Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 01, 2013 5:31 pm Hi all, and Happy New Year! I will be building soon but also want to take a long (2 month) trip in the middle of this year, which will probably coincide with some of the construction. 1. Has anyone done this? Did it turn out OK? 2. Or is there anyone who is glad they didn't even think about doing something like this because you needed to be on hand throughout the process? 3. Are there certain steps of construction that you would advise to be around for? My thought process is this: even if I get access to the house during construction, I wouldn't know what to look for anyway (apart from the really obvious stuff) and if the builder were to get something wrong, they would have to fix it later if it's in the contract/plans. Plus, I will probably have a carpenter friend checking the progress on my behalf. Thoughts? Thanks in advance. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 2Jan 01, 2013 5:47 pm srod and if the builder were to get something wrong, they would have to fix it later if it's in the contract/plans. Plus, I will probably have a carpenter friend checking the progress on my behalf. Thoughts? Thanks in advance. for me the answer would be I would put of the trip if you really want to have a quality home built. When they finish you won't notice all the errors they had made due to it being plastered up and their builders own inspectors are rubbish and have simply vested interests. If I was you I would get your carpenter friend to go in with you for a full day and go through every stud and check everything as just from the outside you will not notice anything. Having a private inspector doesn't even come close to your own personal inspection and eye on the build. It's obvious when something doesn't look right, you don't even need to know much about building to realise something is wrong. Most important don't fall in the bs of what your SS spins to you about issues you find. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 3Jan 01, 2013 6:01 pm I have put holiday off till i know the construction of the house is ready, mainly due to my feeling of thinking they need me for something to sort out such as added paperwork, signing more contracts, also for me to check up on the process to see everything is according to plan. If you had someone else in your family or whatnot to do that job while you are away i guess then it would be alright to take a holiday. For me i am using my holiday when i move house and couple weeks after to get settled in the new area. Good luck! Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 4Jan 01, 2013 6:07 pm We are going away in late April to early may and this will probably coincide with some of the early phases of construction like brick laying and electrical/roof. I am a bit worried but we need to go to see family. We will probably see if my in laws can get up there but otherwise we don't really have anyone to keep an eye on it for us. I am interested to hear other's responses in this situation too. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 5Jan 01, 2013 6:08 pm Hi, from my parent's experience a lot can go wrong when you aren't there. They had a very reputable builder but left to go caravanning around Australia. They had a friend keeping an eye on things. 1. Concrete slab was substandard-in fact so rough and uneven that they couldn't put down tiles in family area. 2. Kitchen laminex benchtop- joins were very badly done. 3. Outside taps were placed in wrong positions (not as marked on plan). 4. Air con split level system placed in wrong position outside. 5. Cracked feature tile used in bathroom. 6. Wrongly hinged cupboard doors in kitchen These might be minor things to some (except for the slab) but even a kind friend does not have the same attention to detail as the owners who have planned it all. And I know it really disheartened my mum. It would devastate me after paying all that money The SS was super busy and did not keep them informed of what was happening either, cos it was their choice to go away until the build was finished. (They had booked the trip with friends in advance and my Dad was adamant they were going...!) But my parents had to wear all this, as they came back with no where else to go except sign to move in... Builder wouldn't come to the party cos they had signed. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 6Jan 01, 2013 6:35 pm Treeseachanger But my parents had to wear all this, as they came back with no where else to go except sign to move in... Builder wouldn't come to the party cos they had signed. Like I have said there has to be more accountability and regulation put on builders as currently it stands they can ride rough shot over people who are forking out their life saving. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 7Jan 01, 2013 11:44 pm We were working in QLD for the last 3-4 months of the build of our first house and missed so much, by the time we got back we had one week before handover and really regretted not being there. We did have some ongoing problems and the builder did fix them but it went on for probably the first 3 years we lived there which was inconvenient and who's to say we wouldn't have had those problems if we were here, it may have been exactly the same. DH is a building supervisor now (in those days he was a brickie) so he "kind of" knew what to look for so a lot of the problems were obvious within the first 6 months of moving in. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 8Jan 02, 2013 1:45 am We are going away to Europe for 7ish weeks only 10 days after our prestart meeting...I don't reccommend it at all! It's going to be a nightmare mailing documents back and forth for original signatures and checking all of the paperwork and plans while we are away. You want to enjoy your holiday and not worry or stress over the house so if you can go some other time I would...Missing out on seeing it get built takes away half the fun of building too! Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 9Jan 02, 2013 10:52 am xxkatxx ...Missing out on seeing it get built takes away half the fun of building too! whoever says building is fun must be nuts ..... but seriously never be absent from your build, you must keep a hawke eye on it, builders will not keep your interest at heart ever. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 10Jan 02, 2013 12:09 pm I'm curious on this one. A few questions: 1. Did you use a big builder (ie firm) or a single/small operation ? 2. Did you get regular access to the build and find issues ? We got a certificate from an independent "auditor" on the slab. 3. Was you build checked according to law - ie slab etc ? I agree on papers etc - ie if you were OS it might be hard to download and read thoroughly. Also payments. How were these arranged ? Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 12Jan 03, 2013 7:55 am xxkatxx PHunter whoever says building is fun must be nuts .. Guilty....I get told Im nuts all the time I always swore I'd NEVER EVER build a house again. But ... here I am ... (Apologies to TS) Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 13Jan 03, 2013 10:24 am I can only agree with whatever has been said already by the above. We didn't keep our eye on our build. I was caring for my mother and my husband was working interstate. We had a building designer working as our contract administrator and a builder who assured us we could trust him and the result is many problems and much regret that we ever trusted anyone. If you can avoid going overseas I recommend you do so. If not, then you'll just have to live in hope - not a good option when it comes to building we have discovered. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 14Jan 03, 2013 10:48 am Saint Mike I'm curious on this one. A few questions: 1. Did you use a big builder (ie firm) or a single/small operation ? this really doesn't matter you still need to keep a close eye on either but a big builder even more in general. Saint Mike 2. Did you get regular access to the build and find issues ? We got a certificate from an independent "auditor" on the slab. finding issues imo is not the problem (I'd love not to find any) the issue is getting them to fix the issue to the standard that anyone paying something for new should get. Their fixes are just a slap on fix nothing more. Sometimes they stick one nail in and the whole thing is loose as anything. Getting them to rectify problems just becomes a never ending frustration that they hope you simply go away most of the time. Saint Mike 3. Was you build checked according to law - ie slab etc ? builders having their own inspectors really doesn't do much everyone knows they are looking at their own pockets. Having your own inspector is good but again they don't have to agree to what the inspector thinks needs to be done, so again becomes more of a battle if things needs to get fixed. Saint Mike I agree on papers etc - ie if you were OS it might be hard to download and read thoroughly. Also payments. How were these arranged ? payments can be made electronically and usually when they start building the first 7 weeks your hardly going to need to sign paper work for modifications to the home. most items like documents you can get emailed and then if the need signing you can fax/email a scanned version back. But yeah no a trip during the build is not the time. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 15Jan 03, 2013 2:40 pm So - what were some of these issues / problems ? I mean that happened to you. What happens to people who buy spec houses, or display houses, etc ? They certainly wouldn't have seen them built. Did this actually happen to you ? Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 16Jan 04, 2013 1:09 am Saint Mike So - what were some of these issues / problems ? I mean that happened to you. What happens to people who buy spec houses, or display houses, etc ? They certainly wouldn't have seen them built. Did this actually happen to you ? Not sure if this is being referred to me so I'll outline what my experience with builders has been:
I used around 600 nails to fix the builders poor standard. this seems to be the standard of today's build (the norm) where if you don't keep an eye on it you'll simply get a home that has plaster covered nicely (if that) hiding all the screw ups the builder did throughout the process. I had the carpenter fire like 300 nails in the wall bracing around the home trying to hit a stud which i had removed as it was just sitting in the wall with it nothing attached to. I literally put in 1.5 weeks worth of labour myself to get the home up to a high quality standard now (where I doubt from what I have seen many builders will even come close). I don't trust my Site supervisor at all he says one thing but his solution is oh it will be ok thats normal and doesn't do anything to fix the problem the way you want. Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 17Jan 04, 2013 1:43 am Some stories I've heard: During my sister's reno they laid the bathroom tiles in the laundry (or visa versa). Luckily she happened to check on them before the 'glue' (whatever it's called) dried so they could pull them up without a big hassle. My friend didn't keep such a close eye on her bathroom reno, the tiles were left outside in the weather for a days/weeks and somehow it ruined them, but the tile laid them anyway, so they had to be ripped up. During my brother's build he discovered the workers were putting their rubbish (drink cans, chip packets etc) into the wall cavity! Not a serious problem but ergh! My brother asked for a shower pan (a fibreglass shower base instead of tiles) but the plumbing in the concrete was not the right size or in the right place so they couldn't install it. Builder refused to fix it (which would have meant ripping up the concrete I guess) claiming the non-standard plumbing required was not specified in the plumbing plans (which my brother never saw) even though the pan itself was specified in the contract. If the builder stuffs up, they should fix it at their cost, but even if they can & do it could cause major delays if it's not caught early. So, I plan to check up on them as much as possible, though I wouldn't know if there were enough nails etc! Re: Is it OK to go on a long holiday during construction? 18Jan 04, 2013 2:17 am kylie40 Some stories I've heard: If the builder stuffs up, they should fix it at their cost, but even if they can & do it could cause major delays if it's not caught early. So, I plan to check up on them as much as possible, though I wouldn't know if there were enough nails etc! personally I don't pay them until I'm happy. As for the nails just go around the house and twist some studs and if they move an extra nail will fix it in the right spot. Like I said I had 50% of my braces loose and other issues took me around 1.5 weeks to fix to a quality standard... bugger if I was going to accept it. 1 62025 i would suggest nothing is unreasonable for PCI. we did all sorts, including checking the hot water, checking all the GPO's had power, testing that the showers were… 9 98697 Just to makea point about this, an approach that some people have found sucessful in negotiating these rises down, Is to provide some workings to the builder, specifying… 4 81734 |