Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 01, 2009 6:38 pm After watching progress on our H3nley home, it seems our frame stage invoice wont be far away. On our regular trips to check on the progress we are finding framing issues that are concerning us ie:
- nails clearly missing beams - upstairs flooring screws clearly missing joists below (we counted up to 50 and gave up) - warped beams with knots - unlevel walls etc etc While "hoping" most of this will be picked up during the builders inspection, we are frustrated with a lot of the problems and are wondering when to point these issues out, now or wait for our official inspection with our SS? Our contract states that stage payments must be made within 14 days of invoice or we are in breach. It also goes on to say that after you make payments you can still point out issues you are not happy with but really, what effort will be made to fix everything once they have their cash? We intend to have Kevin in to do our pre-plaster inspection but are worried a lot of these issues will be hard to fix once the house gets to that point. Has anyone had similar issues and how have you handled it? Has anyone witheld payments? Obviously we all make frequent "unnofficial" visits to our site to check on progress but how often do people request official visits with their SS to discuss concerns? Sorry for the long post but we are very dissapointed. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. Re: Advice on frame concerns 2Mar 01, 2009 6:45 pm I would tell your supervisor, Henley is one of the better builders and I expect they will care and rectify the problem.
I was talking to a real estate agent yesterday who built with Henley recently - he certainly sang their praises - only complained that they kept ringing him to tell him where they were up to. Call you supervisor and let him know you are on the ball - it will set the tone for the rest of your build. Ed PS - I don't supply Henley. "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Advice on frame concerns 3Mar 01, 2009 7:58 pm Yes I think we will have to arrange an official visit ASAP so that we can point out all the issues. We are just curious about other peoples experiences and how they dealt with it.
We cant seem to find much information about the acceptable tolerances or standards of workmanship. Re: Advice on frame concerns 4Mar 01, 2009 8:10 pm I don't know much about building But we are at plaster stage and we had some similar issues to you in regards to the frame.
There was definately alot of nails missing parts of the frame, but I always made sure to give that part of the frame a good shake and it was sturdy, it probably just looks bad but as long as they got nails in the frame securely I wouldn't worry to much about the ones that miss... We also had one warped piece of timber in the pantry wall and about 2 bits of timber with knots, I was told on both cases it wouldn't effect the structure of the house as these were not load bearing roles - so are within tolerance...not sure if that's right though I can't help with the unlevel walls? Surely that would have to be fixed. Our SS has said our floor joists will need to be fixed a bit to stop creaking and will get another sand back and good going over in a few weeks.. My karma ran over your dogma Re: Advice on frame concerns 5Mar 01, 2009 8:42 pm Thanks haywgl, we are by no means experts on building either but some things just dont look right. It looks like they have given a work experience kid the nail gun
We have given the frame "the shake test" as well except it actually does move on some internal frames around doorways etc, not on any external or main load bearing walls or anything though. Re: Advice on frame concerns 6Mar 01, 2009 9:03 pm Sorry to read this snhouse. I'd be taking as many photos as you can of any concern, and organise an 'official' meeting with your SS, ASAP.
We are pretty much at the same stage with the same builder, and our frame looks wonderful. I've been careful to inspect as much of it as possible with my untrained eye, and it all looks good (to me). The walls are sturdy and there are no misfired nails at all that I can see. I accidently met my SS on site one morning, and I chatted to him about things that I was concerned about with misaligned pipes in the slab. There was nothing to worry about, and 1 pipe had been picked up anyway to fix. Gain as much knowledge as you can about your build, and talk it over with your SS. As far as I'm concerned...walls should not move. Have you any photos you can post here to show us? Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Advice on frame concerns 7Mar 01, 2009 10:08 pm Thanks Stormy. Like yourself, my partner accidently met our SS very briefly however we are yet to officially meet him.
Apart from the frame issues, we also have a pipe protruding into the family room that is yet to be marked or fixed, a 40mm frame overhang in the alfresco and another in the garage. We have been pleased with the speed and progress of our build (which im sure you are as well being at the same stage) however we are now really looking at the work being done in a lot more detail and will definately point things out to our SS. Ok got some pics..... Missed screws into joist from first floor.... this is only one small section Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Examples of warped beams Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ These are only a small selection but you get the idea. Some of our concerns have already been marked for repair (like a warped beam in the pantry) but lots haven't. Re: Advice on frame concerns 8Mar 02, 2009 12:18 pm The members you are hi-lighting are studs, not beams. The 'bow' on them is of no concern, the gyprock will be set square in the corners and you'll never see them. The builders may have not completely fastened it all together yet after standing the frames as well.
The screws missing the I-joists is a bit *******, you don't want the floor to squeak. Re: Advice on frame concerns 9Mar 02, 2009 12:19 pm The members you are hi-lighting are studs, not beams. The 'bow' on them is of no concern, the gyprock will be set square in the corners and you'll never see them. The builders may have not completely fastened it all together yet after standing the frames as well.
The screws missing the I-joists is a bit *******, you don't want the floor to squeak. Thanks for all replies. I just noticed now the pictures I added to post right on top of page were wrong. I attached pictures showing "current" and my "suggested" floor… 9 14635 Regardless of wall hung toilet or floor pan toilet your feet will be right on drain, seems to me the waste should not be in that location given the design. Also are you… 6 7041 This is 100% true. You can not hang anything on steel frames. very frustrating 8 8011 |