Soil Investigation Part 3

Today is the 6th of September as I write this. I have no idea when this will be fully published but here is where an update is created.

I received from Mr. Ibrahim of GEOSCIENCE SOLUTIONS the Lab Test report for the Soil Investigations. Something alekfurgeson from lowyatt clearly knows how to read.

Man this stuff is lengthy and with all the technical jargon that goes into it, only contractors like Mr. Eric will secretly understand and will try and rip me off for the sake of some Cristal at Marini's by conning me.

Keep in mind, that it was a little longer than I thought due to the Holidays compulsory - 31st August, Some Hari Raya holiday - 1st September AND a fucking uncalled for Holiday by MO1 for the Gold Medals won during the SEA Games which took place on the 4th of September. (Seriously, we give ourselves shitty holidays for no reason for the sake of sports. Earn a Gold at the Olympics first then lets talk about a well deserved holiday after 60 years )

Minus the slight incorrect description on the type of house from the soil report (mentioned we own a bungalow) It will have to be re-corrected. Be careful when you receive your Soil Investigation report as when you are submitting it to the local town council such as MBPJ you will need to describe your property correctly.


What does the Soil Investigation Report look like ? What will it say ?

Its a 42 page document which is what I received. Here are some of the things that I have attached. Its basically covered in a few chapters but essentially its divided into 2 parts :-

1. Soil Investigation - Includes the result of your Mackintosh Probe and Bore Hole Tests
2. Lab Test Results - Testings of soil done at the lab

Kinda looks like the SPA, mentions who you are and the Engineer you have nominated

Yup, certified Soil Investigator here

This shows Mackintosh Probe results for MP 1 -3. The chart shows the strength of each Probe areas

And here is MP 4 -6 where most of the future building will be built on

Hey look guys ! Its Gus from Cinderella, hes back !

And more results that only people from lowyatt will understand

What do you do after receiving your Soil Investigation Report ?

Ask your Soil Investigator to email it immediately to your Engineer / Architects Engineer so that your Engineer is able to make the right calculations.

Give your Engineer a week to digest this information before calling your Engineer back. Clearly Engineers too have other jobs in hand, and when you are not paying RM 50,000 for lowyatt "humble" budgets, you need to eat some humble chicken rice and not be pushy.

So after a week, I had called the Engineer and asked how were things for the report, well read below

Oh oh. Intermediate doesnt sound too good

Over the phone the Engineer says that the soil isnt fantastic. He says its a little soft. So this is why Soil Investigation is so important for an Engineer. You need to know what you are dealing with especially when you are demolishing and rebuilding something that requires submissions to MBPJ. Not Lowyatt advise from Mr. Alekfegurson.

WHATS THAT AGAIN MR ALEKFEGURSON ? REMIND ME AGAIN ?

Thats right, "just a strip of foundation strong enough to bla bla bla" 

So over the phone the news was not great according to the Engineer who says the soil is a little bit soft below. I guess the crumbling solid surface 19.5 meters below isnt doing too well. Maybe it was the rain during the days of the Bore Hole. Who knows, whatever it is, every problem has a solution.

Having an open mind, I didnt feel crushed or defeated at all. The Engineer and I had a couple of words and ideas exchanged. The most important part for the Engineer were MP 4- 6 where heaviest part of the building would be. 

MP 1 - 3 were pretty irrelevant to the building, it was going to be grass anyway so this gives the Engineer some room to play around with things, which is what he will be doing soon.

The other advise from the Engineer was that a Raft Piling could be used instead of a Reinforced Concrete one. Basically a Raft Piling looks somewhat something like a large slab of concrete that will be the base of the building. This will not anchor anything into the ground but will have a foundation that floats on the soil with better weight distribution. Its a raft essentially. 

This could serve as the sub floor and pile as well. We may need to dig about a foot deeper for this but the Engineer will calculate stuff out. We were also factoring our kind neighbor as well, not the shitty one of course.

During this time, our Architect will be tweaking our final layout and we will then have it ready for Mr. Dalee as well who will be able to then determine how strong, how deep, how big things like your piling works, beams, pillars, footings, columns etc. will be for the structure of the building.

See why lowyatt people can never give you good advise ? Because no one literally knows things deeper than the surface of what they walk on.

So if you want answers, do what I did, you will have the answers needed for your Engineer from the Soil Investigation Results who will -

: Determine your piling depth, size of pillars, beams and other structural reinforcements that will then be given as advise to your -

: Architect who will be able to draw up the Engineers Plans who will then -

: Ask you to sign off on the plans and then your Architect will then -

: Submit it to MBPJ for approvals when it comes to converting a Single Storey Semi Detached to a Double Storey Semi Detached

Im very pleased the Eric's, Eng Hoes, Tans, etc. are no longer a part of our journey that has taken me a while to start, but we are starting on the right foot KNOWING what will be required and what things will take. 

Given the chance of it being in the hands of a contractor managing your "problems" which will eventually not be your contractors anyway, its better working with the right people and hearing sound advise. 

Remember folks, if you are feeling a little sick, go to a doctor, not lowyatt

If you are looking to build a home, look for an architect, not lowyatt

And if you are looking to do any soil investigation works, ask an Engineer for some help. Not alekfegerson or Lowyatt

At this point, we can officially say, Soil Investigation Works and Report has now been completed. A 3 part Saga that has given much to think about with my thinning hairline (which I am fixing as well today. Think battling Venessa from Affin Bank and other alike caused a decent loss of hair)

Next up will be looking at finalizing plans and having a last discussion before moving on to submissions.

Amending your First Layout Plan

Today is the 6th of September, the same day I received the Soil Investigation Report. And yesterday on the 5th of September, I received my first proper draft that has views front, back left, side, and roof from Mr. Sarizal, our Architect.

Seems like when things are about to get moving for submissions for Kebenaran Merancang (Build Order) at MBPJ, everything pulls together fast when it comes to last minute adjustments.

I received the illustrations which are best described during a face to face discussion before finally creating the ultimate masterpiece for signing off on. Here are some of the notes that I had made today upon receiving the layout yesterday - 5th September 2017.

Layout Plan Page 1 describes the location of your site is. In our case Petaling Jaya. There is a slight hiccup as there are 2 units of the same Lot in this plan that needs to be amended (Surveyors Fault, who had amended it in the end) . It will also describe the kind of door sizes as well as the type of windows you will be using. So look carefully at everything and make notes. Save your Architect some time by knowing what you really want so not too much tinkering back and forth is made 

Layout Plan 2 above describes the dimensions of scale of things. This is where your birds eye view of your site will look like. In my case, some amendment still needs to be made with the recess and the overall size of the first floor's width. 

Layout Plan 3 shows your profiles - Side, Front, Left, Right, Back. This shows your overall aesthetics, proportions, dimensions, roof as well as windows and doors. Im sure Ill be having a Gin tonight while looking at any last minute discoveries to add as well to my list.

This is where you will be able to do any last minute amendments, adjustments or additions or alterations to your plan. As you can see, I think the roof was drawn a little high, though its understandable that at a 45 degree pitch your heat reflection will be good and your rain water will run off quicker, however for aesthetic purposes, about 23 degrees of a pitch will look better. 

As you can see as well, I have made some notes on what will be discussed tomorrow - 7th September 2017 with Mr. Sarizal as well for final confirmations,... or at least 95% of it before a new set of documents will be printed. 

Yet, after all this, the architects work is still not done.

Why ?

Because The size of the footings, pillars etc. will have to rely on the Engineer of ours Mr. Dalee. Of course, who relies on the Soil Investigation Report from Mr. Ibrahim and the boys who did the Soil Penetration Test and Mackintosh Probe to determine what size of footings, beams and pillars we will need.

I could have gone to Mr. Alekfegurson of lowyatt who clearly knows a lot more......

......But Mr. Dalee our Engineer thinks its best we stick with him.

Piece of shit advise on lowyatt

Lets see what happens tomorrow after a meeting with Mr. Sarizal, we still need the Engineers advise, before finally signing off on things, but for the meantime, If you are reading this, its important to have the patience and clarity of knowing what needs to be done carefully. Its best to measure twice and cut once.

Me, Im looking forward to signing all 3 pages on the right hand corner.

Stay tuned for 2 more chapters which will be on Soil Investigation Report, and Final Layout Plan this month.

Things may have taken a while, but here we are at some stage rather than relying on Mr. Eric the contractor. There's Gandalf the Great, There's also Eric the Wise and Alekfegurson the Wiser.

MBPJ Submissions, coming very soon

~fin~