Kiwi building a Scandinavian house

[ponytug]

Great to see! Thanks for sharing.

I'm more on the belt and suspenders end of things, and a little added water protection never hurts in my book. I doubt the costs was that high, and if it keeps your inspector on your side, it would be worth every penny in my book.

My folks used screw in pilings in a cottage build on a lake shore that was a peat rich soil. They were closer to three foot diameter screws, down 20-30 feet. The screws went in over about two days with a specialized drilling machine that was large excavator size. My memory is that they were driven to some level of resistance. The concrete foundation was poured on top of them as a "boat", so that if the pilings did sink, the crawl space and one piece concrete floor had enough displacement designed in to prevent the house from sinking more than a few inches, or at least that was the plan. There was some amount of overbuild of the foundation walls to be able to spread the load over long distances in case of a section of failing piles. As long as they lived there, there was no movement.

All the best,

Peter

 

[timbatrader]

Got all the bearers cut and bolted down today the building code here is ridiculous in my opinion a lot has changed since I last built 15 years ago
on this job all the connections between Galv brackets and treated timber need a

layer of plastic DPC between them I have to use stainless steel bolts but any connection between stainless and Galv needs a nylon washer between the stainless bolts must have nickel based anti seize do the same rules apply over in the states?
Ive set up an old trailer to carry tools and added a bench for my drop saw on the edge of it so all the tools the generator drop saw are all on it at the end of the day I just hook up the quad bike and park the whole lot in my shed half a kilometre away

 

[Wagtail]

Lovely cycads off to the side there + a beautiful view!

 

[EddieWalker]

Very impressive, but it also looks, very expensive. I can't comment on all of the materials used to meet Code since I've never seen anything like this before. Where I live in East Texas, there isn't any Code outside of city limits, and inside city limits, it's different for every city.

 

[ponytug]

@timbatrader That's both code and good building practice hereabouts. When they switched what went into the treatment chemicals that go into pressure treated wood, it triggered a big change in what an allowable fastener was. Use a regular fastener and it will be gone in a year or two if the wood gets wet/damp. I will say that for folks homebrewing their construction, many of them aren't aware of the changes until their construction starts coming apart.

So, yes, necessary, and worth doing whether it is "code" or not.

Gorgeous photos, and I like the moving work platform that doesn't require a full breakdown at the end of the day.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Rustyiron]

Here the fasteners need to be "hot dip" galvanized. There are other approved coatings but I'm only aware of this on screws, both timber and regular construction screws.
It does seem that your codes are extreme particularly in your situation where no additional direct water should ever see those bolted connections. That is where the bulk of "normal" treated lumber is used here, such as an attached deck or exterior staircase and I think that's the corrosion concern where constant rainwater may keep it wet for long periods.
Looks like a beautiful day there. I guess you're heading into fall weather?

 

[timbatrader]

@timbatrader That's both code and good building practice hereabouts. When they switched what went into the treatment chemicals that go into pressure treated wood, it triggered a big change in what an allowable fastener was. Use a regular fastener and it will be gone in a year or two if the wood gets wet/damp. I will say that for folks homebrewing their construction, many of them aren't aware of the changes until their construction starts coming apart.

So, yes, necessary, and worth doing whether it is "code" or not.

Gorgeous photos, and I like the moving work platform that doesn't require a full breakdown at the end of the day.

All the best,

Peter

ponytug that would make sense if I were using a copper azole or Alkaline copper quaternary type treatment but I am using good old CCA copper chrome arsenate My guess they have written the code allowing for the more corrosive treatments on the basis most people can't tell the difference between CCA treatment and ACU or CuAz type treatments
CCA type treatment (still legal in New Zealand) might be bad for the environment and the workers at the treatment plant but it is not corrosive if dry and a much longer life in high hazard uses

 

[ponytug]

Yes, here CCA is basically not obtainable by normal citizens. Therefore, anything that is truly ground contact, like a fence post, basically needs a copper naphthenate treatment. MCU, and CuAz treatments last two to five years here.

What amuses me is that here the required sticker on each piece of pressure treated lumber says "GROUND CONTACT PRESSURE TREATED" and then in small print, "not intended for use for ground contact." Material with twice the amount of copper is theoretically available, but not locally.

I'm curious how much in floor insulation your new cottage will have.

All the best,

Peter

 

[timbatrader]

The climate is pretty mild here the under floor insulation is R1.4 60mm thick Expol polystyrene
in a previous life in the timber industry I attended conferences put on by the timber industry I have heard about treatment chemical loadings in different countries it seems New Zealand kilograms of chemical per m3 for above ground is the same as the in ground treatments in the states and the in ground treatment in New Zealand is double that

 

[ponytug]

Having twice as much copper in the pressure treated wood seems reasonable; with a mild climate, insects don't go on holiday, not unlike here, but you get much more water.

Thanks again for sharing!

All the best,

Peter