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#893125 11-Sep-2013 10:28

Just about got this sump hole thing finished. Here it is pictured with the tree ring mortared in place and the pump installed.

I've ordered some bright LEDs to install in the walls for illumination.

~~~~

Also, spent most of Tuesday finishing off the corrigated iron on one side of my shed.

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DarthKermit

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#944752 3-Dec-2013 14:35

Update:
Here's a project that I've nearly finished now.

My shed (man cave) is 50+ years old and the weather boards are rotten and old. I've ripped them all down and replaced them with corri iron.

Before:

After:

If you have any good DIY projects you're doing, please share with GZ.

Pics are always good too. I love to see what others have done.

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Fred99

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#944962 3-Dec-2013 20:42

OK - here's a DIY project gone bad, as happens from time to time.

EQ damaged concrete paths removed (about 60M2) and dumped. I get to this corner, lift the slab I've broken, and here's the stormwater pipe exposed, and as I lifted it the concrete above, the elbow and pipe to the right fell apart and into a hole which had been scoured out by probably a separate EQ related drainage issue (which has been addressed), but possibly exacerbated by the stormwater drain itself leaking. I've propped the drain back into position - as in the photo, as the hole underneath is about 500mm deep in parts. I managed to force the seals back into position, ran water down the pipe for a couple of hours, and there's no sign of leakage, so it's probably better than it was. My drainlayer can't come up for a week or so. We'll video the entire stormwater system, and possibly need to excavate and replace the lot. All I wanted to do was to replace cracked concrete paths.

Fred99

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#944998 3-Dec-2013 22:12

Previous job was to epoxy-inject cracks to the perimeter foundation:

In total I had about 35 m of cracks to repair. These were all under 2mm max width. This is classed as "non structural" work under DBH EQ repair guidelines, and exempt from consent. The damage was inspected by EQC's structural engineer, and to be sure, I engaged my own structural engineer to inspect the damage, and to discuss my proposed repair methodology. EQC will not allow enough money for correct repair - and are not doing this work properly through their Fletcher EQR venture. What they are doing will eventually fail - as they are just patching and plastering minor cracks. In this case I chased out all cracks with a V edged diamond cutter on a grinder, blow out all dust with compressed air, cemented injections nipples with epoxy mortar, and injected sikadur resin alternating from both sides of the RC wall. To assist cure, I ran a bank of 500W halogens on stands to warm the wall, and left them on for 24 hours or so. I used bulk epoxy, packed in to empty 300ml cartridges. A simple skeleton gun allows plenty of pressure for injection - in fact you have to be careful not to over-pressurise, as you can blow the nipples off the wall. Valve in the nipple above the injection point left open until resin oozes in to it, then work your way up. Laborious and expensive. Next problem is grinding off the nipples, and restoring a rendered surface with splatter coat. Sika make some great materials for this. I have managed to do it, with a fair bit of experimentation to get the method right, so that after painting, the repaired areas will not be seen.

Last week a really nasty job. This tiled area was damaged by falling bricks, and needed to be re-tiled. But before the EQ, the original tiles were laid without sufficient run-off, so water ponded. I decided to do the job properly. This involved using a kanga with chisel bit to cut away all the tiles, then remove all the render/topping back to bare concrete. Despite sturdy work gloves, I still have blisters. I then re-rendered it with an Ardex leveling mortar, then re-tiled. Of course 1964 house, nothing was square, and 600mm tiles are not easy to work with. Very careful planning needed to ensure that if you allow for one wall being out of square by 10mm, then you need to think how that impacts on adjacent walls. This looks a bit dusty/dirty (because it is). I'll see how it goes once the concrete is laid - I may need to put a sealer over the ceramic tiles.
To the left is part of the foundation wall. Several of the sub-floor vents had been broken by falling brick veneer slabs, and a match was not not possible. Also, with re-cladding needing to meet current code, I need to install a flashing at the top of the foundation. So I decided to cut out all of the vents, using diamond saws I cut all the openings down by 20mm or so, then refit new vents 25 mm below the original position, so that the flashing wouldn't protrude over the top of the vents. Not expensive (vents are only $10 each), but quite time consuming. My plumber was admiring the work I did on those, then 5 minutes later appeared at my door with a face like a spaniel, apologising because he'd smashed one of my new vents with his digger. LOL - you can't let stuff like that bother you.

Bung

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#945004 3-Dec-2013 22:35

What year would they have been put in and what sort of seal did the pipes have?

Our 1946 vintage pipes were cemented (badly) and the sewage side has almost completely been replaced with PVC. You should get your drainlayer to video both of your pipe runs.

Fred99

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#945009 3-Dec-2013 22:54

Bung: What year would they have been put in and what sort of seal did the pipes have?

Our 1946 vintage pipes were cemented (badly) and the sewage side has almost completely been replaced with PVC. You should get your drainlayer to video both of your pipe runs.

In 1964 the glazed clay pipes were sealed with a rubber O-ring. It has a little flex in it, so can accommodate a bit of movement. But a little bit too much movement, then the O ring doesn't form a good seal. Next problem is that the leaking water attracts tree roots, and they'll destroy things nicely. The old seals are kind of okay - not perished much.
Our sewers were in an area that "took a good whack" as they say. I already had them inspected, EQ damage identified, and the lot whole excavated and replaced with PVC. I'd hoped that the stormwater was okay - I'll find out in a week or two. The "scouring out" under the affected area of stormwater pipe in the image was from an under-runner which started up after the EQs. It's probably not possible to find the source (not on our property), so you have to deal with it as best you can. I got my drainlayer to dig a 1.5m trench on the uphill side of the house, run novaflow in to a sump, then from the sump back in to stormwater. It seems to have fixed the problem well - and when the trench was dug, I could see which way the water was coming from, for future reference if we get any other issues.

Bung

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#945035 3-Dec-2013 23:13

I'm impressed with your foundation repair work. Our place in Wgtn had an old crack that I basically Fletchered except that I bolted a plate across the inside. That hasn't reappeared in almost 20 years, touch wood.

itxtme

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#945107 4-Dec-2013 08:48

Nice work! Fredd99 what is your background? You are obviously very knowledgeable!!

DarthKermit

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#945531 4-Dec-2013 18:09

Fred99: OK - here's a DIY project gone bad, as happens from time to time.

EQ damaged concrete paths removed (about 60M2) and dumped. I get to this corner, lift the slab I've broken, and here's the stormwater pipe exposed, and as I lifted it the concrete above, the elbow and pipe to the right fell apart and into a hole which had been scoured out by probably a separate EQ related drainage issue (which has been addressed), but possibly exacerbated by the stormwater drain itself leaking. I've propped the drain back into position - as in the photo, as the hole underneath is about 500mm deep in parts. I managed to force the seals back into position, ran water down the pipe for a couple of hours, and there's no sign of leakage, so it's probably better than it was. My drainlayer can't come up for a week or so. We'll video the entire stormwater system, and possibly need to excavate and replace the lot. All I wanted to do was to replace cracked concrete paths.

It's just as well you found that problem, being that that pipe is so close to your external wall.

BTW, I've found that even solvent bonded PVC pipes aren't immune to root penetration. I've got a 90mm storm water pipe under my front lawn that I've discovered to be completely root bound. I had to bypass it by running a new pipe line under the house to avoid the large tree that caused this problem.

Can you please post some more pics of your drainage situation once you've made some progress? Cheers.

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Fred99

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#945950 5-Dec-2013 10:32

I don't have a background or training of any real practical use, apart from a few years doing QS/Estimating work for a contractor overseas, but have in other jobs had to deal with specifiers and trades. For the epoxy injection, I did work on the technical side for a manufacturer of resins, and the contract estimating was in concrete repair, but I was not "hands on" doing the work.
There's a lot you can do, but you need to know your limits - practical - as well as legislative (restricted work etc).
Most (but not all) tradespeople are decent, practical, and approachable, and happy to offer genuine advice and help. I haven't had problems with any trade on this project - they've all been good so far. But it's important to listen, to understand that they can't offer fixed prices for stuff which can't be seen, to make sure that when they arrive on site everything is clean, clear and ready to go. If you want good prices quoted, then you're going to have to present the job so that they want it - as if they get an inkling that they're going to run into problems and obstacles, and the customer might be argumentative or tell them how to do their job, then they'll price accordingly (ie very high).

DarthKermit

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#978497 1-Feb-2014 13:07

That big 6.2 earthquake on 20 January got me all shook up and determined to do something about the old brick chimney in the middle of our house.

It's a 1950's non-reinforced structure built in the middle of the house between the hallway and the lounge. If it fell, it would do a lot of damage to our house no matter which direction it toppled.

I took the top off it this morning, down as close to the roof as I could. Next weekend (weather permitting), I want to remove several more layers to get it below roof level. Then I can put the 2nd hand concrete roof tiles I have in the gap left by the chimney.

Once this tricky part is done I can reduce its height (inside the attic) layer by layer as time permits.

When it's all gone, there will be a nice big space between our existing HW cupboard and linen cupboard that can be turned into another cupboard.

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richms

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#978677 1-Feb-2014 21:30

Ive been taking the oppertunity of the flatmates being on holiday to get some floor painting done around the house. Family issues have delayed it so will be taking time off next week from work to complete it.

Richard rich.ms

Fred99

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#980277 4-Feb-2014 19:30

DarthKermit: That big 6.2 earthquake on 20 January got me all shook up and determined to do something about the old brick chimney in the middle of our house.

It's a 1950's non-reinforced structure built in the middle of the house between the hallway and the lounge. If it fell, it would do a lot of damage to our house no matter which direction it toppled.

I took the top off it this morning, down as close to the roof as I could. Next weekend (weather permitting), I want to remove several more layers to get it below roof level. Then I can put the 2nd hand concrete roof tiles I have in the gap left by the chimney.

Once this tricky part is done I can reduce its height (inside the attic) layer by layer as time permits.

When it's all gone, there will be a nice big space between our existing HW cupboard and linen cupboard that can be turned into another cupboard.

That's a good idea. While nobody was killed in the Chch quakes due to chimney collapse, there were many serious injuries. If the quake didn't happen in the middle of a work day, then things would have probably been very different/worse.

I've plodded on with EQ repairs. The stormwater is okay - I've filled/compacted around the exposed stormwater, had to remove a bit of concrete so that I could align the pipes, made sure the seals were in place, tested to make sure no leaks.
Next problem I've had is with consents. CCC have declined consent for footings on the replacement deck without geotech investigation. Fortunately I know a geotech who can do the work quickly (3 month delays for geotech site visit are what people in Chch are facing at the moment) . This requirement from the council is a surprise to the geotech, to the designer, to the builder, and to me. We had all understood that as the land is "Green" with no technical subcategory, then design to NZS3604 would be sufficient.
Council have decided not - and there's nothing we can do except comply. Additional cost for investigation, report, design, will be $3-4,000. There was insufficient allowance in the insurer's payout offer to cover this (combined with other fees- that will put me over budget), but it looks like they will come to the party. I copy all correspondence to my lawyers - I'm sure this helps to keep the insurers on their toes.
No problems with anything else in our consent application. I spoke with contractors (LBP Builder, cladding specialist, scaffolder), and it looks like they are still available to do the work in reasonable time.

Bung

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#980313 4-Feb-2014 20:41

Do CCC have a random rule generator? It is expected that home owners are always surprised but how is it that your professionals working in that area weren't aware?

Fred99

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#980373 4-Feb-2014 22:15

Bung: Do CCC have a random rule generator? It is expected that home owners are always surprised but how is it that your professionals working in that area weren't aware?

Because "the rules" are the Building Act, which despite seeming to be comprehensive, is subject to interpretation in many areas, and in the case of Chch in particular, Council err well and truly on the side of covering their own backsides. It is an extremely frustrating process for all.

I had worse than the above example last year when applying for official consent exemption. They rejected the application citing "not enough information". When I called them to ask what additional information they needed, they responded that "they didn't know". Pressed on this, a senior staff member replied that in order to formally grant consent exemption, then they'd need all the information as needed for full consent application including drawings, PS1 etc. Any savings from the "exemption" would be minimal (would have saved a final inspection/sign-off PS4). Then they stated that from my description of the work it was "already exempt" - so I didn't need to apply for official exemption anyway. Yes - it took me a while to get my head around that too. Reason (I assume) is that if they have to "sign off" on an "official" exemption, then they primarily want to cover their own backsides. It's not so much about meeting building codes - in that case I had to use an LBP, the work had to meet code. But Council is quite happy in that case to "walk away", as it did meet exemption criteria, but they didn't want to be involved in vetting any of the proposed work.

It does one's head in. Yet another job - the sewer replacement we did - was exempt from consent - because the drainlayer laid new sewers in the same place as the old sewer. This wasn't the best place to put it - it would have been much simpler to re-route it - and would have saved a few bucks (drainlaying costs). But to do this would have involved extra $$$ for consent - exceeding that saving. One of the aspects of obtaining consent would have been that plans showing the new sewer location would have had to be lodged on Council records. The existing plans (from 1962) show nothing at all. I have the drainlayer's drawings - showing location of the sewers which have been replaced (in the original previously unrecorded location). It would be great to be able to give those to Council, then they would have updated records. I'm not even game to try - as I bet that despite being better than the nothing they have on file - I'd almost guarantee that to get the new plans lodged - they'd probably insist on some kind of retrospective consent being granted - the plans would have to redrawn using some CAD program rather than hand-drawn, and they'd send me a bill (for no benefit to me - as the work done was 100% legal).

So random rule generator - not quite -but it sometimes appears to be that way. My designer/architect assures me that in Chch, it's only going to get worse.

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