On-Site Meeting with our SS

We spent a decent amount of time together last Friday, namely to go over the Schedule of Building Defects and to discuss some concerns we had with the construction to date.

Here's the outcome of the meeting:
1. concrete floor slab has been rectified and has been signed off by the engineer and relevant building surveyor.
2. corner of floor slab on right side of garage door opening has been rectified.
3. most of the engineering design issues that had been missed, have now been completed. Our SS was great in going through each issue listed and showing us how it had been rectified. There were a few Ankascrews (essentially, large screws that hold the DS and DSX studs (these are a special type of timber, usually found beneath lintels or at doors/windows) (they are marked on the engineering plan) [the engineers for our home are Buratt Consulting Engineers]) still missing, some Multigrip anchors (look like metal plates that help to secure the joining of timbers) still missing, hoop iron strapping still missing - and our SS confirms these will all be attended to.
4. the big concern in this section of the report was that the large steel beam that spans the entire width of our living room space and also supports the first floor is only screwed down to the lower wall top plates. This was flagged in the schedule (of defects), however, our SS confirms that the engineer is satisfied this is not a problem and has confirmed this in writing (by email).
5. untreated radiata pine framing nailed straight to the slab (ie direct ground contact) at the front of the garage. Again flagged in the schedule, but in the end, not replaced, our SS instead opting to place treated pine battens adjacent the existing timber uprights. We have been assured this is sufficient to prevent timber rot and the framing members failing prematurely.
6. the chipboard sheet flooring to first floor had not been fixed into the joists sufficiently. Our SS has confirmed the floor will actually be screwed down as part of the standard CG process.

We also asked our SS about the issues raised in the last post. He confirms the steel posts in the garage were measured short and therefore a small section was required to be welded to it to ensure the correct height. He assures us this is common place and that this in no way affects the integrity or strength of support and foundation in this area of the house.

The other areas we flagged ourselves with respect to the timber framing, such as the roof spanning beam that is seemingly only supported by 3 nails, and some entire timber frames (that will form walls in our house, namely rear garage/laundry and leisure) will also be rectified, with additional bracing and strengthening to be used.

We also noted that the silt pits that CG have installed around the house (4 in total) appear to be set very low. These pits need to be exposed and can not sit below the surface. We have requested that they are extended upwards.

All in all, a really solid meeting. We've lost a week or two along the way, but as long as mistakes are minimised and, if they do occur, are resolved and rectified to comply with the Australian Standards, we're happy. Certainly CG continue to be good builders to be working with.

Minor Delays ..... No Need for Concern

No updates through the week, cause not a great deal of action on-site. Our site supervisor has explained events and it's no big deal. So as at yesterday, here's where our build is at. The first floor exterior is now complete. The hebel has been rendered (colour is Dulux Pipe Clay), the eaves completed and the scaffolding has been taken down. This has allowed the chippy back on-site to install some of the lower roof trusses, which are now ready to accept the ground floor colourbond roof. This is what the house presently looks like.

So aside from the minor delay, we're happy with how the build is progressing. We also noted that most of the roughing for services has been completed, the bath hob has been installed and some of the internal doors have also been installed.

A friend identified a few potential issues (see photos below) and we will raise these with our site supervisor tomorrow at a scheduled on-site meeting. During this meeting we will also go through the Schedule of Building Defects and our site supervisor will detail how CG has chosen to rectify the defect. We are hoping all defects have been satisfactorily attended to.

Roughly circled you can see a large spanning beam that supports roof trusses of the first floor roof. The only thing attaching this beam to the cross beam appears to be three nails punched in at an angle. We're unsure if this ok, since most other spanning beams are braced or end in places where there is upright structural support. In this case, there doesn't seem to be much support (if any) for this entire spanning beam and the structures it supports. We're not sure if this a concern or not. Any comments are welcome. We will also ask our site supervisor tomorrow.

Another thing that was noted is the welding of a small segment of steel post between the large steel post(s) that support a major steel beam that spans the entire length of our garage. Picked up by a friend who thinks that the length of the steel post(s) was cut incorrectly, so had to be supplemented by adding the small segment between the end of the post and the large  spanning beam. The frame around this post (which forms the rear garage wall) also appears to be unsupported or not braced.

We are not sure if this is intentional or not. It could be standard practice, but honestly, we can not think of a reason why the actual steel post does not go all the way to meet and support the beam.  It will good to find out during our meeting tomorrow in any case. We will let you know once we have some answers.

Hebel Almost Finished

Met our site supervisor on-site this afternoon and it's great to see that our house is almost fully clad. The whole ground floor is clad as is most of the first floor. The hebel looks good and you can now clearly see how they are installed and how each block interacts with both the house frame and the other blocks.

We're told the next stage is to complete the carpentry for the eaves and then to render the hebel to the first floor. Then all the scaffolding will come down at the end of this week. With the scaffolding dismantled, the roof trusses to the remaining areas of the ground floor under the roof-line (includes the garage) will be installed, the roof completed and the ground floor hebel rendered. This should all be complete by the end of next week and we presume this will essentially get us to lock-up stage.

We didn't comb through the house today to check off the schedule of building defects, as it's difficult to move freely through the home with all the scaffolding around the site. Once the scaffolding is down and the site cleaned, we will meet again with our site supervisor on Nov 2 to go through the schedule and to ensure everything is order before proceeding to the next stage. We imagine that the pre-plaster inspection will occur at this point too.

We had a friend on-site late this afternoon (who's father is a builder) too. He picked up a few areas where questions may need to be asked. Again, if you've never been exposed to building before, you'd never even know to ask the question(s).

Hebel - Progress Report

Not much progress made on the actual house this week. As mentioned previously, the hebel to ground floor is almost complete. The bulk of the work this week has been to erect the scaffolding, which has proved to be quite a job in itself, around the perimeter of the house. This scaffolding will be used to install the hebel to the first floor. It must be quite a job as the hebel blocks are certainly not light. We hope now the scaffolding is up, that the hebel installation will complete next week. Looking forward to seeing this home fully clad. Once this happens, our understanding is that the next stage is to render the hebel cladding.

While on-site we also noticed that the faulty concrete slab beneath the steel post at the front right of garage entrance had again been worked on. It looks much better now. The concrete does not appear honeycombed. It looks more solid with complete coverage. A length of timber has been added to the inner side of the steel post. The post itself and the timber frame no longer overhang the concrete. We hope that it will now comply with the standards and satisfy our building inspector when he returns for the pre-plaster inspection. See the photo below.

The slab rectification works have also been completed. See photo below. Our site supervisor is happy with the rectification works, which have also been signed off on by the relevant building surveyor. The edge of the slab certainly looks much better now, and we hope these works ensure the long-term performance of the slab and the house.

Hebel Stage - Ground Floor

These photos were taken on the weekend. It's great to see the ground floor hebel has almost been finished. Only some of the walls facing east remain to be completed. We really like hebel as a product. It should look clean, sharp and modern when fully rendered.

Hebel is lightweight steel-reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. The hebel is supplied in large blocks which are attached to metal studs with bolts. The photo below shows two of these metal studs (running horizontal underneath the window). Hebel as an external cladding is supposedly easier to work with than bricks and therefore much quicker to install than laying bricks. We are told that using hebel as our external cladding will shorten the overall build period. Coupled with the other documented benefits of hebel (highly fire resistant, high acoustic absorption, excellent insulative properties), we are very glad CG use hebel as a standard inclusion rather than a paid upgrade.

CSR Building Products Limited manufacturers Hebel. They produce a Design & Installation Guide that describes the benefits, design approach and considerations when using hebel (and specifically hebel powerblocks) for your home. If you are using or considering to use hebel for your home, we would recommend being familiar with this guide.

Preparation for Hebel

Yesterday we noticed the hebel had been delivered to site and that various works had been done in preparation for installing the hebel. A material (like foil, could be insulation) is attached to the house frame to create the sensation of walls surrounding the house. The material is silver from the inside, and green (branded Carter Grange) from the outside. We're told the guys will start installing the hebel tomorrow and that ground floor is done first, then scaffolding erected before the hebel is installed to the first floor. It takes about 3 weeks to complete the hebel. We're interested to see how it's installed.

Slab Rectification Works 1

It appears slab rectification has commenced. It looks like they've cut back the concrete in the areas where the steel was exposed. They've then treated and coated the steel with something. rather large sections of the slab have been affected and given the slab is integral to structural performance of the house, we will need to ensure this is all being done correctly and that it meets the standards.

Our site supervisor has confirmed that the relevant building surveyor has inspected these works and that now, everything is ready for repair. See photos below.