Whether you’re about to build yourself a new home, or looking to create a new commercial property, one thing you can’t take shortcuts on is proper excavation. Preparing the land will help you to ensure a safe, secure and successful build, but what exactly is excavation? And does this process differ on the Sunshine Coast?
Below, we have included everything you need to know regarding professional Sunshine Coast Excavations, including what could go wrong, and why hiring in the professionals is always a good idea.
A Step-by-Step Guide of Sunshine Coast Excavations
If you have land that you’re looking to build on, it’s important you follow our step-by-step guide, to ensure proper preparation and a successful build. Here’s what you need to know:
- Site Assessment: Before excavators come in, the land needs to be carefully assessed, as each landscape will widely differ, such as steep terrains or sandy areas. This involves soil testing to discover the type and condition of the soil, a topographic survey to assess the site conditions, including land contours and the overall size and slope of the area. Finally, environmental checks must be completed to ensure the land is compliant with local council regulations.
- Site Clearing: The space must then be cleared of all vegetation or existing structures. In the Sunshine Coast, this often includes the removal of roots and tree stumps.
- Excavation: This is the time when specialised machinery is used to shape the land to suit your specific requirements. Excavators, bobcats and grades are used to flatten the surface, cut and fill the land, or dig trenches to hold drainage systems, plumbing and electrical lines.
- Rock Breaking and Removal: Specifically in the Sunshine Coast, rock breaking is common practise. Hammers and rock saws are used to break down the rocks into more manageable pieces for removal.
- Drainage: As heavy rainfall in the Sunshine Coast is frequent, it is therefore essential that proper drainage systems are in place. It is certainly worth thinking about directing water away from your future building toward a proper outlet. Without adequate water management, your property could be subject to floods, erosion or foundation damage.
- Foundation Preparation: After following the above steps, it is now finally time to prepare your foundation. Depending on your area and preferences, you may choose to compact the soil, add a layer of gravel or sand or build retaining walls for additional support. Ensuring the ground is compacted is especially important in areas with sandy soil.
- Final Checks and Clean up: This is where the final details are checked before building work takes place. This could include smoothing the surface, marking out building lines or of course, ensuring the site is clean and clear of debris.
Preparing Your Land for Building: Why it’s Important
So, now you understand what’s involved when preparing your land for building. But what happens if you don’t follow these steps? Here’s everything that could go wrong:
- Soil Erosion: Without preparing the land appropriately, soil erosion could hinder the stability of the ground, affecting the structure of the building. In severe cases, improper care could cause landslides or damage to surrounding properties.
- Drainage Issues: If not prepared correctly, ineffective water drainage will result in water pooling under or around the property. A prolonged collection of water will cause problems such as flooding, erosion and foundation damage. Added moisture can also result in issues such as mould and mildew.
- Foundation Problems: Improper land preparation can cause a variety of issues for your foundation, the main being it settling unevenly. Uneven settling can lead to cracks, structural damage or failure in extreme cases.
- Installation Concerns: Utilities such as gas, water electric and sewage pipes may be placed incorrectly if the land is not prepared suitably. This can then cause failures, leaks and access difficulties when maintenance or repairs are required.
- Safety Risks: Everything we have mentioned above, such as land instability and foundation damage, can cause a number of safety concerns for construction workers and future residents. It is, of course, your responsibility to ensure a safe site for all involved, and preparing the land property is a way to meet this obligation.
- Delayed Timelines: As we’ve discussed, poor land preparation can cause a series of issues, and each issue will result in a delay in construction timelines. This is of course not an ideal situation, and can cause frustration and occur additional costs.
- Increased Cost: Cutting out the initial land preparation costs may seem like a good idea at first, but the problems that occur due to improper land preparation far outweigh it in the long-run.
Why Hire a Professional Excavation Team?
So, as you can see, excavation is a completely diverse, yet essential step when it comes to your building project. It is therefore important that you not only complete it to the highest of standards, but you choose the right processes to suit your piece of land. Professional excavators are experts in their field, and will assess your land and soil type, weather patterns and understand council regulations.
They also have access to the most appropriate machinery to sure the job is completed to a high standard. Without hitting these marks, you could expect issues in the future, such as additional costs, building delays or even safety risks. Avoid these worries by getting in touch with the friendly team at Fraser Earthworks & Co today.
