Owners find homes are cracking under pressure

[hzxu]

I just found the article and feel nervous, I want to confirm:

1. does it only affect(or mostly) houses built during 2009? My friend told me there used to be 45000 money back at that moment so people were rushing and the quality was not good.

2. is there any way to complain, either to builder or government?

Thanks!

Source:

http://theage.domain.com.au/home-owning-tips/owners-find-homes-are-cracking-under-pressure-20111221-1p5or.html

Owners find homes are cracking under pressure
Adam Carey
December 22, 2011

Cracks in a house at Brookfield [near Melton]. Up to a thousand western suburbs homes have experienced cracking which is believed to be as a result of heavy rains following the long years of drought.

Jayme Mylan shows a crack inside her Brookfield house.

HEAVY rainfall after a decade of drought is thought to have caused cracking in the walls of hundreds of new homes in Melbourne's west, sparking calls for an overhaul of building standards from within the housing industry.

The Housing Industry Association has estimated that more than 1000 houses could be damaged due to a problem called ''slab heave'' - an upward movement in the concrete slab foundation that creates unsightly cracks in the plaster of a house's internal walls.

The association says the problem has been caused by unforeseen movements in the soil after unusually heavy drought-breaking rains. It says the homes have all been built according to Australian standards and the Building Code.
.....

 

[lizzie]

There probably needs to be a rethink of how we build our homes ... but honestly ... complain to mother nature.

Movement is what happens when you build on clay and there is drought and rain.

 

[Aaron_C]

The mass builders like Metricon et al build crap homes because they build it for cheap prices. I am not surprised that they crack. But does the actual structure fall down? There is a big difference between walls cracking due to earth shifting, and structural defects caused by slack workmanship. You can't always blame others for mother nature.

 

[chb]

My home had a massive crack in the join between the tiles and skirting after about 6 months(built last year). Could almost fit a finger in the gap.

Houses built in Melbourne are ***** to put it simply. Can't comment on the other ones in the eastern states. Perth is not bad, at least it's solid brick all the way through.

I think I heard they don't use brick here because of earthquakes or movements? Sounds like a beat up to use a cheaper option and still charge the same amount(my naive mind commenting, yes I hate melb builders/houses)

 

[Deltaberry]

Houses built in Melbourne are ***** to put it simply. Can't comment on the other ones in the eastern states. Perth is not bad, at least it's solid brick all the way through.

The houses built 150 years ago seem to have lasted. I guess that's why they're called period homes, while the ones built only as recent as 2 years ago are already falling apart.

 

[nww]

Wasn't this on the Tv a week ago, they seem to be blaming the waffle
Styrofoam slab construction they have been using which is not suitable for the area ???

 

[marg4000]

It is all dependent on the soil type.

We have houses in our area that are 30 years old and move with the amount of ground moisture - sometimes after a dry spell there are cracks you can put a finger in, then after substantial rain they close up.

Not ours, thankfully.
Marg

 

[wylie]

Queenslanders are very forgiving of movement in the soil. Not being on a slab but simply having stumps means that the slight movement is absorbed by the timber structure. Might have to fill the VJ if you are a "gap filler" though, but no plaster to crack.

I wonder why the period homes don't crack. I'm thinking a lot of the older Sydney and Melbourne period homes are not on slab but have suspended timber floors on piers which, like queenslanders, are more flexible?

 

[Aaron_C]

It might be because of the double brick construction. Interior walls made of brick rather than crappy plasterboard, exterior brick walls rendered. Although the only problem I've found with my terrace houses is the cast iron roofs always seem to leak and they can be very dark due to their narrowness.