Celtic Tiger Cowboy Builders

Aircraft Freak · 25-01-2015 04:36PM

Ghost Buster wrote: »

My sister looked at a house in Galway a few years back and on a whim decided to plug in her phone to charge whilst viewing the house. The charger wouldnt go into the socket. On further investigation she discovered that most of the plug sockets were glued to the walls with no actual electric behind them!:eek:

That sounds like an urban legand, I have heard that one before.

Outkast_IRE · 25-01-2015 04:40PM

Honestly the only solution i see is a system where you have a local authority or national body that comes at various phases of house builds and signs off each phase before the next can begin. I think the UK & some states in the US have this system.

Aircraft Freak · 25-01-2015 04:42PM

Jawgap wrote: »

All that self-regulation for Building Reg approval is going to bite big time in the next 5 years or so........

That's something the Brits have done recently, they have de-regulated the building industry and started affordable housing schemes, Cameron was eyeballing Bertie's performance and copying it so it seems.

arayess · 25-01-2015 04:45PM

only yesterday I move a pipe in the attic that wasn't attached to the fan in the shower .
the fan was just sucking water vapour into the insulation

only found it by chance a month ago while i was in far end of the attic.
house built 15 years , mentioned it to my neighbors and each and everyone of them found the same problem.

cnuts.

Aircraft Freak · 25-01-2015 04:48PM

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Honestly the only solution i see is a system where you have a local authority or national body that comes at various phases of house builds and signs off each phase before the next can begin. I think the UK & some states in the US have this system.

70's Ireland was like that.

Baxtardo · 25-01-2015 04:51PM

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Honestly the only solution i see is a system where you have a local authority or national body that comes at various phases of house builds and signs off each phase before the next can begin. I think the UK & some states in the US have this system.

That would put liability on the council / local authority. Instead, recent regs (SI9) have further removed government bodies from any sort of involvement or liability in building construction. This was introduced in the wake of the Priory Hall mess. Architects / quants / engineers / assigned certifiers now have the onus of ensuring adherence of construction to building standards, contractors & builders are still unregulated. Certifiers open to crazy liability for work they do not undertake and cannot fully inspect.

Aircraft Freak · 25-01-2015 04:56PM

arayess wrote: »

only yesterday I move a pipe in the attic that wasn't attached to the fan in the shower .
the fan was just sucking water vapour into the insulation

only found it by chance a month ago while i was in far end of the attic.
house built 15 years , mentioned it to my neighbors and each and everyone of them found the same problem.

cnuts.

That's a common one, same with mine, 2001 build. Thank god I can't hear my neighbours talking and for the most part, the house is solid, never had any settling cracks, I think most settling cracks are a result of building on foundations that haven't cured long enough.

I watched the builders build our house, the foundations were down for a week in the summer before they started building.

They put the finishing plaster on my friends house in January when it was frosty, he thinks that's why when summer came and there was a bit of expansion, it cracked and fell off.

Senna · 25-01-2015 04:56PM

Someone was telling me, no house in Ireland should have smooth plaster, pebble dash or modern equivalent is much better for our weather. Can't remember that last house I seen built without smooth plaster.

Ghost Buster · 25-01-2015 05:08PM

Aircraft Freak wrote: »

That sounds like an urban legand, I have heard that one before.

I saw it myself cos they bought the house after getting this rectified!" Perhaps it was a legend but the 'Developer' who built this house made it a reality!

Aircraft Freak · 25-01-2015 05:09PM

Senna wrote: »

Someone was telling me, no house in Ireland should have smooth plaster, pebble dash or modern equivalent is much better for our weather. Can't remember that last house I seen built without smooth plaster.

There's an estate across the road from me with smooth plaster, no dashing built in 2005, prices started at €440,000 for a 960 square foot 3 bed semi. €520,000 for the 4 bed semi, guess what? The builder went bust, the estate has been sold to a vulture enterprise from the states, don't know what the craic is with the mortgages, some got sub-prime and others went to EBS.

Aircraft Freak · 25-01-2015 05:10PM

Ghost Buster wrote: »

I saw it myself cos they bought the house after getting this rectified!" Perhaps it was a legend but the 'Developer' who built this house made it a reality!

Holy fcuk!!

Letree · 25-01-2015 05:19PM

Some of the developers building estates back then put up some shoddy houses. People who did self build themselves and only hired people they knew and trusted would have ended up with decent houses. But even in terms of the estates we have to remember this is ireland, where it rains constantly and plaster gets wet, it dries, gets wet and dries, is subject to frost, sunshine etc. these forces have an effect over the years.

foxy farmer · 25-01-2015 05:47PM

Lad on the labour saving and general gunthering thread had a leak and when he pulled of the side off the bath there was a sod of turf keeping up the waste pipes. That and what looked like a can of expanding foam explosion under the bath.
I've seen some quarry things myself.
Electric sockets with 2 feet of cable shoved up the wall but not connected to anything.
Tiles put on floors without sealing the floors. 6 years later the whole floor pops up.
Houses built on ground that was filled in the previous 5 years.
Now the regulations come in when the damage is done.
Mandatory inspections would have stopped a lot of the scutting.

FalconGirl · 25-01-2015 06:02PM

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Honestly the only solution i see is a system where you have a local authority or national body that comes at various phases of house builds and signs off each phase before the next can begin. I think the UK & some states in the US have this system.

Ah yeah, but the profits will get smaller if they have to do things right. Because of that it will never happen. That is the crux of the issue. Governments, regulators, developers all with vested interests. Property is a huge money-spinner for many in Ireland when it shouldn't be. Just look at the craziness of the housing situation at the moment. All engineered no doubt by few.

25-01-2015 06:23PM

Streetwalker wrote: »

Funny enough some of the best built houses from the celtic tiger era are council housing units. They had a guy on site nearly every day checking up that every T was crossed and every I was dotted. Their inspectors wouldn't sign off on anything at all unless it had passed their quality controls. That said they couldn't check everything but not much got passed them compared to private developments.

They checked tradesmen qualifications also good luck with that on a private site.

Councils generally had a responsibility to the future tenants and so were liable should anything happen due to shoddy construction and also future maintenance bills are much smaller if the job is done properly the first time.

It was in the councils best interests to get the job right first time, unlike the CT "developers" who just grabbed the money and ran.

sozbox · 25-01-2015 06:58PM

FalconGirl wrote: »

Mold on the window sills and walls during the winter, low water pressure, Cracks in the walls and the wind comes through the plug sockets just a few problems. All this in a modern apartment built in 2005! And the developer is still one of a few building away. The neighbours have the same problems.

Cork development by any chance?

FalconGirl · 25-01-2015 07:07PM

sozbox wrote: »

Cork development by any chance?

No Dublin 15, Ashtown.

sozbox · 25-01-2015 07:14PM

FalconGirl wrote: »

No Dublin 15, Ashtown.

You described my apartment perfectly, rented thank fook!

Jhcx · 25-01-2015 07:15PM

Ive notice any new houses going up seem to be much slower and workers are actually staying right into the dark working. here on sundays, rain and wind. Is there actually a change in builders since they cowboys are gone?

Kevwoody · 25-01-2015 07:15PM

sozbox wrote: »

You described my apartment perfectly, rented thank fook!

I'd say she could be describing anywhere in the country going by some of the stories here

mad m · 25-01-2015 07:20PM

Worked on sites from 1993 till 2002. The house I'd never buy was the show house,on any site I was on,by God they were thrown together so quickly for viewings, never seen a house spring more leaks than the titanic.

sozbox · 25-01-2015 07:20PM

Kevwoody wrote: »

I'd say she could be describing anywhere in the country going by some of the stories here

Terrifying. I'm looking to buy this year and stories like these keep me up at night.

mad m · 25-01-2015 07:23PM

Jhcx wrote: »

Ive notice any new houses going up seem to be much slower and workers are actually staying right into the dark working. here on sundays, rain and wind. Is there actually a change in builders since they cowboys are gone?

Only time will tell....

25-01-2015 07:26PM

sozbox wrote: »

Terrifying. I'm looking to buy this year and stories like these keep me up at night.

Buy an ex-council house, at least you can be sure that it was constructed properly. The location may be a bit of a downer though.

Aircraft Freak · 25-01-2015 07:27PM

mad m wrote: »

Worked on sites from 1993 till 2002. The house I'd never buy was the show house,on any site I was on,by God they were thrown together so quickly for viewings, never seen a house spring more leaks than the titanic.

Have to say my house is solid, 2001, never saw settling cracks that people talk about. Bought in a nice area too, some if the shíte bought around the area is atrocious.

mad m · 25-01-2015 07:28PM

Actually can honestly say one builder I worked for, Dwyer/Nolan. He built houses in the grounds of Loretto covent up in rathfarmham. He took ages to build a house. After the house was plastered he would wait weeks for plaster to dry out before 2/3rd carpentry fix. Then on top of that he would let plaster dry out for weeks before painter went in to paint as his reasoning was to let the plaster show up its fine cracks so he didn't have to drop back and snag it at a later date.

mad m · 25-01-2015 07:29PM

Aircraft Freak wrote: »

Have to say my house is solid, 2001, never saw settling cracks that people talk about. Bought in a nice area too, some if the shíte bought around the area is atrocious.

You got lucky....

Aircraft Freak · 25-01-2015 07:29PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Buy an ex-council house, at least you can be sure that it was constructed properly. The location may be a bit of a downer though.

Yeah that seems to be the experience from people I talk to, every cùnt ratting each other out and their porkie pies are out when someone gets a new car.

FalconGirl · 25-01-2015 07:29PM

sozbox wrote: »

You described my apartment perfectly, rented thank fook!

Mine is rented too and the only reason I am still there is because the location is good and the rental price is probably one of the cheapest around Dublin at the moment. I feel really sorry for the neighbours that have actually bought them as these issues are only arising after 10 years. I can only imagine them in 40 years time!

mad m · 25-01-2015 07:34PM

It's gas just thought there, the site I worked on for over 8 years I bought my first house. Seen it being built as I worked on the site, had a word in the other trades ears as to do a good job etc. Fecking unreal when plumber had to fill heating system, had not one or two leaks but 10!!!

Celtic Tiger Cowboy Builders

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