Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1 May 02, 2006 3:37 pm I bought a brand new unit a year ago, and the only problem I've had with it is waste water noise from the pipes from the upstairs unit. In fact the noise is so bad that i get woken up whenever they flush the toilet or 'use the toilet' upstairs.
the builders ([edited] constructions) have come in to try and rectified it by stuffing pink batts (poor second rated attempt to fix it) which had no effect at all in reducing the noise. in trying to get them to fix it properly they've turned around and now say it's not their problem..... my most hated list of people are: - builders - tradesmen - lawyers all three are ******* money sucking leeches. After waiting almost a year to get it fixed by the builders, and who are now denying that its their problem at all, I decided to get it done myself. I organised a tradesmen ([edited] tilers) turn up to do some work (remove the pipe stack so I could get the pipes lagged with insulation) - he rings me up early that morning to say he's coming in an hour, and knowing how difficult it can be to get someone i decided to take the morning off work for him to do it. He turns up, looks at the work - he says he's going to his car to get the tools, and the idiot buggered off without telling me. refused to take my phone call when i tried to find out what happened to him. absolutely rude, no courtesey at all. what is wrong with these people? if he couldn't do it, or simply didn't wnat to do it why not just tell me? instead of ******* off like that? and I'd taken that morning off work for him too. just bloody rude. luckily I found someone else to to do who did a fantastic job (Hire [edited] Merrylands). the insulation guys then came in to lag the pipes, and we found the next day that we still had no reduction in noise. went to check it out and it wasn't even sealed properly. we then spent 7 hours on our saturday re-doing all their work. the moral of the story is...don't trust any builders or tradesmens - they're all ******* - espeically those mentioned above. they waste your time, put you through the loops and leave you with nothing. and above all, if you want anything done properly, do it yourself. Re: Pipe Noise & Insulation 2May 03, 2006 10:58 pm Hi JJ88,
this is just another example of the big problems in the building industry in this part of the world. Many builders a not qualified or they have been trained amongst some builders who are not capable of anything beyond the batten and cardboard building style. Many builders (and architects!!!) don't have an idea about basic physics, whether it is about moisture, noise protection, condensation, heat loss, or insulation. The problem starts at the universities, polytechnics and other trainings establishments who fail to train the tradespeople properly. The only way is to do everything yourself or if you can't you can try european trained tradespeople. They are better trained , have a better knowledge , are more open minded and they have some sort of an idea about craftsmanship and quality regards Re: Pipe Noise & Insulation 3May 04, 2006 9:22 am Yep you are definitely right. a tradesman also told me that at Tafe these days they teach them to 'hide their mistakes'. ie. a good tradesmen can always hide their mistakes.
If i ever need to use a builder again I will always check if they have a European background and always watch their back when they are working. Its a pity it has to come to that. thanks for the advice though! Re: Pipe Noise & Insulation 4Sep 13, 2008 8:25 pm yep, another agreement from me. i wanted a rainwater tank hooked up to my toilet and my toilet replaced, i had to call 10 plumbers before i got someone to come give me a quote. about 5 took my name and address and number and told me they would ring and come within the week, 1 showed up and told me he would call a day or 2 later with a quote, he never called back, the others never came, the others said they were too busy to do it and only one came the same day, gave a quote on the spot and when i set a time with him to do the job, he showed up and did a damn good job.
so yeah, if theres something oyu can do yourself, then do it, stuff the trades men, they are all mainly a bunch of wankers. Re: Pipe Noise & Insulation 5Sep 13, 2008 9:29 pm Quote: the others said they were too busy to do it and only one came the same day, gave a quote on the spot and when i set a time with him to do the job, he showed up and did a damn good job. so yeah, if theres something oyu can do yourself, then do it, stuff the trades men, they are all mainly a bunch of wankers. Well, you can't complain about that one then!!! Or the ones who were honest and said they were too busy, if they've got too much work on and can't do the job, what do you want them to say? This does seem a silly post: calling other people wankers on a public forum is not very clever Re: Pipe Noise & Insulation 6Sep 13, 2008 10:34 pm windowexpert this is just another example of the big problems in the building industry in this part of the world. Many builders a not qualified or they have been trained amongst some builders who are not capable of anything beyond the batten and cardboard building style. I agree, many licenced carpenters these days finish their trade with a cordless Makita and the knowledge to put together a flat pack kitchen......and thats about it. We are astounded almost on a daily basis of the incompetence of some builders that come in and ask us what size timbers to use for certain applications or even how to do certain jobs. You wouldn't believe how many come in for a specific size of timber and then have to ring the site to see what length it has to be because they forgot to measure it. Nope, only on the inside, I've literally has my ears to the brick outside and can't hear anything. I can sort of 'reset' the noise by pressing firmly on the studs. This… 10 11758 Upgrading your windows to soundproof ones, like triple-glazed, can make a significant difference. While changing window… 4 11655 yep sounds good make the footing bigger to to allow for the pipe in the middle 3 7314 |