Quality issues to look out for during rebuilding

[Keithsnow 0]

Hi, 

am considering rebuilding my existing semi d. 

Getting quotes from contractors and am aware of the various quality issues as posted by members in this forum. 

Can someone guide me on the specification on the various key items for eg type and brand of external paint/ type of cement to be used/ waterproofing/ use of solid brick vs hollow bricks/ quality of wiring and any other details I need to be aware of.

 

[snoozee 98]

Get an architect. They will spec the materials to be used by the builder. 
 

if you want to deal with a builder directly, make sure you are there almost daily to check. Else things may move so fast that you can’t even see the materials being used

[Keithsnow 0]

Snoozee, will be getting an architect, but I was still thinking of getting feedback from fellow members of this forum on the specification to look out for 

For eg, cement, do we need to specify certain grade or brand to prevent water seepage and cracks?

[snoozee 98]

There is no way to prevent any cracks from appearing in the long run. You need to understand that after a building is built, it can take years to settle. So soil movement below the foundations may cause some cracks to appear. No brand of cement will prevent this. 
 

what you need to be concern with is how many years warranty your builder will warranty against leakages for wet areas. 

your architect will spec out what kind of water proofing systems, how much to upturn,etc.
 

but he/she is unlikely to go down to the detailed brand to use and instead specify the technical specs of the materials to be used. so when the contractors quote, they will quote based on what is specified in the tender documents. 
 

after the quotations are received, your architect should be interviewing the contractor and from there ask what brand of products would be used. The architect should be knowledgeable enough to know whether the product is suitable or not and if needed, request for alternative brands from the builder. 
 

normally the builders will use hollow bricks which are bigger in size as it is faster to build and hence save time as well as materials. Unless your house design calls for facing bricks, it is unlikely you will be given solid bricks. Of cos you can insist on solid bricks but it will also increase the cost since you will need more solid bricks to do up a wall of the same size as hollow bricks. 
 

electrical wiring is standard and nothing to specify. The only thing is to specify the use of Cat6 cables for the network points. Please don’t go and request for anything more than Cat6 as you will just jack up your cost without any additional advantage. 
 

paint will normally be from the 2 major brands locally and which one to chose depends on the colours you want to paint. As long as  the correct type of paint is used for the appropriate areas (Exterior paint for outside the house) then nothing much to specify. 
 

as long as your architect specify everything properly, thing should be fine since the architect is supposed to look after your interest

[petetherock 13]

It's not practical or easy to go check every brick, cable or power point.

Pay your builder a decent amount and give him / her some margin and you will be fine. Go too cheap and you will end up with cheap parts. That's what happens in real life.

As for fittings, you can save some by buying on your own during sales, and giving them to your builder - I did that for lights / toilet stuff etc. But I didn't check what type of cables and bricks he used. 

Go turn key and get someone to build to a budget unless you want to buy all the bricks and wires for your builder