[Progress.088] Downpipe surprise and disappointment

I was quite surprise to see all the downpipes installed this afternoon. A few photos as shown below.

You would think that's some sort of achievement isn't it? Wrong!

First of all, if you look at this old post of mine in early July last year, you will see that the colour we selected is "ironstone" not white.

Well, you may say that if the colour is wrong, may be they will paint the downpipes into the colour we want, what's the big deal?

Let me tell you why, have a look at the photo below. This is the displayed home of the same model as ours. Compare the downpipes with ours above. And yes, it's the one at the right, the one at the left is the sewage pipe... Do you get it now?

This is another house built by our builder which we visited last year. You can see the downpipes in dark red colour both at the front and at the back. Most of you should get it now. Yes, the material is wrong! The downpipes should be in colourbond, not plastic!

Another issue to add to my list....

[WeeklySummary.024] Week 24 (10/01/2008) - (16/01/2008)

Achievements:
Eaves lining for ground floor installed
Frames for alfresco ceiling installed
Galvanised pole and underground electrical cable installed
Holes on gyprock walls for power points and light switches done
Architrave for most ground floor doors done
Architrave/trim for all windows done
Fence of roof removed

Unplanned expenses:
None

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe - According to inspector, an engineering report is required, leave it open for tracking purpose
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
4. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
5. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
6. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area - According to inspector, this will later be covered. Leave it open to keep track of issue
7. Study room window broken
8. Standard "J" track (instead of heavy duty "U" track) been used for both sliding doors
9. Front roof valley above bay windows fitted with incorrect length (too short) causes leaking in front porch and bay windows areas
10. Front roof valley above garage leads water straight into sarking area instead of roof tiles
11. Front roof tiles above bay windows not finished properly
12. 3 areas in bedrooms upstairs have floor movements, squeaking noise is evident in those areas
13. Cleaning of external bricks for ground floor half finished
14. According to supervisor, kitchen window needs to be raised higher
15. 4 steps cornice not been installed in upstairs living area
16. Wrong highlit been installed above main entrance
17. External lights at the front in different height
18. Rubber under some windows not installed properly
19. Hole in ceiling at family room area, near back bay windows

[WeeklySummary.023] Week 23 (03/01/2008) - (09/01/2008)

Achievements:
External doors installed

Unplanned expenses:
None

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe - According to inspector, an engineering report is required, leave it open for tracking purpose
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
4. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
5. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
6. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area - According to inspector, this will later be covered. Leave it open to keep track of issue
7. Study room window broken
8. Standard "J" track (instead of heavy duty "U" track) been used for both sliding doors
9. Front roof valley above bay windows fitted with incorrect length (too short) causes leaking in front porch and bay windows areas
10. Front roof valley above garage leads water straight into sarking area instead of roof tiles
11. Front roof tiles above bay windows not finished properly
12. 3 areas in bedrooms upstairs have floor movements, squeaking noise is evident in those areas
13. Cleaning of external bricks for ground floor half finished
14. According to supervisor, kitchen window needs to be raised higher
15. 4 steps cornice not been installed in upstairs living area
16. Wrong highlit been installed above main entrance

[Progress.087] Leaking like hell

It was pouring yesterday, and when I was on-site the first thing I noticed was as highlighted in the 2 red boxes in the photo below, major leaking from the roof!

I already mentioned about this in this post mid last December that the roof on both sides of the front porch have some major issues. And even though we already informed to the builder about this a few times, nothing was done in the past month to fix the problem...
The following photo is when viewed from inside the porch. You can see the leakage is quite serious as a few areas in the eaves lining were all wet.

This is the floor of the front porch.

This is a closer look of the eaves lining on garage side. There wasn't too much damage on this side except the eaves lining and areas inside the ceiling, as there's no gyprock walls in this part of the garage.

When I went inside, it was like hell! Look at what happened to the ceiling, cornice and wall!!

Even the cornice on the other side of the front living area shows sign of leakage. Not sure if this was related to the previous one. We are a bit concern if this is due to leakage from other areas upstairs, but as we don't have ladders, we can't check upstairs.

This is a closer look of the front bay window...

Another closer look of the front bay window area right next to previous photo.

This is what the floor looks like, flooded with water...

All the skirting and architraves are now soaked in water...

Our supervisor was also on-site Friday, and he promised this will all be fixed next week when the rain stops. Well, this is one of the most horrible scene I have ever seen since our construction started mid last year, even worse than the insulation drama in the alfresco mid last month. Quickly checked the weather forecast, it will be fine after Tuesday, let's wait and see...

Our supervisor also mentioned the work for internal door, architrave, skirting and others have stopped because the stairs have to be completed first. Otherwise it's almost impossible for the trades person to carry all the doors and materials upstairs through the small hole by the ladder. And guess what, the company who installs the stair won't be open for business until next Monday, seems to be a bit unusually long, got no choice but to believe what he says...

We also have some issue with the kitchen area, which I will create another post as it's a long story...

For some reason the "bookmark" button doesn't work, I guess I will just use this "subscribe" button until the issue been resolved...

[Progress.086] Galvanised pole and underground cable done, 2 new issues

I noticed this pole been installed on our site yesterday. I checked my contract, I think this is the one that says: "overhead bracket to galvanised pole and underground, includes 14M of power cable."

There are signs of digging around the line, and the electric meter box (is this the right name?) is now connected with an orange cable from below.

This is another unexpected "progress" which we were expecting the electrician to contact us in advance - as he promised. The reason? Our telephone guy said if he can lay the underground Telstra telephone cable at the same time while the electricians are digging his cable, it would save us some money and effort. We spoke to the electrician and he agreed, but look at what happened... We now need to get the telephone guy back again to dig at the same spot for the telephone cable..#$@%$!@#...

Also noticed holes for the power points and light switches were cut, probably also by the electrician. And the architrave around the doors also completed.

Windows trim/architrave also done. Hope the guy who did all these work reads the diagrams carefully, as we paid extra to get the skirting boards "tacked" only! Hang on, this is the supervisor's job, why should I be worrying about this??!!

The other thing is, if you compare with photos from previous post, you will notice all the fences on the roof have been removed.

Don't know why, for some reason whenever I was there I can always pick up problems. May be it's just that I am too fussy... And today, I got 2 of them. First is the external lights, we have 3 external lights at the front. This one is at the right hand side, at the corner outside the bay windows.

The other 2 lights are located at both sides of the garage doors as shown below. Have a look at the 2 photos and see if you can pick up any problem, I will give you 30 seconds...

The answer is the position. By counting the number of bricks above the wire, you will see that in the first photo, the wire is about 4.5 bricks from the eaves. But the other 2 are about 7.5 bricks from the eaves!! Unfortunately as the gyprocks are on, the first one can't be moved any more, looks like the only option is to move the other 2 higher....

The other issue is inside the laundry. We noticed there were some damages on the cornice/wall/ceiling above the laundry door. I think it's because the cornice guy accidentally (or carelessly?) blocked this alarm sensor cable. So when the alarm guy was back to check the cables (after cornice/gyprock work), he has to drill holes here and there to locate the wire.... Hopefully it's not too difficult to fix the cornice/wall/ceiling...


Previous test with following bookmark & subscribe buttons in early January doesn't work quite well, this is 2nd try...

[Progress.085] Eaves lining & alfresco ceiling work, plus new issue with hole in ceiling

There wasn't any activity on our site early last week, then on Thursday (10/1) I saw some UTEs parked outside. Notice in the photo below, the fences above the ground & first floor roof still not removed yet.

There were 3 guys working on the eaves lining, smile!

They told me they will also do some work on the alfresco ceiling. Can't remember the term they used, it's something to do with the frames to support the ceiling board. To make it easier to understand I took a few before & after photos for comparison. This is what it looks like before they start.

When they finished, there were lots of new timber been installed, even the steel beam was almost covered. The ceiling area is now on the same level as the eaves lining and is ready for the gyprock guys to install the ceiling board.

This one viewed from different angle. You can still roughly see the original timber frames hidden at the top with the pink insulation.

I also found another new issue. There's a hole in the ceiling of the family room at the back of the house, near the bay window area. As shown below, looks like it's because there's a steel beam at the back. Anyway, this needs to be covered and will record it as another issue for tracking purpose...

[PropertyInfo.020] Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2007

Thanks to a post by parker (visit his blog at parkershouse.blogspot.com) in homeone.com.au forum, there's this very helpful document produced by the Victorial Building Commission in collaboration the NSW Office of Fair Trading, the Tasmanian Government and the ACT Government, called "Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2007".

"The aim of the Guide is to assist home owners clarify the standards and tolerances on building work where such standards are not prescribed in the Home Building Act 1989, the Building Code of Australia or Australian Standards."

"The Guide helps home owners if building work is in dispute. It deals with such topics as shrinkage around timber window frames, door frames, nail popping in timber floors, paving through to footings and foundations."

The document is available here, or you can visit this page on NSW Office of Fair Trading web site for further details.

[Progress.084] Weephole vermin protection & new issue

I bought this "Weepa Pest Stoppa" from Bunnings the other day and did a few tests last week.

As shown in photo below, it looks a lot larger than the weep hole.

Once pushed the whole thing into the weep hole, it seems to have blocked the whole hole. I start wondering what's the standard for weep hole size, and is ours too small??

Also took a short video of the whole process as below.

Also noticed a new issue, the following photo is the bottom part of the bay windows at the back. The black rubber under the windows seems to be stuck inside and revealed some holes and it doesn't look nice at all.

This is another windows with the rubber thing installed in the way I would expect it to be. Definitely need to record this as a new issue!

[Others.015] Slide show

Added this slide show with photos showing different stages of our construction since early 2006. Enjoy...

[Progress.083] New issue with front entrance door

I created this post last July talking about the main entrance door we chose. The image below is the only picture I can find from our supplier Hume Doors' web site that has the same style as what we want (their web site is still not very user friendly...)


Then as mentioned the other day, although we are quite happy with the entrance door been installed without notice (minus the part where all doors are locked...), the highlit on top doesn't look right.


By comparing the two, you can see that there should be some sort of patterns on top of the glass. May be it's just not finished yet and will be added later. Will add that to the issue list for tracking purpose.

Also testing the following bookmark & subscribe buttons as shown below...

[WeeklySummary.022] Week 22 (27/12/2007) - (02/01/2008)

Achievements:
Cornice installed

Unplanned expenses:
None

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe - According to inspector, an engineering report is required, leave it open for tracking purpose
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
4. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
5. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
6. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area - According to inspector, this will later be covered. Leave it open to keep track of issue
7. Study room window broken
8. Standard "J" track (instead of heavy duty "U" track) been used for both sliding doors
9. Front roof valley above bay windows fitted with incorrect length (too short) causes leaking in front porch and bay windows areas
10. Front roof valley above garage leads water straight into sarking area instead of roof tiles
11. Front roof tiles above bay windows not finished properly
12. 3 areas in bedrooms upstair have floor movements, squeaking noise is evident in those areas
13. Cleaning of external bricks for ground floor half finished
14. According to supervisor, kitchen window needs to be lowered
15. 4 steps cornice been installed in ground floor study instead of upstair living area

[WeeklySummary.021] Week 21 (20/12/2007) - (26/12/2007)

Achievements:
Gyprock walls & ceiling finished

Unplanned expenses:
None

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe - According to inspector, an engineering report is required, leave it open for tracking purpose
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
4. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
5. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
6. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area - According to inspector, this will later be covered. Leave it open to keep track of issue
7. Study room window broken
8. Standard "J" track (instead of heavy duty "U" track) been used for both sliding doors
9. Front roof valley above bay windows fitted with incorrect length (too short) causes leaking in front porch and bay windows areas
10. Front roof valley above garage leads water straight into sarking area instead of roof tiles
11. Front roof tiles above bay windows not finished properly
12. 3 areas in bedrooms upstair have floor movements, squeaking noise is evident in those areas
13. Cleaning of external bricks for ground floor half finished
14. Insulation for alfresco area damaged during brick washing process - issue resolved
15. According to supervisor, kitchen window needs to be lowered

[WeeklySummary.020] Week 20 (13/12/2007) - (19/12/2007)

Achievements:
1. Insulation finished
2. Cornice and materials for gyprock wall & ceiling delivered
3. Cleaning of external bricks for ground floor (not finished due to issue with neighbour)
4. Work for gyprock walls started

Unplanned expenses:
None

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe - According to inspector, an engineering report is required, leave it open for tracking purpose
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
4. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
5. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
6. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area - According to inspector, this will later be covered. Leave it open to keep track of issue
7. Study room window broken
8. Door frame for sliding door damaged - issue resolved
9. Big hole in roof tile above garage area - issue resolved
10. Standard "J" track (instead of heavy duty "U" track) been used for both sliding doors
11. Front roof valley above bay windows fitted with incorrect length (too short) causes leaking in front porch and bay windows areas
12. Front roof valley above garage leads water straight into sarking area instead of roof tiles
13. Front roof tiles above bay windows not finished properly
14. 3 areas in bedrooms upstair have floor movements, squeaking noise is evident in those areas
15. 2 air conditioning pipes not sealed properly - issue resolved
16. Cleaning of external bricks for ground floor half finished
17. Insulation for alfresco area damaged during brick washing process

[WeeklySummary.019] Week 19 (06/12/2007) - (12/12/2007)

Achievements:
1. Air conditioning pipes connected
2. First inspection by our own inspector
3. Cabling for network, alarm system, telephone, home theatre completed
4. Electrical cabling completed

Unplanned expenses:
None

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe - According to inspector, an engineering report is required, leave it open for tracking purpose
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. 2 "Noggings" in frames of bedroom above garage damaged - issue resolved
4. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
5. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
6. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
7. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area - According to inspector, this will later be covered. Leave it open to keep track of issue
8. Front hip roof above front windows not finished - issue resolved
9. Study room window broken
10. Door frame for sliding door damaged
11. Big hole in roof tile above garage area
12. Standard "J" track (instead of heavy duty "U" track) been used for both sliding doors
13. Front roof valley above bay windows fitted with incorrect length (too short) causes leaking in front porch and bay windows areas
14. Front roof valley above garage leads water straight into sarking area instead of roof tiles
15. Front roof tiles above bay windows not finished properly - picked up by inspector
16. 3 areas in bedrooms upstair have floor movements, squeaking noise is evident in those areas - picked up by inspector
17. 2 air conditioning pipes not sealed properly - picked up by inspector

[WeeklySummary.018] Week 18 (29/11/2007) - (05/12/2007)

Achievements:
1. Scaffolding for ground floor roofing done
2. Ground floor sarking, anti-ponding pad done

Unplanned expenses:
None

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. 2 "Noggings" in frames of bedroom above garage damaged
4. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
5. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
6. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
7. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area
8. Front hip roof above front windows not finished
9. Study room window broken
10. Door frame for sliding door damaged

[WeeklySummary.017] Week 17 (22/11/2007) - (28/11/2007)

Achievements:
1. 1st floor roof tiles finished
2. 1st floor bricks cleaned/washed

Unplanned expenses:
None

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. 2 "Noggings" in frames of bedroom above garage damaged
4. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
5. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
6. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
7. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area
8. Front hip roof above front windows not finished
9. Study room window broken

[WeeklySummary.016] Week 16 (15/11/2007) - (21/11/2007)

Achievements:
1. 1st floor eaves lining done.
2. 1st floor sarking done.
3. Roof tiles delivered.

Unplanned expenses:
Confirmed $823 for sewer variation.

Issues:
1. Steel beams in Alfresco been joined instead of one full piece, painted with orange paint. Not sure if this is structurely sound and safe
2. Found a hole on the floor board of bedroom above garage
3. 2 "Noggings" in frames of bedroom above garage damaged
4. Sewage pipe (in front of property) broken
5. 1st floor main bathroom windows was installed with clear glass windows instead of obscured/glazed ones
6. Drain pipe next to alfresco post been removed
7. Huge gap above external door and window, especially laundry area

[Progress.082] Another surprise - external doors installed!

We have another surprise today, there was a trades person on site and he was installing the main entrance door this afternoon. He mentioned he will be here for the whole week to install all the doors, architraves, skirtings, ...etc. He also mentioned the stairs should have been installed before Xmas, but due to shortage of resource we will have to wait for that.

I took some photos after he left as below. First, the main entrance, which was locked...

This is a closer look. According to my memory, I remember the highlits on the top should have some sort of patterns in it, need to dig into my files to check. Other than that I think it looks quite nice.

The internal garage door also installed, and again locked...

This is the external laundry door. I don't remember ordering it in this strange colour??!! And yes, it's locked as well... I had a bad feeling about this...


I can only peek through the dirty windows, and I think I can understand why. There were lots of doors and skirting boards in there. If it's me I would lock all the doors as well...

[Progress.081] Surprise for the new year!

I drove past our site yesterday afternoon and noticed all the windows were opened. Have a look around and quite surprised to find all the cornice were installed! What a surprise, I thought no one will be working until at least mid January??!!

First photo below is looking from front living area to the front gate. My lovely 4 steps cornice...

This is the front bay window area, the little black cable at the left is for the alarm sensor.

This is the area around the laundry.

This is the bay windows at the back. Noticed there's a small hole at the left hand side ceiling area, I think that's where the beam is --- there you go, another new issue for the new year... Definitely need to fix up all the weekly summary I missed since mid November, otherwise can't keep track of all the issues properly...

The last one is looking into the hall way, I took this picture because the way the cornice ends at the left hand side.

Also noticed another new issue on first floor cornice, we paid extra to install this expensive 4 steps cornice for upper living area. But looks like the trades person made a mistake and installed them in the ground floor study room instead... Another unnecessary rework...