VENT!

[LeeM]

 AGL!!

They want us to have a new digital meter installed that was booked in for today at no cost to us. Contractor gets here, and he says he can't upgrade it due to the old board (1955 build) is warped and has a crack in it, and seems to have had some water ingress at some point.

 He advised that I'll need to employ a sparky at my cost to change the board and tidy it all up, then call AGL to have them come back to rip it out and upgrade it all.

 Now really, where's the fkn logic in having all the work done, only for them to rip it all out and start again? Oh I know..."Not my job" springs to mind 🙄😡

 They've already advised that our rates will increase due to (and I quote from AGL) "Global energy supply demands", yet with the new digital meter being installed, there could be and additional rate rise, yet "We will have to determine that after the meter upgrade" 

 I spoke to an AGL rep, and she said the meter is the home owners responsibility, yet I replied that well no not really, as you claim it is your property that is not to be tampered with in any way, shape or form, so in effect it is actually your responsibility to ensure that my energy supply meter is in good condition and maintained. If it wasn't, then you shouldn't care what I do with "My meter". And how many home owners physically look in their meter boxes regularly? Not many I imagine. She couldn't answer me and has referred it to her higher ups...of course 🙄

 And before anyone says "Look around for another energy supplier", I've already done that a few times, and the initial sign up to another company is attractive, yet there's also a honeymoon period that many fall victim to, and they end up being worse off like others I know have.

 How about f..k off AGL? 🖕

 

[wilson59]

On 28/03/2023 at 16:44, LeeM said:

 

 Driving this morning on a major road in peak hour surrounded by B doubles, and this dropkick on a scooter is doing 45-50 in the right hand lane. Of course I was stuck behind this asshat, so when I had the opportunity to get passed him, he was copping an earfull!

 Well...this dickhead had his phone on the handlebars and was sending f...ing text messages! 😳😡

 I pulled up at the lights, got out of the van and ripped into him. Of course he could hardly speak English, so my sweary words probably meant nothing to him, yet he got the gist of what I was on about. I was very tempted to rip his phone off and throw it across the road! 

Wanker 

OMG . You Ok ?

[Carrera28]

20 hours ago, LeeM said:

 AGL!!

They want us to have a new digital meter installed that was booked in for today at no cost to us. Contractor gets here, and he says he can't upgrade it due to the old board (1955 build) is warped and has a crack in it, and seems to have had some water ingress at some point.

 He advised that I'll need to employ a sparky at my cost to change the board and tidy it all up, then call AGL to have them come back to rip it out and upgrade it all.

 Now really, where's the fkn logic in having all the work done, only for them to rip it all out and start again? Oh I know..."Not my job" springs to mind 🙄😡

 They've already advised that our rates will increase due to (and I quote from AGL) "Global energy supply demands", yet with the new digital meter being installed, there could be and additional rate rise, yet "We will have to determine that after the meter upgrade" 

 I spoke to an AGL rep, and she said the meter is the home owners responsibility, yet I replied that well no not really, as you claim it is your property that is not to be tampered with in any way, shape or form, so in effect it is actually your responsibility to ensure that my energy supply meter is in good condition and maintained. If it wasn't, then you shouldn't care what I do with "My meter". And how many home owners physically look in their meter boxes regularly? Not many I imagine. She couldn't answer me and has referred it to her higher ups...of course 🙄

 And before anyone says "Look around for another energy supplier", I've already done that a few times, and the initial sign up to another company is attractive, yet there's also a honeymoon period that many fall victim to, and they end up being worse off like others I know have.

 How about f..k off AGL? 🖕

 

I would get a very well written letter setting out your concerns and the falsehoods regarding ownership and responsibility for maintenance etc written by a lawyer and get your actions and efforts tracked by a lawyer on your side.

[LeeM]

16 minutes ago, wilson59 said:

OMG . You Ok ?

 I survived 😅

9 minutes ago, Carrera28 said:

I would get a very well written letter setting out your concerns and the falsehoods regarding ownership and responsibility for maintenance etc written by a lawyer and get your actions and efforts tracked by a lawyer on your side.

 If I could afford a lawyer I probably would mate.

 Reckon my...'strongly worded yet eloquent' reply to their email will get the message across at my concerns 😅

[WB997.2GTS]

Being a sparky its a little difficult to give advise without see it board could you post Post a photo of your switchboard external & internal view

[LeeM]

6 minutes ago, WB997.2GTS said:

Being a sparky its a little difficult to give advise without see it board could you post Post a photo of your switchboard external & internal view

 Will do when I get home mate. 

Cheers 👍

[wilson59]

1 hour ago, LeeM said:

 Will do when I get home mate. 

Cheers 👍

Is this it ? Looks fine 

[LeeM]

 @WB997.2GTS

Looks a bit average, so I get the contractors point

[WB997.2GTS]

Ah! the tech is correct, it does need replacing, but the good news is its an easy job as you only need to replace the panel that the meter is fixed to, the breakers at the top don't need to be touched although identifying the breakers would be handy.

Any good sparky should be able to do it in a couple of hours.

The reason for the meter change is that that they will be putting you on a time of day usage tariff and not the flat rate that you are currently on.

[LeeM]

1 hour ago, WB997.2GTS said:

 

Any good sparky should be able to do it in a couple of hours.

The reason for the meter change is that that they will be putting you on a time of day usage tariff and not the flat rate that you are currently on.

 👍

Yep, I'm aware of what kinda time it would take, yet my point being is that it will be at my cost when it's a pointless exercise having me employ a sparky to replace the board when, I imagine, their sparky will be fitting a new meter, so why doesn't he just do that whilst he's there? Maybe they don't allow their sparkys to use a jigsaw for occ health & safety reasons? 🙄😉

 After a call from them this afternoon they understand my point apparently, yet in the same breath they say it's my responsibility and cost and also can't guarantee further rate hikes to what I'm paying now. 

 I'm not a tight arse, yet I've opted out of the refit until they make it mandatory...coz I'm pig headed and have dug my heels in 😅

[WB997.2GTS]

The switchboard enclosure and everything thing within it, is the home owner’s responsibility. The home owner is providing a space for the supply authority the mount their meter. 
The meter install guys are usually contractors and are probably only licensed to do metering.

[LeeM]

7 hours ago, WB997.2GTS said:

The switchboard enclosure and everything thing within it, is the home owner’s responsibility. The home owner is providing a space for the supply authority the mount their meter. 
The meter install guys are usually contractors and are probably only licensed to do metering.

 'Their meter' being my initial point 😁

 As I told the contractor, I'm not blaming him for my whinge that he understood 100%  I very rarely put up a fight with this sorta thing, yet when it comes to big business (especially AGL), I'll be as petty as they are 😁

[Harsh]

Maybe send them a bill for 'housing' their meter on your property

[LeeM]

6 hours ago, Harsh said:

Maybe send them a bill for 'housing' their meter on your property

Now there's an idea! 🤔😁

[LeeM]

 Some builders need shooting!

Doing a load bearing wall demo and fitting some big LVL beams, and found some dodginess in the roof space.

 As we were knocking down the wall, we had about 900mm to go after 5.5m had come down, and the lounge ceiling started to drop down by 100mm real quick 😳

 Anyway, after securing that with some props, the following day the ceiling guys came in to have a look, and it was decided the whole ceiling had to come down, not just one area they were originally going to do.

 They brought that down today, only to reveal some horrendous framing that had been done 6 years ago by an alleged 'reputable building company in Adelaide' at a cost of just under $10,000. Over 6 metres, both ends of the rafters only had 2 or 3 nails into the whale board (perimeter board), with no joist hangers or anything else. The whale board I could remove without a hammer, as they had only been nailed to the solid walls with no bolts, construction adhesive or anything. Nothing is level, and I found out why, as they'd nailed the new timber joists to the old termite destroyed original joists and was basically falling apart in my hands, and just waiting to fall down on its own. Those joists were holding up 3 layers or ceiling, with one being 6 years old, a full length 6 metre x 100mm thick Bali hut type straw, then the old horse hair plasterboard 😳

 How it hasn't come down on its own I have no idea, and it's added a few grand to the clients reno which they're understandably not happy about.

 It's the worst job I've ever seen.

 Top tip if you're planning on a reno: Have a site supervisor/project manager to oversee EVERYTHING that is being done...and have extra cash in reserve for the unexpected issues that arise

 

 Oh. And this was the centre beam that spanned 6m that caused the ceiling to drop, and me nearly having a heart attack! 

 It was that badly eaten by white ants that I could put my finger through it. This was an accident just waiting to happen

 

[Joz]

Out to dinner tonight with a few blokes.

Anyhow I saw some pictures of last seasons Block Houses. You know the Ch9 show.

How the fuch any of these get past by VBA here is beyond belief. Apparently a bulldozer pulled up the power feeding the house which was only inches below the surface for one thing but the list goes on and on. From what I can gather Danny may not buy anymore and pull out of the bidding. Not sure if (doubt) they’ll achieve any of these hefty prices without him?

[tomo]

5 hours ago, LeeM said:

 Some builders need shooting!

Doing a load bearing wall demo and fitting some big LVL beams, and found some dodginess in the roof space.

 As we were knocking down the wall, we had about 900mm to go after 5.5m had come down, and the lounge ceiling started to drop down by 100mm real quick 😳

 Anyway, after securing that with some props, the following day the ceiling guys came in to have a look, and it was decided the whole ceiling had to come down, not just one area they were originally going to do.

 They brought that down today, only to reveal some horrendous framing that had been done 6 years ago by an alleged 'reputable building company in Adelaide' at a cost of just under $10,000. Over 6 metres, both ends of the rafters only had 2 or 3 nails into the whale board (perimeter board), with no joist hangers or anything else. The whale board I could remove without a hammer, as they had only been nailed to the solid walls with no bolts, construction adhesive or anything. Nothing is level, and I found out why, as they'd nailed the new timber joists to the old termite destroyed original joists and was basically falling apart in my hands, and just waiting to fall down on its own. Those joists were holding up 3 layers or ceiling, with one being 6 years old, a full length 6 metre x 100mm thick Bali hut type straw, then the old horse hair plasterboard 😳

 How it hasn't come down on its own I have no idea, and it's added a few grand to the clients reno which they're understandably not happy about.

 It's the worst job I've ever seen.

 Top tip if you're planning on a reno: Have a site supervisor/project manager to oversee EVERYTHING that is being done...and have extra cash in reserve for the unexpected issues that arise

 

 Oh. And this was the centre beam that spanned 6m that caused the ceiling to drop, and me nearly having a heart attack! 

 It was that badly eaten by white ants that I could put my finger through it. This was an accident just waiting to happen

 

Geezzus you are lucky the whole lot did not come down on your heads, Must have been blessed till the truth came out. 😉

[sjm]

I work on new steel frame homes (Weeks). No termites but early builds, 15-20 years ago, rusted from the bottom up. The cure was discourse, the 150 mm wide plastic, under the frame(between slab and frame)

[tomo]

30 minutes ago, sjm said:

I work on new steel frame homes (Weeks). No termites but early builds, 15-20 years ago, rusted from the bottom up. The cure was discourse, the 150 mm wide plastic, under the frame(between slab and frame)

Looking at a couple steel frame builds the other day, No plastic under the steel straight on the Cony. 😉

[sjm]

Mmm, that's a worry. Probably not Supalock that Weeks patented.

Might save the builder a few bucks though😳

[tomo]

1 hour ago, sjm said:

Mmm, that's a worry. Probably not Supalock that Weeks patented.

Might save the builder a few bucks though😳

I remember back when I was still in the building game the rule of thumb was a 28 day cure time for all the nasties to leave the cony before any work was continued, But these days they seem to pour the slab one week and stand the steel frame the next ?

[LeeM]

1 hour ago, tomo said:

Looking at a couple steel frame builds the other day, No plastic under the steel straight on the Cony. 😉

Oh that's a quality builder there!

I've seen it myself, and when I pointed it out to the site supervisor, he just shrugged his shoulders and said "Noone will see it" 😳 Happens too often with timber frames too

 

@sjm  I'll be using steel framing in this job in the near future with their big bedroom extension remodelling, as that's leaking like a sieve, the timber frame is starting to rot (no discourse) and it's 200mm out of square. I've just bought the metal framing crimpers which are brilliant and save on buying screws! 😅 Sadly I think that'll be on hold for a while due to the cost blow-out with this ceiling thing. 

@tomo And yes, as I said to the home owner, the ceiling was definitely coming down on its own if we didn't take action immediately. 

 The chippy mates I had do the structural work are the fussiest blokes around, and asked me if they could strengthen the roof support, as that was just one...ONE 90x90 post that had been cut with what was probably a bread knife and a shitload of nails, and fitted on an angle. Coupla whacks with a hammer and it was out 🙄

 We also added another LVL to form a T piece, as the engineers drawings relied on just the wall the 2 main LVL's was sitting on, yet once I removed the architraves, the supporting wall just fell apart and half the bricks were like talcum powder. We couldn't leave like that. I made the call to add the 3rd LVL to sit on 2 other walls at no extra cost to the client and the boys did it for no extra charge. 

 I'm not a builder and don't know the building code, yet just by looking at this house and the previous 'repairs', anyone could see how dodgy it was done, so I'm calling the 'reputable' and very well known company here in Adelaide today to see what their building work warranty time frame is to see if the home owner can make any claims. 

 

[LeeM]

3 hours ago, sjm said:

I work on new steel frame homes (Weeks). No termites but early builds, 15-20 years ago, rusted from the bottom up. The cure was discourse, the 150 mm wide plastic, under the frame(between slab and frame)

 I did some fencing coupla weeks ago on the Brighton Esplanade which was installed around 8 years ago. It started to fall over, so I had to pull it apart and install some 50mm posts in between the new fence posts (old ones were cemented in the plinth) 

 Doing rhe other 25-30 metres of it soon.

I wonder why it had fallen apart? 🤔

 

 

[sjm]

Looks like your busy Lee. You do good work so should not be short of work.

[LeeM]

3 minutes ago, sjm said:

Looks like your busy Lee. You do good work so should not be short of work.

Ta mate. I do my best. Fencing was a first for me yet enjoyed it, just not the hypothermia working on the beach front. That sucked! 😅

Steady work, though that's by choice to not bust my arse every day 👍😁

16 hours ago, Joz said:

Out to dinner tonight with a few blokes.

Anyhow I saw some pictures of last seasons Block Houses. You know the Ch9 show.

 

 I've read before that some of the past houses have skirted or failed building codes.

 You only have to go on social media to read all the comments from builders and contractors who have worked on that show, to know a lot of the finish work is just a smoke screen for what lies beneath.