Car port and driveway

[demuire]

Not entirely sure which section to post this, thought it fit here best...

Anyway, I've got a highset house at the end of a cul-de-sac. The driveway goes from the width of double (approx 6 meters) where the house is, to a single car width when it gets to the road.

I'm thinking of getting a double carport put in front of the house. After reading and looking around, I'm considering getting one of the pre-fabricated kits by Stratco or some other similar company. I'm not sure if it will be bad standing on the front verandah looking at a shiny car port roof though... Then again, I don't really spend any time on the front verandah anyway, it gets the afternoon sun and has no views...

Anyway, I will have to get the driveway widened to accommodate the carport. Would it be better to have to carport footings put in at the same time? Or would it be better to dynabolt it down? Or some other option?

Thanks :)

[Barry_White]

Demuire

The first thing you may want to check is if the council will allow you to build in front of the building alignment. If there is any one else in the area that has done it that sets a precedence.

[Honorary Bloke]

Unless you are bush, Barry is right. Check with the council. I think you may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

[demuire]

One of the houses a few doors down has done this (but he's not on the cul-de-sac since he's a few doors down). I didn't think it would be a problem since the driveway already does this (goes from double to single) and all I was doing was stretching the double bit further towards the street before it narrows to a single at the kerb...

Will check with council when they re-open.

Thanks!

[Ivan in Oz]

The way I have approached Council when I was wanting to do something,
was to advise them [The Building Inspector]
asto what I would like to do.

Get his initial OK:D

Then ask him how he would like it done.
Even which Company, which Builder[s]

I'm still on his good side:2tsup:

[demuire]

I called up Ipswich City Council and they didn't think it would be a problem, I just need to get the approval (1 for the carport itself, 1 for relaxation since it'll be well within 6 meters of my boundary).

I spoke to Titan (they were the only people out here open on the weekend) and they looked at the plans and didn't think it would be a problem. They suggested getting the carport set into the ground, and then getting the driveway extended around it. I've also discovered that one of my friends does handyman work and can extend my driveway for me (at a cost obviously), yay :)

Looking at other pre-made carport kits, Titan is looking good so far. They have a colorbond skillion roof double carport on special at the moment for $2300, which is a better price than all the others I've found online, and their demo carport looks better than Garage World's and Totalspan. I just need to see if Titan can modify one so that the posts don't sit at the corners, if they can I think I have a winner. Titan can do the council approvals for me (at my cost of course).

It's all coming together :)

[demuire]

Titan can move the posts :)

Called up some surveyors to see how much it would cost to mark the boundaries today, all my quotes vary between $1000 and $2000!!! Ouch. Ipswich City Council have a tool where I can see my property boundaries laid out over an aerial photo of my house... I wonder how accurate that is...

Gah, everything was going well until the price of the surveyors came in... :(

[Barry_White]

Titan can move the posts :)

Called up some surveyors to see how much it would cost to mark the boundaries today, all my quotes vary between $1000 and $2000!!! Ouch. Ipswich City Council have a tool where I can see my property boundaries laid out over an aerial photo of my house... I wonder how accurate that is...

Gah, everything was going well until the price of the surveyors came in... :(

Gee that's pretty expensive. They do it down here in Tamworth for about $400.00

[Nachoman]

Become mates with a surveyor.

I'm lucky that working in the council now i have access to these guys so it's all in the hand work.

[demuire]

Become mates with a surveyor.

I'm lucky that working in the council now i have access to these guys so it's all in the hand work.

Do you have any surveyor mates who would like to be my mate? :)

Will the building inspector likely want to see the surveyor pegs? Or would it really only be an issue if it looks like my new carport crosses my boundary?

At the prices I've gotten for the surveyor it sounds like it would almost be worth me just getting the carport put up, and then if it becomes a problem cut it shorter...

[Barry_White]

Down here if you are 900mm from the boundary fence they don't require a surveyors certificate.

[demuire]

Hmm, I'll probably be within 900mm of the boundary (rough measurements say that my house is 7 meters from the boundary line, so a 6x6 carport will be less than a meter away from the boundary line including the gutter, which is cutting it rather fine).

Maybe I'll have to get the surveyors out. Bummer. So that's like $2K for the carport, $1K for the driveway, and $2K for two pegs to tell me where the front of my property is... :(

[Nachoman]

Because you are within the six metres to the front boundary they might like to see the set out done. I'm not really sure on that one.

[demuire]

Have done some rough measurements based on the aerial photos on the Ipswich City Council website and on my neighbours hedge (which according to the photos is just outside the boundary), and it looks like I'll be about 1400mm from the boundary. Maybe. It's a fair way from the kerb, like more than 6 meters.

Would I be able to get a building inspector out to tell me if I'd need the surveyors certificate? Or are they likely to just turn around without looking and say "of course"?

[demuire]

I have found the plan of my property from when I bought the house, complete with measurements. On each side of my property there are 2 sets of numbers, eg 101°22', 23.076. I am assuming that the second set of numbers is the length in meters?

[demuire]

Called council today, and they couldn't give me any sort of solid answer... First they said "yes you have to get a surveyor out" then they said "you should get one out for your own peace of mind" and then they started talking about siting variations and how the structure must be further away from 6 meters or I'll need one (even though I mentioned that I am going to put in a siting variation application because it will be within 6 meters). The lady sounded like she was in a hurry and was sounding rather annoyed so I didn't pursue it. The guy from Titan recons they don't generally ask for a surveyor's certificate, so if I'm confident it will sit within my boundary then it should be ok. But maybe he's just trying to sell me the carport...

[demuire]

I got a long tape measure and measured out my property according to the plans I got when I bought the house. It looks like about 2m of the neighbour's front hedge and paved area is outside of his property, and part of the carport too. Hmm.

In any case, if what I have measured is right (assuming my back fence is where it is supposed to be), it looks like it will be very close to the boundary. Does anyone have any recommendations for a surveyor? I've called every number listed in the yellow pages, and the cheapest quote I have is still between $1000-$1400...

[Nachoman]

How's it all going??

[demuire]

Well, after talking to neighbors and people at Titan I've decided to not get a surveyor. No matter how I measure it I can't see how my car port could go over my boundary, at worst case it may be maybe a meter away from it.

I've ordered the carport and put in the applications to council, so now I'm just waiting. Apparently council applications generally take about 5 weeks (I also had to get a relaxation because I'm within 6 meters of the boundary), so I suppose ETA sometime in March.

[Nachoman]

Cool. Glad to hear it's all going ahead.

I'm just about to get a job in the surveying section on the council so in future i will hopefully be able to help with these things in future for small fee's hahaha.

[demuire]

Got my council approval (yay). Unfortunately the person who did the drawing of my property wrote the wrong length for my property boundary, so I'm trying to chase that up now (he wrote it down as 22m, and not 23m - and this is on the corner that is closest to the car port!) So yes, hopefully it isn't a problem, or maybe it will need to be re-drawn and re-approved...

[demuire]

The Titan salesperson called me up today and told me not to worry about the incorrect measurements on the council application, the engineering firm that I thought drew the plans (they didn't actually, I think the salesperson did) voiced concern that if the building application is drawn that way then it may be a problem in the future. Does anyone know?

I called the salesperson up again and he got all narky about it and said I was worrying over nothing and if I really was concerned I can go to council and get it changed (and then more or less hung up).

Hmm. This totally sucks. Maybe I'll call council and see what they have to say.

[demuire]

Just in case anyone was wondering what was happening with this, it's all progressing well. Holes have been dug (see other thread), inspections passed, now to do the actual building of the carport :)

[Yonnee]

"I called the salesperson up again and he got all narky about it and said I was worrying over nothing and if I really was concerned I can go to council and get it changed (and then more or less hung up)."

Now that's what I call 'after sales service'.

Hope it all goes well in the end.