A building inspector reveals ‘unbelievable’ hidden defects in several homes
- Replies 1
When you purchase a new home, you expect it to be a safe and secure haven, free from any problems.
But in a troubling revelation, a site inspector has unveiled hidden defects causing damage to potentially 'hundreds' of homes in a single housing estate.
It seems the gleam of these new homes has been hiding a more disheartening reality.
Victorian building inspector Zeher Khalil, known for his social media exposés on sub-par workmanship in new homes, disclosed significant defects in a housing estate southeast of Melbourne’s CBD.
The major culprit? Water leaks.
These flaws aren't immediately apparent. Hidden away, they slowly wreak havoc, causing subtle stains on ceilings and walls indicative of a creeping menace.
‘Balconies leaking, roof leaking, the works. And people have just moved in. Unbelievable,’ Khalil said.
In one of his posts, water leaks were evident, with balconies and roofs failing to keep the water out. Few were aware of these problems.
Yet, the sophisticated technology of a thermal camera, which can detect surface temperature changes, corroborated Khalil's findings.
Khalil lamented, 'I mean, most of the homes are leaking already, and homeowners haven’t moved in yet.’
He also noted that there was ‘water underneath the ceiling for most, maybe 90 per cent of the jobs’ in the estate.
He attributed most of these issues to a lack of a 'moisture management system' and non-compliant sealing.
‘So water does go behind the cladding, and it needs to come out, but what they’ve done: they’ve sealed it, and that’s where you get the water downstairs from,” Khalil said.
The balconies failed to drain water effectively, and the setup trapped water beneath the tiles.
‘It just goes underneath the tiles and gets trapped here. That’s why underneath these tiles is water…sitting,’ Khalil added.
‘And you can imagine how many balconies are like that here. [It’s] a complete shemozzle, guys.
You can watch the video below:
These revelations showcase the bitter side of the surging building costs in Australia. Despite families investing $80,000 in building homes, they are often left with unfinished or poorly constructed ones.
Khalil said there is now a lot of noncompliance and shortcuts being taken in most homes he inspected.
Ed Waldman, Sales and Marketing Manager of Site Inspections, shared their mission to educate homeowners and tradies about these common issues–from ‘cosmetic’ problems to more serious cases of ‘noncompliance’ involving breaches of Australian building standards.
Waldman said that leaking roofs and poor waterproofing are ‘big issues’ Site Inspections always worked on.
‘The builder is given a compliance certificate by the tradies saying the work has been done in a compliant fashion…but we are finding 90-something per cent of jobs in these two areas alone are non-compliant,’ he said.
Khalil said several issues arose when Aussies buy off-the-plan homes, which they are not allowed to get privately inspected before collecting the keys. And when they are finally in their new home, the damage is already there.
Consumer Affairs Victoria urged homebuyers to thoroughly inspect their newly bought properties and document any issues on the handover sheet.
A handover sheet is important as it outlines the property’s condition before the buyer takes possession. By carefully recording defects or problems, potential disputes regarding responsibility for repairs can be prevented.
This period, known as the ‘defects liability period’ in the contract, allows discussions with the builder to address concerns.
Khalil stated that once a builder is handed a list of defects and non-compliant items, it is 'usually' fixed immediately.
'It’s private, smaller builders that give the homeowner trouble because they’re losing money—it’s going to cost them money to fix all those items,' he said.
'And don’t forget, what [inspectors] are picking on is non-compliant items, which means what we’re picking on is the minimum Australian standards—so the bare minimum.'
In his videos, Khalil repeats this question: Where is the VBA (the Victorian Building Authority)?
He has called for them to 'step up' and thoroughly inspect homes.
However, he added that Victoria is not the only state where these poor builds go unnoticed.
Site Inspections also work in NSW and Queensland, and 'NSW is probably the worst'.
Having leaks in your home is every renter’s and homeowner’s nightmare. For one tenant, her desperate plea to have the damage repaired was met with an incredibly disappointing response from her landlord.
Read more about the story here.
Have you experienced any building defects in your new home? Share your stories with us in the comments below.
But in a troubling revelation, a site inspector has unveiled hidden defects causing damage to potentially 'hundreds' of homes in a single housing estate.
It seems the gleam of these new homes has been hiding a more disheartening reality.
Victorian building inspector Zeher Khalil, known for his social media exposés on sub-par workmanship in new homes, disclosed significant defects in a housing estate southeast of Melbourne’s CBD.
The major culprit? Water leaks.
Building inspector Zeher Khalil found ‘hundreds’ of homes with hidden defects. Credit: @siteinspections / TikTok
These flaws aren't immediately apparent. Hidden away, they slowly wreak havoc, causing subtle stains on ceilings and walls indicative of a creeping menace.
‘Balconies leaking, roof leaking, the works. And people have just moved in. Unbelievable,’ Khalil said.
In one of his posts, water leaks were evident, with balconies and roofs failing to keep the water out. Few were aware of these problems.
Yet, the sophisticated technology of a thermal camera, which can detect surface temperature changes, corroborated Khalil's findings.
Khalil lamented, 'I mean, most of the homes are leaking already, and homeowners haven’t moved in yet.’
He also noted that there was ‘water underneath the ceiling for most, maybe 90 per cent of the jobs’ in the estate.
He attributed most of these issues to a lack of a 'moisture management system' and non-compliant sealing.
‘So water does go behind the cladding, and it needs to come out, but what they’ve done: they’ve sealed it, and that’s where you get the water downstairs from,” Khalil said.
The balconies failed to drain water effectively, and the setup trapped water beneath the tiles.
‘It just goes underneath the tiles and gets trapped here. That’s why underneath these tiles is water…sitting,’ Khalil added.
‘And you can imagine how many balconies are like that here. [It’s] a complete shemozzle, guys.
You can watch the video below:
These revelations showcase the bitter side of the surging building costs in Australia. Despite families investing $80,000 in building homes, they are often left with unfinished or poorly constructed ones.
Khalil said there is now a lot of noncompliance and shortcuts being taken in most homes he inspected.
Ed Waldman, Sales and Marketing Manager of Site Inspections, shared their mission to educate homeowners and tradies about these common issues–from ‘cosmetic’ problems to more serious cases of ‘noncompliance’ involving breaches of Australian building standards.
Waldman said that leaking roofs and poor waterproofing are ‘big issues’ Site Inspections always worked on.
‘The builder is given a compliance certificate by the tradies saying the work has been done in a compliant fashion…but we are finding 90-something per cent of jobs in these two areas alone are non-compliant,’ he said.
Khalil said several issues arose when Aussies buy off-the-plan homes, which they are not allowed to get privately inspected before collecting the keys. And when they are finally in their new home, the damage is already there.
Consumer Affairs Victoria urged homebuyers to thoroughly inspect their newly bought properties and document any issues on the handover sheet.
A handover sheet is important as it outlines the property’s condition before the buyer takes possession. By carefully recording defects or problems, potential disputes regarding responsibility for repairs can be prevented.
This period, known as the ‘defects liability period’ in the contract, allows discussions with the builder to address concerns.
Khalil stated that once a builder is handed a list of defects and non-compliant items, it is 'usually' fixed immediately.
'It’s private, smaller builders that give the homeowner trouble because they’re losing money—it’s going to cost them money to fix all those items,' he said.
'And don’t forget, what [inspectors] are picking on is non-compliant items, which means what we’re picking on is the minimum Australian standards—so the bare minimum.'
In his videos, Khalil repeats this question: Where is the VBA (the Victorian Building Authority)?
He has called for them to 'step up' and thoroughly inspect homes.
However, he added that Victoria is not the only state where these poor builds go unnoticed.
Site Inspections also work in NSW and Queensland, and 'NSW is probably the worst'.
Having leaks in your home is every renter’s and homeowner’s nightmare. For one tenant, her desperate plea to have the damage repaired was met with an incredibly disappointing response from her landlord.
Read more about the story here.
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