Aggie Drain

All the water in the above photos was from the underground spring seeping up. Clearly we needed to come up with a solution.

After consulting with our engineer it was decided that the 1 meter deep, 450mm wide aggie trench should be significant to divert the water.

Trench Dug.

Filled with water very quickly.

We first put in a small later of 20mm stone, then a 100mm flexible aggie pipe with a geo sock. The trench was then filled with about 100mm of 20mm stone

Just to be sure, we also put in 100mm PVC aggie pipe.  Jodie's Dad did a huge amount of work cleaning our the trench and laying both aggie pipes.

All installed and glued. The risers will be used when the house is finished and the landscaping is complete, and will be used to collect ground water.

Back filled with 20mm stone

Weed mat installed

 

Covered back with soil, and inspected by Lara.

Site Cut

On the 14th of December last year we had our site cut start. We opted to have a level 2 controlled certified fill. This involved a cut from the back of the block and fill at the front. All the fill area had to be compacted to a level of 95% or better.

During the cut section we found an underground spring running through the back section. This caused a huge water seepeage problem and slowed the cut and fill work a little. All the same, the cut/fill was completed on the 16th of December



13-12-2011

14-12-2011

15-12-2011

16-12-2011

Last 2 Year Catch up

Our journey started on 08-04-2010 with the purchased of our 4111m2 dream block in Wodonga, Vic.
The next 14 months consisted of looking at display homes, developing floor plan ideas, and talking to local builders.
After deciding to look at the owner builder route, a friend put us in contact with a architect who was happy to do some draft work and convert our drawn floor plan into a format that was suitable for building approval and quoting.
We then wrote up a list of items we needed to get quotes on and started looking for trades men in all areas.
Over the last 6 months we have been dealing with banks looking to someone who would be happy to lend us money and also going through the process dealing with the local council obtaining a building permit, and town planning permit to build a shed outside of the building envelop and slightly larger than what is allowed on the covenants. 

During this time we also obtained quotes for the full build from local builders. Having a local builder complete the project would have saved a bit of time, and a lot of effort, but we believe we can do the same job for about 20% cheaper than the quotes we were given. Time will tell if this was the right choice.