Next time you’re in Welly, get onto a tour of the parliament buildings, they show you the base isolators that can stand massive earthquakes. I think their piles are isolated with lead that melts and rapidly hardens to absorb the movement of the building. World leading tech invented here.
personally i prefer piles over concrete floor slabs. i like to be able to get under my house to do things, rather than digging up the floor with a jackhammer. the old wooden houses handle earthquakes exceptionally well. the flex they have absorbs a lot of energy. in one earthquake in the 90's in the old villa i had back then i am sure the corners of the house were out of square by at least ten degrees as it rocked. i honestly thought it would fall of its piles. we did lose the old brick chimney, but everything else was fine. now living in an old (100 year old) wooden two story you really feel the quakes upstairs in the bedroom. after the kaikoura quake we were so dizzy after it stopped shaking that it was hard to go down the stairs and get outside. but that was a 7.8 and rather large.
@DiHandley Exactly that! I lived through that as a child in the family home. So I built my family home on stumps (fancy name, screw piles). People "in the know" looked at me like I had 2 heads but I can scoot under the house and inspect/repair/modify anything with relative ease. Best decision on the whole build.
Live in 100 year old place in Christchurch - only the newer bitt are attached to the foundations, the old bits just sit. Minimal damage in Christchurch Earthquakes. Just bunced a bit - base isolation :) Had already removed brick chimneys.
The little city of Launceston in Tasmania is very like Nelson geographically, though just inland and had the same wood heating smoke issue - the council gave home owners rebates to switch to heat pumps and clean up the winter time Jerry 😮👍 Interesting build - it’ll have a killer view!
We live in a house built on timber poles in Nelson Bay, NSW, Australia. It a very steep block, around 50 to 55 degree slope. The house has four levels which climb up the hill, so we don't have really long poles on the down-side of the hill that would be needed to support something on one level. We do shake a bit when we get a very occasional earthquake. We also feel strong wind gusts. But we get a fabulous view. I'm another one with one kidney - cancer.
I have been following this awesome channel a few years now. Saturday morning cup of tea with an episode of SBC before I 'hoof it' to club rugby . Mind you every episode needs a comment or quip from Ray the Flying Dutchman . that Man is hilarious to listen to
Next time you’re in Welly, get onto a tour of the parliament buildings, they show you the base isolators that can stand massive earthquakes. I think their piles are isolated with lead that melts and rapidly hardens to absorb the movement of the building. World leading tech invented here.
the giza pyramid complex...the big pyramid is also built on five isolators - massive flat stone sockets under it so it can move - for earthquakes and also coz it was a piezo electric machine. giant vibrating machine - and i wont tell you what for...the best book I've ever read on them is JP Farrells Giza Death Star Revisited which has about 20 physics anomalies about it. giant vibrating machine...
30+ years ago I used to do neonatal retrievals from Wellington to Nelson in a chopper. we landed on the local high school rugby field- play had to be delayed until we departed!
Engineer here - timber pile foundations have got nothing to do with Seismic or building on a slope.. both timber and steel columns have elastic properties, both can be used in lateral earth movement (earthquake) designs, (as can Reinf. Concrete), both the large diameter timber pole and steel columns can also provide lateral wind bracing resistance.. a Geotech report would typically specify the suitable founding substrate for building on sloped sites, i.e. footings would need to be founded (x) deep and/or socketed in to rock/stiff natural ground with (x) bearing capacity to avoid any possible land slip hazard and/or subsidence issues.. for the most part NZ simply builds with treated timber poles because its the most cost effective material for the intended purpose...
Janitor here - Mr Engineer I believe you are incorrect. Timber piles when hit with seismic poo it becomes stable enough to be as brittle as white dog poo. The natural ground also becomes white dog poo so therefore I am correct and you are not.
His explanation is still correct. Steel may also be an option in seismic zones. Brick not so much. Reinforced concrete would need to be designed for it. Timber is comparatively cheap.
His explenation is 100% right. timber ist the most cost effective way to do this until a certain point. In most cases it makes no sense apending 3 or 4 times the cost for a private home, if you can reach this with timber! But at acertain point you will have to switch to steel reinforced concrete, thats when you reach the limits of wood! with steel and concrete you can go beyond the limits of wood... but you will have to pay for it 🤑🤑🤑
We would never be allowed to do timber piles in scotland 🏴 but I’ve seen plenty old farm sheds that have lasted a longgggggggg time just concreted posts in the ground. My Friday night highlight watching the latest video , inspired me to start my own channel and this style heavily influenced me . 👍
It's a great point about the drones and the heli landing pad. Civil avation rules prohibit ANY flying within 4km of an aircraft landing site. Here in Wellington the Westpac helicopter landing pad being located on the central city waterfront, the hospital pad in Newtown and the airport in Rongotai effectively means a total drone flight ban anywhere in Wellington and the surrounding suburbs from Miramar/Seatoun on the south coast to Johnsonville in the North and west to all of Karori.
Another good reason to use timber is that they're easier to work with. You don't need to be as fussy about making sure they're all at the same height, because you can just put a laser level across them all after the fact and lop them off. Also, instead of hammering the bolts in, use a 18v rattle gun aka impact wrench. It's a LOT faster.
Venice is actually built on timber piles! They do everything other materials like steel or concrete do, but as you said are very cost effective and easy to work with.
I really enjoyed your interaction with the German that seemed to imply that houses in Germany assembled themselves, and the humans should show up to finish it....
I love this. As an ex Aucklander living in Perth something I always notice is we do retaining walls differently. Everything is limestone blocks here, timber piles in NZ. Weird fascination 😂
i love the ground barrier down from the start and keeping it clean. however the extremely low timber not so much. i have dug my way under way to many houses.
G, day Scott Brown Carpentry from Sydney Australia. Topographic survey lines can be a handy addition to site plans or sketches. 1. Topographical lines continues 2. Never cross over 3. You can mark levels in line spaces. (Closer together the steepest terrain. Wide apart flat ground). 🇦🇺🙃
Cool progress. We just moved from a home that about that close to a helipad on a hospital and it was a little annoying at times, especially when the pilots would come in low, rattling your teeth! If there are any structural engineers in the chat, I would be interested in their take on having the plies of those "beams" not fastened together. From my educational background in carpentry and design, having the plies connected makes for a much stronger beam, rather than just floating 2 separate timbers out there. And the notching of floor joists; does that not reduce their effective span, because of reducing the bearing depth? I have a brain that just has to know these things. I suppose that's because I have worked with so engineers on so many projects. It's really fun to see different types of construction from all over the world. I got to see, first hand, the piles being driven into the sea bed for a resort on the water in Malaysia, many years ago, and then the stick framing that went on that to create villas. Very cool.
@SBC aditionally a real scarf joint is meant to be in a specific position of the beam. Its about 1/4 or 1/5 of the length to the next post. At this point there is zero momentum in the beam, wich allows the beam to be looked at as a multi-field carrier. If done properly, definitly helps the static characteristics of the beam.
I bet an SDS+ rotary hammer with a ground rod driver bit would save a ton of time getting those long through-bolts pushed through the timber posts. That looks like quite a chore to do with a hammer.
On the subject of wood piers- Here in the U.S, all of the old buildings in New Orleans were built on foundations of wood piers, mostly cypress logs is my understanding. Many buildings are well over 100 years old and are still sound.
Really interesting to see the mix of galvanised and stainless steel fixings in this build . My experience building in Aotearoa tells me that even galvinised fixings deteriorate pretty badly when embedded through H3 H4 H5 timbers ...even though they would be accessible to remove and replace in the bigger subfloor spaces ( once corroded this aint easy ) ...it just makes sence to do all of it in stainless steel ...the extra cost now outways the longer term problems i think . Also whats with the DPC on the piles to bearer connections ...i get the use as packers ...but not as a seperation ? Only required on concrete to timber and on piles within a certain distance from the ground .... I need to go read up on that i think . Great vid ...keeps us all on our toes ! Cheers josh
Im guessing the piles would at times, especially the shorter ones, be quite wet. And the DPC would prevent this moisture from affecting the beams. The beams aren't treated as much as the posts.
The dpc on the post is another gimmick in the building industry. It is to prevent the post from absorbing moisture. I was also surprised they were using galv bolts in h5 posts. The other one was that they changed from a 190mm joist to a 140mm. It would be interesting to know what the span was, either that or they now have to apply hangers to all the joists. Sounds like a bit of a balls up of the architects side of things.
It’s nice to see you back on site and not at your house, don’t get me wrong they were great videos but your site work is way better. Have a great weekend.🇬🇧
Didn't we (the "royal" we), Kiwi engineer/scientists invent a massive _ball bearing plate structure thing_ that would sit between the foundations in the Shaky Isle and the very large building sitting above the Shaky Isle to dampen the energy transfer between the moving object and the building object so the building didn't collapse? IIRC they were first plonked under a building in Wellington some 30 to 40 years ago. Japan sure loves them and I believe they have made the _ball bearing plate structure things_ even bigger and stronger. They have them under their very high rise buildings. We may have a lot of quakes but Japan has even more *and* they are stronger than what we usually experience on a day to day basis and their high rise building are still standing.
There were a few different foundation types that were specified for builds in Christchurch after the earthquakes, some of them were a pain to draw up and detail. Eg: timber piles through a concrete slab at ground level and plywood bracing around the perimeter.
Another one was near a river. The bearers had to point towards the river and they were on 1m x 1m x 600? concrete pads and were only bolted at one end. At every other pad the bearers were allowed to slide through the brackets.
I'm from Sweden, we use a lot of wood in construction. Because 70% of Sweden Is covered in forest! Fun fact, Sweden's forest is one of few in the world that is growing because we are very rigorous when it comes to replanting trees we cut down.
Thanks for explaining the use of timber piles Scott. Would the hybrid scarf joint at 8:46 not be better if both ends were actually bearing onto the pile as one end is relying on the other to hold it up and it is surely forming a slip plane reliant on the side fixings into the pile? What is the minimum end-bearing code for the joists sitting on the pile?
The Japanese homes & temples that are built on timbers which are scribed to rocks are amazing. Their resistance to earthquakes also comes from their ability to wiggle with the quake.
Here in Aussie, hardwoods have been used for wharf piers and trestle bridges etc, still standing after 100 years. I've seen heavily treated softwoods used in retaining walls rot out in less than 20.
I've seen hardwoods rot out in 20years too due to poor installation as well as H4+ treated pine. Put it in concrete and ventilate/drain it properly (geotextile, gravel, drainage behind retaining walls etc) and both will last a long time. I wouldn't put either directly in contact with soil. Once it becomes persistently damp or has dirt piled up around it where it comes out of the ground that's the end of it. Also painting it is a sure fire way to send it to an early grave.
Short answer is timber can get wet but will eventually rot with oxygen and moisture if it can’t dry out. Sitting in the ground is not ideal. Timber stumps isn’t the issue and a galvanised steel connection cast into the concrete footings to timber post with appropriate air gap between would make sense. You can visually inspect the connection between the timber to concrete. This is standard practice in Australia and makes sense regardless of the climate. It might last 50 years but may also fail due to unforeseen circumstances like the unpredictable Mother Nature.
I can't believe that anyone thinks that a wood pier lasting 50 years is good. ONLY 50 years? What the fuck do you do when your FOUNDATION fails in ONLY 50 years? Look at homes built in Europe. They are HUNDREDS of years old, and people pass them down from one generation to another. Only 50 years? What total shit.
It's so fast. British groundwork on complex terrain would be weeks of trenching, piles, expensive steelwork in never to be seen ringbeams and blockwork. Whereas you and half a dozen chippies are up to floor in next to no time. I'm jealous.
The beehive is made of a concrete construction for the most part I believe and that’s is earthquake proof ? Not sure what you call it but it’s like on rubber so it won’t crack as such
Okay. What are we all thinking when i comes to the square washers for bolts in the bearers. Are we square/level gang or diamond gang? Interested in your guys thoughts. Wellington builder here.
TRULY beautiful work, all of it!!! ahemmm...course there's a thriving after-market industry providing IN-WATER PILE SHEATHING-WRAPS, here in SW FL, USA. just sayin' :-))) (funny how some big ol' dudes think they should become "gymrats", when...buildin' a structure can do it for 'em better!! nobody fitter than a framer!!
Hey there, can you explain a bit about the plastic ground sheets you guys seem to use under houses over there? We don’t seem to do it here in Australia (at least where I live!) but it seems like a sensible thing to do to limit ground moisture??
The house across from me is on a much steeper hill and is a giant block of concreate with a single diagonal telephone poll coming out of it. It then sits on 11 or 12 more telephone poles. Looks like the prow of a ship. I have house sat it years ago and it pretty much constantly swings in the wind. You have to tighten the telephone poll bolts like every 10 years. Apparently the owner was friends with the CEO of Edison and the donated the poles. Its allegedly one of the safest houses in CA for earth quakes.
I'm a carpenter in the UK and like your content, how easy is it to pick up work over in NZ and also how easy would it be to get a start if I was to move over there.
I may be wrong, but I was always told that galvanised fixings shouldn’t be used with treated timber as the chemical reaction between the two rots the metal. Coated fixings designed specifically for treated timber are preferred. That was the case in the UK when I lived there and in Australia where I live now. Maybe in NZ those bolts are manufactured for treated and just referred to as galvanised?
No hot dipped galv,, yes there’s a good case for all being stainless under the floor, especially if it’s semi exposed. but our building code’s a bit funky so you can get away with galv in some spots. and ss is 4 time the price. Galv and CCA timber treatment do react a bit and can fail over time if there’s moisture/salt/sulfer in the mix.
@@robertandsharon9428 as above, bolts are hot dipped galv here in NZ or ss, you can get treated pine screws, but coatings come off pretty easy if you have to take in and out , or while just driving in.
If the floor is attached to that wall isn’t that going to interfere with movement in an earthquake-joining two types of construction that will react differently?
That’s a spin out Scott I got my kidney out when I was a baby , I’m 27 now working towards my trade “ carpentry “ and keep fit in the gym. So I’m not the only one
just curious what is the process when those timber piles need to be replaced. Here in California we get a lot of small earthquakes throughout the year. A lot of the new homes are getting post-tension slabs probably due to cost.
im predicting in coming years all timber in the ground will be required to be mold sealed, like the tar we seal retaining walls with, super simple and bulletproof
Hey Scott im wondering if you use anything to secure the bolts and nuts? i would expect to see some selflocking nuts or threadlocker, so they dont get loose over time.
There are a couple distinct differences in how youre building that site to what is best practice here in the US. First, sill plates want a membrane separation from the foundation to prevent direct contact between the wood and concrete. Even when the timber is treated, it will hold moisture and promote insects. Second, the ledger against the concrete would also want the membrane, or even better a "packer" as you call it to stand the ledger off the wall by 10-13mm. You nail/screw through the packer for all the strucutral integrity, but the air gap allows the moisture to dry and no insects. Timer piles is a very good solution for all the reasons you cite.
Hi Scott, Just a quick question. I removed a wall inside my house and it has old timber bracing on it. Do I have to add a bracing somewhere in the wall that is inline with it? Or it is hard to tell?
Those piles are treated CCA copper chrome arsenic which i think are banned in many other coutries. The piles were also very very common for houses even on flat land so its a well known system
In most places it is banned only for exposed residential and public use e.g. picnic tables, playgrounds, outdoor decking. It's still available for use in foundations/structure in most places.
The other thing about those scarf joints traditional ones are supposed to be 3 times as long as the width of the timber but nothing wrong with what ur doing
questions for builders here> i'm a landscaper on the kapiti coast, always lap join my timber. Any pros or cons compare to a scarf joint as mentioned in this video?
