Dodgy previous owners

[Marc]

We are having parts of our house renovated and the builders have found all manner of dodgy work done by the previous owners.

We have found out that the previous owner of our house was a handyman like the ones Mitre 10 trains up in their shop.

In the ad where Mitre 10 shows a 'man's man' next to the lanky unsure guy - I am the lanky unsure guy - but not bloody unsure in hiring professionals to do the work instead of getting some spotty 18 year-old in a hardware super-mart to show me how to be a 'man's-man'.

The latest is that the previous owner installed halogen lamps with no heat protection shields right next to pink bats which I am told by the sparky is asking for a fire.

Nice.

Point of this rant?

If you buy a house double check everything before you buy especially if the previous owner was a handy-man.

[Maccachic]

It is covered for by the S and P - they guarentee that anywork commissioned by them meets the building code. Prob not worth chasing for something like this.

[Marc]

Hello no - its not worth the effort in NZ. If overseas I would see if I could sue the last owner as he has cost us a fair wad of cash so far.

From memory we got a builders report before we brought but some things like live wires under the house just handing from the floor is something you don't think of I guess.

[TheLiberalLeft]

"You don't wanna be this type"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HIZJotF-4Y

Marc, I suggest you re-watch the ad. Everything the do'ers are doing is minor, non-structural and easy. You can be sure Mitre10 made sure of that.

[Marc]

Yep - its the people that think they can extend this to sparky or plumping tasks and ignore the law and common sense. Some people are stupid enough to think that after watching the ad.

[BerkeleyCapital]

IT seems that the building report missed some significant issues. I would be looking into that. Exposed halogens butting up against batts is a serious fire hazard and against the law as far as I'm aware. Its possible you could look to the builder who did the report to cover the costs o rectification.

[Wayne]

for any competant building inspection I would think that certain things would trigger a closer look - and halogens would be one of them (actually any recessed light). It may be hard for a builder to know what is legal (or sensible) for all trades. The downlights and halogens I have installed can legally (and correctly) have batts butt up to them but how would the average builder know that?

[hawkeye]

Maybe it is the batts installer at fault? The light may have been legal/safe but the DIY man went right over the top of them with the batts.

[klauster]

Safety is homeowner's job

NZ home owners have an obsession with halogen lights, and it’s home owner’s job to meet fire safety.
Marc, if you can’t do that hire somebody as you did – but regarding your building inspector – you made sure you received what you paid for.
Pointing to Mega10 DIY sessions doesn’t resolve your problem, thought.

And by the way I’ve seen criss-cross wiring, leaking house problems because of faults by design, bad workmanship, etc everything done by registered tradesmen. I would expect who pays the bill takes responsibilities. Too much for you – pass it on to somebody else, I buy your house and fix it.

[Wayne]

too much for you – pass it on to somebody else, i buy your house and fix it.

lol .............

[Learning]

We had a good one, the bathroom had been done up just before we bought it. Everything was nice for the first 6 months then the tenant noticed the carpet was wet on the other side of the wall. Plumber cut a hole in the wall to find the leak and found that the whole bathroom had been plumbed up using 2 different sized pipes that didn't fit together. They just siliconed the joints!

[Wayne]

They just siliconed the joints!

Oh My God - what a hack. The person who did that should be shot and their extate charged for time and bullet.

[Maccachic]

Do you know how many people pull out silicon to fix things esp in areas that are exposed to UV light, for some reason its seems to be part of NZ DIY guide - if its broken pull out the silicon (the miracle cure).