Building a new house in Wellington

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20039 posts

Uber Geek

#1823286 16-Jul-2017 15:47

andrewNZ:
gchiu:
andrewNZ: Put drains in the floor of all the wet or risk areas (bathrooms, laundry, kitchen, under the hot water cylinder if there is one, etc). You'll be glad you did when a drain blocks or something springs a leak.

I'm not a fan of those showers where they slope to a drain, but each to their own

I don't like those either, I'm just saying a drain in the floor, so that when the bath/basin overflows, it flows down a drain, not throughout the house.

I've personally seen several major floods that would have been little more than an inconvenience if there was a drain in the floor.

Or at least make sure everything has an overflow on it, eg basins and baths and sinks. The problem with floor drains is drafts coming up through the pipeworks and it can add a lot onto the price.

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gchiu

1211 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1823314 16-Jul-2017 16:40

Some of the wet bathroom drains overseas I have seen have a little spring in them so that the water weight opens the drain, and when there is no load, it closes shut.

mattwnz

20039 posts

Uber Geek

#1823320 16-Jul-2017 17:01

gchiu:

Some of the wet bathroom drains overseas I have seen have a little spring in them so that the water weight opens the drain, and when there is no load, it closes shut.

Not sure if they sell those in NZ. Then you get the problem of it seizing up with dust and dirt over time. Normally you would have a U bend in the pipe, but that would dry out with a floor drain. With building costs these days and the very high price of building products in NZ due to limited competition, installing floor drains isn't cheap. Also not sure if insurers will reduce premiums, due to you having them installed, although they should. Certainly one under the water tank is a good idea, but because it is in a cupboard, it may not need a valve. Buying a higher quality stainless tank is also a good idea. The only things I have had leak that have caused flooding are a water tank that cracked, and basins overflow, which can be solved with an overflow type. Then I have had piping in the walls develop pin holes, where floor drains wouldn't have helped, but have since had all the old piping replaced.

blakamin

4431 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1823338 16-Jul-2017 17:22

andrewNZ:
gchiu:

andrewNZ: Put drains in the floor of all the wet or risk areas (bathrooms, laundry, kitchen, under the hot water cylinder if there is one, etc). You'll be glad you did when a drain blocks or something springs a leak.

I'm not a fan of those showers where they slope to a drain, but each to their own

I don't like those either, I'm just saying a drain in the floor, so that when the bath/basin overflows, it flows down a drain, not throughout the house.

I've personally seen several major floods that would have been little more than an inconvenience if there was a drain in the floor.

Happened to my house when a vanity flexi-hose burst and caused $15k of damage, and a lot of time off work, headaches, etc.

mattwnz

20039 posts

Uber Geek

#1823343 16-Jul-2017 17:28

blakamin:

andrewNZ:
gchiu:

andrewNZ: Put drains in the floor of all the wet or risk areas (bathrooms, laundry, kitchen, under the hot water cylinder if there is one, etc). You'll be glad you did when a drain blocks or something springs a leak.

I'm not a fan of those showers where they slope to a drain, but each to their own

I don't like those either, I'm just saying a drain in the floor, so that when the bath/basin overflows, it flows down a drain, not throughout the house.

I've personally seen several major floods that would have been little more than an inconvenience if there was a drain in the floor.

+1

Happened to my house when a vanity flexi-hose burst and caused $15k of damage, and a lot of time off work, headaches, etc.

Was that one of the faulty ones? This article discusses this http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/92711698/Plumbing-nightmares-for-homeowners-from-leaky-flexible-braided-hoses

Hope they replaced them with solid pipes instead. In my specs I have forbid the use of braided pipes.

The thing is that even having floor drain, could have still caused a lot of damage. If the floor has a slight slope in the opposite direction the water could go elsewhere. The floor would have to be ideally sloped in the direction of the drain.

yumcimil

176 posts

Master Geek

#1824354 18-Jul-2017 13:12

We've been trying to do some renovations - dividing existing house into two, and redoing each half a bit. Costs are *very* high, courtesy of the post-Kaikoura quake rebuild. Estimate for us to extend by ~ 50m^2, and reorganise the interior was $780,000, plus architect's fees and consents.

Our requested budget was $350,000, so we're quite angry with the architect, who has run us $25,000 and counting.

Insanekiwi

592 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1824382 18-Jul-2017 13:55

yumcimil:

We've been trying to do some renovations - dividing existing house into two, and redoing each half a bit. Costs are *very* high, courtesy of the post-Kaikoura quake rebuild. Estimate for us to extend by ~ 50m^2, and reorganise the interior was $780,000, plus architect's fees and consents.

Our requested budget was $350,000, so we're quite angry with the architect, who has run us $25,000 and counting.

That is crazy...$780k for reno! The architect must gone crazy or been completely out of market for a while. Our quote was about 15% higher than expected, but probably due to inflation over one year for construction has been that...

mattwnz

20039 posts

Uber Geek

#1824392 18-Jul-2017 14:10

yumcimil:

We've been trying to do some renovations - dividing existing house into two, and redoing each half a bit. Costs are *very* high, courtesy of the post-Kaikoura quake rebuild. Estimate for us to extend by ~ 50m^2, and reorganise the interior was $780,000, plus architect's fees and consents.

Our requested budget was $350,000, so we're quite angry with the architect, who has run us $25,000 and counting.

You have to remember though that the architect isn't the builder, so they can only price on rough sqm rates, and if they know exactly what the materials, products and labour will cost. Builders can quote what they want. These days the rate that the architect charges is less than what plumbers/ sparkies etc charge.

But sounds very high, considering you should be able to build a good new 300+sqm house for that sort of money.

mattwnz

20039 posts

Uber Geek

#1824393 18-Jul-2017 14:11

Insanekiwi:

yumcimil:

We've been trying to do some renovations - dividing existing house into two, and redoing each half a bit. Costs are *very* high, courtesy of the post-Kaikoura quake rebuild. Estimate for us to extend by ~ 50m^2, and reorganise the interior was $780,000, plus architect's fees and consents.

Our requested budget was $350,000, so we're quite angry with the architect, who has run us $25,000 and counting.

That is crazy...$780k for reno! The architect must gone crazy or been completely out of market for a while. Our quote was about 15% higher than expected, but probably due to inflation over one year for construction has been that...

Inflation is only around 2% at the moment. So someone is creaming it.

nickb800

2715 posts

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Trusted

#1824424 18-Jul-2017 14:37

mattwnz:

Hope they replaced them with solid pipes instead. In my specs I have forbid the use of braided pipes

What do you use instead of braided pipes for bench mounted mixer taps?

gchiu

1211 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1824511 18-Jul-2017 16:05

yumcimil:

We've been trying to do some renovations - dividing existing house into two, and redoing each half a bit. Costs are *very* high, courtesy of the post-Kaikoura quake rebuild. Estimate for us to extend by ~ 50m^2, and reorganise the interior was $780,000, plus architect's fees and consents.

Our requested budget was $350,000, so we're quite angry with the architect, who has run us $25,000 and counting.

sounds like you're at significant risk of over capitalising the property.

mattwnz

20039 posts

Uber Geek

#1824859 18-Jul-2017 23:49

nickb800:

mattwnz:

Hope they replaced them with solid pipes instead. In my specs I have forbid the use of braided pipes

What do you use instead of braided pipes for bench mounted mixer taps?

Just chromed pipes (guessing they are copper underneath), the same that they use to plumb on the outside of toilets. They can be bent into position. Normally they have an isolation value on them, which is a must anyway, so you can repair a toilet without having to turn off the mains. I am guessing the braided pipes are being used because they are easier to install for plumbers, but false economy in the long run if one fails.

nickb800

2715 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1824961 19-Jul-2017 08:37

mattwnz:

nickb800:

mattwnz:

Hope they replaced them with solid pipes instead. In my specs I have forbid the use of braided pipes

What do you use instead of braided pipes for bench mounted mixer taps?

Just chromed pipes (guessing they are copper underneath), the same that they use to plumb on the outside of toilets. They can be bent into position. Normally they have an isolation value on them, which is a must anyway, so you can repair a toilet without having to turn off the mains. I am guessing the braided pipes are being used because they are easier to install for plumbers, but false economy in the long run if one fails.

Wow, I'd hate to be the plumber doing copper piping for mixing taps - presumably it would need to be in two pieces. Toilet cisterns and traditional taps I can understand

yumcimil

176 posts

Master Geek

#1825277 19-Jul-2017 14:44

mattwnz:

Insanekiwi:

yumcimil:

We've been trying to do some renovations - dividing existing house into two, and redoing each half a bit. Costs are *very* high, courtesy of the post-Kaikoura quake rebuild. Estimate for us to extend by ~ 50m^2, and reorganise the interior was $780,000, plus architect's fees and consents.

Our requested budget was $350,000, so we're quite angry with the architect, who has run us $25,000 and counting.

That is crazy...$780k for reno! The architect must gone crazy or been completely out of market for a while. Our quote was about 15% higher than expected, but probably due to inflation over one year for construction has been that...

Inflation is only around 2% at the moment. So someone is creaming it.

Well, the reason we were so hacked off is that there had been a lot of discussion from us saying "Uh, won't that be really expensive?", with the reply of "no, no, it's surprisingly cheap"

mattwnz

20039 posts

Uber Geek

#1825289 19-Jul-2017 14:59

nickb800:
mattwnz:

nickb800:

mattwnz:

Hope they replaced them with solid pipes instead. In my specs I have forbid the use of braided pipes

What do you use instead of braided pipes for bench mounted mixer taps?

Just chromed pipes (guessing they are copper underneath), the same that they use to plumb on the outside of toilets. They can be bent into position. Normally they have an isolation value on them, which is a must anyway, so you can repair a toilet without having to turn off the mains. I am guessing the braided pipes are being used because they are easier to install for plumbers, but false economy in the long run if one fails.

Wow, I'd hate to be the plumber doing copper piping for mixing taps - presumably it would need to be in two pieces. Toilet cisterns and traditional taps I can understand

Don't think it is much different, you are just using solid pipes instead of Flexi ones. An isolation tap can creat a 90 degree angle if a change in direction is needed. This is actually how they used to do it. Think you can also use plastic ones, as my current home has white dux pipes with isolation taps.

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