Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 22, 2010 5:40 pm Hi, Our build is almost done. However, I have problem with the dimension of our house. The rumpus/alfresco area is shorter by 140mm. Garage is shorter by 140mm. One bedroom is longer by 130mm. Net effect is that our house is shorter by 150mm. Please advise what should I do? I was informed by the site supervisor that it will be hard, if not impossible, to rectify this. Should I go to the Building Commission? Re: Actual house is shorter 2Mar 22, 2010 9:49 pm I'd say fixing it would likely be out of the question, but you should definitely be talking about compensation with them. Not only are you not getting what you have paid for, but you will also miss out on the added value should you sell your home at a later date. Square meterage wise. I'd want to talk to other people who have built with them and find out if it is a standard thing that they do - get people to pay for more house than they deliver. I'd take *that* to the building commission! Re: Actual house is shorter 4Mar 22, 2010 10:10 pm There have been several cases of frame overhang on this forum. Maybe this was another one but the builder decided to do the "they'll never know trick" rather than confront the problem. If so, you might be about to make them regret it. Definitely insist on an outcome that you are happy with. They've st*ffed up and you're in the box seat. Of course, it might be totally uneconomic to rectify the mistake now, but that's their problem. If you can live with it as is you should be in line for some very hefty compensation. It could be a good idea to establish a ball-park figure for the cost of rectifying it. Say this turned out to be 40K. How would you feel about saving them half that cost by accepting 20K compensation? Of course, I have no idea of the actual figures, but I think you need to find out and then work out an amount that you'd be totally happy with. Cheers zeke Re: Actual house is shorter 5Mar 23, 2010 5:05 am Be nice, be calm, assume it's a genuine human error and ask them what they would like to do... I am guessing you only know because you measured it, so it isn't the end of the world. People make mistakes. Builders are people... If your home is say 10m wide and you lost 150mm then you lost 1.5 sq.m. or if it's 2 floors that is 3.0 sq.m. At say $1500/sq.m. in lost value added (cost to you) it's $4500. Ed "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: Actual house is shorter 6Mar 23, 2010 9:21 am ed @ EcoClassic Be nice, be calm, assume it's a genuine human error and ask them what they would like to do... I am guessing you only know because you measured it, so it isn't the end of the world. People make mistakes. Builders are people... If your home is say 10m wide and you lost 150mm then you lost 1.5 sq.m. or if it's 2 floors that is 3.0 sq.m. At say $1500/sq.m. in lost value added (cost to you) it's $4500. Ed Hi Ed I honestly think you're taking "being reasonable" to extremes here. Firstly, the problem would have commenced at slab stage. Therefore it had to become apparent at framing stage. Why was it not brought to the owner's attention and sorted then? As it appears to be a "cover-up and hope they won't notice", my sympathies for the builder would evaporate accordingly. Since when do you value lost areas of your home on a cost/square metre basis. If you supply an incorrectly-sized window, do you expect the client to accept that "On average, our windows cost $500.00 per square metre.......here's a refund of $250.00 to cover the .5 of a square metre you missed out on"? IMHO, I'm a very reasonable person to deal with. But, if I was an errant builder, I'd much rather deal with you than me......... Cheers zeke Re: Actual house is shorter 7Mar 23, 2010 9:31 am I agree with Zeke - the cost here is beyond what the original build cost would have been. The compensation should cover that. Rightfully the OP could ask to have the problem rectified. The cost for this would far exceed the original price per meter of the build, so a fair compensation would be something in the middle ground. The reason that I would question if this is common practice for them is because it wasn't brought up sooner. Are the frames delivered pre-constructed, or just lots of wood that is turned into a frame onsite? Ours was pre-constructed, then put together like a big jigsaw puzzle. If our house was shorter than it was meant to be, and both the footings AND the frame matched up with this shorter length then I would feel that it had been thought out and deliberately ordered to be this length. It's just a little bit too convenient. In that case, they should DEFINITELY be reported. Re: Actual house is shorter 8Mar 23, 2010 11:37 am I agree that you need to be compensated. Fixing the error, is going to take a lot of work, time and money on the builders part. It depends on how you feel, if you really want the house to be fixed, as per the plan. Then you should ask the builder to rectify it. If they cause trouble, go to the building commission. Don't let them talk you out of it. I would personally ask them, how they wish to rectify it; either by rework, or by compensation. 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: Actual house is shorter 9Mar 23, 2010 11:59 am I know someone who has lost 1/2 metre down the entire side of their home. The builder has asked them what they want as compensation and they have asked for an alfresco area to be built. Building with Dennis Family Homes - Hartley 280 Location: Settlers Run, Botanic Ridge Re: Actual house is shorter 10Mar 23, 2010 12:21 pm rj_louise I know someone who has lost 1/2 metre down the entire side of their home. The builder has asked them what they want as compensation and they have asked for an alfresco area to be built. Things like that are also an option. But it could be really hard, if you already have an alfresco and or used most of your land etc... In which case, your best option would be to get some monetary compensation... which you can use to spend in either doing landscaping, tiling / carpeting, or any other extra. 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: Actual house is shorter 11Mar 23, 2010 1:38 pm If you wanted smaller rooms, you would have with bought a house with smaller rooms. I would be telling them to fix it. I wouldnt be settling for $5k compensation. My upgraded bricks are costing me that Re: Actual house is shorter 12Mar 23, 2010 6:30 pm I think the best approach is... ed @ EcoClassic Be nice, be calm, assume it's a genuine human error and ask them what they would like to do... Ed Maybe they will make it really easy and you will be surprised. You never win a fight by getting nasty from the start. You will get people off side and they won't want to help you... Aggro gets more aggro... In traffic it's called road rage... If the nice way doesn't get you there, then negotiate and be tough... but never lose your temper, or your cool. Ed "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: Actual house is shorter 13Mar 23, 2010 6:39 pm zeke Hi Ed IMHO, I'm a very reasonable person to deal with. But, if I was an errant builder, I'd much rather deal with you than me......... Cheers zeke Hello Zeke, Probably right... but remember the goal here is to have a wrong righted... so which approach would get the most from the situation... Tough and "I know my rights" or "you have made a mistake, what can you do for me". Put yourself in the builder's shoes. Ed "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: Actual house is shorter 15Mar 23, 2010 7:13 pm ed @ EcoClassic zeke Hi Ed IMHO, I'm a very reasonable person to deal with. But, if I was an errant builder, I'd much rather deal with you than me......... Cheers zeke Hello Zeke, Probably right... but remember the goal here is to have a wrong righted... so which approach would get the most from the situation... Tough and "I know my rights" or "you have made a mistake, what can you do for me". Put yourself in the builder's shoes. Ed Ed I certainly do not disagree that a calm, reasonable approach is essential. Where I disagree with you is that I would not automatically assume that the builder hasn't compounded the problem by not addressing the mistake at the framing stage. If the builder has simply hoped no-one would notice instead of extending the slab (as many other builders have had to do, based on posts on this forum) then he has done his client a gross miss-service and deserves all that is coming to him. Also, I disagree strongly with your summation that the client has only lost X square metres @ $Y per aquare metre. 150 mm can make a significant difference to the usability of a garage and rumpus room (eg cue room for a pool table). This can be out of proportion to the actual area lost. I think some difficult negotiation is inevitable as the stakes are high. To commence those negotiations from anything other than a firm standpoint would IMHO be a mistake. The client should, of course, ask the builder to explain how it happened and what the builder proposes but should be very business-like about this and "give nothing away" in terms of signaling potential acceptance of any proposals until they have been very carefully considered. I guess I'm factoring in that I would be very angry about this. I can be calm, objective and reasonable when angry, but I draw the line at being "nice" Of course, if the builder was able to convince me that, not only was it a genuine mistake, but that they didn't hide it from me, my attitude would mellow significantly. However, I find it difficult to see how this could be the case as the error should have been apparent at so many stages during the build. Cheers zeke Re: Actual house is shorter 16Mar 23, 2010 8:23 pm ^^ totally agree zeke If it was a proportion thing then that is easy. However, as you mention zeke many stages were passed by the CS. you can't tell me they didn't know. Just imagine how much cutting had to be done, angles re-worked etc. One would imagine that the budget was use/calculated for the biggest sized rooms possible. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Actual house is shorter 17Mar 24, 2010 11:07 am Zeke, zeke Ed I certainly do not disagree that a calm, reasonable approach is essential. Cheers zeke Yes, that is what I am saying... zeke Ed I certainly do not disagree that a calm, reasonable approach is essential. Where I disagree with you is that I would not automatically assume that the builder hasn't compounded the problem by not addressing the mistake at the framing stage. If the builder has simply hoped no-one would notice instead of extending the slab (as many other builders have had to do, based on posts on this forum) then he has done his client a gross miss-service and deserves all that is coming to him. Cheers zeke I didn't say anything about the builder compounding the problem... Whether they know and tried to hide it or not is not relevant to what a person wants out of the situation. I stated the obvious - the loss in $$$ - to defuse the grandiose ideas of many thousands being available. I know a case at court at the moment where a client was in this position and the builder offered this and that - all reasonable. Now the builder is taking the client to court, to force a settlement. If there is substantial hardship, like a pool table, (and none is declared here), then that has to be pursued. This is a negotiation like any other... Ed "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: Actual house is shorter 18Mar 24, 2010 11:48 am Well, I've simply put myself in the position of the OP and offered my opinion FWIW. And, in the position of the OP, if the builder insisted that I accept a reduction of 140mm in my garage and rumpus room for less then "many thousands", I'd have my day in court......fully cognizant of the associated costs and risks. And whether or not there was a cover-up may well be relevant, at least to the attitude I'd take in dealing with the builder. Personally, I don't think my ideas are "grandiose", but I guess that's for others to judge. Maybe you're just a nicer person than I am, Ed. Cheers zeke You’re on the right track, wire brush in a grinder then a zinc rich epoxy primer then a top coat of some sort, like a waterproofing membrane. Raising the concrete would… 1 7030 How good is Simeon?! Always taking time to help others out! Wish we were building in NSW and could work together. Thanks for all that you do! 7 6562 Really tight at the top of the stairs- how to get furniture into those rooms? Study books - does anyone really use them these days? Large storage closet would be more functional. 2 6884 |