Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1 May 13, 2020 11:59 am Hey guys, I'm honestly feeling a bit lost, so I'm looking for some grounding to keep my expectations reasonable I'm in dispute with the builder over ongoing problems with mould/waterproofing in a relatively new apartment (completed 2016) in Victoria. This is my first home and I'm not familiar with buildings at all, but I feel like all they're doing are the cheapest and simplest bandaid fixes trying to ride out the builder's warranty, not what is the industry standard. Trying to keep things short, failed waterproofing in one shower has caused water to leak through a wall into the adjacent carpet. Builder caulks shower twice in 2017, but 2 years later it's evident there's still a slow leak and a mushroom+mould has formed under the carpet. Flood testing of the shower confirms this. Builder ignores defect report about this and I've had to take them to DBDRV. Now they're suggesting trying to fix carpet "as efficiently as possible" instead of replacing it (which I thought was the standard for something like mould). I'm not focusing on the waterproofing here, because hopefully that's pretty clear-cut with no wiggle room for them to skimp on that. I assume what they mean is they just want to patch the carpet. My concerns with that are: i) If mould has been sitting there potentially for years, surely spores would have penetrated a big section of the carpeting so it's not going to be a small patch? ii) A big patch would create a pretty obvious mismatch with the existing carpet iii) A patch in the middle of the room would be prone to accelerated wear? iv) I don't even want to get into the possible health implications for having mould breeding all this time Is it acceptable to just patch the carpet for something like mould? Is there a code/legislation stating the proper standards with regards to these sorts of rectifications? I've attached some pictures which hopefully help illustrate the situation. Sorry for the long post. https://imgur.com/oQ2c1uK https://imgur.com/iVsE0Is https://imgur.com/z7uW3ey https://imgur.com/AvMam0g https://imgur.com/uWzvZok Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 2Jun 11, 2020 4:54 pm Based on the photos and that the shower is being used as intended. The only fix for this is to totally re-do the shower, possibly the whole bathroom. Any other "fix" will just temporarily hide the symptom and not the cause. dampness and mould are serious and should be rectified asap. It may be possible that the water stop at the door wasn't sealed correctly, however it isn't usual to get that much moisture under the tiles without a failure of the waterproofing somewhere. Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 3Jun 11, 2020 8:11 pm Keep pushing and get them to resolve the problem not just patch it. Hang in there. Registered Building - Always happy to help where I can and simply loves the game. DM me if you need help in VIC. Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 4Jun 16, 2020 9:06 pm Well, it looks like the shower wall and flooring has to be re-waterproofed and re-tiled, then you would consider replacing gyprock/FC sheets from both sides and, based on the damage, most probably some of the studs too, those are all in addition to the carpet. Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 5Jun 16, 2020 10:39 pm Thanks for the replies, everyone. It really helps, knowing what the expected rectification should be. I'd actually hired a building inspector months ago and his recommended rectifications are pretty much what you guys have said, which is just the sort of grounding that I needed. ..except that the builder (who is a decently-sized company afaik) ignored that report. They hire their own leak inspector who ALSO confirmed failed waterproofing. Even with all of that they decide to just stop replying instead of owning up and fixing it, so 8 months later we're at DBDRV and they're STILL stalling. Sorry for the rant. I'm just frustrated because even at DBDRV they're claiming they need to inspect yet again cause they are somehow 'unaware of what the issue is', but then ignore all my attempts to organize said inspection for over a month now. Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 6Jun 16, 2020 10:47 pm Give him a call from the other number, talk to him in a friendly way, tell him you don't want to think of him as he is a bad guy but probably he was just too busy to take your calls and respond, as otherwise, if he was a bad guy, you would have gone to social media and arbitrage after him. Make sure you arrange a meeting onsite with him, where he would have to commit in writing that he will rectify within agreeable time range. Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 7Jun 18, 2020 11:12 pm I've actually been friendly (and dare I say downright foolish in appealing to their altruism) to this very day. They just haven't bothered to reply to anything I've sent them. Given all of that, even if they were to finally show up, I have serious doubts that they'd commit in writing to rectify their stuffup. I mean, their first response to the (presumably-obvious-to-a-tradesman) failed waterproofing was to just slather caulk onto the grout lines. That didn't do anything, but at least it wasn't destructive. Their SECOND response was to literally take a drill to all the grout lines so they could pump caulk deeper into the gaps. I knew nothing about waterproofing two years ago when I let them do it. But having learnt a bit more about it now, if there WAS any waterproofing under those tiles, I feel like there sure as hell wouldn't be any left now that they've taken a drill to it. Not a single tradesman who I've asked about it could think of any good excuse to do something like that. I feel that says plenty about the company I'm dealing with. Shouldn't there be some indemnity that builders subscribe to that covers them for these latent defects? I'm not sure if anyone here is familiar with this, but what's the law with regards to warranties on renovations (as opposed to new builds)? My understanding is that all new buildings in Victoria are covered for (major?) defects up to 10 years by implied warranties, does the same apply to renovations as well? Some references for implied warranties: https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing ... -insurance https://www.ddbdesign.com.au/faq/2018/0 ... -with-them https://www.maddocks.com.au/insights/te ... s-victoria Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 8Jul 06, 2020 7:20 am tierrorize Thanks for the replies, everyone. It really helps, knowing what the expected rectification should be. I'd actually hired a building inspector months ago and his recommended rectifications are pretty much what you guys have said, which is just the sort of grounding that I needed. ..except that the builder (who is a decently-sized company afaik) ignored that report. They hire their own leak inspector who ALSO confirmed failed waterproofing. Even with all of that they decide to just stop replying instead of owning up and fixing it, so 8 months later we're at DBDRV and they're STILL stalling. Sorry for the rant. I'm just frustrated because even at DBDRV they're claiming they need to inspect yet again cause they are somehow 'unaware of what the issue is', but then ignore all my attempts to organize said inspection for over a month now. hope your issues have been soled. are you in sydney?if yes,and if you are happy with your building inspector would you mind sharing his details with me please?regards Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 9Jul 06, 2020 10:54 am mumstheword are you in sydney? The answer can be found in the second line of the thread's opening post. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 10Jul 06, 2020 8:31 pm mumstheword hope your issues have been soled. are you in sydney?if yes,and if you are happy with your building inspector would you mind sharing his details with me please?regards As the above poster pointed out, sorry but I'm not in Sydney. Re: Please, Need Some Advice for Waterproofing/Mould Dispute 11Jul 06, 2020 9:00 pm tierrorize mumstheword hope your issues have been soled. are you in sydney?if yes,and if you are happy with your building inspector would you mind sharing his details with me please?regards As the above poster pointed out, sorry but I'm not in Sydney. Thank you, best regards DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair fair question about the slope. Re soil I mean that it doesn't look like reactive clay which swells and shrinks with wetness/dryness. If the floors in your house are… 3 19322 This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 28323 yes it does, you've just not understood it. theres a difference. 4 5331 |