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Large under build v building on stilts


davejura

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We finally have our engineers drawings for our sloping site in the West of Scotland. The under build is coming in a fair bit more than I was expecting. A fair chunk of it is 3 x wide 140mm dense blocks up to 3m height at the front. I'm estimating a total of 4000 blocks needed. We have no artic access, so the blocks are looking expensive (local merchant quoted £1.70 each plus VAT). I'm estimating the total cost of the under build to be £16-£18K. I was wondering if it is worth looking in to building on stilts and if anyone thinks this may be more cost effective? Or does anyone have any other ideas? I don't want to run it by the architect and engineer just yet, they''l probably both have a fit unless I come up with something concrete (pardon the pun!) Thanks.

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Not sure about piles as such. Was thinking more steel pillars sitting on foundations, The guy along the road built his that way, but I fell out with him not long after we bought the plot :) Would be nice to use the space for storage at some point, but not essential. The whole project is hanging in the balance a bit at the moment, partly due to me under estimating the engineers specification. We have heavy clay soil by the way.

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25 minutes ago, davejura said:

We finally have our engineers drawings for our sloping site in the West of Scotland. The under build is coming in a fair bit more than I was expecting. A fair chunk of it is 3 x wide 140mm dense blocks up to 3m height at the front. I'm estimating a total of 4000 blocks needed. We have no artic access, so the blocks are looking expensive (local merchant quoted £1.70 each plus VAT). I'm estimating the total cost of the under build to be £16-£18K. I was wondering if it is worth looking in to building on stilts and if anyone thinks this may be more cost effective? Or does anyone have any other ideas? I don't want to run it by the architect and engineer just yet, they''l probably both have a fit unless I come up with something concrete (pardon the pun!) Thanks.

ICF  under build?

 

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This is how a neighbour built his house on very poor ground with a steep slope.

 

Each pillar sits on a 1 metre square concrete pad. Cast on top of that are concrete pillars cast inside some large plastic drainage pipe.  Timber joists then span side to side and the timber floor spans length ways.

 

The wall in the foreground is a retaining wall to hold back the ground for the parking area and to anchor that end of the building.

 

In this case the tallest pillar is about 1.5 metres out of the ground.

 

 

 

1643081606_peterspiles.thumb.jpg.0ae0f74ecb2af7df379158b123cc0277.jpg

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I built on pillars. I had a few factors that pushed me in this direction:

- sloping site

- driveway was already going to be very steep, so lowering the house even further by flattening the site was not an option

- house is a monolithic box structure, compliant with portable building definition- so not need for continuous support around perimeter

- desire to make the building aesthetically low-impact on the site

- budget! The concrete that went into the pillars is a fraction of what a complete underbuild would have needed.

 

The biggest downside of building in this way is that you will get significant wind scrubbing underneath the building. This makes draught-proofing and insulating the floor absolutely vital, and this is an area where certain trades might not appreciate the importance of airtightness. Alsol, think carefully about all the service penetrations that you'll need.

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We're in same position. Went through various options, split level, build up on rising walls, partial basement, full basement. Turned out full basement worked out most cost effective. ICF is quick and cost effective for basements.

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