Dents in Brand New Home Engineered Floor - Is This Considered a Defect?

GourmetFoodie on 19/04/2021 - 20:23

Hi all,

Am building a brand new house now in VIC and the builder prematurely (in my opinion) lifted the floor protective covering. Now the engineered wooden floor has a bunch of bad dents across various locations thanks to tradies walking through and still doing work.

We will be inspecting for defects across the whole property in a few weeks.

Are these wooden floor dents considered defects and things the builder will have to fix prior to handover? I am totally stressed about it as I feel the builder is going to fight me and try to argue they are not.

I can't find anything in the Victorian Building Authoring handbook about "Guide to Standards and Tolerances"
https://www.vba.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/11149…

All comments appreciated.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • chuneeperformance on 19/04/2021 - 20:26

    this will be covered prior to handover - inform them this. they will fix this. along with paint but at a certain distance allowed for "defects" . its the norm

    • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 07:45
      +1

      Ok, definitely sounds like it will be a battle because I know my builder will argue you can’t see from a distance or some BS! But you can…

  • SF3 on 19/04/2021 - 20:35
    +2

    IMO not defects, but they damaged it, so they ought to fix it.

    Like if your builder (Or car dealership) dented your car…

    • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 07:46

      Yes I believe damage as well….it’ll be a fight.

      • Caped Baldy on 20/04/2021 - 09:59

        Good luck. I ended up with a deep gash in the kitchen floorboards and the tradies were just blaming each other and now we're living with it.

  • iNeed2Pee on 19/04/2021 - 20:56
    +2

    Photos?

    • SF3 on 19/04/2021 - 21:25

      MSPaint is the standard around here.

    • bloom on 19/04/2021 - 21:31
      +16

      Look like this:

                   o 

                                  x
      • Krankite on 20/04/2021 - 10:57

        Ok so from what I can see the x is pretty typical from a dropped tool, you probably will have to just accept this as wear and tear since it would likely occur in your first year anyway. They've just saved you and your partner an argument over who damaged the floor first.

        The round hole is a completely different situation they have stuffed up and tried to drill into the wrong place in you floor, they should fix this. Push for a replacement board.

    • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 07:47

      I don’t know if I have any without other identifying features. Need to be careful, will have a look when I get time but it’s pretty standard denting.

  • godofpizza on 19/04/2021 - 21:56

    have you spoken to your site supervisor about this?

    • iNeed2Pee on 19/04/2021 - 22:13

      Supervisor O'boyle??

    • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 07:48

      Site supervisor is the Builder. It’s a custom build with a small end guy.

      • WatchNerd on 20/04/2021 - 10:08
        +1

        He must work out.

  • thatonethere on 19/04/2021 - 22:20
    +3

    Ah yes the age old debate whether you cover the fresh engineered floor or uncover it totally in the final stages of build.

    1. Cover it and magically all trades assume they can drop anything they want onto it (which still penetrates and dents the floor but you don't realise until you uncover but now you don't know which trade did it)

    2. Uncover it totally so it is very obvious to all trades that it is a delicate floor and it will be obvious it they dent it.

    Pros and cons to both approaches.

    • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 07:50

      Yes I hate engineered floors and knew I’d live to regret the softness but you can’t beat the light colour options. Hardwoods are just so dark.

      • JimB on 20/04/2021 - 11:38

        Engineered flooring is not a timber but a type of of timber flooring.

        Most Engineered flooring is Oak but you can Engineered flooring in Hardwood.

        Blackbutt is a Hardwood but light in colour compared to spotted gum?

        What timber is your Engineered flooring?

        So some photos but at the end of the day the builder should repair/replace the board.. it's not so easy to repair.

      • thatonethere on 20/04/2021 - 14:19

        Don't worry - hardwood dents as well.

        • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 19:24

          Hardwoods you can sand back many many times. With my floors, maximum 2, mayyyybe 3 times as it’s just veneer.

    • Nugs on 20/04/2021 - 08:06

      Why not install last-ish?
      You don't wash a car from the bottom up
      .

      • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 11:32

        Yes my builder has not done things the way I would have….unfortunately you can’t tell him how to do his job. Very frustrating. Next time I’d put into the contract the order I wanted things done if I could.

      • JimB on 20/04/2021 - 11:40

        Most likely because the owner/builder wants to install skirting over the timber flooring. This is the better way but it can get damaged.

  • stewy on 19/04/2021 - 22:46
    +4

    Whilst not being 100% with Vic's rules, my take is that if the damage is enough that it will affect the longevity of the product you should be fine to push the builder to rectify.

    If the damage is purely cosmetic then at the very least it will need to be visible from a normal viewing position and I'd say that will be standing up with only natural light. There may also be a size tolerance, you'd have to look right through the standards and tolerances to see if there is something similar.

    Also try seeing the the VBA has an info line, they may be able to give you some good pointers on what is and isn't considered acceptable.

    Lastly, do consider getting a building inspector to do the practical completion inspection with you. I had a relative who is an inspector look over my new builds, they found some things which I had missed.

    • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 07:44

      Thanks mate, very helpful advice. I will definitely look into the building inspector.

    • iampoor on 20/04/2021 - 10:48

      Not just natural light, it can be a diffused light source (i.e ceiling light). Can't be a torch shined on the spot, also at a standing viewing distance of 1.5m I think (check the standards and tolerances)

      The engineered floorboards were selected and extra paid for a reason - aesthetics. If it is bad, get them to fix it but also be prepared to let some smaller things slide. You can't win them all.

      With the inspector, do be aware that they will inspect for adherence to building standards, not for what you paid. They will check to see if any dips/falls of the floor are within tolerance, not whether the builder has installed the flooring you have specified.

      Also note that they are human and will pick up most things but something can still be missed, in my case the internal wall brackets were nailed hard to the trusses which resulted in the center portion of the roof lifting up in winter..

      • GourmetFoodie on 20/04/2021 - 11:34

        Thanks for the additional info.

        Jesus… that’s a roof problem you don’t want to have.

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