My first development

My house is a tri level - I have three kids, they love it!

Each to their own, I guess.

 

okay so the next big decision is full steel framed roof or timber frames? Any pros and cons for both? What is common in Perth at the moment in the newish buildings? Hi @Westminster

 

90% are wood and truss set ups.

Steel is pest resistant but more expensive. Wood can be treated so a personal choice at the end of the day.

 

@Aaron Sice may be interested in this.

 

Generally most people are still going with treated pine roofs

 

What's the strength of steel? Does it warp or make noise when it expands under the hot WA sun?
Additionally how much hotter is the roof space compared to timber ?

 

Steel is good for a heavy roof, ie tiles as the trusses and battens are less likely to sag over time than a timber framed roof.

Edit: steel is also good for BAL fire risk areas and if you get snow (!!) as it can handle the weight

 

It does make some loud noises when heating and cooling. That said, where I am living is wood and does the same thing.

 

Steel trusses are a frickin' nightmare.

1500 centres colorbond / 900 centres tiles mean that you need spanning boards to just walk in your roof space.

They bang and pop and groan in Summer - because they cool so quickly - so they do it at night.

 

How come the wood makes loud noises? never heard of that.

Also what about the long term longevity of timber roof vs steel roof? Like 30 or 40 years into future.

 

The noises @Perthguy mentions might be the roofing material rather than the trusses...? Just guessing, since we have a timber truss roof and have some slight noises as the house heats/cools.... not very much at all, though. I only really notice it because our bedroom faces east (and overlooks a large deck roof area) and we get full sun in the morning.

Well our place is 40 years old and the trusses / roof structure is fine, although the colourbond needs replacing. Take from that what you will (our timber is hardwood though, not pine).

 

It's not like steel. After a hot day, as the roof cools, there are a couple of clunks here and there with one main clunk. There are a couple of very large pieces of timber in the roof and as the wood expands and contracts it makes some noise.

There are hundred year old houses with timber trusses so I would assume that timber is basically indefinite bar termites or dry rot, which should not happen if the roof covering is intact.

 

In 15 years I've never installed TP trusses, the only reason would be for termite resistance. If you're using TP for your trusses, you'd hope the rest of your frame is TP as well.

The timber isn't expanding, it's the colorbond that stretches in the heat, a colorbond roof can expand and contract up to around 10-20mm from hot to cold, the noises you hear is the colorbond strethching and retracting next to the screws, almost like a pinching action.

 

About 70% of the roof system is TP due to being treated for termites.

I believe that everything that is the bluey/green on the roof is treated

 

It's not a colorbond roof. It's a concrete tile roof. I have not heard those sounds from other concrete rooves or timber either for that matter. I think it is the wood and it's something unique about how that house was constructed.

 

In Perth it would be unusual to have any wood apart from the roof. Concrete slab, double brick, metal door frames would be the most common building materials. Then they used to use jarrah for the roof framing but TP would be the most common now.

@Westminster, that roof timber looks like TP to me too.

 

Hi guys, finally got the conditional approval after 75 days.

There are 8 conditions, five of them to do with council, two for water corp and one for western power.

I am bit confused about conditions 4 and 5, any experts would like to explain? see attachment



.

 

Where are all the experts, @Westminster @Perthguy @Aaron Sice et al

 

I believe that a plumber would have done #4 as part of demolition so talk to demolition company and see who did it and get them to certify. Otherwise do the stat dec that you engaged the work to be done that meets those requirements.

A bore would have been found during raking if there was one well hidden if you had the whole block done. So if none were found then don't worry.

Your surveyor is usually the best person to check these things with as they will help you to meet all your requirements to go for land titles

 

What @Westminster said, or you can contact your local government. They are the clearing authority so should be able to advise.

The answer to number 4 is in the wording of the condition. According to the wording the LG will accept either certification from a licenced plumber or stat dec from the landowner.

For number 5, was there a bore or well and was it decommissioned?