I think the honeymoon period between myself and the builder of our new house has come to an end. :(
Went up to site yesterday as the roof had just been finished and wasnt very happy with a number of areas. I just can believe these guys would think this was an acceptable level of workmanship on a brandnew roof?
The long and short of it all was the builder response was that "you cant see these things so whats the problem". That doesnt instill me with much confidence that we will be getting a "quality" build.
When I moved house I needed to find a roofing company, To repair cracked roof tiles, I went to the Roofing Association who recommended several roofers on the North Shore, They are based at Lovell Court in Albany,I'm sure they could advise you on what to do,
budgel,
Apr 17, 8:47pm
Name and shame!
missymoo1000,
Apr 17, 9:08pm
Thanks mrsvonflik, great advice. I will contact them and see what they think.
hammer23,
Apr 17, 9:36pm
Roofing has to be done by a licensed practicioner. The bogged up flashing is straight out of a cowboy roofers joke book. In say 3 years that silicone will start to fail and it will be leaky building time for you.The dinged ridge flashing is not acceptable on a new job,it is like buying a new fridge with the side all scratched and the shop say well you won't see it when it against the wall. What this work tells me is that your builder has a less than responsable attitude to your job. It is get out the big stick time. Best of luck.
kenw1,
Apr 17, 9:45pm
Withhold the next progress payment, make sure you are on site when the bundling inspector does the inspection, if already done then call him back.
I would strongly suggest that if this is the attitude that you take lots of very high res pictures of anything and everything, it will only get worse.
Are they a franchise?
missymoo1000,
Apr 17, 10:01pm
I know, all that silicone is just a joke and if we were to sell the house (not that this is our intention for quite some time) and someone does a building inspecition this is the kind of thing I would expect to be picked up. Some of the sub contractors on the job have just been terrible and I cant believe I am the one finding this stuff. I have already documented all of the issues that I can see and think i will get an independant roof instepction done by someone recommended by RANZ. However, now i am a little concerned abut the stuff i cant see! Anyway, time for me to spend a lot of time on site making sure everything is done right. As far as withholding progress payments, i am not sure legally i can do this. I have looked at the building contract (Master Build) and it doesnt really allow for this. However, I will see what my lawyer has to say.
maccachic1,
Apr 17, 10:13pm
Roofing seems to be the worse of the trades in our experience - shocking. I threaten them with the newspaper they would love a story like this :)
omamari,
Apr 17, 10:15pm
Maybe you should say to your "builder" that if he thinks it's all good then he won't mind you sending the pics to the council building inspector
missymoo1000,
Apr 17, 10:21pm
Omamari, ha ha, that could be an option. At the moment i am giving them the opportunity to get this all addressed. I have clearly documented this issues I can see, including pictures and a clear understanding of my expectations with regards to the remedy for these and am meeting him on site today to run through these issues. I think i will also stipulate that an independant roofing inspection be carried out (at his cost) once the remedial work is done to confirm the roof is completed correctly.
kenw1,
Apr 17, 10:35pm
If the required level of progress has not been achieved, you can withhold payment, otherwise you are paying in advance. If the builder then goes belly up, you are in the the mess.
Talk to your lawyer, dont rely on MB to help you, they are the builders society not yours.
nukhelenc,
Apr 17, 10:44pm
Back the boat up. Get some nads. Then go back to the builder, Keeping in mind you still have a long way to go till the house is finished, so if you fall out of love now,,,, its just going to get worse between you and builder. So you need to do your best to keep working with each other. I would go back to him and lay it on the line ( nicely ) I would ask him again if this is acceptable practice and if he thinks that the work is up to the standard that it should be. Then i would tell him with my nads on, that your not happy with it and you want it sorted, end of story. If he says yeah but, just say once again your not happy and you want it sorted. If he goes yeah but, then say. can you not sort this with the roofer? If hes got any brains it should be sorted with the minimum of fuss. And then when it is sorted go back to him and say your very happy that he got it sorted out :) and say thanks. Then move on.
If none of it seems to be working just say it again, Im not happy with it, i don't think its up to any sort of standard and then walk away and leave the site before he replies and leave the ball in his court for him to think about. Then when your back on site in a few days or what ever be nice, nice as pie and ask if its sorted out. Be nice but firm. But also give it time to be done.
kaddiew,
Apr 17, 10:51pm
If it were me, I would take a witness along to each meeting from now on.
nukhelenc,
Apr 17, 11:28pm
To me the first picture just looks sloppy and is covering the hole in the cut brick. I can't see how the flashing behind has been bent and if it would infact stop the water and send it out. Looks like something is there though. Its just an off-cut thats been riveted over. and is showing the back side. I can see the manufacture printing on it. Would be like that so you can see the correct colour from that little bit sticking past the brick from the ground. ? Looks ugly but could be weather tight. Dunno as i never done it.
kenw1,
Apr 17, 11:49pm
I would in future put all concerns in writing, and copy them to MB.
They are past masters at denial.
dibble35,
Apr 18, 4:30am
Completely off topic but I like ur name missymoo. That's what we call my sisters dog, missymoomoos. AKA Roxy and roo roos. A dog with too many names!
stevo2,
Apr 18, 4:41am
^^what he said^^. That siliconed flashing is crap! The ridge is buckled because it is not straight. It is bowing slightly to the right. Not likely to cause a problem but looks like poo and should be re-done.
kenw1,
Apr 18, 6:22am
The real question is, is the top of the ridges on the trusses all in line, or are some trusses incorrectly placed?
hammer23,
Apr 18, 6:50am
Missymoo,I like your attitude you sound well organised and a clear thinker and will take no prisoners.Don't worry about drawing the builders attention to what problems you see,they should be able to handle the problems you bring up,do it repectfully,nuckhelenc has given you a good stratagy to work on and the way to proceed. What worries me about your builder is that if the quality of his work is not up to standard it may be he has retentions piled up from other jobs and your payments are keeping him afloat. Now is the time to be cautious because I know from expierance that some of these guys are one progress payment away from falling over and you don't you be caught out.Best of luck.
kenw1,
Apr 18, 6:57am
Hammer23, you are so right, one hiccup in the pay chain and oops, have seen it happen.
golfdiver,
Apr 19, 1:45am
I won't comment on the first pic as it is totally unclear what it is supposed to be. (To me anyway) the second pic shows a ridge that wanders slightly out of line. This should not happen in a new build, and is easily replaced. It is a pity the manufacturer isn't putting a swage in the ridge flashing which helps give extra strength. The advent of platform scaffold certainly gives owners a clear picture if the workmanship. If the trusses hadn't been installed straight and true, the roofers should have complained to the builder and taken written notes.
hammer23,
Apr 21, 7:45am
So what's happened to the builder. Interesting posting so please come back with the goss.
missymoo1000,
Apr 21, 8:07am
Walked through with the builder on Friday and documented the items I wasn't happy with. He has agreed to get these remedied and we have a meeting on site to do another site walk through in a week. All in all I am happy with his response. Just have to wait to see if they fix it properly.
nukhelenc,
Apr 21, 8:20am
Well well maybe the message board has given you some new tools to work with :) Should be all good now, Once its fixed and ya happy then ya have to forget about it, and move forward with the builder :)
My thinking is that most the time you just have to say to the builder, is this the good standard that you would expect to see your self and would you accept it. If you have a good builder ya should be fine.
nukhelenc,
Apr 21, 8:43am
Maybe take some beers round when its done, for a bit of a roof shout if you feel that way inclined.
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