How to measure fall of block without special equipment

Hi all

I'm very close to signing a contract for a property which I plan to develop but need to satisfy myself that the fall on the block is not too steep to achieve what I want to do. I can't get a survey done prior to signing so I'm going to go out there today and have a look (the house is not tenanted)... any tips for how I can estimate the fall?

This is a standard residential block and I know from Google Street View that there is a fall directly away from the street frontage, I just need to work out how big it is.

Thanks

 

Caveat.... dont rely on this being perfect, but just what I did phoned council and they were able to view it on their program whatever that is and gave me an estimate on 2 occasions which was pretty much spot on and was able to contact my builder who gave me a rough estimate on retaining.... Not perfect but close.

Alternatively get the right professional person out there to view the property, especially if the fall is massive.

One of my blocks was 1.5 metre to back 2.5 metre fall 3 unit development which cost me around $30K in retaining.

 

Would probably cost you $20.

1. Go to Bunnings and buy some clear hose.
2. Go to the site and fill the hose with water.
3. Get someone to hold one end of the hose at the highest point of the block.
4. Get the other person to check any other point on the block by measuring from the waterline in the hose down to the ground with a tape measure.

 

Interactive Map - Land Channel

Use above link.....property search then go to 'build map' tab and select 1-5 contours (I'm assuming its Melbourne since you are?)

Rule of thumb if guessing.....double it

 

Thanks all for your suggestions, I will look into both council and the website. I'm not able to do the hose thing in the time I have available

I think I'm looking at 1.5-2m fall directly front to back on a site that averages 24m deep. Assume that's not too extreme to deal with via cut and fill and some minimal stepping.

 

As above the council mapping sites which are generally publicly available usually have some contours on them which will help you work it out.

1.5-2m over 24m is not too bad. It would be good if it went up instead of down but it's not the end of the world

 

PS are you not able to do a contract with a subject to clause? either Subject to a survey within 7 days or just Subject to Due Diligence

 

Use an app like GPS Info

 

That's right. I recall there was a thread on this before - you can measure the fall using it.

 

Elevation Finder

 

Thanks for the suggestion Leo, but I should note that this tool produced results quite inconsistent with the contour map that I got from the land channel government map linked above. The contour map indicates 1.8-2m fall across the block whereas the Elevation Finder you linked says max 1m.

 

The slope/fall, is always going to be more than it seems
If you have an iPhone - use the level/compass you can align horizontal with a point somewhere down the back and then estimate the height from that point to natural ground
Try the water authority, they may have levels
If you think it's 2 metres, assume at least that - and then it's the building design that will be the key

 

I've used it for some of mine to get a ball park idea and it wasn't too bad from what I can recall.

 

Use Google fit or an altitude app.they can record a track by walking from one end to the other or take points at locations then you can work out the difference height

 

Go to coats hire and hire a dumpy level
should be fairly inexpensive