Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Txateu's Build - Mainvue Amalfi 532 183Feb 28, 2014 10:15 am I brief progress update and a couple of things to consider if I were to build again. 1. The solar hot water system is junk. It takes over a minute to get hot to come out and wastes an incredible amount of water before you can use it. After speaking with a plumber friend of mine, he mentioned that this was due to the solar system. Apparently if the solar panel isnt working yet (to early or late in the day), it will need to drain out all the water in the piping to the solar panel before the gas booster will work. I don't like wasting water and would definitely not want this system on another house. One option I can think of is to install some sort of bypass system on a timer to switch across to the gas booster - I'm not sure if it's possible though. 2. MV damaged our side fence (5 panels) that they were ment to replace in early December. They came back in January and replace 1 panel. I've been chasing them up for weeks to get the rest fixed but they keep coming up with excuses. Not sure how this stacks up against other builders but it's definately a bit slack. 3. MV damaged our agi drain and covered it up. We only noticed this when excavating for our driveway. I'll be replacing this at my cost as its too much hassle to try and prove that they were at fault. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A photo of our driveway. We completed this a completed a few weeks ago now. The drains work well, haven't flooded anything yet Also completed the timber floors in the house and installed the skirting boards. I'll try and upload some photos the next time i have a chance. I'm now caulking the top of the skirting boards and about to start painting them. Re: Txateu's Build - Mainvue Amalfi 532 184Feb 28, 2014 12:07 pm Hey txtaeu, regarding wasting cold water to wait for hot water, i think you can ask a plumber to ask a device called "cold water diverter", so essentially when you open the tap, there wont be any water coming out until the water in the pipe near the device is hot (something like that). i haven't really looked into it, but it might be worth it. let me know! Re: Txateu's Build - Mainvue Amalfi 532 186Feb 28, 2014 12:53 pm mtz08 Hey txtaeu, regarding wasting cold water to wait for hot water, i think you can ask a plumber to ask a device called "cold water diverter", so essentially when you open the tap, there wont be any water coming out until the water in the pipe near the device is hot (something like that). i haven't really looked into it, but it might be worth it. let me know! Awesome, i'm going to look into it tonight! Re: Txateu's Build - Mainvue Amalfi 532 188Feb 28, 2014 1:06 pm txateu Ari, it looks like Matt Walker (the cable connection) only does home threatre sort of things based on the website. I might send him a private message about it. It was when he built his previous house. He got someone to install something to recirculate the water until it was hot. Yup...my details are fuzzy. It was years ago. Maybe 09-10. Doing a search it looks like he has deleted his build thread. Sending him a PM. Re: Txateu's Build - Mainvue Amalfi 532 189Feb 28, 2014 1:39 pm The driveway looks great. Agree on the SHW, i don't reckon its of any benefit really, one of those things that only sounds good in theory, frankly we've by now we made peace with the fact that the kitchen and laundry taps take a while to draw out hot water. Re: Txateu's Build - Mainvue Amalfi 532 190Mar 04, 2014 2:20 pm comfortablywacky The driveway looks great. Agree on the SHW, i don't reckon its of any benefit really, one of those things that only sounds good in theory, frankly we've by now we made peace with the fact that the kitchen and laundry taps take a while to draw out hot water. I have too, but its such a waste of water. Considering the water restrictions that we were on only a couple of years ago I think its a joke that these systems exist and are subsidized by the government when they waste so much water. Your right that the theory behind them is good, but the practice is flawed. Cheers for the comments on the driveway, there's a horrible back story with the driveway and a very nosy neighbour that I wont go into. Suffice to say that you shouldn't give out information to those you cant trust . Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 8 17190 thank you! do we need to get this or our builder before we commence new build on the block? 2 10260 Hi, did you get any money from insurance? if you did, does it match what you've already paid the builders? 3 9432 |