Our process

HOW DO WE GO ABOUT RENOVATING AND CONVERTING YOUR QUEENSLANDER INTO YOUR DREAM HOME?

The three Rs

Raise-Restump-Renovate. Three months to a year and your dream home is complete. At Caruso Consolidated we commence with the following preliminaries. I personally meet with you at your home, and look at your drawings. If you do not have drawings, I will provide you with a draftsman, who will assist you with ideas on designing your dream home. I then arrange a soil test. The soil test/site classification, guides the engineer in designing the footings, which ultimately holds up your house.

At this point, I can generally provide you a firm quote and QBCC contract. Now we are a couple of weeks away from obtaining the building approval. I am the on site contact until the project is completed.

A Rough outline of Our Process

1. Free Quote

At Caruso Consolidated, I will promptly visit your home, and provide you with a firm detailed quotation. ASAP

2. Engage my services

We have a friendly crew, with the knowledge and experience to get the job done in a good time frame.

We have a variety earthmoving machinery that remains on site until the works are completed.

3. Architect and Private certifier

I have an architect and a certifier that I work with regularly.

We have good rapport, contingencies are resolved quickly.

4. Firm quotation

I provide you with a firm detailed quotation, and a QBCC contract.

5. Steel support beams

It takes one day to several days to install the steel beams, depending on the size of the job.

We only use Australian steel. It is slightly dearer, but better integrity than imported.

6. Raise and slide you house

We raise and slide your house the day after we finish hanging the steel beams.

This usually takes one day.

7. Clean up and Preliminary earthworks

The following day after raising your house, we remove the old posts and concrete.

We level up the substrate and drill the new post holes

8. Our machines

We have a 2.6 ton bobcat, a mini excavator and 3.5 ton excavator with rock hammer if required. This machinery is specialized for under house operation.

Our operators including myself, are highly experienced with this machinery.

9. Restumping your home

We commence the restumping immediately. This takes a couple of days, depending on size of the job.

We backfill the postholes with 25Mpa ready mixed concrete, the house is lowered onto the new posts within a few days.

I have a certified boiler maker, who then welds off the posts and beams with mig.

10. Plumber

The plumber will run new sewer lines, and do the rough in for your proposed laundry, toilet or wet bar.

Whilst we are digging the plumbers trenches for the new sewerage lines, we also start digging the footings for your new concrete floor.

The plumber will take a couple of days, and certify his own work.

11. Slab prep and pour

This takes only a couple more days, because we multi tasked while the plumber was working. Termite proofing is applied to all penetrations. Certificate provided.

Engineer inspects the pre-slab and issues a certificate.

Slab should be layed aprox 2-3 days after the plumber finishes, depending on area of slab, access and specifications.

Polished concrete is popular. You can select the colour and aggregate of your choice, from my catalogue.

12. Retainer walls

If retainer walls are required, we allow one day for the new concrete floor to strengthen, then we commence the construction of the retainer walls.

When the last block is layed we corefill the walls with 25/10/180 concrete.

13. Tanking retainer walls

Tanking is essential, if there is an internal room behind the retainer wall, or the retainer wall is to be cement rendered or painted.

I can provide certification for this if required.

14. Agg drains

We use 20mm crushed drainage aggregate to 2/3 wall height, and 100mm socked aggie pipe to carry the water to the drainage point or solid storm water line.