Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1 Sep 22, 2010 1:22 pm We built our home with PD and it is now due for 3 month maintenance and we have been pointing out issues with our bricks with our site supervisor and we signed the final invoice with a clause to fix the brick mortar. We had a three month inspection where we pointed out that the problem with the brick work is still unattended and we are still waiting for the supervisor to fix the brickwork. Our maintenance guy has said that they will fill all the gaps with the new mortar but cannot guarantee the brick mortar match.Our concern with the mortar work is not just with the appearance (there are many grey colored patches, inconsistent amounts of mortar between the bricks etc) but importantly with the quality (it is extremely porous and has many gaps across the whole brick work). We are deeply concerned and this is currently causing us a lot of grief already and in the long run this may cause severe problems to the building structure as well. I have attached some sample pictures for review.
Please advise. Thanks in advance. http://img844.imageshack.us/i/img3606k.jpg/ http://img651.imageshack.us/i/img3627o.jpg/ http://img268.imageshack.us/i/img3630ma.jpg/ http://img541.imageshack.us/i/img3637v.jpg/ http://img85.imageshack.us/i/img3641my.jpg/ http://img21.imageshack.us/i/img3645bl.jpg/ http://img824.imageshack.us/i/img3647l.jpg/ Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 2Sep 23, 2010 9:08 am Vish, in the grand scheme of things, your brickwork albeit not visually attractive is structually sound and patchable. I wouldn't loose any sleep over it but I would be on the back of PD about getting it rectified because the quality does't cut. 101 on brickwork, the brick does not hold up the structure and hence why it's called brick veneer. The framework inside your walls do that. The gaps/holes are a result of poor sand mixing, mortar laying and is visual during the cleaning process due to blow out. The options for PD are to apply mortar to the holes and a product by NawKaw to add a colour. I've had it done to my house. What you have to look out for is if they do it properly. Hope that helps. Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 3Sep 24, 2010 2:44 pm Tell your maintenance guy (& PD)that you will not accept anything other than a perfect match. If they need to come back that is their problem not yours. From what I've read the problem is cosmetic but needs to be addressed until the entire mortar colour is uniform. The fact that the maintenance crew may have difficulty matching the mortar colour is not your problem. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 4Sep 27, 2010 6:04 pm Vish We built our home with Porter Davis and it is now due for 3 month maintenance and we have been pointing out issues with our bricks with our site supervisor and we signed the final invoice with a clause to fix the brick mortar. We had a three month inspection where we pointed out that the problem with the brick work is still unattended and we are still waiting for the supervisor to fix the brickwork. Our maintenance guy has said that they will fill all the gaps with the new mortar but cannot guarantee the brick mortar match.Our concern with the mortar work is not just with the appearance (there are many grey colored patches, inconsistent amounts of mortar between the bricks etc) but importantly with the quality (it is extremely porous and has many gaps across the whole brick work). We are deeply concerned and this is currently causing us a lot of grief already and in the long run this may cause severe problems to the building structure as well. I have attached some sample pictures for review. Please advise. Thanks in advance. http://img844.imageshack.us/i/img3606k.jpg/ http://img651.imageshack.us/i/img3627o.jpg/ http://img268.imageshack.us/i/img3630ma.jpg/ http://img541.imageshack.us/i/img3637v.jpg/ http://img85.imageshack.us/i/img3641my.jpg/ http://img21.imageshack.us/i/img3645bl.jpg/ http://img824.imageshack.us/i/img3647l.jpg/ Hi Vish, I understand you have some concerns with the mortar of your brick work. I suggest giving your New Home Care contact another call to get a update or you can send me a private message with your name, address and phone number and I'll see if I can move things along for you. I hope that helps, Cheers, Jess. Porter Davis Homes Questions? Call 1800PORTER Mon - Fri 9am-8pm Sat - Sun 10am-4pm info@porterdavis.com.au http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/ http://www.porterdavishomes.com.au Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 5Sep 29, 2010 9:40 am Thank you Adam and Ausdesign for your reply. We are still waiting for PD to get back to us. Hi Jess, It is really nice to see PD working closely with its customers and attending to their problems. Thank you for your understanding and will send you a private message with all our details. Regards Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 6Sep 29, 2010 10:19 am You do need to give PD full marks for their PR. The proof will be if Vish is happy with the follow through. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 7Sep 29, 2010 11:03 am Vish Thank you Adam and Ausdesign for your reply. We are still waiting for PD to get back to us. Hi Jess, It is really nice to see PD working closely with its customers and attending to their problems. Thank you for your understanding and will send you a private message with all our details. Regards Hi Vish, Thanks for that. I got your PM with all your details, thanks for sending that through. We'll be in contact with you soon. Let me know if you have any more questions. Cheers, Jess. Porter Davis Homes Questions? Call 1800PORTER Mon - Fri 9am-8pm Sat - Sun 10am-4pm info@porterdavis.com.au http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/ http://www.porterdavishomes.com.au Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 8Oct 04, 2010 9:51 am Hi Vish, I just wanted to follow up on the progress of your brickwork. Has everything been sorted? Let me know how you went. Cheers, Jess. Porter Davis Homes Questions? Call 1800PORTER Mon - Fri 9am-8pm Sat - Sun 10am-4pm info@porterdavis.com.au http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/ http://www.porterdavishomes.com.au Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 9Oct 06, 2010 9:14 pm Hi Jess, Thanks for your follow up. We are still waiting for the solution having had a few people call up and come down for visits as well. Hope this won't take too long... Best regards, Vish Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with PD - Update 10Nov 02, 2010 10:45 am Dear All, Just wanted to share some updates...PD Manager inspected my brickwork and acknowledged that they too weren't convinced on the quality of workmanship. PD initiated an inspection of the mortar for its quality and has offered the following options to fix the appearance of the brick wall. *) render the entire house OR *) rake the current FLUSH mortar and provide a ROLLED finish. While the latter isn't clearly our preferred choice...we are not totally convinced on the RENDER option either. We are apprehensive of *) the showing of cracks, higher maintenance etc *) impact to the colour scheme of the house. The colours of our house are chosen to gell with my JARRAH bricks! We had previously paid for the Off-white mortar and rendering the facade (Dune colour) PD is discouraging from pulling the bricks down and relaying the whole thing. Please share your thoughts Best regards, Vish Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 11Nov 02, 2010 12:56 pm From the stated options, I'd take the rolled mortar - it would look good on your brick and it's generally a beautiful look (pour moi at least). It goes best with sharp/clean edged bricks, though. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 12Dec 24, 2010 10:10 pm The best result for minimising blowouts in the mortar from brick cleaning is a rolled/ironed joint. Flush joints are notorious for having pressure damage especially when the mortar is of such a contrast in colour to the brick itself. The best rule of thumb is: HIGH CONTRAST- Dark brick/white mortar = rolled joint LOW CONTRAST- Light brick/white mortar = flush joint or rolled joint. [shadow line in a rolled joint will make the mortar look darker] PS: the first pic has a white sand/white cement mortar repointed in the perp joint with a white sand/grey cement mix. Being a builder is more than just having once held a hammer. It's about the trades you hire and ensuring that they give a result that meets the industry standard and the home owners expectations. Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 13Dec 25, 2010 7:40 am abrickspecialist .... PS: the first pic has a white sand/white cement mortar repointed in the perp joint with a white sand/grey cement mix. Yes, it does. They (various builder) do that so often that I'm thinking that it's not possible to make a small amount off-white mortar for small patches - so you are saying it's possible and the colour should be and can be matched? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 14Dec 25, 2010 8:01 am Lex abrickspecialist .... PS: the first pic has a white sand/white cement mortar repointed in the perp joint with a white sand/grey cement mix. Yes, it does. They (various builder) do that so often that I'm thinking that it's not possible to make a small amount off-white mortar for small patches - so you are saying it's possible and the colour should be and can be matched? Thats a lazy match. The bricklayer used the right sand but instead of off white cement he used std grey cement. It's hard to Nawkaw back to off white so it should be dug out and repointed with the right cement! Being a builder is more than just having once held a hammer. It's about the trades you hire and ensuring that they give a result that meets the industry standard and the home owners expectations. Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 15Dec 25, 2010 8:18 am Lex abrickspecialist .... PS: the first pic has a white sand/white cement mortar repointed in the perp joint with a white sand/grey cement mix. Yes, it does. They (various builder) do that so often that I'm thinking that it's not possible to make a small amount off-white mortar for small patches - so you are saying it's possible and the colour should be and can be matched? Of course you can make a small batch of anything that you can make a large batch of. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 16Dec 25, 2010 8:26 am I would not go with the render option. Regular repainting (very expensive due to scaffolding, if you have a multi-storey house), prone to cracking, and not the look you were after. Will PD come back every 10 years for the life of the building and repaint it? Just because PD nominated just two options, doesn't mean that they are the only options. You are entitled to get exactly what you asked for. My suggestion. Get a sample 2 metre by 2 metre section done with the rolled joint. If, and only if, you are happy, get them to proceed with the rolled joint (they are a better long-term joint). If you are not happy then they must do as the contract says. The joints can be cleaned out, any bricks damaged in the process replaced, and the joints repointed. An expensive option, but a good lesson learnt for any builder - spend time to do it right the first time (slighlty increased cost) or redo it (vastly increased cost). And one last thing, great to see PD getting on the forum and genuinely reviewing customers concerns. This will go a long way towards a great reputation. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 17Dec 25, 2010 8:49 am abrickspecialist Thats a lazy match. The bricklayer used the right sand but instead of off white cement he used std grey cement. It's hard to Nawkaw back to off white so it should be dug out and repointed with the right cement! That's exactly what I thought, but thought to check with a brick specialist (welcome to the forum!!) - just no care to check what mortar colour was used on the house and then just get the same for patches. BTW, I hope Nawkaw does not touch up anyone's mortar - their colour "match" to surrounding mortar is ... hmmmm .... and almost looks like children's playing clay glued between the bricks if they leave tiny strips unstained. But looks OK from a distance. Can you tell me how much of the mortar needs to be dug out in order for the new mortar to stick properly? And are there any special tricks for the mixture of the new mortar, or is it just sand, cement and water (no other additives) for repointing/touch ups? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 18Dec 25, 2010 12:42 pm Lex Can you tell me how much of the mortar needs to be dug out in order for the new mortar to stick properly? And are there any special tricks for the mixture of the new mortar, or is it just sand, cement and water (no other additives) for repointing/touch ups? Generally you would need to grind out at least 20mm of the mortar bed and perp joints. This is usually done with an angle grinder with a diamond cutting disc but IMO the angle grinder generally nicks the bricks damaging the arrised edge. The specially designed arbor brick/mortar saw can do a better job but chipping can still be a problem if care is not taken. http://www.as170.com/INT/ http://www.as170.com/INT/see-in-action.html Once ground out the bricklayer needs to repoint the motar without making too much mess. The mixture must have an AS3700 mix [hopefully 1:1:6-cement/lime/sand or similar] to ensure the mix is "plastic" enough to repoint and allow easier cleaning. Repointed brickwork cannot be aggressively cleaned by high pressure without blowing out more mortar which will then require further repointing. Special mortar repointing tools are also available http://www.diamondway.com.au/mortar_saws.html Looking at the pics I suggest the original bricklayer mix up a full batch of the same white sand/off white cement mix that was originally used and go over the house filling up the blowouts in the mortar. This should dry and bleach to become approximately the same colour as the original mortar. The repointed areas will require sponge cleaning as they go with a follow up about 4 days later to "brighten" up the brickwork using a diluted Hydrochloric acid [HCl] mix of about 20:1 [95% water 5% HCl] but with garden hose pressure to wash the residue away, NOT high pressure. Good luck Being a builder is more than just having once held a hammer. It's about the trades you hire and ensuring that they give a result that meets the industry standard and the home owners expectations. Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 19Jan 12, 2011 7:51 am Trying not to be offensive to PD here but it comes down to the old addage 'you get what you pay for' and this is the case with PD and other volume builders. i have first hand experience here as a bricklayer and can say that the rates they pay are barely enough to run a business on unless you want to work 9 hours a day 7 days (which would nearly kill anyone in a hard labour trade over a sustained period) Suffice to say im now doing work for a more 'exclusive' builder who doesnt mind the cost so much as long as its done right. Therefore im prepared to take my time and ensure its done right, if a brick or block is laid low or has a chip its pulled out and re-laid. That would never happen on a volume job. If anyone is having a volume home built ie same house as one 4 doors down i'd ask to see another home done by the same bricky, not just the display home. End rant. Re: Unresolved Brick issues after handover with Porter Davis 20Jan 12, 2011 11:07 am Hi Vish, I just wanted to follow up on your brick issues & see if you managed to come to a resolution? It would be good to hear how you're going with your build. I hope everything is running smoothly. Please keep us posted Cheers, Jess. Porter Davis Homes Questions? Call 1800PORTER Mon - Fri 9am-8pm Sat - Sun 10am-4pm info@porterdavis.com.au http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/ http://www.porterdavishomes.com.au Thanks for your reply. I will just wait and see I guess. Trying to get some more information from our builder. 9 30233 I am looking at building a house. Has anyone used Construkt Homes (based in Adelaide)? Does anyone have experience with this builder? 0 6446 12 5316 |