Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 13, 2009 5:45 pm I know builders make mistakes, I have decided a good builder is the ones who fix the mistakes quickly. Here are a few of my mistakes....What did your builder do wrong? A window and door opening the wrong way, taps in wrong spot, gas hot water service installed on wrong side of the house, ceiling truss spaced too far apart, bricks crooked and pressure join not lined up, front door highlight window not lined up with side window, wrong window removed to be changed to a fixed not opening window, portico not built with gable ceiling and a functional window, portico was given an eave and fascia extended so much it dosnt look like the elevation, potico round columns were bricked square. Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 2Jul 13, 2009 6:19 pm 1) Charged us a fortune to move the electrical meter box to the other side of the house and then went ahead and put the gas meter box on the original side, so now we have meters on both sides of the house which is not what we wanted. 2) A few chipped bricks and discoloured mortar on the front. 3) Forgot to frame and fit an external door in the garage (now fixed). 4) Did not included window locks which we had paid for (now fixed) and forgot to include the colonial bars on the front facade which we have since ommitted anyway. 5) We paid for 2 extra external taps which they didn't initially give us, this has now been rectified. 6) The frame over-hung the slab and had to be supported underneath. (now fixed). 7) We have some chips in the edge of our portico and alfresco slabs Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 3Jul 13, 2009 8:29 pm I had to laugh when I saw the title to this thread, I would have to say buildingwithhamra that you will undoubtedly be inundated with responses Gee you had a few boo boo's by the look of things Let's not forget the stuff ups that happen BEFORE the slab is put down... www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 4Jul 13, 2009 8:57 pm I only have a frame and so far the plumbing for the watertank to the toilets was forgotten and my sldiing door in my meals is the other way tot the plan but I prefer it this way........... I'm sure there will be LOTS more 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 5Jul 13, 2009 9:28 pm I too have chipped bricks but they say that is normal. I got told I didnt pay for the brickie to inspect every brick before he laid them. I guess that's true. Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 6Jul 13, 2009 9:33 pm buildingwithhamra I too have chipped bricks but they say that is normal. I got told I didnt pay for the brickie to inspect every brick before he laid them. I guess that's true. This is true but it sh!ts me that we have 3 pallets of perfectly good bricks left over and yet the brickies put many chipped one's in the walls Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 7Jul 13, 2009 9:41 pm I totally agree, but i did get told the bricks can chip easily when they rake the mortar, so they weren't necessarily chipped when they were laid. Still careless Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 8Jul 14, 2009 10:32 am At PCI there was mainly some cosmetic things to fix inside the house . . . like gaps in wardrobe shelving, painting manholes again, a few powerpoints that weren't flush enough and a couple of door handles that had the grub screw showing. During the build things were picked up and rectified quickly, such as... Crooked pole A small brick wall in the kitchen that had been put on the wrong side of a marked up line. A major problem was that the electrician had cut through a water pipe when putting a light switch in (light switch in ensuite toilet and shower was on the other side of the wall), this was found straight away when the water was switched on and water came out of the light switch. I think it cost the builder about $1000 to repair! Still trying to make sure my solar system has been commissioned properly and working properly. And I've found the taps in the main bathroom sink are plumbed wrong way round (hot connected to cold tap & vice versa). Like you've said a good builder is one that picks up issues along the way and then rectifies them asap. We're pretty happy with the quality of ours. It would be a nightmare if there was some major thing that went wrong and not picked up until afterwards, I've waited long enough to finish building without even more delays!! Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 9Jul 14, 2009 12:53 pm 1. Installed our foyer downlights to the side of the coffered ceiling instead of being centred, without talking to us 1st about alternative placement 2. Main bedroom window out of square & never fixed, so it doesn't shut properly 3. Bathroom window not centred across wall, so now it sits totally to one side of the wall behind the dunny with a large space between it & the other wall 4. Light switches through the house not installed on walls at same distance from doorjamb. Some are 5cm away, a couple are 15cm from doorjamb. That's pretty much it - mostly stuff that we can live with but just annoying knowing how much money we've spent Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 10Jul 14, 2009 1:29 pm What a wonderful thread to vent.. We have yet to move in, but did our final inspection last week. Got a professional consultant to do up a report for us. Highlights (lo ligts!!) 1. Some of the mortar joints are non compliant to Australian Standards (Can't be fixed b'coz the hosue is already constructed) 2. Bricks are chipped and some are of different shade (seperate lot....huh) 3. Painiting inside the house is **. 4. Mortar in few places already cracking 5. Insulation on the roof cavity not done properly. 6. This takes the cake - The front entry door is not painted on the underside!! and the list goes on.... I am hopeful that it will be rectified by early next week as I get the pocession then. Moved in December 2015 Still scratching my head as to why is old a new house and bought a 30 year old one!! Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 11Jul 14, 2009 3:56 pm here is my list with my first build:
1. Frames the wrong way around, the left side was on the right and vice versa. 2. Light switch behind a door. Hilarious, took us a while to figure it out. 3. Stairs cut out, in the wrong position, could hit your head on the ceiling if you tried to go up the stairs. 4. 2 way switch for not working. 5. Sparky had not marked where a power point was supposed to go and could not find it to wire it to the plate. He only found it, 6 holes later (the wall had to be patched up in five spots.) This was funny!! 6. Vanity hole for the waste pipe was cut on the wrong spot I had three holes (the bottom shelf was like swiss cheese) they had to replace the bottom. 7. Roof leaked the first time it rained and damaged the bathroom ceiling below.They could not find the leak for six months! Apparently he was an above average builder. It was all fixed, but I still had tradespeople coming to my house 6 months after we had moved in. everything else was ok. T. Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 12Jul 14, 2009 10:57 pm I guess builders get a lot of experience from fixing stuff... it seems that most problems are rectifed mohit...why cant the brickwork be fixed?,my whole solider course was relayed as they had a lean and the pressure joint was not aligned...i tried to attach a photo but no luck Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 13Jul 14, 2009 11:08 pm themax :lol: I had to laugh when I saw the title to this thread, I would have to say buildingwithhamra that you will undoubtedly be inundated with responses Gee you had a few boo boo's by the look of things Let's not forget the stuff ups that happen BEFORE the slab is put down... Ok my slab isn't down yet and my builder forgot to enclose my garage when I told him it was the most important thing! cost me $7100 and * about how many kitchen cupboards i would have and told me there were heaps...ended up with 4!! Had to have whole kitchen redone to get extra cupboard space and to fit my fridge in so I can safely say so far has cost me over $10,000 Building with Homebuyers Centre El Questro! My building thread..viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19421 Brickies started 5/10 Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 14Jul 15, 2009 12:08 am My tac-home-ter: Been in 8 months! Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 15Jul 15, 2009 8:27 am buildingwithhamra mohit...why cant the brickwork be fixed?,my whole solider course was relayed as they had a lean and the pressure joint was not aligned...i tried to attach a photo but no luck buildingwithhamra, SS called up yesterday and said that to rip those bricks apart (they are in the middle of ground floor and level 1) and install new ones it is a massive excercise. I have been through the pain of this house for last almost 20 months, in no mood to delay it again. I guess I will just move in and take it from the builders, in writing, that the brick work cannot be repaired for rarararararar reason. Hopefully it will not fall on head Moved in December 2015 Still scratching my head as to why is old a new house and bought a 30 year old one!! Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 16Jul 15, 2009 8:46 am mohit 1. Some of the mortar joints are non compliant to Australian Standards (Can't be fixed b'coz the hosue is already constructed) 2. Bricks are chipped and some are of different shade (seperate lot....huh) I had a friend who had those 2 issues with another builder and he told me his builder ended up taking down the bricks and re-bricking due to the difference in shade (apparently was a large difference in color). Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 17Jul 15, 2009 10:21 am mohit... your builder said it was a massive excercise, ie they are too lazy to do it... not that it is impossible to be repaired. you are paying for best building practice, why would you accept anything less? a little hassle for you now, is better than a big hassle for you later. if it gets fixed now at least the brickies will learn that is kind of work is unacceptable and mabye someone else wont have this issue. good luck Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 18Jul 15, 2009 11:07 am Nav mohit 1. Some of the mortar joints are non compliant to Australian Standards (Can't be fixed b'coz the hosue is already constructed) 2. Bricks are chipped and some are of different shade (seperate lot....huh) I had a friend who had those 2 issues with another builder and he told me his builder ended up taking down the bricks and re-bricking due to the difference in shade (apparently was a large difference in color). buildingwithhamra mohit... your builder said it was a massive excercise, ie they are too lazy to do it... not that it is impossible to be repaired. you are paying for best building practice, why would you accept anything less? a little hassle for you now, is better than a big hassle for you later. if it gets fixed now at least the brickies will learn that is kind of work is unacceptable and mabye someone else wont have this issue. good luck Hi all, You have pepped me up to take this with the builder. will do that today and see what he responds back with. Moved in December 2015 Still scratching my head as to why is old a new house and bought a 30 year old one!! Re: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 19Jul 15, 2009 11:38 am At this stage, I honestly really can't fault the tradies and my SS. There has really been nothing 'major' wrong, and certainly nothing that doesn't get fixed ASAP. The list is as follows: * Cold water point to fridge ended up being in the pot drawer! This was picked up by my SS and myself and rectifed promptly. * Missing vertical bars on 2 front facade windows. The windows were delivered this way, so really not a fault of the builder at all, but was fixed quickly. * A couple of pipes were mis-aligned after the slab pour, but again, miniscule in comparison to others I have seen, and was fixed ASAP. *A few dips in the slab, but again, it was fixed ASAP where it was above tolerances. This is very common anyway...nothing is perfect!! * Hallway doors hung to swing the incorrect way, and not according to plan. Fixed within a few days. *Pot drawer sizes to kitchen not according to plan. It clearly states on my plans that the top drawer is to be 180mm, and the bottom two 270mm each. All three drawers in two separate banks were all the same size. My SS accepted the mistake and they will be replaced. * Guttering on garage front facade needed replacing as the outlet for the downpipe was in the wrong position. Again, this was ammended straight away once I picked up on it. *There 'may' be a few exterior painting issues with matt paint when it cleary states gloss in the contract, but I haven't chased this up yet. At this stage I am assuming it is undercoat, but will check later today. * The bricking 'may' have been suspect in a few places, but I was being terribly picky . It's all within standards and tolerances, and not at eye level . *1 course of bricks short in the alfresco (literally about 6 bricks!), so the cornice couldn't be installed. All amended within a week. I am now up to the most important finishing cosmetic touches, so lets hope the tradies great work continues!! My SS has been wonderful and willing to answer any question/querie I throw his way, and spends plenty of time explaining it all to me so I understand and am happy! Even though this is the most sressful thing I have ever done, I feel blessed that it has gone so smoothly so far. I'd hate to imagine what state I would be in if there was major mistake after mistake after mistake... 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: Mistakes what did your builder do wrong? 20Jul 15, 2009 12:56 pm Installed double laundry tub wrong way round, so the hole for the washing machine hose is next to the window instead of the washing machine. Excuses were they only make them that way round, the tiling has started so it can't be changed now anyway, just put the hose in the tub (which kinda negates the benefit of having a double tub!). The really stupid thing though was he then used OUR garage to store a double tub for another house he was building nearby and it was the right way round for us. I wish we'd gotten a trailer and taken it home and told him it wasn't coming back unless it was being installed in OUR house! Buried a timber verandah post in the ground. After we moved in we wondered about the termite risk and mentioned it to him and he said it was our fault for changing the ground level and covering up the stirrup, which we had not done. We said if the ground level was really meant to be lower then why had he forgotten to build the stairs from the door? He sent someone out to fix it. The roofline in the elevation drawings didn't match the plan. I was the only one who noticed. Didn't use a spirit level when installing the soap/shampoo dish resulting in water pooling at one end instead of draining out the hole in the other. Told us we didn't need reinforcing in the driveway unless we were going to make a habit of parking trucks there, so we agreed. Came up with the ridiculous innovation of having the kitchen window level with the kitchen bench. We saw it in the display house and didn't really mind one way or the other. Splashbacks are called that for a reason! I'm much more wary now when I see something "new and different" in display homes. Didn't install drainage at the bottom of the slope beside the house. We asked about it when discussing where the path would go and he said as the plumber hadn't provided for it, it would cost a lot to add now, and it REALLY wouldn't be necessary. It was. One window out of square so it doesn't open properly. The window company man was sent out during the maintenance period and he just sprayed it with silicone and said you have to use that regularly! I said we've only just moved in and this is the ONLY window that doesn't slide. Which is when he actually stopped to LOOK at it, and said oh yeah, it's bent. Crooked bits, emphasised by tiling. Some sloppy brickwork, especially on the garage. Hollow core door on garage instead of solid one, and inadequate size drain beside it so it has water damage at the bottom. Incorrectly installed and too small external ducting to exhaust fans, resulting in inefficiency. Forgot the tiles behind the en suite basin. I thought it was strange that the mirror came right down to the basin in the en suite but there were tiles in the bathroom. I've seen it done both ways but not in the same house. When we renovated the en suite we had a row of tiles added and behold, the top of the mirror now lines up perfectly with the top of the window, as it no doubt should have all along. The shower in the en suite was badly done. The first time I used it I realised it was an awkward size and shape and I wished I stood in the space to try it out as soon as the sheeting went in. I had assumed builders knew how to get the dimensions right. Then the efflorescence in the grout started creeping across the floor. And then the shower leaked. And then the builder's reluctant repair continued to cause problems with dank smells and damage to clothing in the adjoining WIR. The whole saga really deserves a thread of its own. there is only 20% difference in concrete strength between 20 mpa and 25 mpa, so check with your engineer first if it fits his calculation tolerances. There are ways to… 6 18294 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 15980 Unless the room is for storage then it's non compliant BCA V2 2019 S3 P3.8 You have 2 options 1. The builder deconstructs the section and rebuilds as per plan /… 7 10665 |