Sunny_Glesga

i hope you guys dont mind if i ask a few questions about the quality of houses over here. i`m in Sydney and have gone to look at quite a few newly built houses 1-2 Storey and seem to come up against the same build method. Anyway a few questions that maybe you all can answer, if for no other reason than just my curiosity

1, Every house i have looked at with TILE roofs and ridges seem to have no other method other than Mortar fixngs. reasons? or have a missed 1 or 2 out of the hundreds i have looked at in many different areas?

2, Not 1 single window or patio door frames i have seen has any sort of sealant/mastic round them? maybe its so that in the event you need to get out the house in an emergency you can just push out the whole unit!

3, Why is there no ply/stirling board fixed to outside of timber kit to form an actual cavitiy between the outside single skin of Brickwork? do they even tie in the internal timber kit to brickwork in any way? not that i have seen. Bang on the front wall and the back wall shakes


4, has anyone actualy seen any brickwork on any house whether it be a brand new build or an older house that has actually been pointed so that it is a nice tidy joint and it looks like an actul brickie has done it and not the guy that slep with the brickie?

5, Does anyone actually have a front door or internal door that goes from the top and within 25mm from the floor?

6, NOW as for all the health and safety in Aus, why is it that they throw up S*** doors between the garage and the house itself? talk about fire protection! you may as well park the car in the living room.

7, Why is it that everytime the next door neigbour walks past and Farts i can hear it from 20 yards? YES i`m in the house


8, why is it that even though i think the build quality of houses here are S*** i will still at some point buy one?

A: cause i have to


please either help me out with an answer or slate me for talking crap and tell me why

Sunny_Glesga

27 views and no comments,

neil248

Hi,

Can only speak from what we found on the Gold Coast.

We bought a brand new legoland house in a good area, superficially very nice but of no substance and up here no insultion against sound so despite being detached you will become very familiar with your neighbours barking dogs and their boom boom music and any other activity they partake in even those 5 doors away if they are particularly inconsiderate.

Bear in mind that if you buy new then you may be surrounded by rental properties bought as investments rather than being owner occupied.

Up here a house seems to be considered old at 15 years and many do look jaded at this age so a new build will lose its sparkle fairly quickly as it suffers wear and tear that a more substantial house would shrug off.

We lasted 12 months in our new build before we had had enough and moved at great cost to a property with more land.

Saying that paradise is out there in Queensland for working class families you just have to find it

Centurion

I'll comment. I had a timber frame in the UK so can compare like with like.

Frankly - your completely right in most of your points and the build quality is complete crap if you get beneath some render and nice painting. Sure, I built one and it looks nice but frankly next time it will be double brick rather than paper mache, spit and goodwill holding it together.

Which is worrying since our build was actually with a very good builder by comparison to a lot I've seen.....

Sunny_Glesga

Do you actually have render? I have seen some houses also which looks like they are trying to sav a few $ not sure if its intentional or what but you can make out every brick line that is beneath it

I have done enought plastering and Rendering in my time and have never seen anything like some of the houses with what is supposed to be a finish and look like crap

Timber Floor Au

1. there are dry fix systems available
2. all patio doors and windows have a flash strip, nailed and fixed to the studs. you wont push them out, and rain doesnt ingress
3.in some cases, there is 6mm ply to the studwork, at crucial points, called bracing ply. There is a cavity between studs and brickwork, and there are also brick ties
4. sydney must have somne dodgy brickies
5. all doors have a large gap underneath, apparently so you can remove door, in emergency... and to allow ventillation... dunno real reason tho
6. your in a timber frame house lol.. say no more
7. get wall insulation
8. you could import your own

Steve

Timber Floor Au

Bagged finish.. looks shite huh !

Sunny_Glesga

1, nxt time you go out send me a photo of one house that has it.

2, Flash Strap maybe to hold them in. Why wont you get any water ingress when i can see the backside of the gyproc iternal walls when i lift up the so called weather stop or whatever its called over here, check out the photo

3, Crucial Points called bracing ply? i thought all parts of a house structure was crucial? mybe they only allow for winds to pull down certain parts of the house and crucial points will stay up to make it easy to rebuild

4, Australia must have some dodgy Building methods, the brickies only do what they have to do and the way they are told to! personally any brickies that come from UK must laugh at how much time they will save the way things are built

5, Why on earth would you have to remove a door in emergency, even so, doors here do have the same amount of screws holding them together, dont they?

6, i would say i`m in a great big wendy house and waiting for the wolf to huff and puff and it to be no more.

7, At the moment i`m renting so aint gonna spend anything on someone elses shed.



8, I could win the lottery and build a REAL house

stu:0

Im up in Cairns working on these houses every day. Up here some of the houses are real lego land. The houses are built in factorys, shipped up here in kit form and bolted together. The external walls are solid concrete. A few weeks back the guys that bolt them together got a few walls mixed up, a garage wall ended up in a bedroom which meant the no window in the bedroom! One guy had to stand there all day grinding out a window. This happend on quite a few houses! All the internal wall's are metal including the roof trusses!
I guess there aint much chance of them burning down

Timber Floor Au

you asked the questions, i replied... to evidence it go see a builder.

< having been a builder in the UK, I reckon the standard of some items here does leave a lot to be desired... but then other items dont...

I am not sure what your post is about, are you generally asking questions or just bagging the aussie house building system?

Sunny_Glesga

i have seen a bagged finish but only on blockwork never on a finished external brick wall

Gibbo

My house was built in 1970 and is still standing! We have had no problems and the brickwork etc is as good as you'd get anywhere. I suppose all you have to do, if you are having a house built, is keep an eye on the job and point out anything you are not happy with as the job progresses.

Timber Floor Au

http://www.roof-fixing-supplies.com.au/

Sunny_Glesga

A bit of Bagging and asking general questions

to be honest, it was something i just looked a bit closer at when thinking about pouring our life savings into a house in the near future and was just wondering what am i going to get for my hard earned £$

Now that i have seen what i will get i dont know whats worse, paying for someone elses wendy house or paying for my own!


no matter, just another whinging Scotsman, hopefully at the end of the day, "she`ll be right "

Wendy

Yep, our house was also built in the 70's and is double brick. The inside needs decorating, but the structure is fantastic.

I wouldn't have a new build given (well I would, but I'd sell it and buy another old house. )