Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 20, 2011 6:29 pm We've been in our house 4 months, but we have our 3 month inspection next week. How picky can I be? Is it unreasonable for me to want to fix things like: - cracks in the skirting/cornices/door frames where two pieces of wood meet in the corners? - a door handle that is a bit wonky? - cracks where 2 sheets of plaster meet? - cracks in the concrete? - Paint on bricks and cracks showing through (that they obviously tried to hide by painting over!)? - paint damage where the door was opened and closed before the paint was dry? Is this what 3 month maintenance is for? Am I being super picky or do you think these are things that anyone would mention? Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 3Jan 21, 2011 7:13 am That's exactly what 3 month maintenance is for. All of those should be fixed. Metricon Riva 33 - http://herlihy-riva.blogspot.com Site start 15/03/2010 - Handover 23/12/2010 9 months and 8 days (284 calendar days) from site start to handover Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 4Jan 21, 2011 7:21 am I agree with E1109 and btherl - they should definitely be fixed! 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 5Jan 21, 2011 7:55 am Looks like you have a common theme running through the house. Something has shifted for all of those gaps to open up. It may not a major thing, but you are well within your rights to ask to have those items fixed. Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 6Jan 21, 2011 8:16 am I agree with all the others. The idea of the 3 months maintenance check is to catch everything that wasn't caught earlier and to catch problems that have appeared since moving in. Last chance to get anything but structural problems (7 years) fixed by the builder. After that, it's at your cost (or accept the fault). Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 7Jan 21, 2011 8:42 am We had exactly the same things on our maintenance list and they were attended to. The cracks in our concrete were deemed "within tolerance" and nothing can be done but everything else was done. Well, will be done, we are still waiting for our painting to be done. List everything you see, if you don't tell them they wont fix it. Good luck. Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 8Jan 21, 2011 9:42 pm The first three are normal. I'm pretty sure my builder (PD) actually had a clause somewhere that mentions cracking in paint at door frame joints, cornice joints, skirting etc is normal and not part of the maintenance. They could fix them up but I guarrantee they will re-appear in 3 more months. The plaster sheet and cornice joint cracks are not acceptable. I had a huge crack right through a cornice (not even a joint) that oppened up to about 4mm. They came and fixed it with screws, plaster etc then repainted it ( I took time off work for this) and 6 months later it looked exactly the same as it did before the repair. Complete waste of time. Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 9Jan 21, 2011 10:12 pm Get yourself a book of 'post in notes' pink if poss or somethig that stands out a LOT Put a little note on each one so you can be familiar with the issue. Don't expect feed back on the day. ....but give them a TA ( take away ) - sheet with the issues Dot pointed and the location. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 10Jan 23, 2011 2:42 pm Oh wow. Thanks everyone. I just wasn't sure if these were things we should just accept or not but I'll definitely make a good list like Onc has suggested. And I'll do the sticky note thing too. Really good idea, thanks . Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 12Jan 28, 2011 8:56 am Dilla, This is your opportunity to get items fixed or else you will kiss the opportunity goodbye later. We had the maintanence guys come by and fix a pages worth of stuff of which the guy said that the house overly looked good compared to others. Some items that you can include from experience: - Shower joins not sealed with sealant (they used grout for ours) - Tiles that have chipped, cracked or the grout has come away - Roof tiles that have cracked or joints have erroded - Sticky doors - Locks that don't latch properly - Inexistant sealant around the base of your toilet seat - Window lintels not painted - Cracks along cornices (you can ask to get them filled now because later the builder will not accept it) - Paint and/or plaster imperfections - Gutteing issues - Builders installed appliances that don't seem to do what there meant to do - Grout that has cracked inside the shower (will cause water damage later) The rule of thumb is that if it seems not quite right, ask the question to the builder. Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 13Feb 20, 2011 6:13 pm get them to do it all now - you have evey right to ask all of them to be adjusted and fixed! write them an email attach the photos which you have taken as insist that someone contact you in regards to the timeframe they will have someone out there in the same email you tell them that 4 weeks seems to be a reasonable amount of time and that if they dont respond you are taking that to mean that they are accepting the financial cost of your hiring someone to fix it for you - it works Site cut: 2 June 2010 Slab Poured: 2 Oct 2010 Frame Stage: 12 Oct 2010 Lock up: Dec 2010 Fixing Stage: March 2011 http://karasdreamhome.blogspot.com/ Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 14Feb 21, 2011 9:22 pm Dilla there is a defined standard for the level of finish that is required to be met by the builder and sub-contractors when constructing your home. I am guessing you have signed a contract using the standard 3 month minor defect liability period in Vic...You are well within your rights to have anything fixed that does not meet this standard prior to the expiration of the 3 month period. You are also able to have any settlement/movement/working issues fixed during this period also. A good guide for this in Vic is the Guide to Standards and Tolerances which you may already have; http://www.buildingcommission.com.au/re ... rances.pdf The builder will soon object if he doesnt feel that some of the items fall into these categories and then it will be up to you to decide whether to take this further or not. As a rough guide from your pictures; Pics 1 -3 - Standard settlement cracks. These should be fixed but will also occur again in the future, as someone said they will be there again in 3 months time. Care should be taken to prevent doors from being forcefully shut. Pic 4 - This should also be fixed/adjusted and tightened. Afterwards it will fall into the home owner maintenance. Pic 5 - This crack to a recessed joint is not a minor defect and will take a bit more work to fix. The builder should be doing more than a simple patch and re-paint as there is inadequate fixing for the sheets. But the defect is a non-structural defect and should be covered for 2 years in Vic I believe (I am not completely up to speed with all of Vic's policies). Pic 6 - Same bathroom? But this is only a minor defect and only covered for the 3 months. Pic 7 - Would need other pics of this but to form a more accurate opinion but this could be an issue. The SHS appears to be in the house slab not a path/patio extension and if so it should have some form of expansion joint between the SHS and theslab to allow movement. If this is the case this will always be an issue and may result in wose cracking. Again, as I said you would need to provide other photos showing the surrounding area. Pic 8 - A minor settlement crack which should be fixed but again will more than likely re-occur a few months later. There should only be a join in the cornice if the distance is greater than 6 metres. If it is less than this you should discuss with the builder. Bear in mind thopugh that cornice is designed to crack sothat other parts of your ceiling don't. Pic 9 - Truthfully, unless you showed this to the builder at handover it would be unreasonable to assume that he would fix this. There does not seem to be any additional scuffing of the paint on the edge of the door which would show evidence of a sticking door. I hope this has helped. Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 15Feb 21, 2011 10:35 pm I was wondering the same thing. Because I am having my SS over next week for our 3 month meeting and I've been in for 6 months now (I've been waiting since November!!). I have bought up things that need fixing, such as the niche... it looks like a 12 year has tiled it!! The paint, where there are drips on the door frames and paint wearing off. I was told for the paint, that its not covered. Because I had an inspector all this should have been brought up then. Basically they will do nothing for the paint!!! I also have a hairline crack in the toilet...they will not replace the toilet (they say I did it!) I know I'm fat, but hell I'm not that fat!! So...I know my meeting is going to get a little heated. I hope my doctor puts me on my blood pressure tabs before then! Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 16Feb 22, 2011 11:35 am With regard ot the paint, if there are scratches and dents that could have happened after handover, I agree the builder can't be hld liable. But if there are drips on the door frames, clearly the builder must fix it. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 17Feb 22, 2011 10:42 pm Paint imperfections is what you are after. So for example if you can see that the paint is thin in an area, you could asked them to repaint it. Dents and scratches are iffy. As for frogger, your builder will typically palm you off to the supplier of that toilet (maybe Caroma) to have it fixed. You will find that you should get better warranty service that way. Typical warranty on those items are 12 months. We have hairline fractures in out bathroom basin of which we are in the process of getting it fixed. Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 18Feb 24, 2011 8:12 am All of that should be covered. What you have asked about is general 3 month warranty stuff that I had done in my place! Re: 3 month maintenance - how picky can I be? 19Mar 09, 2011 6:32 pm We have called PD to let them know the house leaks and they said earlier this week that its been fixed, well its raining tonight and its still leaking === and then you wonder why we get frustrated Site cut: 2 June 2010 Slab Poured: 2 Oct 2010 Frame Stage: 12 Oct 2010 Lock up: Dec 2010 Fixing Stage: March 2011 http://karasdreamhome.blogspot.com/ I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15016 2 10936 |