Thoughts on new builds........

[telectrix]

so they don't fit air bricks anymore??? damp and mould are far worse than spending a few extra quid on gas each year.

 

[pirate]

NHBC???
Now, that's quite enough!
Gentlemen, please mind your language!

 

[telectrix]

NHBC.... a dog with no teeth:

 

[johnduffell]

so they don't fit air bricks anymore??? damp and mould are far worse than spending a few extra quid on gas each year.

Air bricks are still fitted in suspended floors to keep the void dry.
Air bricks into the living accommodation are not common in new houses because they are uncontrolled ventilation ie depends on the wind and temperature difference etc. Trickle fans are preferred as they give a controlled ventilation in the correct direction in all conditions. If your trickle fans are working correctly and your insulation is continuous without thermal bridges then you won't have trouble with mould unless you are running a cannabis farm!

 

[sunray]

I was on a newbuild last year where the sole plates of the stud walls hadn't been fixed before boarding and you could push the walls and see them move

A friend moved into a new build and found that the gap under the bedroom stud wall when the floors were loaded with furniture was so big the wall could be pushed over the carpet on gripper bar.
Builders solution... expanding foam... including all over the carpet.

 

[pirate]

My mum bought a new-build flat, and asked me to put in a shelf over a radiator...it was a simple job, on a short straight wall...
The shelf touched the wall at each end, and you could get a finger down the gap in the middle.
How come, with modern fixings, the builders couldn't get a stud wall straight for just a few feet?

 

[Phil Thompson]

My mate a kitchen fitted got a new build a year ago coming in August. He’s been at war with the developer/builder for months now, holes all over the floor above Downlights, gaps round the windows, staircase had gaps, all spindles had to be replaced as they were warped.

He phoned me one day as their spark told him his washing machine that was brand new was obviously faulty.

My mate asked me why it was knocking off the lights yet the lights stayed on, they’d the RFC in the 6A and the lights in a 20A.

Then he discovered the gas line to his had been leaking for 10 weeks and when he got someone who connects for him out to look at it the foreman for the builder came to the gas plumber and asked him not to say anything about something that was missing as they weren’t fitted in any house and shouldn’t have been commissioned.

Some of the snag list he gave was brutal, the developer was kind of saying nothing at a meeting and he couldn’t tell what way they were thinking until he pulled out the cake slice and slid it up the side of a window, then he mentioned the gas and something else really serious and the developer just turned to the builder and glared at him?
They left, returned 45 mins later and told my mate they’d rectify everything on his list. And anything else you see add it on and mail them to let them know.

A £287k home and in this area on a development that’s the most expensive for 7-8 miles in a very populated area.

Though I was in another last Sunday and I thought it was extremely well finished, that builder has a reputation for many years of building a good house.
Only negative I could see was no light in loft and no socket, despite being pre wired for aerials to the loft and satellite to outside.