Welcome to Just Commodores, a site specifically designed for all people who share the same passion as yourself.

New Posts Contact us

Just Commodores Forum Community

It takes just a moment to join our fantastic community

Register

Losh's New House Build

losh1971

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
22,383
Reaction score
22,002
Points
113
Location
North Tas
Members Ride
VE Series I SS Ute
So been some progress on the house. They have done the pad and the pods have been laid out. I believe there is a concrete pump truck coming in a week. I'm currently madly trying to dig my shed storm water trenches so I can get them cover over and concrete poured between the shed and the fence, with a bit poured on an angle to stop the dirt around the fence posts from coming away and getting loose.

Forgot the take a photo so will try and get something up this week. I have run into a bit of an issue; the neighbours septic drain pipe goes under the fence and ends somewhere under my shed slab....... I have no idea what to do? I need to get something sorted this week, as I want to see if I can buy some time on the pump truck to get the concrete up the side. Unfortunately barrowing will take over an hour with two or blokes going, which means paying someone and and waiting time on the truck, and barrowing from the street as there is no where to park the truck in front of the shed.

As for the septic drain I'm hoping I can chop the pipe and fill it with concrete and pack it in as far up the pipe as I can.
 

losh1971

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
22,383
Reaction score
22,002
Points
113
Location
North Tas
Members Ride
VE Series I SS Ute
Get them to move their septic line from your land.
Spoke to the builder and he wants the council plumbing inspector to check it out. Issue I have is yes they need to move it, as legally it supposed to be a metre or three metres from the side boundary, I can't remember the regs from when I built my other house. However, how do you make a bloke fix his septic, if he says too bad? He can't get an excavator in his backyard anymore I don't think, as they built on and AFAIK they have no rear access.

Now if I speak to him and he says sure then all will be well. But if he jacks up because in reality he could be facing a $2k bill to fix a 30 year old problem, that he may not know about.

Personally, I'd rather plug it with a heap of concrete and forget it, because then I won't end up with neighbour disputes. Now that council will be involved and potentially be a toothless tiger in helping my plight, and cost me money because now I can't pay the extra 30mins of pump truck hire, as I am possibly going to be delayed due to this stinky problem.....

I kinda wish I had just grabbed a bag of cement from Mitre 10 and mixed some mud and plugged the bastard....... hahahaha
 

VS 5.0

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
7,980
Reaction score
14,099
Points
113
Location
Perth WA
Members Ride
VE SSV Z Series M6
If it is placed incorrectly, he needs to fix it, regardless of time lapsed or cost involved.

I doubt interfering with it will end well for you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lex

losh1971

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
22,383
Reaction score
22,002
Points
113
Location
North Tas
Members Ride
VE Series I SS Ute
If it is placed incorrectly, he needs to fix it, regardless of time lapsed or cost involved.

I doubt interfering with it will end well for you.
I'm afraid I think your probably right. But it's gonna cost me at least an additional $1000 in cartage and time getting a concreter out a second time because of this problem. I doubt I can make him cover the additional costs I could be up for, or can I, without going to court?
 

vc commodore

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
10,651
Reaction score
12,323
Points
113
Location
Like the Leyland Brothers
Members Ride
VC, VH and VY
If it does end up in the court room, he will be up for the costs anyways.....So if he wants to be painful, it will come out of his pocket in the long run, not yours.....

That being said, if there is a free legal hot line, give it a tingle and see what they have to say on where you actually stand so you aren't going in half cocked.....Personally I'd prefer a grand in my pocket not someone elses
 

Skylarking

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2018
Messages
9,993
Reaction score
10,322
Points
113
Age
123
Location
Downunder
Members Ride
Commodore Motorsport Edition
Normally the septic tank is somewhat near a house, on ones own land, with the houses plumbing connecting the two. So I don’t understand how the pipe has been laid within your land and wonder where his septic tank is actually located? Maybe part of it is also on your land :eek:Odd things can occur when land is subdivided :rolleyes:

The best approach would be to talk to the council as they should have plans of the septic system, property boundaries, etc. (I’d expect your land was surveyed to confirm boundaries when you bought it and before settlement). Then talk to your neighbour as well as your builder... Whatever the case, it will cause delays before it’s sorted. But it needs to be sorted before the slabs go down.

Easier for him to fix it now as you can graciously provide excavator access via your land ;)

If your neighbour lays a new pipe, he needs to remediate the error as well as compensate you for any costs you suffer due to any delays. He can remediate the error either by digging up the old pipe and fixing the fence (in my view the preferred solution) or filling the offending pipe with some grout/concrete (which will possibly bite you some time in the future when something needs to go in the ground just where that long forgotten bloody concrete filled pipe is located). So I’d prefer the offending pipe is completely removed from my property. The problem is that digging it up will disturb soil and disturbed soil should be correctly compacted when backfilling the trench but such is never done correctly by lazy contractors. It’s all a hassles one doesn’t need.

As for concreting, always best to get all concreting done while a pump is available on site which makes coordination rather important. So to get this all sorted, maybe things have to stop for a week or two before they can start moving again...

Any cost you suffer as a result of this delay/pipe saga, need to be picked up by the offending septic pipe owner. Hopefully he’ll realise this but if he doesn’t, obviously try and mitigate any costs but ultimately that’s what small claims courts are for... (<$5000? in Tas)...
 
Last edited:

losh1971

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
22,383
Reaction score
22,002
Points
113
Location
North Tas
Members Ride
VE Series I SS Ute
Laid the storm pipe in the trench beside the shed today and backfilled it enough to hold the pipe in place.
I had a look at what I thought was the septic drain and I don't think it is now. I chopped it off with the shovel and the water eventually stopped. It sure stunk but I think it was just old water and not sewer. I jammed it up with concrete as much as I could and left it. Plan is to run my own ag drain right along the shed, under a retaining wall. Taking to the builder and simplist option will be retaining wall bricks on a bed of base. I should be able to do that myself relatively easy. Going to try and get the ag drain and base down Monday or Tuesday, I have an extra long weekend this weekend so should have time. Heading up to the country house now to try and get some work done there. Thinking about selling so need to get some stuff done there over the next month or two before it gets cold.
 

losh1971

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
22,383
Reaction score
22,002
Points
113
Location
North Tas
Members Ride
VE Series I SS Ute
House slab went down today. I managed to get most of the storm water for the shed done over the last two days. I need more storm pipe but I don't have any timber to strap it too. However found out there is still no timber at Mitre 10 or Bunnings. If I don't strap it to a piece of timber it will slap around and dent the ute roof or scratch the paint.
I started building my monster shelves but run out of timber to support the MDF sheets.
I may have to put in an order and wait the eight weeks it takes for them to fill it.
IMG_3974_resized.jpg
 
Top