Deciding to build a granny flat is simple, designing and building the extension can be a lot harder. You'll have a lot of questions to answer along the way. Can you use a general contractor or is is better to use one who has built a lot of granny flats before? Is a template design better than a customised one? Should you let the person who'll live in the flat have a say in what it looks like? Luckily, I'm here to help. My name is Maria. We moved my Mum into a purpose-built granny flat last year, so I've had to answer all these questions and more. I thought it'd be useful for other people to see how we managed the process, so here we are — get reading!
Could You Use Ground Penetrating Radar in Your Project?
When you work in the construction or maintenance industry, you will often need to dig below the ground surface or cut into other materials. Usually, going below the surface should not present any problems, but there is always the risk that your work could damage or destroy existing assets in the ground that were not marked on the map. If you are concerned about what may be hidden from below the surface, one of the best ways to ensure that you don't encounter anything unexpected is to use a ground penetrating radar. This technique is a non-destructive way of scanning a surface and seeing what is behind or underneath it. Here are four ways that ground penetrating radar is commonly used in the construction industry.
Conducting a construction detail survey
One of the greatest benefits of ground penetrating radars is that it works with a wide range of materials. It can scan everything from masonry to the soil, or concrete or asphalt. It can identify the construction arrangement used in a particular location as well as the materials used, the location of any structural steelwork and how thick the layers are.
Carry out a floor slab evaluation
Do you know what's below the floor? Understanding how strong your floor slabs are and what is underneath them is important for several reasons. Slabs tend to wear out, especially if they experience heavy traffic. A ground penetrating radar can show you not only how thick each floor slab is, but also whether there are any dangerous voids underneath the slab. The radar allows you to spot slabs that are in a poor condition before they fail and potentially cause an accident.
Complete a utility survey
As ground penetrating radars can identify many materials, it is the perfect tool for utility mapping. GPR is often used to locate metal and non-metal utilities below ground level. These include fibre optic phone lines as well as traditional gas and electric systems along with sewerage and water. Finding out precisely where all of these systems are is vital to safe building or renovation work. Using ground penetrating radars allows you to get the answers you need without causing unnecessary damage.
Check the foundations
Understanding the extent and the condition of the foundations of any building is essential. If you want to be aware of any potential problems or know whether an existing foundation can bear additional weight, investigating with a ground penetrating radar investigation will provide the answers you need.
To learn more, contact companies that provide ground penetrating radars.