They don't build them like they used to...

[Tim S]

Despite the problems I'm having with the Bungalow and despite it's pitiful (lack of) foundations, it's doing better than a few 11 year old houses down our road here in Pembury...

Just heard that several houses are having to have the entire ground floor slab rectified due to subsidence. The main foundations are fine, but someone didn't prep the slab base properly. Apparantly these houses were built by a few gangs in parallel and it seems that one gang buggered up their lot, but the rest are fine.

Luckily for the owners the cost is being fully covered including redecorating, but it's still messy and inconvenient for them.

Wonder where the Building Inspector was that day?

Tim

[Roger Mills]

If it was a multi-house development, there probably wouldn't have been a LA BCO involved - certification would have been done by the NHBRC (God help us all!)

[<me9]

More like NHBC, who aren't worth a light!

[dennis]

I have seen worse..

a new development on a slope where they started at the top.. after about 60 houses were built the top ones started to slide down the slope.

They had big cracks in them and BC (my friend) says there is no way they are going to save them. There were about thirty families living in them and about 30 part finished ones. None were more than two years old.

[John]

Very little supervision on building sites in my opinion.

[R]

Prolly because the supervision (If any at all) don't speak Latvian or Polish

[Tim S]

[e-mail] coughed up some electrons that declared:

Isn't it amazing - they bog BCO's down with window and door related bollox whilst no-one gives a monkeys about the fundamentals...

Wasn't even a Barrats house (though, with a few exceptions, they all seem as bad as each other).

[Tim S]

R coughed up some electrons that declared:

I wouldn't mind betting if they houses were built by Latvians (whom I've known many) or the Polish, they'd probably be OK. It's the British you have to worry about.

[Invisible Man]

A British (Scottish) uncle of mine built houses and flats in Poland during the 5 years he spent in a German pow camp. They were still looking good when he went back and took a look few years back.

[Tim S]

Invisible Man coughed up some electrons that declared:

Not to make light of your uncle's situation, that *was* 60+years ago when the British still knew how to do things properly!

[TheScullster]

"Tim S" wrote

Having seen a number of examples of shoddy work on older English properties (courtesy of Sarah Beeney rather than first hand), I'm not sure that the rose tinted glasses are so appropriate. Not just poor-to-zero foundations, but naff brickwork, no tie-in between perpendicular walls etc etc and all this is in the build of an original property. Then the extensions and re-work bring far worse nightmares.

Phil

[Tim S]

TheScullster coughed up some electrons that declared:

You are of course right - the house I grew up in had a bowing wall due to lack of tie in to one breeze block wall (load bearing walls were brick and others were breeze).

But it seems to me that modern building work, whilst to a better standard of insulation just isn't as *solid* on the whole.

That I agree with - most of the buggerage in my house was done in the 70's.

[Stuart Noble]

I imagine BCOs are limited to confirming that a particular stage of the job has been completed, but not that it's been done properly. They can't e.g. test the concrete, although I believe they do on major jobs. A mate of mine used to do just that for a living, and said it was a brave man who would raise issues when a fleet of trucks were lined up ready to pour. Easier to go to the pub.

[dennis]

He should have got a job more suited to him then (shop assistant?). I would imagine the builder would rather throw away a few truck loads of concrete than have to dig it all out and start again when it fails. That is assuming nobody is killed because it fails in a really bad way. I hope he didn't work on bridges or dams.

[Stuart Noble]

I said it was easier to go to the pub, that's all. Get off your high horse.

[Andrew May]

Could someone show me a job where it is not easier to go to the pub? Got any application forms?

[PeterC]

Mate of mine allowed an estate to get to eaves level then told the builder to correct the ceiling heights. The builder had used the old ploy of low doorways so that there was the correct number of courses above - mate is 6'

4" tall and had noticed but decided that an expensive lesson was required.

This was about 25 years ago - could be different now.

[TheScullster]

"Tim S" wrote

Count yourself lucky, my original house was built in the 70s! This seems to be a time when they were trying to build out of cheap tat, but without the modern emphasis on insulation you have mentioned. If it wasn't in a nice area with great schools I would consider myself well cheated with this purchase.

Phil

[Invisible Man]

We have got a 1965 house that is not exactly quality built. It is however within 200 yards of 2 village pubs, a good doctors surgery and the village green which has a duck pond. We will not be moving in a hurry.

I remember in the early 1980s living close to where a new Barratts development was going up. They were timber framed and loads of the sections were piled up long before needed. Polythene type stuff was ripped and had loads of snow inside. The first time the wind blew one of the gable walls fell out.

[John Rumm]

I think the only place a required ceiling height is mentioned in the current BR is for over stairs....