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@Hovis
Phase 2 Foundations and base
The garden is on a slope, and there are a couple of raised sections lined with concrete and stones. This somewhat dictates the distance from the back fence, which will be approx 3m. Would have preferred to get it closer to the back but theirs a big jump in height there that I don't want to deal with.
At my 4m desired depth, I'm looking at approx 0.5m elevation drop between the back and front. Between that and the large tree stumps, I've ruled out the traditional concrete slab option - I don't have the energy to excavate it all. Instead, I'm going for piers. I'm more or less settled on screw piles. I initially wanted to do 2m even spacing but I have a concrete pathway directly where 3 of the piers would need to go, so I'm going to offset them to avoid this area and compensate with deeper floor joists. I may try and add some additional supports in this area later with fence posts or something if I feel it needs it.
The front piers will stick out of the ground by 650mm and the back by 150mm to give me a minimum 150mm gap from the highest ground level and the bottom of the suspended floor. To do this, I'll be using 1.7m long piles at the front and 1.2m for the rest. I'll have to figure out how to clad over this / build a deck and steps / ramp but I haven't thought that far ahead just yet.
The alternative to screw piles could be concrete plinths instead, which would work out a fair bit cheaper, but having dug 0.5m deep in a few places I never found any hard substrate so it would end up being too much concrete for me to handle.
Hopefully will pick up the screw piles this week and have a go at laying out the site next weekend.