Construction Update - Problems Encountered So Far

With the framing and roof complete, I thought it might be a good time to reflect on the problems we have encountered so far in the build of our Porter Davis Wembley 35.  These issues have been raised by ourselves, our independent building inspector and by the Porter Davis site supervisor himself.

Having been an owner-builder previously, I am going to say that none of these issues keep me awake at night and (overall) I think Porter Davis have done a pretty good job so far.  I read other blogs where owners seem to get worked up about the these sorts of issues and I get the frustration - I really do.  But, in my experience, things go wrong in building projects and best thing you can do is just go with it and discuss how things can be fixed.

Don't get me wrong though, you will see my tone change real fast if these things don't get rectified.

Here is the list.

The toilet outlet in the downstairs powder room is covered by the slab
I pointed this one out to Porter Davis.  When the slab was poured, it covered the outlet for the downstairs toilet.  You can see in the photo where they had to cut through the slab to check it was there.

The outlet for the downstairs toilet is in the wrong place
Our Porter Davis site supervisor highlighted this one - notwithstanding that it is covered by the slab, the actual toilet outlet is too close to the wall, and needs to be moved at least 150mm.

You can see where the concrete was cut away to check that
the outlet was actually there, but it is also too close to the wall

The outlet for the Powder Room vanity needs to be moved
Again, our site supervisor highlighted this one - the outlet pipe is supposed to be embedded in the wall cavity, but ours protrudes into the room slightly.

Plumbing for the vanity in the downstairs powder room needs to be moved

A Noggin needs to be replaced
Noggins are the horizontal pieces of timber that hold the vertical beams (the studs) of the frame in place.  One of these were identified by our building inspector as having insufficient strength due to knots and other damage and this was highlighted in his report.  Our site supervisor has agreed (verbally) have these fixed.

Wall Studs vs. Noggins

Bad Noggin

Two Studs need to be strengthened
The building inspector highlighted two studs with knots greater than 50mm, that either need to be replaced or strengthened.

Bad Stud

The edge of the slab at the garage wall needs to be removed
Our site supervisor highlighted this to us - there is a small lip of concrete that needs to be removed before brickwork for the wall between the house and the garage can be commenced.

It's (jack) hammer time! (bad joke).

Creaking upstairs flooring
I pointed this out to the site supervisor - prior to the roof going on, we had several days of rain and, in a couple of places, the upstairs flooring has moved or lifted, so that it creaks when walked on.  Our site supervisors has assured us that this it is normal practice to revisit and refasten the flooring prior to floor coverings being laid down, so this will get fixed.

Gaps in the edge of the slab
Our independent inspector highlighted that, in a couple of places, the finishing work along the edge of the slab was sub-standard.  To be honest, I am not so fussed about this, but have passed on the details in the report to Porter Davis anyway.