Forum Replies Created
The footings for any buildings over a mine subsidence area should be designed to allow for reasonable subsidence movement, in accordance with the requirements of the Mine Subsidence Compensation Act (1961). They will therefore be more substantial and therefore more expensive than footings for equivalent buildings on standard foundation material. This therefore adds to the cost of the buildings.
Typically, houses in subsidence areas show symptoms of movement such as hair line cracking on internal and external walls, and binding of doors and windows. Cracking may be more severe where greater subsidence has occurred. These are the accepted risks for living in a coal mining district.
You should take into account the age of the property (the newer the better, as footing design will be more to current standards), the housing demand in the area, and the expected life of the mine (for future demand).Hi Elizabeth
You will need a few trades: carpenter for the wall framing and skirtings, fixing of plasterboard and skirtings; electrician (for any power points and lighting); flusher (to flush the plasterboard joints and fix cornices); and painter.If you are only looking to put in lightweight walls (timber framing with plasterboard lining) to form the bedroom/s, Council approval is not required. Approval would be necessary in cases where structural alterations are to be carried out (e.g alterations to roof framing or removal of load-bearing walls), or an additional bathroom is added, or any changes to the external appearance of the house are intended. Councils are usually helpful with giving advice on this matter, if you want to discuss your proposal with the local council.
How old is the house? There was a much earlier practice of applying a rough rendering over chicken wire, this was mainly for gable ends.
More recently the practice is used for rendering over straw bale construction. That is, a wire mesh is placed over the straw bale wall and then a lime render applied.
The units are incredibly small, about 25 square metres. Try swinging a cat in that area.
Average price about $160,000, and very low capital growth. Not much going for them as an investment.There's no reason to believe that more recent residential buildings are more prone to cracking; the contrary would be more likely. More recent buildings would be designed with a better appreciation of footing design and foundation (i.e. the material under the building) conditions. And pre-July 1985 buildings can't be depreciated (only applies to plant and equipment such as carpets, blinds, oven etc)
Search online on http://www.land.vic.gov.au
You will need to register as a user and pay the appropriate fee/s.Hi Emmy
You should seek the services of a competent architectural draftsman. Trying to do that yourself would be very difficult for you, and fairly unwise. The council person you spoke to was probably a clerical person; she is giving advice to you as an owner/ builder. Working with one builder would not be cost effective; with a drawing for the work required you can get competitive quotes from several builders and then choose the preferred builder.
Everything that you are looking to do, including French doors, deck, and structural alterations to the house can be shown on the one drawing. You could contact the Building Designers Association for the name of a good draftsman in your area.Darklord – in your case I would speak to the Council and explain your situation, to see how the Council will view your intentions.
Oddyssey – a person takes a big risk if any building extension (including the conversion of the lower part of a house to habitable space) does not comply with the BCA. The fact that other building owners are flouting the law does not make it acceptable.Hi amsaini, the two properties are negatively geared. The rental pays off part of the interest payments and the remaining interest debt accumulates.
You should use an architectural draftsman for this kind of work. The Council will expect to see a drawing (plan, elevations and details) and specification with the application.
If the French doors are wider than the window openings, thereby requiring a lintel to be placed above the opening, the application would need to show the lintel sizes. Requirements for decks vary between Councils but in general the application would need to show bearer sizes, placement of posts etc. Removal of load bearing walls needs to be detailed. The walls will support roof framing over, and the detail of any beam used to support the roof where the wall is removed will need to be shown; not so for non load bearing walls. An examination of the roof framing should help you to differentiate between any load bearing/ non load bearing walls. Generally a fence over 1.8 m high needs to be approved.
If you work with a good draftsman these sorts of questions will quickly be resolved. The builders will then be able to give you more accurate quotes for what you are looking to do.I have two IPs each with an IO loan. When I asked my accountant about using the rental payments to pay off my PPOR he suggested that I should make an application to the ATO for a private ruling; the issue for me is that the size of my IO loans could potentially increase while I use the rental income to pay off my home. I didn't apply for the private ruling, not wanting to shake the hornets nest.
I would be interested to read other responses to this query.The BCA was enacted in October 1996. Before that date the separate states and territories applied their own respective Building Acts. The purpose of the BCA was to bring in a nationally consistent set of minimum standards. The ceiling height of 2400 mm for habitable rooms applied in SA before 1996, not sure about other states.
If you want to convert the lower level of the house from storage to bedrooms or other habitable rooms you will need to apply for building approval and the requirements of the BCA will need to be met.The ceiling height will be measured to the underside of the joists from finished floor level. The BCA is a legal document and the Council is not able to make any concessions on the provisions of the Code. The ceiling height in a habitable room needs to be 2400 mm minimum, taken from the top of the floor finish (e.g. carpet, vinyl or timber), not the concrete surface. Sorry but them's the rules. Speak to a building inspector at the Council if you prefer to get a final answer to your concerns.
The Council will apply the Building Code. They will not attach emotion to any decision. The Code requires any habitable room (excluding a kitchen, corridor or bathroom) to have a ceiling height of not less than 2.4 m from finished floor level to underside of ceiling. This will need to be the measurement to the underside of exposed beams. A lower projection is permitted (e.g. at the edge of a room with a sloping ceiling) if it does not interfere with the proper functioning of the room. Ceiling heights in kitchens, corridors or bathrooms need to be 2.1 m, stairways 2.0 m measured vertically above the nosing line.
Also when you eventually come to sell the PPOR you will have to factor in capital gains tax for the period of rental.
I believe the quantity surveyor can formulate the depreciation schedule taking into account the date of occupation by the tenant. The cost of the schedule is of course a tax deduction against the rental income for the property. You will need to make it clear to the QS what items are remaining when the property is rented out.
Reddahaydn, eliminating dampness from a bathroom is not always straightforward. I used to do building repairs for insurance companies and a common fault in bathrooms was a leaking breaching piece in the shower. A plumber can do a pressure test to check whether there is a leak. If no leak is evident then the issue may just be inadequate ventilation, and an IXL Tastic would be a good idea as suggested earlier.
Is the shower over the bath? If there is a separate shower (not clear from the photo) and water from the shower is flowing across the bathroom floor a small threshold could be provided at the shower to confine the water; this can only be done if there is a floor drain in the main part of the bathroom floor (i.e. separate to the shower waste).
Good luck, it looks like a worthwhile project being so close to the city.Check the other parts of the unit for power points (bathroom at basin, bedroom at bed for bedside lamp and electric blanket etc). Make any power points provided double GPOs.
The staining on the carpet outside the bathroom indicates that the bathroom floor may not be well graded to the floor drain, so that water from the shower pools on the floor and flows out onto the bedroom floor.
Looking at the outside photo, the eaves soffit looks like metal deck so it's probably a roof with low pitch. The exhaust fan above the oven is therefore probably vented to atmosphere, and the water damage around the fan may be because the flashing is not totally effective. If you're putting in a range hood the new flashing will solve that issue.
The mould on the bathroom wall may be caused by a leak in the shower plumbing (commonly in the breeching piece). Have a plumber check this before you do any retiling/ painting in the bathroom.
Put in new plasterboard cornices, it's not too hard if you're a bit handy.
I've painted walls and ceilings in the same colour, off white. The ceiling colour always looks different to the walls and it saves a bit of time when painting.
Change the door handles on internal doors if possible.
Maybe reglaze the internal window to the bathroom, to provide a frosted-type glass.
Nuke the weeds with Roundup and put in a few feature plants outside.
