fraser

He didn't give an opinion though did he, he has seen stats that prove it.

fraser

Yes I am actually

moneypenny20

He said "Having a house built in Australia is almost always a total nightmare". He then said he had seen stats. I have no problem with his opinion and if he has stats fine, but stats can be read any which way you want. I didn't call him a liar. I am sure his stats have fact in them, but what I also know for a "fact" is that there are plenty of people out there very happy with their build.

And are you seriously trying to say that you signed a contract with a builder and gave him some money, without first checking out as many of his previous builds in various stages? I personally wouldn't do that if I were only handing over £100 for something - you find the best deal.

fraser

Yes I did, and whenever yyoutell anyone you're building with them, they say oh their houses are great,

Estate agents always mention their name when selling one of their houses as it seems to be a selling point.

On first inspection our house looks fantastic, but then if you look at it closely there isn't many places you can put a level without being ddisappointed

As i-pom said she showed the pictures of the frame to her Architect F-I-L and he said that nothing would be level, although the frame doesn't explain why the sockets et al have to be wonky.

The spark who came round said it was the third of their houses he had visited and they'd all been appalling.

The toilet was in wonky, I told them and they blamed it on tto themmanufacturerwhose rep came round and said bad installation, they're always doing it.

moneypenny20

What, an Australian building site?. I didn't think you had your licence? A UK building site is irrelevant to be honest, we are living in Australia

fraser

How is it, bad workmanship is bad where ever you are, should timber be joined differently, bricks laid differently, windows be plumbed differently, is a spirit level different.

I don't understand the basics aren't any different as the same materials are used.

renth

I'm the crappest DIY'er in the world but I reckon I could build an Aussie house.

I'll have to find those bloody stats now...

fraser

As long as you remember they're only an opinion.

moneypenny20

But you have stated before that you found faults at all stages. If you continued to hand over money just because they "said" they would sort it, they would obviously get the impression that you were relatively happy with what was being done. Or did you pay most of the money up front?

If it were me, and I had found the faults you found so early on, no money would have been handed over and work would have stopped until it was sorted.

And going back to your point that a building site is a building site - it obviously isn't. Their rules and regulations are different, as are basic ways of doing things otherwise every tradie who comes here with their TRA would get a job straight off and not have to take exams to get an Aus licence.

fraser

No we told them we wasn't happy with the frame, the building manager came down and gave me the number of the inspector that is paid by them.

We didn't pay another penny until last week as we refused, they carried on building, it's structually sound.

But when i was laying flooring last week all the walles are concave so that when I put spacers in two boards down following the same line they were touching the wall.

I put pictures up using a level but of course they look terrible as the coving isn't straight so they look out.

I've noticed that all the window architraves are bowed only a small bit but visible to the eye.

The shower door was clippimg and the guy came yesterday, i said it was because it wasn't square, he agreed and said he can't make it square if the walls aren't.

He said he earns all his money replacing them as most of the walls aren't square and they end up leaking and the walls have to be replaced so he has to fit new screens.

Rules and regs are different but basic building practices aren't, a brick is still a brick, timber still gets joined in the same way, stud walls are built in the same way, 90 degrees is 90 degrees.

jad n rich

Tons of people in OZ build happily, with no problems, and often time and time again with the same builder, people would not come back if they had problems . But the bottom line is you get what you pay for.

Too many people ( aussies as well as poms whant a 'cheap' build ) so thats what they get. (Not saying this is fraser, dont know what he paid etc) .

People keep saying this that and the other, (basics like insulation/ heating/ cooling) is not included, thats wrong, anything you want is included as long as you pay for it.

Were about to start building, our construction costs no profits, will be over $300,000 now I can look in the paper and see ads for that size house for $128,000 even with the ads ons to get it legal, someone will do the job for half the price :scared:

rossifumi

What I cannot understand is WHY you have paid the company money when you have expressed concerns to them over and over again. That is what I cannot understand.

fraser

Is that just for materials?

fraser

They have done a lot to rectify things like rendering the front so it looks good and it does,but it doesn't change the fact that there are so many niggly things which will never look straight, but structually it's sound and that's all that matters in the eyes of the law.

It just little things like the niche in the ensuite shower the guy cut one tile badly wher it wasn't straight, and where it had been siliconed you could still see the rough edge, we only saw this a couple of days before settlement, I said it needed replacing he said it was for a reason, I said to him just admit he's cut it wrong and couldn't be bothered to do it again, he admitted it and said there's no way it can be done again as the membrane and wall would get damaged and he refused to that so said he'd get a thicker bead of silicone put on it, we're still waiting.

The whole time we were speaking there was a whole box of leftover tiles sitting there, just a bit of care to attention and the tiler would have picked one up and recut it, would have took 30 seconds.

jad n rich

Materials and the subcontractors we are not licenced to perform, such as general builder but we still have to employ lic plumber, elec, tiler, waterproofer, pest etc etc all have to have their own individual licences and as such are then liable for the work they perform, if we employed unlicenced then we would be liable for their work and rectification.

House is around 280 sm. Land and pool costs are on top of that. Does include driveway tho.