Update on this, specialist piler guy came and had a look today and said it'll be a simple job. Yay! No cynical comments please, I'm happy with the results ;)
kenw1,
Jan 16, 1:50am
Please make sure that the work they do is up to the requirements of the council/NSZ3604, otherwise you will be in a for a shock sometime.
newtec1,
Jan 16, 4:53am
That's what i suspected.I know exactly the design process of that era,and i bet it is just the centre load bearing row.
julzienz,
Jan 17, 9:07am
That's exactly it :) Guy said he couldn't have hoped for an easier job.
julzienz,
Jan 17, 9:08am
How do I check this? Call the council?
queenbumbles,
Jan 17, 9:21am
Did he give you any sort of price to fix ?
Have to get my house looked at as well
imagine4,
Jan 17, 10:02am
gosh I would of got that sorted before I bought it
julzienz,
Jan 17, 11:08am
He reckoned $550.
kenw1,
Jan 17, 7:02pm
Is he replacing any piles or just jacking the house up a bit and blocking the gap?
julzienz,
Jan 18, 1:41am
He's not replacing any, just doing as you say kenw1. I measured how crooked our floor is the other day, and it was only about a cm. Such a small dip in the floor can annoy the heck out of ya!
kenw1,
Jan 18, 2:29am
That is an easy peesy job then.
We are on the last round of repiling our sons house, moved about 60 trailer loads of dirt out from under this portion of the house.
Got the house suspended on blocks and just starting to put the shuttering in ready for the steel and concrete.
Such fun.
newtec1,
Jan 18, 6:57am
Is he repiling those piles with a new conc pad or just putting new longer jack studs in.
julzienz,
Jan 18, 9:51am
I'm not too sure on the details sorry.
newtec1,
Jan 18, 6:35pm
it might be a good idea to see if he is putting new pads under the existing piles.
pauldw,
Jan 18, 7:22pm
For $550 any packing would surely be on top of the pile?
newtec1,
Jan 19, 1:36am
Not necesarily,There is not much involved in materials 1/4 M3 conc and a few jack studs.If it has easy access it just a matter of removing the affected piles cleaning the hole out and putting a pad under the piles.More time and effort than materials. It may only be a few piles by the sound of it.
julzienz,
Dec 20, 8:07am
The piles under our house have sunk a bit. Would like to lift and stabilise, but am worried about the cost. It's only in one area of the house, not the whole thing. The builder's report we got done before we bought the house said they just needed "hard-packing" but I don't know if that means lifting them up or not. Has anyone had something similar? If so, what company did you use/what was your experience/how much did it cost you?
masturbidder,
Dec 20, 8:19am
Not a simple job, although you do not say the age of the house or why it is sinking. Contact a repiling or house leveling firm for a survey and quote.
julzienz,
Dec 20, 8:29am
House was built in 1960. I do not know why it is sinking.
mutation,
Dec 20, 9:05am
we had our house repiled, it is a 1930's place, lots of uneven floors etc, had old totara piles which were rotten. cost 10k in 2007, for our entire 110m2 downstairs area. I wouldnt call it a complicated job, just lots of hard yakka. I would say get someone independant first (an Engineer) to find out WHY the piles have sunk, before having a repiler replace them. you might have a broken water main/sewerage in the area, water pooling under the house etc, which would need rectifiying first. We used john wilson repiling, it took about 2 weeks.
mm12345,
Dec 20, 9:17am
The "don't know why it's sinking" bit is what could cost more than just fixing it without investigating why. If access to the subfloor is good, it shouldn't cost much at all - a few thousand $$$ perhaps, either a repiling firm or a licensed carpenter builder is qualified to do the work. The possible concern IMO is that some settlement is normal, but over time it should reduce, so that after 60 years, if it's started moving significantly then questions should be asked as to why. If it's historic with no sign of recent worsening, and less than about 50mm / 2 inches maximum, don't lose too much sleep over it.
trade4us2,
Dec 20, 6:57pm
I had all the piles replaced in my house for $4000 about 20 years ago. Bargain eh!
kenw1,
Dec 20, 7:16pm
Get a soil test done, that will determine if it s"good ground" in accordance with NZS.
If it is not, then get the cheque book out, am just doing a job on a house that has had to be excavated out underneath, and strip footing poured and then all new piles,
Cost around 30/40k just for materials and concrete, and all stainless steel bolts.
Good luck.
hesian,
Dec 20, 7:54pm
It will need to be done but you might be able to find a builder to do a temporary hold on it while you find out why and cheapest solution.
You dont want to end up with permanently sloping floor(s.) We have this in an old farm house. Affects a veranda area and one front corner room of an old wooden house. However as it has been like this long before we got there there is a distortion to frame work which while safe means it cant be lifted. So the professional repilers couldnt help but a builder put in supports to stop it getting any worse and the house is safe, stable and liveable. But then not something that would ever be sold as a separate dwelling.
Good luck and hope you find something a bit cheaper than kenw1's suggestion. Dont know if this sort of thing is covered by insurance.
newtec1,
Dec 20, 8:00pm
it may not be a major at all. In the 60s they didn't do geoteck inspections for house piles and some were only down into the bare min ground. During that era they also only put a concrete pile into the ground and timber pile off that to the subfloor,so i am assuming you will need to remove the piles,dig a deeper and larger hole and replace with 100 min conc under the pile providing the ground meets compaction levels.If not you will need an engineer to inspect and design.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.