Bryan & Petersen Build in Ballarat (VIC)

Thanks gillybean, it's slowly getting there. We did get out slab down in late January so I wouldn't call this one a fast build! But we always knew it would take until at least end of August. With the flooring problem this set us back a bit because they were out of stock of the particular planks we used.

I was talking about an issue with how our Bed2/3 robes were built. We expected them to be taller (not the 1660mm they are) and also to have 4 bottom drawers etc similar to our WIR units. Anyhow after discussions with the builder I decided I would just move on and pay the cabinetry people to make some modifications that gave us some more storage for our two teenage boys.

Images below show the current setup, and what we drew up Google Sketchup and the cabinetry team are putting in hopefully tomorrow:

Wow very nice and neat build! Congrats! It is great to see everything finally sorted out and you are ready to move in. Yeah our builder recommended us to apply grout sealer from Bunnings for bathroom tiles, specially shower area, may be you can ask from a product specialist from there.

ROBE MODS GOING IN

The main cabinetry guy was at the house late today installing the extra drawers and open boxed shelving into the two kids bedroom robes (Bed2 & 3). In the spare bedroom (Bed4) we have a half 'linen' and half single hanging setup, but in the 'boys' bedrooms we have paid some more money to get some modifications done to increase storage. Even though we had already paid for these to be customised during the admin phase....but that's another whole story!

Anyhow it is good to finally get this one resolved and move on. We've now completed all our cabinetry related changes. Compared to our last (and first!) build over 10 years ago - where we didn't do any customised cabinetry - with this build we've modified the following areas:

• Main Study
• Study Nook
• Hallway Coat/Storage Cupboard
• WIR
• Bedroom robes
• Laundry Cupboard
• Kitchen and WIP

It does cost quite a bit to do all this, but it is nice to have the extra storage and it means we can do away with older portable cupboards and shelving units.

I would have to add it all up properly, but at a quick guess I would say it's a bit over $10k worth of cabinetry upgrades overall.

Workmanship has been good though, can't really fault any of it.

MORE WINDOW FUN....

I'll say upfront that I am fussy with our windows and doors, especially with how well they are sealed. We also paid a fair bit of extra money to upgrade our main living areas to a 'semi-commercial' awning type window, with double glazed laminated glass.

Recently the external protective frame tape had been removed, so I was finally able to open and test the windows during our inspection earlier this week. Firstly I noticed some water pooling up under some of the awning sashes related to small gaps in the glazing bead<>frame. So out of five of these upgraded windows, that's three now that have leaked water into their glazing pockets.

While checking things out, I noticed our rubber seals looked a bit 'flimsy'. So while we were in Melbourne yesterday I dropped into another fabricator to see what sort of seals they use, in addition to checking the manufacturers specifications.

It turns out our window seals do look incorrect, and honestly they would struggle to stop air, water or even insects getting through. They're simply one thin slice of rubber flap, and the corners aren't joined properly either. The same type of window on display at the other fabricator had 3 rubber fins, with thick chunky seals that compressed nicely when you wound the awning in tight. In addition these windows actually had the same seal as a secondary seal on the perimeter of the opening sash itself. So basically double the sealing. Impressive stuff, but not sure why my windows don't have the same setup? We do have the second seal - not quite as thick rubber - but our main primary rubber seals are the main issue I can see.

I'm not asking for these windows to be gold-plated or anything, I just want them not to leak air and water, look half decent and be built according to the manufacturers specifications. Nothing more, but I'm certainly not accepting anything less. I don't think I am being over-the-top? I'll let the builder sort this out for us, as we've gone through their preferred supplier.

So here are the comparison shots:

MEETING WITH WINDOW SUPPLIER TODAY

After I dropped out to our builder's main office this morning (to mostly discuss the window issues), we agreed I would then head off to talk directly to the window supplier about our awning windows.

I met with the guy who helped us spec our windows/doors originally and the good news is I didn't feel like he was attempting to 'fob off' the concerns I had, and appeared to agree that it would all be fixed up. They showed me the replacement rubber seals that will be going into our main frames (where the awning sash clamps down on when they're closed). This replacement rubber looked much more substantial and more like what I had seen at the other window place last week.

With the other problem where I suspect seals have been incorrectly installed on the bottom of the sash (and subsequently blocking the drainage slots), they will have to check this out onsite. So I've asked if I can meet with them onsite as well to ensure we're all on the same page.

When we walked around to the display windows, my wife and I both acknowledged straight away that if our windows resembled these samples we would be perfectly happy. I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect something similar to what is on display in a showroom?

Sometimes I feel I'm being too fussy, but I probably base my expectations in terms of how I go about my own work. I certainly take pride in the work I do and how I take care of my clients and ultimately this ends up being good for me anyhow. At the end of the day I also accept we all make mistakes, but as long as they are acknowledged and properly fixed that is all we can ask for.

Hey darb74 - I’m curious as to how your home has come up; are you happy with the quality of finish and performance of the home?

Hi, I had been holding off posting anything else until our 3 month defect warranty period was up, mostly because we had a few outstanding issues when we accepted handover and waiting on them to sort them out.

Overall the house has come up reasonably well, as I had said a few times previously...their trades are mostly very good at their jobs. Our issues primarily came about we think partly due to communication problems and we also weren't happy with how some of our issues were dealt with, particularly towards the end of the project.

I have since contacted the gentleman who is retiring out of the business (and has earned a solid reputation for looking after customers over several decades)...anyhow he said he has spoken to the person who he is handing to business over to, and assured me we will getting looked after. This was just before Xmas so now just waiting to hear from Bryan and Petersen, Ballarat. So to be fair, I am still hopeful we will be getting good service at the end our defects warranty period, which I think is up in a few weeks? We had a visit - soon after moving in - from their maintenance person and he at least acknowledged that our flooring in one area at least wasn't good.

Our main issues, without going into details relate to the vinyl floor (still!), brick/mortar in specific area(s) and then fairly standard paint defects etc. Someone also damaged our garage roller door which I’m still waiting on our supervisor still to respond, after suggesting I wasn't happy with the touch-up paint they applied. Also a front water tap that we were told we would be getting never eventuated (admittedly though it wasn't marked on our plans due to a mix-up related to us having our water meter installed underground). So nothing major that we are aware of, mostly cosmetic stuff.

I have stacks of photos and info to post up (mostly positive!) once these last couple of problems are sorted out. I want to be able to put a positive end on what had been a fairly good build.

In terms of performance, I think since we moved in during mid October the internal temps have ranged from 18-27deg (with no mechanical heating or cooling). Once it gets above about 25deg I have been switching on at least one of three split systems. But they’re not working very hard so power use has been around 8-9 kWh per day average.

In terms of windows, the double glazed & laminated glass is working great for reducing noise and heat. I do sometimes think though we should have gone with UPVC frames instead of aluminium. Even without direct sunlight, the frames do heat up. Our 600mm north and east side eaves are doing well blocking the direct sun. The single roof AiroMatic whirly bird seems to be sucking the hot air out fairly well....although I have bought a second unit that I will install and have it set to run constantly.

So overall the design of the house is great (particularly the ‘narrow’ pantry and study on either end of the main living zone). We also love the big glass door that allows us to block noise and control temps between main living and the rest of the house. The 1200mm hallway and 1800mm wide study have proven to be fine...I was worried the hall was too narrow.

The west side windows I will get some external awnings made up for though....it has proven true that the west windows particularly do transmit a lot of heat when the sun is hitting them directly later in the day.

Hi darb74, great to hear you’ve moved in! Sounds like your window issues were sorted? Looking forward to seeing the pics

Hi darb74

Thanks so much for the update, I’m really looking forward to your next post with photos. Hopefully you have success with the defect list, I sincerely hope so (I can empathise).
My wife and I have been dealing with BP in Warrnambool. We have committed to the design stage and have completed drawings soil test etc. hence my keen interest with your experience. I must say I am disappointed to hear of your experience at the pointy end of the build. As I said, I sincerely hope BP step up and do the right thing.

No worries bimber and thanks also to Hillsbuilds for the kind words..and yes we had the window issues finally sorted. The fabricator came back out and spent a few more hours replacing seals and some other work. Funnily enough it didn't seem to be a massive issue for them to do this fix-up work in the end once they were onsite and I could properly communicate what the issues were...this was actually the problem with a few things in that if I could have been able to handle them myself they wouldn't have turned into such big deals.

In reference to the Warrnambool B&P operation I wouldn't be concerned in the slightest, patly because we come from that area (Portland) and I know of two people in recent times who have built with them and the builds were great and the follow-up service even better. I have one friend who even admitted he was being super fussy with a minor issue with his timber floor (he said visitors couldn't even see the problem when pointed out!)....but his supervisor sent the flooring people back in to re-sand most of it anyhow. So I think through Warrnambool you will have no issues. I spoke to some suppliers in Warrnambool to B&P and they also commented on how well organised their supervisors are down that way.

Look forward to the final photos darb! Has been a great build to follow. Enjoy your new home.

Hello, just noticed that your frame has a few places where there's OSB/plywood/chipboard. Was that something you asked builder to do, or part of the structural engineering or builders normal way of building? (Asking because I noticed OSB sheeting is standard in the US but not here in Australia).

Hi rexchan, The OSB is a standard part of the structural design of our typical builds here. I am not a builder by any stretch, so I can only assume they place it on the external walls in place of metal strip cross-bracing?

Here is an image during the early stages of our build that shows almost all the wall sections along the main north living section setup with OSB sheeting. I know from looking at other builds in the area, the sheeting seems to often be on corner sections which makes sense to give more lateral rigidity etc

Bracing design as part of Engineering, it can be plywoood or metal straps depending on required capacity.

Post-Build Pics

Replying back to a post yesterday got me thinking I should start putting up some photos of the house at hand-over and since we've moved in (mid October 2019).

If you've read previous posts you'll have probably worked out later in the build we had some issues with the builder. I think they basically just wanted to move us on (or 'in'!) by the end of it.

I won't bother going into details, but most of our issues related to windows, doors and flooring. Also a promised front tap was refused, which was all a bit disappointing.

One thing I am glad for though is the fact they give you a construction key and ready site access. In addition to doing a fair amount of extra air sealing and insulation work ourselves, we were able to get most mistakes and issues sorted out directly with some trades....before they became bigger problems. The trades like I've previously said were mostly very good. If I had my time again, and had access to those types of trades I would definitely look to owner build.

I have kept an eye on many other builds in our area in the past year or so, and apart from some custom local builders I have bumped into, I am of the opinion that most builders do not really care about your house. It seems like it is just a profit number to them, and often their perception of 'quality' is unsurprisingly different to what most owners would expect for several hundred thousand $$dollars. We were lucky in that most of our trades took some pride in what they were doing, and keeping a close eye on everything ourselves meant we ended up with a fairly decent house at the end of it.

Anyhow, since we've moved in you tend to focus on the positives and most of the things we were directly involved with (eg design, orientation, specs etc) have turned out great. The house will no doubt be solid, and so far no major issues to report.

We are currently still doing our landscaping (building raised veggie garden beds at the moment). We still have a heap of stone and paving to do around the back and side as well as sort out the front a bit more and the nature strip.

I'll sort through all my photos and post some progress shots up, but in the meantime here are a couple of pics inside and out....

Hey darb74, quick question. I know you spent time insulating and plugging air leaks during the build. What did you do for the gaps under external doors? In the midst of winter now I’m feeling draughts, and I’m also thinking in summer the bugs will get in! I want something a bit more permanent than a door snake.

Just buy DYI silicon door sealant and apply it

Hi hillsbuilds, Firstly I am assuming your builder has installed the standard door seals?...like this one:



Personally I was asking my site supervisor to install for us a different type of door threshold that would allow the door to close up tight on a rubber seal (part of the threshold)...similar to what you would find on aluminium hinged doors. Here is a profile view:


Anyhow our supervisor pretty much just ignored this request, I am guessing it was too much effort for him to look into.

Anyhow we ended up with the standard Raven type seal on our front door and a Raven brush seal on the P/A door from the garage. Here are some pics:









Let me know what you have currently installed on your doors? I'm curious.

Thanks. Our French doors have the sort of seal you mentioned I think. They do work really well.



The front doors, laundry, garage, flat backdoor have...nothing.



I’ll check out the seals you and Alexp mentioned.

Hi again, yeah you definitely need at least those metal weather seals installed. I installed one recently on an investment property we own locally, and it was fairly simple. They cost around $20 I think, and you basically measure the width of your doorway (jamb-to-jamb) and then cut the weather strip approx. 2-3mm shorter than this measured width. Then once you align it and make sure it will push hard onto the threshold you mark it out and screw it on. The black stopper goes on last and a single screw takes care of this.

Because the door you showed in the pic doesn't have a threshold to go over, you might actually have other options, like this one: