Hi all,
As a property manager, I have seen numerous owners suffer with shoddy workmanship and numerous maintenance items popping up just as they have their mortgage, phone, electricity bills due, their car break down and finishing up full time work for maternity leave etc....you get the idea.
So... when my partner and I purchased 'just-renovated' 2 bedroom units as investment properties 2-3 years ago, I just kept telling myself what I have previously told my clients when one thing after another happened, I was down to my last few hundred dollars & changing jobs... this stuff happens & it all happens at once, just got to deal with it and move on.
So here is a list of some of the problems we've had in 1 unit alone (gradually being duplicated by the other unit):
- faulty smoke alarm
- the plumbing under the kitchen sink was illegal (no water trap)
- the hot water system sat on a leaking metal plate in a kitchen cupboard - so water leaked all through the cupboards. To add insult to injury, the HWS waste was plumbed into the kitchen sink waste pipes and yes the connection at the sink pipes was higher than the pipe at the HWS - you don't need to be a plumber to know that water doesn't defy gravity and drain upwards!!!
- there was no external outlet for the hot water system
- when I kicked up a fuss, the plumber fixed the kitchen plumbing issues and drilled a hole through the wall for the HWS outlet, which now leaks all over the rear walkway and left the filled in hole a grey colour (yes the entire building had just been freshly painted)
- one of the windows had a crack in it
- the light cover in the main bedroom had a 20cm crack in it - only visible when the light is on (bear in mind that all electrical items were brand new)
- main bedroom airconditioner fell off the wall (yes FELL OFF THE WALL!!!) while I had a guest staying there
- concrete was used to grout the living room floor tiles rather than grout, so no movement possible, so cracked tiles all through the living room
- a slow water leak between the wall and the brand new bathroom vanity, which has slowly ruined it
- paint started wearing away in some sections on the external walls within the first year
- a bathroom towel rail and toilet roll holder that continually fall off the wall
and finally to the little beauty my brother and I discovered today...
My brother removed the existing towel rail brackets (since the rail has never sat right due to a slight bend meaning it cannot be secured) to replace it with a new one. While screwing a screw into the EXISTING wall plugs to check for fit for the new towel rail he got zapped! Some waste of space must not have thought this was worth mentioning when he put the original towel rail in. Even more interesting was the fact that no fusebox switches were tripped when my brother was zapped.
With all the ludicrous licensing regulations up here, this is what professionals produce???
Now I'm angry.
P.S. hmmm this probably belongs in the whinge thread
As a property manager, I have seen numerous owners suffer with shoddy workmanship and numerous maintenance items popping up just as they have their mortgage, phone, electricity bills due, their car break down and finishing up full time work for maternity leave etc....you get the idea.
So... when my partner and I purchased 'just-renovated' 2 bedroom units as investment properties 2-3 years ago, I just kept telling myself what I have previously told my clients when one thing after another happened, I was down to my last few hundred dollars & changing jobs... this stuff happens & it all happens at once, just got to deal with it and move on.
So here is a list of some of the problems we've had in 1 unit alone (gradually being duplicated by the other unit):
- faulty smoke alarm
- the plumbing under the kitchen sink was illegal (no water trap)
- the hot water system sat on a leaking metal plate in a kitchen cupboard - so water leaked all through the cupboards. To add insult to injury, the HWS waste was plumbed into the kitchen sink waste pipes and yes the connection at the sink pipes was higher than the pipe at the HWS - you don't need to be a plumber to know that water doesn't defy gravity and drain upwards!!!
- there was no external outlet for the hot water system
- when I kicked up a fuss, the plumber fixed the kitchen plumbing issues and drilled a hole through the wall for the HWS outlet, which now leaks all over the rear walkway and left the filled in hole a grey colour (yes the entire building had just been freshly painted)
- one of the windows had a crack in it
- the light cover in the main bedroom had a 20cm crack in it - only visible when the light is on (bear in mind that all electrical items were brand new)
- main bedroom airconditioner fell off the wall (yes FELL OFF THE WALL!!!) while I had a guest staying there
- concrete was used to grout the living room floor tiles rather than grout, so no movement possible, so cracked tiles all through the living room
- a slow water leak between the wall and the brand new bathroom vanity, which has slowly ruined it
- paint started wearing away in some sections on the external walls within the first year
- a bathroom towel rail and toilet roll holder that continually fall off the wall
and finally to the little beauty my brother and I discovered today...
My brother removed the existing towel rail brackets (since the rail has never sat right due to a slight bend meaning it cannot be secured) to replace it with a new one. While screwing a screw into the EXISTING wall plugs to check for fit for the new towel rail he got zapped! Some waste of space must not have thought this was worth mentioning when he put the original towel rail in. Even more interesting was the fact that no fusebox switches were tripped when my brother was zapped.
With all the ludicrous licensing regulations up here, this is what professionals produce???
Now I'm angry.
P.S. hmmm this probably belongs in the whinge thread