Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1 Mar 15, 2010 9:14 pm hi everyone we are looking for any advice about frame and truss. (if what we had is actually standard or the builder is actually taking advantage of customer) to be honest, i have no idea, what frame supposed to be like in australia (as we are coming from overseas) but seeing from the picture below, we don't t feel right. it may be because i might be too scared, but please feel free to give me feedback, if you think what the builder is doing, is actually correct. basically i had my progress payment for truss (which i have fwd to the bank, afraid of the late fee of 15% ) then i spoke to supervisor, when they told me, inspector hasn't passed the frame yet. They have requested another inspection, but until now, they keep continuing the work, adding roof and bricks. now, i am completely loss.... if the inspection hasn't passed yet, aren't the worker suppose to stop first to fix it? on the same time, if i ask the builder too much, i am afraid they will stuff up the future stage. if that's the case, then what should i do ? is there any like standard regulation that control every building in australia? currently, i am trying to contact supervisor, but he's away...so i need to wait till he's back, but in the mean time, i was hoping if someone can give a suggestion if this is a genuine defects that need to be addressed. I am seeking help from you guys to determine, if any of below looks standard practice in australia? PS: pardon me for below many pictures, as i don't know how to describe it, guess picture speaks thousand words ? much appreciated for the comment guys cheers 1. the frame outside (on porch, which supposed to be a brick pier), seems has black mark, it feels like deform frame. is this actually a temporary timber, which they will remove it, or do they normally use it for the brick pier? http://img51.imageshack.us/i/porch2r.jpg/ http://img25.imageshack.us/i/porch1.jpg/ http://img519.imageshack.us/i/entryu.jpg/ this one looks wet but they dont' replace it ? 2. the frame and truss looks good (it's yellowish colour timber). however, when they installed the roof tile, there's lots of horizontal truss that goes against the truss (i don't know what to call this, to be honest). the timber looks black, and looks like a cheap truss...if you compared to nice yellow colour truss.. this black truss holds the roof tile... Is this standard? http://img205.imageshack.us/i/stud2.jpg/ http://img192.imageshack.us/i/roof5.jpg/ http://img191.imageshack.us/i/roof2.jpg/ http://img191.imageshack.us/i/roof2.jpg/ http://img8.imageshack.us/i/pipewo.jpg/ http://img686.imageshack.us/i/roof4.jpg/ looks the timber is about to go off ? 3. and we found cracks of the cement on the slab? it feels like additional cement that was poured later. but i am not sure if this is right http://img197.imageshack.us/i/fllor.jpg/ 4. some truss colour looks red-ish? is this actually something to coat the truss with sort of weather protector? http://img709.imageshack.us/i/truss.jpg/ http://img30.imageshack.us/i/redpz.jpg/ 5. the wood they use looks wet ? http://img29.imageshack.us/i/wet4m.jpg/ http://img62.imageshack.us/i/wet3.jpg/ http://img194.imageshack.us/i/wet2r.jpg/ http://img94.imageshack.us/i/wet1h.jpg/ http://img169.imageshack.us/i/doorframe.jpg/ door frame looks a bit off from the slab ? http://img10.imageshack.us/i/elecw.jpg/ electricity box is not covered by the foil? Final stage Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 2Mar 15, 2010 10:48 pm Hi d3p Can't help on all accounts, but I think what you call "wet frame" is just your plywood bracing that got rained onto, so it discoloured. Even if it's actually dried out now, it will stay blackened. The darkened "trusses" are actually battens onto which they fasten the roof tiles. Looks like they've weathered too. Doesn't mean that they are gone bad, but that can't be ascertained just from the pictures. Doorway - all our external doorways are like that. I think that is OK. Different colour timbers: Red - might be the species; "nice yellow" - fresh frames that saw no rain; black/dark - it rained on those. Ours are opposite - blackened frames with fresh yellow battens under roof tiles. Slab - do you know what happened there? You seem to think there was a second pour. It does look like some patching, and you should find out what and why. Just contact your client service if teh SS is away - she/he has to find answers or someone who can answer all your questions. You can ask for a site meeting too. Are you having independent inspection? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 3Mar 15, 2010 11:19 pm hey lex thanks for the reply hm i hope the colour really is the species. ( but how do i know?) yeah the slab looks a bit strange, isn't it ? at least the slab things is something i can address to the supervisor. umm independent inspection? i haven't thought about it. perhaps i should consider if. do you any independemt inspector that can be recommended? (and how much do they roughly cost ?) say, if the report result, frame needs to be upgraded or whatsoever, does that mean, builder has to fix and change according the independent inspector report ? EDIT just found one, are they any good? http://www.urbaninspectreport.com.au Final stage Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 4Mar 16, 2010 5:29 am All looks good to me, think your wasting money on another inspection. Landscape Design & Construction http://cherub.squarespace.com/ Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 5Mar 16, 2010 7:22 am I also tend to think that the frames are OK, just discoloured. At least your main frame is really nice and fresh, although some say that it's even better if it gets a chance to weather a bit in the rain - I wouldn't know for sure. The only thing, again, is the slab. I would at least like to know what happened there. How come you don't know of that? Anyway, Urban seems really good, I wouldn't hesitate at all to call them, if you go for an ind. insp. I saw some very recent threads about this, for Melb people. Oh, for the reddish timber, if you really want to be sure and if you have access into the site, there should be some stamp on each piece of timber which you could photo. Once you have the pic, you can Google the writing on the stamp and should be able to find and figure out if that timber is appropriate to be used there. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 6Mar 22, 2010 2:01 pm highly recommend a building inspector cause its almost impossible to verify whether anything is a problem looking at photos. don't be afraid to question the builders if you're concerned. they won't reduce the quality of the build if you do. you're more at risk if you don't ask and they see that they may be getting away with things. having an inspector check will also help keep the build quality up. best of luck! http://homewithcoco.blogspot.com/ Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 7Mar 29, 2010 1:00 am the only thing i see that may not be right is position of stud and truss,these should line up.Over time top plate will sag especiallly with tile roof http://img191.imageshack.us/i/roof2.jpg/ Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 9Mar 29, 2010 3:05 pm If the roof truss does not line up with the stud (vertical timbers) there should be a thickening beneath the top plate (horizontal timber). It looks like they did this for the roof truss to the extreme right of the photo but not for the one to the left of it. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 10Mar 31, 2010 2:57 pm We are told that the reinforcement is not required. They only do the "thickening" for the ground floor, under joists, but it really is just a single top plate which is probably about 50-60mm thick (ie. thicker than top plates on top floor). The only "thickening" is the timber lintels above some openings. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: I think frame and truss is stuffed up? 11Apr 09, 2010 1:59 pm A stud is not required under the truss in most circumstances, they are often required for trusses that carry loads but not a common truss such as this one. However in your case we have only one top plate which looks to be 90x45 and the stud spacings are 600mm and your supporting c/tiles. So using that criteria according the the AS you can have a maximum RLW of 4.2M or about a 9m span truss, if the truss is over that then the truss will need a stud supporting it. It's hard to comment as the photos area bit dark ( you might need a new 15 - just got one and wow ) Jokes aside, I can see one member that is cracked. I would find a… 2 2222 This is 100% true. You can not hang anything on steel frames. very frustrating 8 8045 |