More issues with the wind

Last night was another windy and sleepless night thanks to the amount of holes that seem to be present in our new Porter Davis home. The following video in the master bedroom shows the noise of both wind coming through our sealed double glazed windows and also the noise of the roof tiles clattering and moving in the wind;

The windows have all recently been serviced as this has been an ongoing issue, but it seems the last attempt was also unsuccessful at correctly sealing the windows - hence the whistling in the wind. Makes me wonder why I ever bothered upgrading to double glazing when the wind is just able to sidestep the opening pane and sneak round the side and past the seal. These are A&L windows and after not being able to seal them on 5 service attempts, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

What with the constant whistling and what feels like the entire roof lifting and falling at times (and making considerable banging noises in the process - see around 3:00-4:00mins in the video) getting any sleep last night was not a possibility - I was more concerned about the roof coming off. Not to mention the front door still whistles like a kettle due to the large gap underneath it.

How this home ever complied to the 6* energy rating the paperwork states I'll never know. Perhaps I should get an independent tester in and see how it fares.

6 weeks in and still plagued with problems

While happy to finally be moved in, we're finding more and more issues with the house on a daily basis.

Leaking Ceiling
We had someone in on Saturday to remove brickwork from the front of the house and replace some torn DPC as we had water leaking through the ceiling of the home theatre room over the last few weeks;

Leaking Door
We've also discovered the laundry door lets the rain in and has a tendency to flood the floor of the laundry and soak into the laminate floor of the galley;

Leaking Windows
Our A&L double glazed windows whistle in the wind. A&L have been out 4 times to try and fix these - which we have in multiple rooms, but have so far been unable to resolve the problem;

Leaking Front Door
The front door was replaced not long after moving in as the stain on the door wasn't right, but the replacement door was damaged and so for the last 4 weeks we've had to put up with a front door that also whistles in the wind;

This front door has been replaced again today, so hopefully the replacement stops the whistling.

Clattering Eaves
The eaves clatter around in the wind. Makes sleeping a nightmare.

Wind In The Walls
And the one I worry about most is the excess of wind in the internal walls. The following video is taken in the home theatre on an internal wall at least 10ft from an external wall. We have brick, sisalation, external wall insulation, internal wall insulation, stud, noggin and double glazed windows all between the external and this socket on the wall, yet still a high volume of cold powerful wind from the outside is able to blow directly in to the room from the speaker cable plates. It's almost like we have no protection from the wind at all. Is this really what new houses are supposed to be like? How does this in any way conform to 6 star energy rating if the house leaks air like a sieve;

So much for all the problems ending once we moved in :(

Aggregate sealing

Aggregate was sealed today after being cut yesterday and having a few days to dry since being poured. Really happy with how it looks.

Seal going on;

Sealing complete;

Aggregate wash down

Another long day at the house with the concreters today.

Before the wash down;

During the wash;

Finished product;

Aggregate will get cut ground and cut tomorrow (expansion joints) and will be sealed on Friday (weather allowing).

Really happy with how it's turned out :)

Aggregate going in

A full day today with the concreters on site to pour the aggregate for the driveway and part of the pathing around the side and back of the house (rest of the pathing on the other side of the house will go in once the neighbours garage has been built on the boundary line, so it doesn't get damaged during their build).

Meshing;

Concrete;

Retarder;

Really happy with how it turned out. Can't believe how smooth the finish was once complete.

Another early start tomorrow for the wash off. Just hope that no one steps in it or lets their dog on it before it has time to dry. Fingers crossed.

Driveway and paths

Preparation work for the driveway and paths started last week, and the concrete should be poured next week (weather allowing). 

The garden taps were moved to the right as they were blocking access to the garage.

Settlement

Settlement finally happened on the 11th April. We're happy that the house was 99.99% of the way there and that the remaining items are things that could be done post handover (paint touch ups etc).

Glad to get to the end of the build, but still a long way to go before we can call it home.

PCI Inspection

Nearly there and looking good.

PCI inspection today. It was a long 5hr inspection with both the independent inspector and the site supervisor and lots of small faults were identified as expected (paintwork, marks etc) and a few larger ones also (bathroom ceiling not level, mortar still requires work and lower landing of stairs not straight, but we're both very happy with how looks now.

Need to see what can be done about the bigger issues and how long they'll take to resolve, but the finish line is definitely in sight.

We've been so disappointed about this build for such a long time, that it's nice to now finally be excited to see how it's looking and how it's really all come together at the end.

And here's the photo's from today (only a couple as not a lot has changed from before).
Excuse the tape - that's to mark all the faults that have been identified;

Pre PCI check

First time on site today since Nov and a chance for a quick look at the house before the PCI inspection which is scheduled for next month.

External mortar issues are being rectified and from what I can see so far, it's heading in the right direction, but the weather over the last week has delayed things a little, so it's not finished just yet. Fairly happy with how it looks, but will hold reservation until it's completed. Here's a sneak peak at one section that's been worked on;

Inside is where it's really been happening over the last 2 months. Most rooms now appear complete with just a few things that need doing before we get to PCI. Here's the photos;

As always there was a few issues, such as all the internal handles being wrong, unexplained cables coming out of walls and damage here and there, but these are minor and easy to fix.

Coming along nicely. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted before the PCI inspection.