

This. Think BRANZ had a tolerably comprehensive brochure thingy that was worth reading.

Oh, and spend some extra to get a site facing N to NNW.

With a stream.

And a couple of paddocks, for a wee dirt track...

PS: pay someone else to handle compliance issues, if you try it yourself you'll end up in pokey.



Nice. Where from?

It is a nice house, we not allowed log buildings down here though. http://www.tehuia.co.nz/

[scissorhands]

I'm not a big fan of external skeletons, they are exposed to weather and drastically shorten the life of the structure.
In animals like tortoise or cockroach they are organic so self maintain and last forever.
Also the feng shui is usually poor in externally framed buildings.

I've been thinking

With a 2 level structure opposed to single level:
Roof area is halved
Foundation area is halved
Loss of floor area to stairwell

But with an external stairwell surrounded by a glasshouse on the northern side, a pleasant walk through the attached garden when transitioning levels

Also my initial comments regarding a sloping flat roof. Feng shui normally dictates that roof line allow downward forces of chi from the ionosphere to be harmoniously be met. A sloping flat roof may be less effective than a typical symmetrical pitch

I've never liked upstairs rooms with low walls and a sloping ceiling, normally seen in budget homes

I did a course in earth building. A 1 foot think rammed earth rear wall and 'normal' cladding to the north would be my pick for an outer skin. Though all this earthquake talk may make earth less attractive

As Smoky mentioned building into a hillside is great but in a high rainfall climate moisture damage and proofing is an issue

[Paul in NZ]

When we built our house our uncle who is a old timer master builder’ gave us this advice.

A house is a box with an inverted V roof on top and overhanging the walls. Keep it simple; build generous eaves to protect the walls and avoid a flat roof or internal gutters and you will be fine.

[BMWST?]

I'm not a big fan of external skeletons, they are exposed to weather and drastically shorten the life of the structure.
In animals like tortoise or cockroach they are organic so self maintain and last forever.
Also the feng shui is usually poor in externally framed buildings.

I've been thinking

With a 2 level structure opposed to single level:
Roof area is halved
Foundation area is halved
Loss of floor area to stairwell

but half the floor area has to be suspended with spans large enough to allow the room configuration you want downstairs.These days that means large open plan rooms so large spans=large joists=large beams,large point loads=more expensive foundation and bracing issues downstairs

[george formby]

How exciting, building a new whare. Apart from what has been mentioned about efficiency & insulation, top priority for comfort & long term cost savings IMHO, think about how you live. We are renovating, no, don't laugh, an old cottage & started our game plan with how & where we live. Our resources are going into the parts of the house which we spend the most time in. Pointless spending a fortune on the bathroom for 30 minutes a day use (not me..), same for the bedrooms, probably about an hour a day awake in them, if you read that is.
Get a damn good builder who is happy to work with you & be project manager, organising the sparkies, roofers, insulators, consents, materials blah blah. You can save with a good builder if you do a lot of the donkey work. Holding the end, making tea, pushing the broom etc.
Think long term too, don't build problems for yourself. Make sure plumbing, pumps, drainage etc can be easily maintained in the future. I've been trying to find a blocked pipe for 3 months...
All the best with the purchase!

[HenryDorsetCase]

stick to a traditional house shape with a decent roof pitch and good overhangs and get the most insulation you can get.if you can afford some solar water heating or even some pv panels thats good,but even so get a house design that is as energy efficient as poss.I reckon this will be money in the bank in the future

Double glazing and make sure that there is a thermal break between the exterior and interior. More insulation will reward you better than fruit like solar water or PV panels. You need a bigger garage. Get it insulated and lined as well.

orient for sun and wind protection.

The best piece of advice I can give anyone is CHECK THE BUILDER OUT. Ignore those shiny franchise ads. In particular steer clear of GJ Gardner. Here's a thing: you deal with a local franchisee but you have responded to a national "brand" advertising campaign. When it turns to shit the national franchisee WILL NOT WANT TO KNOW unless and until they are on Fair Go or Campbell Live. The only way you can know is to ask who will be building and check the fuck up on the builder by ringing people he has built for. If they wont give you references like that, run, don't walk away.

Check up on them not less than weekly. The most telling thing to me is if the site is tidy and squared away. If it is a midden with rubbish everywhere, and messy and untidy it is becuase no one gives a fuck and its your $300k build that is going down the shitter.

Try and avoid paying ahead. Most contracts provide that you pay a "deposit" then progress payments. Usually the deposit more than covers the P & G and up to slab pour or whatever then they ding you again. the problem with paying ahead is when they go tits up half way thru the build (and they will. or at least they might: plan accordingly) you are an unsecured creditor.

I cannot stress this point enough. BUY THE LAND FIRST. that way you own the dirt and they are improving your property. If you are paying for the land and build at the end pay no more money than you can afford to walk away from when they go bust half way through the build.

Mr Flyingcrocodile46 is the most informed and educated poster on this forum on building matters. Listen to him.

Most builders I have met (or who are clients) are great: hardworking, honest, straight shooters. If you dont know your builder then you need to hope they are too. But plan for the worst.

[HenryDorsetCase]

I'm not a big fan of external skeletons, they are exposed to weather and drastically shorten the life of the structure.
In animals like tortoise or cockroach they are organic so self maintain and last forever.
Also the feng shui is usually poor in externally framed buildings.

"feng shui"


really?

and you're an architect or structural engineer are you? Making sweeping comments about external frames like that you would need to be, obviously.

[george formby]

Very pertinent Mr Case. I'm using two builders, a big one & a little one. That describes the work they are doing, not them. Both are local, have lived here for generations & have excellent reputations. They have the answers to questions I have not thought of yet. They save me a lot of money & hassle too.

[scissorhands]

but half the floor area has to be suspended with spans large enough to allow the room configuration you want downstairs.These days that means large open plan rooms so large spans=large joists=large beams,large point loads=more expensive foundation and bracing issues downstairs

True, but thermal efficiency is greater in a 2 level home, meaning long term gains. In a cold climate, opening the door to upstairs 30min before sleep, means living room heat can move upward to bedrooms. In northern europe 2 level is preferred over single, but high density land use would contribute too as is the push in aucks ATM

Also savings in roofing and foundations should easily offset beams/bracing
And much dryer bedrooms away from concrete slabs and wet ground mean a healthier family