Help with looking at builders work

hotpotato

So we are within an asses roar of hiring a builder.

Have been invited to a strangers house to view his work.

I seriously have no idea what to look at though!

Any tips for how you superficially assess a builders work please?

germack3

Here’s an obvious idea and often over looked, I use to do it hiring trades people to carry out works, look at the person and particularly at his van or truck if its untidy and in a mess usually his work is the same. I came across this a few times and I was never to far out… Good Luck…

fclauson

hotpotato wrote: »

So we are within an asses roar of hiring a builder.

Have been invited to a strangers house to view his work.

I seriously have no idea what to look at though!

Any tips for how you superficially assess a builders work please?

I would be looking at the relationship as much as the build quality - how did they get on with the builder and perhaps ask
"what went wrong and how did you resolve it" - something will have one and if they say "nothing" then ......
"how did you handle variations from your original spec (and were they priced reasonably)"

hotpotato

I've actually already got the verbal feedback so it really is the visual stuff I'm after. Thanks for feedback so far!

fclauson

hotpotato wrote: »

I've actually already got the verbal feedback so it really is the visual stuff I'm after. Thanks for feedback so far!

then on the surface its attention to detail but unfortunately unless you have xray vision your will have no way of knowing how well they did under the covers

perhaps speak to the certifier (arch/eng) to get a perspective from them

DOCARCH

fclauson wrote: »

then on the surface its attention to detail but unfortunately unless you have xray vision your will have no way of knowing how well they did under the covers

perhaps speak to the certifier (arch/eng) to get a perspective from them

Indeed...very often a bad builder will have a good plasterer and painter!

Clients tend only to be concerned with the cosmetic things/finishing items (which are of course very important).

fclauson

talking of xray vision - you could beg/borrow/hire/... a thermal imaging camera - this can show up lots of under the surface items and give you more of a sense of what actually got built

johndoe99

10 good questions here:

http://www.realestate.com.au/blog/10-questions-to-ask-before-hiring-a-builder/

number 9 is a must, and see if you can talk to those owners, see if there happy with there homes.

Carpenter

Remember PLASTER AND PAINT makes a builder a saint .
When looking @ building work the most important work is hidden by slabs and floor coverings you have to look beyond the finish but keep in mind that the finish is important too .
I know that this sounds very hard but in real life it is not you just have to know your stuff .

genuine leather

germack3 wrote: »

look at the person and particularly at his van or truck. [/QUOTe

After a long day/weeks work then, i would have no chance:rolleyes:
A very broad,pre judging and unfair statement tbh.

Hot potato
Neat/straight/clean/plumb lines is what i would look for.

Plastering and reveals.
Roof Tiles/slates, facia line,hip and valley rafters.
Doors/margins/skirting and architrave joints.
Bathroom/kitchen tiles.
Copper pipes rising to rads/hotpress plumbing etc.

If you can see that this applies to all the workmanship, you have a builder that takes real pride in his work and has good tradesmen working for him.
Best of luck with the build.

hotpotato

I posted elsewhere and can't find it now so apologies if anyone's reading this twice.

We are close to hiring a builder and have invited to go to a strangers house to look at his work. Is it not a complete waste of time?

Does anyone know what signs to look for in a build? It's going to be a very superficial assessment obviously. What are the things to look for?

Thanks!

MicktheMan

fclauson wrote: »

talking of xray vision - you could beg/borrow/hire/... a thermal imaging camera - this can show up lots of under the surface items and give you more of a sense of what actually got built

While I agree a thermal imaging camera is a very useful tool (I use it daily), the only issue with this is that a thermal imaging camera in inexperienced hands can lead to grossly wrong conclusions (both good and bad).

hotpotato

MicktheMan wrote: »

While I agree a thermal imaging camera is a very useful tool (I use it daily), the only issue with this is that a thermal imaging camera in inexperienced hands can lead to grossly wrong conclusions (both good and bad).

I have to say I wouldn't have a clue what to do with a thermal camera!