Re: House building costs
 

[QUOTE=ray2gill;4445667]you should have better insulation in the roof than R2.5. some builders put it just under the roof and some on the ceiling. we live in the tropics so the winter thing aint an issue. i would have it under the tin to stop as much heat as possible getting in there. i would also look at ventilating the roof space. weve got whirlybirds and they work well although you can spent more and get motor driven extraction fans.also look at increasing the size of the eves to atleast 1m as this will reduce the sunlight that shines into the windows. as for the walls, its purely to reduce the noise travel throughout the house. if you have stud walls its significant. dont let anyone tell you different as ther only kidding themselves. you can also get soundproofing gyprock which would be worth a look if your having a media room. as wol said " makes the house more liveable". get the whole roof insulated aswell. it should not cost that much extra. by not insulating patio areas is just a way for the builder to reduce his costs.

Re: House building costs
 

You don't need plans for a house that big mate.

You need an Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map!!!!

:beer:

Buzzy

Re: House building costs
 

[quote=ray2gill;4445667]You should have sarking under the roof, which prevents water which gets under cracked tiles etc falling in, and also insulates the loft to some extent. The ceiling insulation should be on top of the ceiling gyproc. It's called a "cold roof" system in the UK. I think 4.0 insulation is worth it - the extra cost at installation isn't much.

Re: House building costs
 

Do you have any recommendations for sourcing your concrete? It is ironic but my brother in law is the GM of a large concrete firm in NZ (but the cost for frieght is dreadful;) )

Re: House building costs
 

The builder did that. We used 214 m3 for the underground footings plus a few dozen for the piers. Then the concrete suspended slab took I don't know how much, but it's nearly 400 m2 and 200 thick.... Environmentally suspect!

I suppose we could have got a discount from your BIL and brought it in as cabin baggage but at a cost - and quarantine would have kept it until it was well and truly cured!

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:rofl:

I have budgeted for $250 per m3, some quotes have come in from $150+gst so hopefully I am well covered (excuse the pun).

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Sounds right - IIRC our builder paid $175 /m3 - don't know if this included GST.

Re: House building costs
 

[QUOTE=youngy73;4445731][QUOTE=ray2gill;4445667]
you should have better insulation in the roof than R2.5. some builders put it just under the roof and some on the ceiling. we live in the tropics so the winter thing aint an issue.

Youngy73 & Wol, many thanks for your info. We plan to have roof tiles so will they provide better insulation? The whole roof and external walls will be sarked. Wall studs will be at 450mm centres. Does this sound ok.

Anyone any advise on termite control? We will be building in Hervey Bay.
Perimeter of house protected by vertical exposed slab edge. Penertration & control joints through slab protected by physical barriers (whatever that means) Wall studs & trusses: H2F envelope termite resistant framing. All termite resistant seasoned Pine.

Many thanks Gillian

Re: House building costs
 

That sounds the usual way of doing things up in these parts. If you don't like the idea of an exposed slab you could opt for installation of "granite guard" in the cavity below DPC that way you show a nice brick outer all the way below ground level, more expensive but far nicer purely from an aesthetic point of view. Physical barrier is a treated PVC barrier that termites cannot penetrate.

Re: House building costs
 

Kordon is a double PVC type material with a thin fluffy inside treated with termicide - whole thing is about 4mm thick. Sits like a DPC and in theory the things either can't penetrate, or die in the attempt. Of course it can only be applied to the wall areas, so if the slab is cracked underfloor inspection is still required if the floor is suspended.

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[QUOTE=youngy73;4445731][QUOTE=ray2gill;4445667]
you should have better insulation in the roof than R2.5. some builders put it just under the roof and some on the ceiling.

I have found out that the walls and roof are insulated at R1 and the ceiling bats are R2.5. Would this be sufficient or would we be better going for a higher rating?

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[quote=ray2gill;4455296][quote=youngy73;4445731]We are R2 for the walls and R4 for the ceiling, FWIW.

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[QUOTE=Wol;4455620][quote=ray2gill;4455296]Hi Wol, is R4 the maximum? Do you know what does that equate to in inches of insulation like we have in the UK?

Also can't remember, are you double glazing, and what extra % is that costing on top of single glazing at the time of install?

Thanks for the advice.

Buzzy

Re: House building costs
 

I think R2 is the max for walls purely because that's the maximum thickness you can get into the frame.

You can stuff as much as you like into the loft, although R4 is the maximum that's sold - it's about 8" thick.

I don't know what the extra is for double glazing, since we didn't ask for a single-glazed quote. But since double glazing is an alien, state of the art new invention here I imagine it's quite a lot more!

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you can get R4 insulation which is only 10mm thick. it looks like bubble wrap but its effective. more expensive but like anything in life you get what you pay for