New house Builders

[V8Druid]

Don't know whether anyone has been taking any notice of the level of controversy currently hitting the news about the poor state of new build housing from the major developers of late ....
Pam's been out for her usual Tuesday amble with some of her friends, one of which is twenty five plus year employee of 'one' of the major five high street banks.
Told Pam this morning that, they're now so concerned about the issues involved with these 'new builds' that they are no longer offering mortgages on any 'new' houses younger than two years old ... They don't consider them 'safe bets' any more ....... might buck the ' majors' ' ideas up a bit if folks can't get the money to buy them

 

[Quattromike]

That's shocking, but I have heard the local ones to me pretty much ignore building control and plough on doing what they want coz they know the council are so short of housing they will put pressure on building control to pass them so they can house the un-houseable..

 

[JD450A]

IMHO we have enough housing for all... the government just need to sort out the utter cockwombling f**k up of letting people own multiple houses and let them stand vacant. I know one bloke with a townhouse in west London, a house down here, a house up north and a couple flats in the midlands.... all empty. He is By no means the wealthyist man I know and is likely the tip of the iceberg.

Unfortunately the big firms have the ability to provide there own mortgages virtually.

 

[V8Druid]

if the banks won't mortgage these properties, the developers will have limited pots with which to fund any sales and doing that, won't have the capital to move on to further developments ..... answer is simple ... do the job properly so the issues disappear .... but it won't happen whilst they're allowed to cut corners and chuck these places together.
some of the stuff I've been reading and watching is horrendous, with some places even condemned as unsafe ... mortar crumbling through lousy mixes ...
lack of supervision isn't and shouldn't be any excuse ... they should be doing the job right in the first place ... it won't be Jerry built any more, it'll be Tommy built .... a new race to the bottom - on quality

 

[Komatsu]

I’d never buy a new house after working on sites and seeing how they get thrown together, absolutely horrendous, I do feel for people who end up buying them on these big estates.

 

[Powerfab]

if the banks won't mortgage these properties, the developers will have limited pots with which to fund any sales and doing that, won't have the capital to move on to further developments ..... answer is simple ... do the job properly so the issues disappear .... but it won't happen whilst they're allowed to cut corners and chuck these places together.
some of the stuff I've been reading and watching is horrendous, with some places even condemned as unsafe ... mortar crumbling through lousy mixes ...
lack of supervision isn't and shouldn't be any excuse ... they should be doing the job right in the first place ... it won't be Jerry built any more, it'll be Tommy built .... a new race to the bottom - on quality

Gra,

There does seem to be a spike in construction quality issues in Wales the past few years with a couple of national builders in particular who have been getting slated for poor practices.

I'm not sure if the building quality is particularly any worse in Wales, or if it is simply that the Welsh Assembly has been particularly targeting house building.

Anyhow, until the house builders no longer have to return a dividend to their shareholders, and there is a return to an independent clerk of works on every site there is not going to be much change I'm afraid.

Every year we are told that modern off-site construction is going to be the way forward. The generally are better as regards to construction quality, but as long as Joe Public wants their Twee neo-Georgian facsimiles they are never going to gain any traction.

 

[V8Druid]

Gra,

There does seem to be a spike in construction quality issues in Wales the past few years with a couple of national builders in particular who have been getting slated for poor practices.

I'm not sure if the building quality is particularly any worse in Wales, or if it is simply that the Welsh Assembly has been particularly targeting house building.

Anyhow, until the house builders no longer have to return a dividend to their shareholders, and there is a return to an independent clerk of works on every site there is not going to be much change I'm afraid.

Every year we are told that modern off-site construction is going to be the way forward. The generally are better as regards to construction quality, but as long as Joe Public wants their Twee neo-Georgian facsimiles they are never going to gain any traction.

the issues are being reported countrywide though Boyo ... and getting worse weekly!! You're right about what drives it ... lack of over-sight by folks who actually know and have the authority to deal with issues and greedy developers, who just want to chuck 'em up, regardless of quality, or the so called craftsmen doing the work, then move on, pockets stuffed, to the next rip off project.

 

[Mintsauce]

This is nothing new. Putting lads on tight prices doesn't help with the quantity of work. Newbuilds should be backed up by NHBC accreditation or similar so the housebuyer and mortgage lenders have something to fall back onto.

that's no excuse for letting shoddy work slip through, and I hear of site agents who would never let these things happen (but there's not so many of them about) .

perhaps the people who underwrite new homes should spend a bit more time on site with their eyes open and perhaps warranty time periods should be extended a bit too.

 

[pettsy]

From what I see of new builds on the plumbing/gas side of things it’s “throw it in ASAP and as cheap as possible” knowing full well they won’t be the ones trying to fix the issues that get found out in the following years.

I found issues when servicing the boiler in a year old house that a friend had bought. The NHBC weren’t interested. Someone had obviously signed it off 12months previously.

 

[Mintsauce]

Nhbc covers structural and weatherproofing I think. The original builder is liable for a certain amount of time unless he has gone out of business.

 

[Mintsauce]

I know someone who recently had his house fully re rendered after it was found to be a sub standard mix 9 years after the build. Maybe he was lucky? Seems to be the answer from the builders I have spoken to about it since.

 

[Rob 210]

This is the reason I don't work on big sites no more(unless I have too)It seem as though most of the trades take the approach"f**k you jack I've done my bit,now it's your problem"regardless of what problem they've left some one.Half of them seem to have no pride in their job,just crack on and next job.May be I'm just too old school!!

 

[V8Druid]

I know someone who recently had his house fully re rendered after it was found to be a sub standard mix 9 years after the build. Maybe he was lucky? Seems to be the answer from the builders I have spoken to about it since.

he might as well not bother doing the lottery for ten years......he's had his luck for this decade

 

[V8Druid]

This is the reason I don't work on big sites no more(unless I have too)It seem as though most of the trades take the approach"f**k you jack I've done my bit,now it's your problem"regardless of what problem they've left some one.Half of them seem to have no pride in their job,just crack on and next job.May be I'm just too old school!!

exactly the problem and no one there to call him to account on crap work

 

[Smiffy]

This is the reason I don't work on big sites no more(unless I have too)It seem as though most of the trades take the approach"f**k you jack I've done my bit,now it's your problem"regardless of what problem they've left some one.Half of them seem to have no pride in their job,just crack on and next job.May be I'm just too old school!!

I work in this kind of environment unfortunately

Not house building but council works

And on the contrary everyone I have worked with takes pride in there work, wants to turn out decent work and is ashamed of having to leave jobs looking poor. But it's the people further up the pecking order that's the problem constantly pushing
Denying the material or equipment needed. All they are worried about is completing your kpi's. They don't care if the house will fall down as long as you had high vis on when you were working on it.
And whilst health and safety is important they are totally blinkered to everything else.

 

[V8Druid]

I work in this kind of environment unfortunately

Not house building but council works

And on the contrary everyone I have worked with takes pride in there work, wants to turn out decent work and is ashamed of having to leave jobs looking poor. But it's the people further up the pecking order that's the problem constantly pushing
Denying the material or equipment needed. All they are worried about is completing your kpi's. They don't care if the house will fall down as long as you had high vis on when you were working on it.
And whilst health and safety is important they are totally blinkered to everything else.

yeh I certainly know guys who take a great pride in what they do and are reined in by management who want it slapped in PDQ and on to the next ...

 

[Shovelhands]

I remember on a site once, I do very little site work generally, we actually I’d sone none at all now. But I went in with a machine for a specific job, which I enjoyed, but as I wouldn’t sit in my machine when there was nothing for it, and get out and muck in with their gang, he kept me on hire for a extra month after the main job was done, and the machine only did a few hours. And actually then kept me for another month once my machine had left! Anyway, I digress....
We were laying a driveway, and I remember the foreman yelling at us “hurry up lads, quantity not quality!”..........yeah, we had to re-lay that one a week later!
But as much as I enjoyed that job, and the fellas I worked with, I just couldn’t stand that kind of attitude.

Some shocking stories of new builds around here over the years. I think ‘they don’t build em like they used to’ applies a lot!

 

[V8Druid]

I remember on a site once, I do very little site work generally, we actually I’d sone none at all now. But I went in with a machine for a specific job, which I enjoyed, but as I wouldn’t sit in my machine when there was nothing for it, and get out and muck in with their gang, he kept me on hire for a extra month after the main job was done, and the machine only did a few hours. And actually then kept me for another month once my machine had left! Anyway, I digress....
We were laying a driveway, and I remember the foreman yelling at us “hurry up lads, quantity not quality!”..........yeah, we had to re-lay that one a week later!
But as much as I enjoyed that job, and the fellas I worked with, I just couldn’t stand that kind of attitude.

Some shocking stories of new builds around here over the years. I think ‘they don’t build em like they used to’ applies a lot!

and it goes to show it's not a new issue .... just getting worse.

there's a new estate not far from here built on the old Pilkinghton's glass site some time ago .. 15 + years maybe ... having built maybe 60% of the site they had to take the bloody lot back down ..... some of which were sold and occupied .... mortar mix was appalling and one of the 'buyers' had had his shiny new house properly surveyed ... mortar was pronounced as being at best 10:1 ... the rest were obviously 'examined' and condemned as unsafe ...... the hue and cry was far reaching, and a lot of heads rolled ..... for 6 tons of sand the bare minimum of cement delivered should've been 1 .... well it weren't anywhere near it.
Took some sorting out ..... but all finished and occupied now .... wonder how many of the eventual buyers knew anything about it

 

[Mintsauce]

If anyone asks "what's the mix" you just answer one and plenty

 

[doobin]

Every time I end up working in a new build it's always the same. Shitty clay in the back garden, usually under 2" of topsoil and a foot of building waste. Drainage non existant. I'm always amazed how s**t they are, followed by amazed how much idiots pay for them.

Last job was a corker. Nice guy, was apparently an architect and lectured in BIM at the local uni. You'd think he'd have known better. Terrible drainage issues in his back garden, so he wanted me to put a pond in. That'll sort it... Reckoned the house builder would supply a grab truck to compensate for all the hassle he's had. I resolved to and take the money (and run!) Oh, and rather than dump the material on the yet-to-be-topcoated road outside, he elected to pile the clay on top of a Wicks tarp on his already sinking block paving driveway.

Here's some cracking pics from that £380k David Wilson jobby....

This way round (bloody camera) makes the runs look even worse!

Weep holes from next doors garden discharging straight into his!! All the hedge plants had rotted off already.

Quality workmanship here. The chippy was obviously time served... I resented having to get off and fold the rollbar, would have done him a favour if I'd just pulled it all down.

Groundwater levels and s**t soil.


Beautiful brickwork.

And my personal favourite:

Dickhead brickie went to the effort of cutting two bricks and still couldn't get it right.