Quality of Aussie Houses

[zebedee]

Does anyone else feel frustrated with the construction of Aussie houses? Been doing some renovations recently and every little jobs seems to turn into a bodged nightmare - the latest effort to put some curtains up in the gyprock walls has ended in giving up trying to get any decent fixing and just finding and using the wood battens instead - which limits placement. I'd put in down to maybe just my own inability but all the tradies we've used seem to just end up bodging up stuff too.

 

And I can't go out and get the stuff I need to fix the wall because all the DIY places shut at 5 on a Saturday.

 

[John Browning]

well yes, but then almost all the Hardware shops are also open on Sundays.

 

As for tradies try:

 

-Grey Army

 

-Spinners

 

-Your local Council may well have an honest broker register

 

Take a deep breath and think of all the really bad work (and attitude ) you used to put up with in the UK. At least the locals won't make you fell like they are doing you a favour, while buggering up.

 

John B

[NicF]

While it's frustrating having to deal with gyprock and timber frame walls it's not impossible if you plan your job properly first, research your options and ensure you have all the things you need to do the job. We have put up loads of stuff in our timber frame house since we moved in, some of which has been quite heavy. Where possible my OH will try and put at least one of the fixings in the timber frame but often the rest will be in the gyprock. He uses two different sorts of fixings depending on what he is putting up, wallmate for lighter stuff and hollow wall anchors for heavier things. Before buying any of these he had a good read on some of the diy forums to figure out which would be best for what he needed.

 

I also don't agree about tradies. We had curtains and a blind put up by a fitted curtain place and the guy that did them has done a lovely job and they are very solidly secured. And when we had the house built the only tradie that made a mess of putting stuff up was the guy that did the bathroom fittings.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

I have had a couple of new granny flats built. I think that they have some advantages over existing double skin brick houses like insulation and modern fixtures.

Gyprock can be problematic...I have had a couple of holes and a couple of curtain tracks pulled out of the walls but they can be fixed although a little differently from brick.

My OH has just replaced all the curtain fixtures with toggles that open up behind the gyprock...making them much stronger for when he's not around to fix things!

Some of the hardware stores have really knowledgeable people who are glad to offer advice. There's so much on the internet too...the Dulux, Selleys, Taubmans sites for example. The hardware stores are open from 7 in the morning to 9 at night during weekdays and 7 in the morning on Saturday too.

I agree that it frustrating in the beginning when you encounter new materials and ways of doing things though.

[Blossom]

 

Take a deep breath and think of all the really bad work (and attitude ) you used to put up with in the UK. At least the locals won't make you fell like they are doing you a favour, while buggering up.

There are plenty of locals which do just that here.

[zebedee]

While it's frustrating having to deal with gyprock and timber frame walls it's not impossible if you plan your job properly first, research your options and ensure you have all the things you need to do the job. We have put up loads of stuff in our timber frame house since we moved in, some of which has been quite heavy. Where possible my OH will try and put at least one of the fixings in the timber frame but often the rest will be in the gyprock. He uses two different sorts of fixings depending on what he is putting up, wallmate for lighter stuff and hollow wall anchors for heavier things. Before buying any of these he had a good read on some of the diy forums to figure out which would be best for what he needed.

 

I also don't agree about tradies. We had curtains and a blind put up by a fitted curtain place and the guy that did them has done a lovely job and they are very solidly secured. And when we had the house built the only tradie that made a mess of putting stuff up was the guy that did the bathroom fittings.

 

I worked out why my plugs weren't working - it was the insulation that was preventing the little pin from sliding out properly. I'll know for next time. You are right about DIY forums - used one to help me work out how to put up some kitchen cupboards. Tradie wise here we go:

 

1) Certain antenna company made a complete mess of putting in a new TV socket

2) Gardening company put up some new fencing but didn't get the top covers straight

3) New veranda put up, damaged paint at the bottom of one of the posts and is now rusty (in contact with the company to sort)

4) Builder put up a new wall, paper join peeling off within 3 weeks

5) Plumber came out to investigate smell of gas, couldn't find any fault, gas smell continued, used someone else and he found that it was the cooker top that had a leak

 

So either we have been unlucky or you have been lucky - or perhaps truth is some where in between?

[NicF]

I think we've probably been lucky with tradies. So far everyone we have used has been really good. Even the people who put the side gate on based on instructions written on the wall in chalk as we were out at work at the time. The only thing we had done that we haven't been happy with was the bathroom fittings, but we didn't choose that guy as that was done as part of the house build.