Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 23, 2010 12:10 am I was in the roof cavity today to install our Schweigen rangehood. What did I find that I'm sure our builder might have thought we'd never see? 1) The exhaust fan in the toilet installed so close to the power outlet that the draught excluders aren't sitting anywhere near properly and hence aren't functioning properly. 2) The air conditioning/ heating unit has multiple cables, including mains, going through the sharp edged metal without grommets in place! In some cases, the grommets are on the cables but have never been moved into place, in others, there are simply no grommets. Instead of drilling holes to pass cables through, in some places the ventilation grill has been hacked to allow cable through and hence the grommets will not be held in place. This was done by the same cowboys who scratched my wooden floor before it had finished being laid. 3) We were told that in order to have the 6 star energy rating, we needed insulation in the ceiling over the garage and were charged for this. Yes, there is no insulation over the garage. 4) Where the air conditioning pipes come out of the wall cavity and into the roof cavity, the insulation has been moved away from where they worked and never returned. 5) Electricians installed a 10 amp circuit breaker for a 15 amp power socket for the oven! No wonder it keeps tripping. 6) Where the air conditioning ceiling plant was installed, the installers just left any left overs scattered around 7) Some of the clips holding the gas pipe in place aren't even over the pipe! 8) Gas pipe to the kitchen (which weren't meant to be there as we were installing an induction stove top) terminated with a plastic stopper. When the gas was commissioned, as the installer was preparing to leave, I asked if that was okay to leave. He took a while to understand that the gas had been run, terminated with a plastic stopper, and that there was no likelihood that this outlet would ever be used. Once he understood, he replaced the plastic with metal, saying that the plastic ones are only good for half-a-year or so. There were a few others that I'll edit in when I recall - it's after 1 am and I'm very tired. So, what have you discovered that you feel the builder thought you'd never see or notice? Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Things your builder thought you wouldn't see. 3Mar 23, 2010 9:05 pm I think I will be getting the handover inspectors up in the roof... http://take2-customdesigndownslope.blogspot.com 07-10-09 omg they have cut the block 14-05-10 we finally have the keys Re: Things your builder thought you wouldn't see. 4Mar 24, 2010 12:01 pm Fiffaro 3) We were told that in order to have the 6 star energy rating, we needed insulation in the ceiling over the garage and were charged for this. Yes, there is no insulation over the garage. They're are all bad, but this one's my favourite. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Things your builder thought you wouldn't see. 6Mar 25, 2010 10:44 pm Bam Moving this Ah, found it again. Took a little searching time, Bam. Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Things your builder thought you wouldn't see. 7Mar 26, 2010 12:24 pm Fiffaro, have you contacted your builder with your findings ? What have they said about it ? Land - Northerly Estate, Piara Waters Titles Issues 05 April 2010 Building with Ross North Homes Prestart Completed 12 April 2010 Finance Approved 01 May 2010 Slab down 29 May 2010 Frame Completed 28 June 2010 Roof Completed 22 July 2010 Lockup 12 August 2010 PCI 24 Sep 2010 Handover 08 Oct 2010 Building Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=32295&start=0 Re: Things your builder thought you wouldn't see. 8Aug 03, 2010 1:25 pm So, here is an update on how things have been going. Fiffaro I was in the roof cavity today to install our Schweigen rangehood. What did I find that I'm sure our builder might have thought we'd never see? 1) The exhaust fan in the toilet installed so close to the power outlet that the draught excluders aren't sitting anywhere near properly and hence aren't functioning properly. The electrician has since unscrewed the power outlet from the wood so the draught excluder operates properly. If I'm not breaking any legal requirements, I might reattach the GPO so it is not floating on the insulation. Fiffaro 2) The air conditioning/ heating unit has multiple cables, including mains, going through the sharp edged metal without grommets in place! In some cases, the grommets are on the cables but have never been moved into place, in others, there are simply no grommets. Instead of drilling holes to pass cables through, in some places the ventilation grill has been hacked to allow cable through and hence the grommets will not be held in place. This was done by the same cowboys who scratched my wooden floor before it had finished being laid. On cable has since had grommets correctly placed. I intend to ring the manufacturer to check what they say. Fiffaro 3) We were told that in order to have the 6 star energy rating, we needed insulation in the ceiling over the garage and were charged for this. Yes, there is no insulation over the garage. H3nley arranged for insulation to be installed over the garage as per our contract and payment. The person who installed the insulation commented that he had never installed insulation over a garage previously. I should have asked to see the energy rating report that supposedly said this was necessary for a 6 star rating as I have my doubts. The heat loss through the garage door would appear to be much larger than the loss through the ceiling. Fiffaro 4) Where the air conditioning pipes come out of the wall cavity and into the roof cavity, the insulation has been moved away from where they worked and never returned. This has since been attended to. I have found other places where workers simply moved insulation and didn't return it to where it should be: I've fixed those myself. Fiffaro 5) Electricians installed a 10 amp circuit breaker for a 15 amp power socket for the oven! No wonder it keeps tripping. That was a fun one. The electrician had the hide to question why I thought it should have been 15 amps and how I knew it wasn't. For crying out loud, the ratings are marked on the circuit breakers! The earth pin is larger on a 15 amp socket so that 15 amp plugs can't be put into 10 amp sockets. 15 amp socket running off a 10 amp circuit breaker. Doh! It is easy enough for a lay person (admittedly with an electrical engineering degree, but I didn't need the degree for this) so how can an electrician get it wrong? The electrician came and replaced the breaker which fixed the problem. I hope that they don't make this mistake the other way round (15 amp circuit breaker for a 10 amp circuit) as this would have the potential to be a safety issue. Fiffaro 6) Where the air conditioning ceiling plant was installed, the installers just left any left overs scattered around When I go into the ceiling, a do a bit more tidying up. Can't be bothered with getting the builder to take care of it as there are more important issues to address. Fiffaro 7) Some of the clips holding the gas pipe in place aren't even over the pipe! Gas pipe to the kitchen (which weren't meant to be there as we were installing an induction stove top) terminated with a plastic stopper. When the gas was commissioned, as the installer was preparing to leave, I asked if that was okay to leave. He took a while to understand that the gas had been run, terminated with a plastic stopper, and that there was no likelihood that this outlet would ever be used. Once he understood, he replaced the plastic with metal, saying that the plastic ones are only good for half-a-year or so. So, what have you discovered that you feel the builder thought you'd never see or notice? Since then, we have had the floor of the kitchen island suffer water damage as the drainage was leaking. The plumbers and builders are trying to get out of fixing this by saying I must have caused the problem when I installed our dishwasher, however, that both connections under the dual sink leaked, were not even hand tight, and certainly were not the connections around where the drain from the dishwasher's outlet enters the plumbing says it all. This might be the issue that is dealt with more formally. We have also found that the plumbers installed piping with a diameter less than that required by the specifications for our hot water heater. Our complaint about this elicited a response from the plumber that this was normal, and the larger pipe specification was just to 'cover the manufacturer's backside'. Very helpful. We have to run our hot water with the taps fully on or the heater stops heating the water. The plumbers suggested that we remove the temperature limiting valve and the flow rate control valve where the water enters out property. I'm concerned that this is not the correct solution to the problem. Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Things your builder thought you wouldn't see. 9Aug 03, 2010 2:30 pm The electrical guys put all wires to light switches etc into conduits that i asked and paid for seperately. Land - Northerly Estate, Piara Waters Titles Issues 05 April 2010 Building with Ross North Homes Prestart Completed 12 April 2010 Finance Approved 01 May 2010 Slab down 29 May 2010 Frame Completed 28 June 2010 Roof Completed 22 July 2010 Lockup 12 August 2010 PCI 24 Sep 2010 Handover 08 Oct 2010 Building Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=32295&start=0 Re: Things your builder thought you wouldn't see. 10Aug 03, 2010 2:53 pm Fiffaro The plumbers suggested that we remove the temperature limiting valve and the flow rate control valve where the water enters out property. I'm concerned that this is not the correct solution to the problem. I'm concerned about this plumber's qualifications.. 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