HySpan and HyBeam structural members

[bitingmidge]

Why did you find it too much trouble?

Cos as you say piers have this strange habit of moving! If the plate at the top wasn't exactly square to the post, you're building in an instant angle! To fix they need to be clamped and wedged plumb, while dangling in wet concrete.

By the time you've done that, you can stick two stakes in the ground, clamp two braces on the post and walk away! Then you only have to lift the bearer onto it and bolt it on the next morning, no props no mucking round no nuffink.

Cheers,

P

[silentC]

... and hope that you didn't put one in a tad too high

I was just talking to my mate Muzza and he reckons that even with 90x90 post with a flange on the bottom, council still might insist on a pier cap. Dunno how we put a pier cap on top of a post that has a tie down plate welded to it. I'm going to suggest that we weld an L shaped plate on the top of the post. No termite is going to chew through that.

Another suggestion was a seperate tie down rod next to the pier. That might be even better. Dead simple, just a rod with a cross piece on one end bedded in the footing and wrapped around the bearer. I think I like that idea too....

[Dan_574]

I think Ive posted this before but here goes, I have 16 posts like the 2 in the photos. I had to get the pad for the house cut then dig down 1m from the level ground where I had 750x750x300 concrete pads with 2 layers of 100mm reo top and bottom. I got them level and poured them first. I then bought 9m lengths of 90x90x2.5 RHS, I also bought 200x200x8 plates with 4 holes already cut. I made up a jig to keep the plates square to the posts and welded them on. I didnt worry about getting the concrete pads all the same height, my old man and i used a dumpy to get a measurment for each pad and cut the posts to match. Used a $99 hammer drill from bunnings and drilled 64 16mm holes 150mm deep and used threaded rod with ramset chemset(great stuff and the drills still going strong). Bolted the posts to the concrete and squared up the posts(lots of cheap clamps, I think I bought about 50 from the warehouse). I then placed the UB on top of the posts and bolted 90x45 to the UB then the joists on top. I boxed up around the post and poured more concrete around it back up the 700mm or so to where the ground level is then back filled with dirt. Easy as that(yeah right)

[TassieKiwi]

Dumb question Silent - can you do a concrete floor (after a bit of earthwork of course)?

[silentC]

Nah, sloping block. Falls about 3 metres from the top corner to the bottom. We're having a storage area in underneath at the lowest point as well. The top half of the house and the garage are on a slab but the bottom half is not.

[bitingmidge]

... and hope that you didn't put one in a tad too high

I was just talking to my mate Muzza and he reckons that even with 90x90 post with a flange on the bottom, council still might insist on a pier cap.

No problems... that's what stringlines are for! In anycase, a tad is an acceptable tolerance in a timber floor!

Council's aren't clever are they? The ant cap DOES NOT, nor has it ever been intended to prevent termite attack.

Originally it prevented termites boring up the insided of timber stumps and straight into the floor framing, then with the advent of brick and concrete piers, it provided a visual indication of where the little suckers were.

Remember, termites don't like light, so build tunnels over masonry to get to timber. All an ant cap does is gives them something to go round, and you the opportunity of seeing them do that.

If you use a horizontal flange on the stumps, and bolt vertically through the bearer, you have a barrier already. (You can also put a tin cap over the flange if push comes to shove, and bolt through the lot.)

There's no shortage of strangely erogenous cranial deformity in local government is there?

Cheers,

P

[silentC]

The ant cap DOES NOT, nor has it ever been intended to prevent termite attack

It's surprising how many people don't understand that. One guy said to me that, even if the termites can't get up the middle of the post, and assuming you can see the mud trails up the outside, you still need to do something to prevent them entering the building - hence the ant cap. I explained it to him but I don't think he believed me.

I think I might make one of those piers, take it and a short section of bearer, and maybe a bucket of concrete, to the inspectors office. Then I'll challenge him to show me how a termite can get in, short of levitation, without me knowing about it.

Unfortunately logic, or even proof, does not often work with these blokes.

Our designer put our DA in with a low fire danger rating. The nearest continuous dry bushland is more than 100 metres away. There is a gully running through the block but it is wet - we cannot clear it or build within 40 metres of it without approval as it is a natural water course. The shire fire officer comes out and says "nope, level 2 construction required". He says the strip of bush in the gully is dry forest. OK, we say, let us clear it and thus remove the fire danger. No, you cannot because it is a natural water course and therefore protected. Doesn't that make it wet forest then? Blank look. HELLO!!!! Is there anybody in there? Termites, water, or both on the brain I think.

The real reason is that the bloke three doors up was given a level 2, so they would look like right plonkers if they gave us low and he found out about it.

[bitingmidge]

Fire design is a bit of an interesting one.

Vegetation to be cleared for 100m, so that's 3.2 Ha surrounding your house.

As far as I can tell from the regulations, this is only at the time of approval/construction. Once you have your final certificate, you can plant trees to your heart's content.

Figure that out!

cheers,

P

[silentC]

In NSW you are supposed to implement a 'site management plan' which basically means you agree to keep your asset protection zone (APZ we love our TLAs) clear of undergrowth. The size of the zone depends on the site analysis and blah blah blah.

Now, my block is 60 metres wide. My house is 40 metres wide, so that gives me 10 metres either side. The blocks on either side are both vacant so no 'site management plan' has been implemented there. Am I meant to keep the vacant blocks clear too? What am I going to do in 5 years when they are still vacant (which they probably will be) and covered in regrowth? Because the land owner has not lodged a DA, as far as I know he is not under any obligation to keep them cleared.

Idiots...

[TassieKiwi]

...that's a big house. Are you sure you haven't sneaked a big shed into the middle of it?

[silentC]

It's a 3 bed/4 bed dual occupancy with a 2 car garage in the middle.

There's is a nice big shed going in down the back though. Pegged it out on the weekend - 16m x 6.1m. Still doesn't look big enough.

[Moo73]

I've just used Hybeam on top of 'c-section' steel piers and bearers (100x50mmx3mm) - can't be happier.
I went down the path of uni-pier and another similar 'system' but you can only purchase them in the 'system' designed by their engineers - was going to cost around $3K for a 16m2 room.
I've just posted the progress photos of the job in a separate thread.