Hi,
We are currently building a house on a small lot block which requires some retaining.
Given the 10m block width, I was expecting the retaining to be done as close to the boundary line as possible. I must admit I hadn't given this much thought or attention but we were surprised to get to site and notice the retaining was somewhere between 300-500mm from the boundary. Now we understand the footings can't encroach on the neighbouring property, but it appears a little more effort could have been made to get these closer to the fence line.
This causes an issue for us because the retaining encroaches on the "access side" of the house, and begins about in line with where the water heater unit is. Given there is only about 1.5m space (between house and fence) to begin with, losing 800mm to the heating system pad, and ~400mm to the wall doesn't leave much space.
I don't think we are going to (nor would we really want to) have any luck having the wall removed or re-positioned, but thought we'd see if anyone has had a similar issue.
Our first thought is to move the location of the heater further up the side of the house so that in once section it's 1.5m minus the 800mm for the pad, then further down it's 1.5m minus the 400mm for the retaining, leaving enough room to get a wheelbarrow down the side of the house.
I suspect the builder will sting us variation fees for this however, even though we were not made aware of this initially. It may seem insignificant but I think not being able to get down the side of the house will cause issues/annoyances and is something that should be highlighted.
I suppose I have two queries here then:
1. Where would I find out what the minimum distance from a fence line a standard retaining wall can be positioned? Brisbane City Council?
2. Is the retaining issue something that should be highlighted to us before we sign off on the final plans?
3. Would a house with limited exterior access from front to rear devalue the property?
Thanks in advance,
We are currently building a house on a small lot block which requires some retaining.
Given the 10m block width, I was expecting the retaining to be done as close to the boundary line as possible. I must admit I hadn't given this much thought or attention but we were surprised to get to site and notice the retaining was somewhere between 300-500mm from the boundary. Now we understand the footings can't encroach on the neighbouring property, but it appears a little more effort could have been made to get these closer to the fence line.
This causes an issue for us because the retaining encroaches on the "access side" of the house, and begins about in line with where the water heater unit is. Given there is only about 1.5m space (between house and fence) to begin with, losing 800mm to the heating system pad, and ~400mm to the wall doesn't leave much space.
I don't think we are going to (nor would we really want to) have any luck having the wall removed or re-positioned, but thought we'd see if anyone has had a similar issue.
Our first thought is to move the location of the heater further up the side of the house so that in once section it's 1.5m minus the 800mm for the pad, then further down it's 1.5m minus the 400mm for the retaining, leaving enough room to get a wheelbarrow down the side of the house.
I suspect the builder will sting us variation fees for this however, even though we were not made aware of this initially. It may seem insignificant but I think not being able to get down the side of the house will cause issues/annoyances and is something that should be highlighted.
I suppose I have two queries here then:
1. Where would I find out what the minimum distance from a fence line a standard retaining wall can be positioned? Brisbane City Council?
2. Is the retaining issue something that should be highlighted to us before we sign off on the final plans?
3. Would a house with limited exterior access from front to rear devalue the property?
Thanks in advance,
