My Pre Plaster Inspection was carried out by Branko from Building-Expert.net.au. I decided to switch from Houspect because I wasn't completely satisfied with the review process during the slab stage. I found that I wasn't really engaged, and it wasn't explained to me what the issues were, what fixes would be expected, etc. Essentially I paid the fee, got the report emailed to me and that was that.
With Branko, I organised to meet him on site so I could see get explanations on the spot on what the issues were. You will notice the photos are of a bit less than desirable quality. It is because his DSLR battery ran out and he had to revert to his iPhone camera. Such a bummer.
For the brickwork, it wasn't washed yet and scaffolding was still up, so he couldn't report much except to say that it looked satisfactory. I happen to think the bricks were amazing but I guess satisfactory is good enough from his standpoint. He did note that expansion joints were all correctly placed but there was still excess mortar stuck in there that needed cleaning. As the brickies were just finishing up that day, I assume this would have been done afterwards anyway as part of the cleaning and washing, but this is good to know and one more item to re-check afterwards.
For the framework, he pointed out that there were a lot of places that were not flush. A few had already been picked up by Porter Davis' inspector but as you can see from the sample photos below, there were still more. Basically, if all the woodwork is not perfectly aligned then, when the plaster goes on, it will be hard to get it to line up flush and could have a bit of a wobble in it, especially for long walls.
Misaligned top plate:
Protruding beam:
Protruding jack studs:
Strapping sticking out and not flush:
This stud is not parallel and slightly out of position, resulting in the corner sticking out
Here's a minor one. It's a reject nogging. This will be an issue if I try to screw something on and expect it to be held up firmly behind the plaster! In this photo, you can see the framers have already identified these ones were not flush. Th extra strapping that the framer's have already put on to both vertical frames is to add more thickness so it lines up with the other frames.
Here the bracing is too short. There needs to be two nails at the end but the second nail is hardly on the frame at all.
This one is just a common recommendation that Branko has with double storey homes. The extra herringbone bracing would spread the load across the ceiling joists and work to reduce floor bounce.
Site drainage and water pooling has been an issue since the slab stage. They've put extra dirt around the garage but more needs to be done. I've sent the site supervisor more supporting photo evidence and he will have a look on site to see for himself. Generally, if it is not major, he said the dirt level and grading away from the slab gets done last, just before handover...
Last but certainly not least, this is the most important pick up from Branko. This is the point near the garage entry door that is a major supporting point for all the load upstairs near bedroom 2. More wood blocks need to be placed to support the ceiling.
Obviously this stud point was rectified but as the plastering was already meant to start that day, none of the other issues were remediated. I'm not too unhappy about that because they look fairly minor and I would rather have my house finished earlier rather than holding up the plastering. Since this has passed Porter Davis' own independent inspections and stage checks then I can only assume that the plasterers will do what they need to have done to get the plaster on flush.
Overall, despite these identified issues, Branko's comment is that the Porter Davis guys have done a good job. Well done guys! Onwards to plastering and fixing!
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