Orion
2013-08-22 01:05:44
- #1
Hello again,
I think you misunderstood me.
1. It’s not that we had these enormous costs because our ground was not load-bearing. On the contrary: You need gravel because you need gravel because you need gravel. Unless you don’t mind your terrain around your house significantly settling and sinking in the first months/years! What that can mean for the exterior areas (stairs, paths, terrace...) and the house, you can imagine. Maybe we filled in a bit too much gravel... maybe even a bit more than necessary... but I definitely feel better about that than saving on this item!!!
2. I would seriously consider building without drainage. Guaranteeing rainwater or not. But where does it seep away? Where does it collect underground? I just like to know that it flows neatly past my house or the exterior wall of the basement. Are we even talking about the same thing? I’m talking about an underground drainage... meaning a properly installed drainage pipe that directs all water neatly past your basement wall.
3. Will you need a crane later? Probably yes. Then maybe a gravelled parking space needs to be prepared. Is that included?
4. Basically: Your general contractor (GU) will – I assume – probably perform his work properly for 2,400 euros. But the question in this case is probably less what he DOES than what he DOES NOT do. If your contract doesn’t state that he should dig and build the inspection shaft, then he won’t do it. Then you can renegotiate (which will probably be expensive) or you find another contractor (which means you have to coordinate between the two, and that’s exactly what you want to avoid with a general contractor). If it says he digs the trenches for the pipes, then he will do that. But that doesn’t mean he lays the pipes inside. And it certainly doesn’t mean he connects them to the sewer or water supply.
By the way, our experience: We received offers and their "standard construction descriptions" from several general contractors. It sounded wonderful to us and our architect wanted to review them. When we met with him two weeks later, the construction descriptions were full of markings, comments, and questions from him. And almost always it was not about what was included, but about what was not included. And that would never have occurred to us!
I think you misunderstood me.
1. It’s not that we had these enormous costs because our ground was not load-bearing. On the contrary: You need gravel because you need gravel because you need gravel. Unless you don’t mind your terrain around your house significantly settling and sinking in the first months/years! What that can mean for the exterior areas (stairs, paths, terrace...) and the house, you can imagine. Maybe we filled in a bit too much gravel... maybe even a bit more than necessary... but I definitely feel better about that than saving on this item!!!
2. I would seriously consider building without drainage. Guaranteeing rainwater or not. But where does it seep away? Where does it collect underground? I just like to know that it flows neatly past my house or the exterior wall of the basement. Are we even talking about the same thing? I’m talking about an underground drainage... meaning a properly installed drainage pipe that directs all water neatly past your basement wall.
3. Will you need a crane later? Probably yes. Then maybe a gravelled parking space needs to be prepared. Is that included?
4. Basically: Your general contractor (GU) will – I assume – probably perform his work properly for 2,400 euros. But the question in this case is probably less what he DOES than what he DOES NOT do. If your contract doesn’t state that he should dig and build the inspection shaft, then he won’t do it. Then you can renegotiate (which will probably be expensive) or you find another contractor (which means you have to coordinate between the two, and that’s exactly what you want to avoid with a general contractor). If it says he digs the trenches for the pipes, then he will do that. But that doesn’t mean he lays the pipes inside. And it certainly doesn’t mean he connects them to the sewer or water supply.
By the way, our experience: We received offers and their "standard construction descriptions" from several general contractors. It sounded wonderful to us and our architect wanted to review them. When we met with him two weeks later, the construction descriptions were full of markings, comments, and questions from him. And almost always it was not about what was included, but about what was not included. And that would never have occurred to us!