Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building in SA! 1101Nov 08, 2009 9:52 am Thanks Pipe for your response. We have upgraded all our insulation to the highest levels, so I guess we should be right then. Of course it sounds like the wrapping has great benefits, but knowing we don't have it, with high insulation means I can relax a little. Blog:http://tamdaz-themajestic.blogspot.com The Majestic - Henley - Adelaide Thread:https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20635 Day 200 23-4-10 Re: Building in SA! 1102Nov 08, 2009 1:20 pm Hi TamDaz How much did you builder charge you for site scrapping after the demolition? 2011 Home Sweet Home Handover 03 September 2010 PCI 27August 2010 Plumber 20August 2010 Electrician 19August 2010 Painting 04 August 2010 Cabinets 13Jul2010 Lockup 23June Frame 20April slab 1Mar10 Re: Building in SA! 1103Nov 08, 2009 3:06 pm Hi Anna, There was no charge (extra). Gavin left things relatively level (given that there were truck tyre marks) and the builder took over from there. I assume we paid for the site scrape within the slab prepartion work. Sorry if this doesn't help. Blog:http://tamdaz-themajestic.blogspot.com The Majestic - Henley - Adelaide Thread:https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20635 Day 200 23-4-10 Re: Building in SA! 1105Nov 08, 2009 9:49 pm vid Our tiler had a hangover today and below is an image of what he achieved in the whole day (just the few floor tiles), he seems like he does a very good job but at this rate he won't finish until Christmas! Am I being rough thinking much more should have been done? After being ***** about our tiler during the week he has completely finished the bathrooms now and worked both Saturday and today, he said he will screed the floor of the laundry and porch tomorrow and tile over the next 2 days so he will be finished this week at least, I think he may have "got a rocket"! Re: Building in SA! 1106Nov 09, 2009 9:43 am TamDaz Thanks Pipe for your response. We have upgraded all our insulation to the highest levels, so I guess we should be right then. Of course it sounds like the wrapping has great benefits, but knowing we don't have it, with high insulation means I can relax a little. Yes, and although you probably can't retrofit sarking in the walls there are other things you could do in the future which would have similar effect such as shade external west/north/east walls with trees and shadecloth. Re: Building in SA! 1107Nov 09, 2009 8:29 pm katherineandadrian Hi All, We have been so busy with the move from Sydney to Adelaide that I have only just worked out that we have until the end of next week to have the slab done and the first progress payment made to the builder in order to qualify for the FHOG. All that has happened so far is a site scrape (on monday) I called the builders customer service lady last week and advised her that the 26 weeks were coming up shortly (didn't give an exact date as the removalists were here and obviously had other things on my mind) She didn't seem that worried about it. She said with a really carefree voice 'oh we'll just get an extention from Revenue SA" I thought there had to be outstanding reason for them to give an extention... ie bad weather for numerous days etc.... Any ideas on what i should do? Do i have to apply for the extention? Should i call someone? I'm thinking of calling the builder tomorrow to give them a bit of a kick up the arse to get them started... Thanks Katherine Thanks for the responses... I decided to go and visit the builder this morning and waited to post an update until i had some more info... It was quite funny actually, when i walked in to the head office and told them who i was and was quickly escorted into a private room- i think they were worried i would cause a scene in their reception. Well this is what is going on... I was advised that we are the next block to have a slab poured, it was scheduled for this week and obviously it can't be done due to the weather. I expressed how dissapointed i was with everything going on so far with the build, I ended up getting the operations manager to write a letter to Revenue SA for an extension for the FHOG. He wrote in the letter that it was due to be done by next friday (fingers crossed it happens) I still have to write to Revenue SA for the extension. I was advised that it shouldn't be a problem for the 26 week rule is there just to deter people who sign a contract now just to get the grant and delay for ages. Has anyone here had to request an extension? if so what did you put in your letter? Thanks again to everyone who responded. Re: Building in SA! 1108Nov 09, 2009 9:23 pm vid vid Our tiler had a hangover today and below is an image of what he achieved in the whole day (just the few floor tiles), he seems like he does a very good job but at this rate he won't finish until Christmas! Am I being rough thinking much more should have been done? After being ***** about our tiler during the week he has completely finished the bathrooms now and worked both Saturday and today, he said he will screed the floor of the laundry and porch tomorrow and tile over the next 2 days so he will be finished this week at least, I think he may have "got a rocket"! Lucky your tiler is working in this weather. Some tradies don't like to work when the temp gets over 30C Any pics of your bathrooms? I just love pics PCI Done Re: Building in SA! 1109Nov 09, 2009 9:45 pm Jose27 vid vid Our tiler had a hangover today and below is an image of what he achieved in the whole day (just the few floor tiles), he seems like he does a very good job but at this rate he won't finish until Christmas! Am I being rough thinking much more should have been done? After being ***** about our tiler during the week he has completely finished the bathrooms now and worked both Saturday and today, he said he will screed the floor of the laundry and porch tomorrow and tile over the next 2 days so he will be finished this week at least, I think he may have "got a rocket"! Lucky your tiler is working in this weather. Some tradies don't like to work when the temp gets over 30C Any pics of your bathrooms? I just love pics Couldn't take any piccys yet as the floor was still wet and the painter was doing his thing Re: Building in SA! 1110Nov 09, 2009 10:00 pm katherineandadrian - good luck with the extension application!! Hope it works out for you. Looking forward to seeing progress pics of your home!! Do you have a blog anywhere? Our news for the day is that I received an email from our electrician this morning. We're adding on HEAPS in the electrical dept (cbus + heaps of data cabling, internal vacuum, built in speakers, etc etc etc), so we've had to deal with the electrician direct as I think the builders were too scared to touch it!! Anyway, I digress... The email this morning mentioned that the electrician has been booked in to start in about three weeks (as this is when the external walls and roof are expected to be complete). Our SS had not mentioned anything about when the walls and roof would be going in, so that entire sentence was news to us!! The SS called us this morning to talk about the sarking. Seems he has managed to find some contractors to install it at short notice, but they won't do it with the shiny side facing outwards. This reduces its effectiveness (probably by a couple of degrees on days like today!!), so we're not thrilled, but at least we will have most of the benefit of the sarking. We decided that it would be more trouble than it is worth to argue this one out with the SS as he was claiming it to be an occupational health and safety issue, thus not possible to comply with the contract (where it is clearly stated that the sarking must be shiny side out). Our relationship with this dude is already shaky, so it's worth taking a hit like this if it can smooth the waters a bit! Show him we're not completely unreasonable... The sarking installation should begin in a few days - with possible (understandable) delays due to the weather. And we have hired some painters to deal with painting the protective coating on the western red cedar windows. The guys from MP Painting have been incredibly friendly and helpful, and came back with a quote half the price of the next guy. This is after informing me that they absolutely will not compromise on quality of materials and insisting that he use exactly the product that I was about to tell him I wanted!! They were due to start this week, but cannot apply the product in temperatures above 35 degrees as it is water based and gets dried up and cloggy too fast in extreme temperatures. Will update later on how good a job they do with it, but so far I am very impressed with the attitude and price!! I'm sure that whatever they do, it will be better than what hubby and I could do (as he has said to me - "I'm a computer programmer, not a painter!" Re: Building in SA! 1111Nov 11, 2009 4:38 pm I am SO angry and frustrated!! I have a MAJOR headache that I have named in honour of our SS. I need to calm down before I can write about it. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Re: Building in SA! 1112Nov 11, 2009 5:16 pm That's not good somewoman. Maybe writing it down (even just to yourself, may help you calm down a bit). Think about things that can help you get what your after, not about what keeps making you so angry about them! I'm sure we will all help out in any way we can too. Blog:http://tamdaz-themajestic.blogspot.com The Majestic - Henley - Adelaide Thread:https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20635 Day 200 23-4-10 Re: Building in SA! 1113Nov 11, 2009 6:13 pm TamDaz That's not good somewoman. Maybe writing it down (even just to yourself, may help you calm down a bit). Think about things that can help you get what your after, not about what keeps making you so angry about them! I'm sure we will all help out in any way we can too. heh, what I'm REALLY after is a new SS... Preferably one with people skills. And willing to help instead of make excuses why he shouldn't!! Seriously, for the effort he puts into arguing (and the time!!) he could have fixed the problems with my frame ten times Re: Building in SA! 1114Nov 11, 2009 8:06 pm After MASSIVE arguments with our SS (he has been such a pain about absolutely everything that he possibly can be, then accused me of only wanting things fixed so that I can make his life difficult, starting with my complaints about our slab - which were also ONLY to make his life difficult), this is the letter that I sent to our builder today (someone in head office, not the SS):
further to my fax, herewith the photos to display some of the problems. Please feel free to share these with ***construction manager***. Let me know if you need any of higher resolution and I will send them immediately bathroom_111109.jpg displays where a decomposable material has been used to shore up the stud framework in the wet areas. This is a big problem should any leakage occur in these wet areas as that will result in rotting through that entire section of frame (and any connected sections should it not be discovered in a timely manner). According to our inspector's advice, the building standards followed in Australia would state that a non-decomposable material be used in these areas. cutstud_1111090.jpb shows the stud in the kitchen where the wood has been cut away to allow for the pipes. According to our inspector this also does not follow standards, and this wood cannot be cut into more than 20mm - this cut is a lot deeper than that. Our inspector suggests that a further stud be placed along side this one (preferably one on either side) that does not require to be cut away from the pipes. Our inspector says that this is a load bearing stud. ensuite_111109.jpg shows where the wood bordering the slab has been cut away completely to make room for the pipe work. We have been informed that standard procedure for this would be to supply a steel brace or the likes to complete the border and allow room for the pipe, but that it is unacceptable to leave the break here. sheetbrace_111109.jpg shows the distance between some of the nails in the steel sheet used to brace the walls. According to ***SS***, this material requires nail spacing of 150mm or less, and you can see from the A4 sheet in that picture that the nail spacing there is far greater than that. This is a problem on ALL of the sheeting throughout the build, although some of it has now been covered with sarking. This is important to have it remedied prior to external walls being fitted. Our inspector has also made mention of the corrosion on these sheets, although I have been in contact with bluescope (the manufacturer) who have said that they believe it is only the protective coating that has corroded, and therefore the structural integrity is still intact. tiedowns_111109.jpg shows where the tie downs have not been secured at all. I have a photo of one next to this set that clearly shows the tie down secures properly. ***SS*** assures me that these were not completed because the carpenters have yet to come back and fit the sliding cavity door. tiedowns2_111109.jpg shows an example of where the tie downs have been secured, but are quite loose. Our inspector assures us that this can result in lifting of the roof structure during high winds, which in turn can result in structural damage to the studwork and severe cracking to the internal linings (and possibly external linings) Our inspector also made note of the bolts holding the frame to the slab. In many cases these bolts are quite loose (you can sometimes physically fit a finger between the head of the bolt and the wood that it is supposed to be holding down, and frequently the washers spin freely where they should be tight), and in some cases where the bolts have been placed too close to the edge of the slab. ***SS*** mentioned that they need to be 40mm from the edge of the slab, whereas some of the bolts are so close to the egde that you can see the length of the bolt poking through the concrete, therefore no longer structural at all. This has also now been hidden by the introduction of sarking/damp course. There are more issues in the report, although these are the ones which concern us the most. If we can be given valid reason why any of these are not to be worried over, we'd be more than happy to read about it. I have to reiterate - I am NOT doing this to be painful. We are simply following the advice given by our third party inspector who knows better than we do. As mentioned in our phone conversation, I have built a house before. In that scenario I didn't use an inspector and I had untold problems with the house upon completion. Severe cracking of the plaster above all windows. The shower drain was >2cm above the level of the tiles (so the showers pooled water - both of them). Extroadinarily poor workmanship in general. I fought tooth and nail for things to be fixed and even had to have my certificate of occupancy revoked to get the builders to address some of the issues. I don't believe for a moment that your company is of such a poor calibre, but I need to protect my own interests. I beg your understanding. --- Will post the images if anyone cares to see them, but the text itself should suggest how freakin' simple these changes really should be!! few nails here, new piece of wood there, explanation somewhere else and possibly a lick of concrete or rubber in the wet areas. Seriously, is it worth screwing me over like he did today? Hubby had to do some serious wife-calming... It seriously takes some special skills to be as arrogant and insulting as our SS is. I'm not even getting into what most of THAT conversation was!! I left out the complaint about the SS as I just want these issues fixed, and will concentrate on issues with him separately. Re: Building in SA! 1115Nov 11, 2009 8:16 pm I just know that every problem that we have with the build now, he will claim it to be personal and made up just to annoy him. He fully accused me of causing problems to make things hard for him. Like what - I paid his contractors to leave out nails, loosen bolts, cut chunks out of my frame? Apparently I'm nothing if not toxic and pathetic. He is certainly doing everything he can to compromise my reputation within the office... I was asked today by someone whom I thought I could trust if I wasn't just nitpicking. Ummm, no. This is what our third party inspector has come up with, not me!! These are the issues that HE says are important, not me. I just want my house to be built right... =( And there isn't even any chocolate in the house. *sigh* Re: Building in SA! 1116Nov 11, 2009 8:27 pm Wow-wee somewoman your SS certainly sound like a complete PITA...... Our SS is almost impossible to get hold of but on the few occasions when we have managed to and met with him personally he is great. Hopefully someone in your builders head office give this guy a swift kick up the backside! Re: Building in SA! 1117Nov 11, 2009 8:56 pm Well we had some action today, the painter, plumber and the tiler were working today, we now have toilets and basins etc!
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Building in SA! 1118Nov 11, 2009 8:58 pm vid Wow-wee somewoman your SS certainly sound like a complete PITA...... Our SS is almost impossible to get hold of but on the few occasions when we have managed to and met with him personally he is great. Hopefully someone in your builders head office give this guy a swift kick up the backside! Given that I was asked if I was just nitpicking, I'm pretty certain that he has completely compromised my integrity with them with his stories (I know he has been telling stuff, thus the abusive phone call from his manager a couple of weeks back), and he'll be getting away with it scott free... Can't remember if I posted it before or not, but apparently Ian Woods homes were rapt to get rid of him! Can't half imagine why... Maybe we should have built with them... Seriously, the treatment that we have received at the hands of the SS, I could not in good faith recommend our builder to ANYONE. No matter how beautiful the house may turn out to be. I can't wait to be rid of him myself... I asked him today why he was so difficult. The response was that I started it because of the slab issues. As I recall, it was me who had the issue fixed when he didn't bother calling SA Water to stop the leaking. I'm just so angry, frustrated, hurt and just want to step away from it now... Given our time over, I think we both agree that we would have spent it on buying a big, old house in a better neighbourhood and letting me go nuts on renovating... We chose the build option purely to go green Re: Building in SA! 1119Nov 11, 2009 8:59 pm vid Well we had some action today, the painter, plumber and the tiler were working today, we now have toilets and basins etc! Looks awesome!! I love the tapware you have chosen - very sexy =) Re: Building in SA! 1120Nov 11, 2009 10:11 pm Vid - wow that looks fantastic! Somewoman - How horrific...I think you have scared me into having an independent building inspector, whoever we choose to build with. They are crazy because word of mouth is so important and I will always remember your experience with that company, as I'm sure others will too. go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110760 Even if it's not being sub-divided and you want to keep it as Torrens title, you will still need to talk to a town planner or Council themselves, to see if they will allow… 1 11117 |