snagger for new house - recommendations?

hunnymonster

Hi, I'm in the process of buying a new house in Cork and I've just heard that the builders are nearly ready for the snag list to be done.

I had intended using homesnag.ie as I've heard good things about them but they can't do it for a month which is time I don't have.

Could anyone recommend someone for me?

Illkillya

What is a snag/snagger?

hunnymonster

It's someone (a professional surveyor, architect, engineer or similar) who can look over a new house and point out any problems before you pay the builder the final installment.

Judes

Why not go in with a friend some day - and take it room by room - armed with notebooks - do a checklist and start with some of the following, I hope I don't sound too obvious:-

Wall sockets correctly fitted and working.
Skirting board, you wouldn't believe how often this isn't finished.
Door saddles - see if you can walk between rooms barefoot, without hurting your feet - I know that sounds funny but again, some builders don't finish these off very well and it can cause a problem later.
Ensure all doors can open/close easily. Make sure door handles have been correctly fitted and that keys fit and turn in the key hole.
Look out for cracks in plastering, if the building has gone up quickly, they will appear fairly soon.
Check out fittings for lights etc. i.e. wiring completed so watch out for wires that seem to be going nowhere/tied up.
Watch out for ""slopes" - I've seen shower accessories/tiles fitted so crooked that the person originally fitting must have been drunk whilst doing it. Sloping finishes can cause later problems if trying to add your own accessories i.e. shower doors/cabinets/shelving.
Ensure if you have fitted kitchen/wardrobes etc. that all doors/drawers open and close easily.
Check windows on a rainy day.
Stand outside and check guttering and shores again when raining.
If carpet fitted or floor tiles ensure that it goes to the wall/skirting board, run your finger along to see that it fits correctly.
If you have floor boards, then look around radiator areas - i.e. make sure that they've allowed enough space around the radiator pipes as floorboards do expand a bit as they settle and if the hole isn't big enough they can press the radiator pipes which can cause problems later - or on the other hand the holes cut out of the floor boards could be too big and you are left with something like the Gap of Dunloe. If floorboards are fitted very tightly to skirting board with no expansion space, this could again cause floorboards to rise later.
Don't forget to run showers/taps/flush toilets a few times - to check water pressure and that nothing is blocked anywhere (once had a toilet flood in a brand new office block - day one - on investigation there were lumps of cement and a pair of boxer shorts - blocking the pipe).
And if you have a chimney, put your hand up and feel around for blockages. If you have a garden make sure the builders have cleared all their rubbish/materials etc. and not used it as a dumping ground.

I know I've rambled a bit here - but having seen quite a few new apartments/houses and the prices they charge I am often left appalled at the sloppy finishing off. So really take a good look yourself first, you may not need to pay somebody else to do this. Best of Luck and hope you're really happy in your new home. JUDES

dahamsta

Illkillya wrote:

What is a snag/snagger?

I was just saying to someone, I had never heard of a snag list or snagger until I saw someone posting about it on Boards last week. Bizarre.

scuby

i got a guy, called Jim Canning, he is based on the south mall in cork city, Sound bloke and a good rate, can't remember exactly what it was. did the list very well, not that there was a whole lot to do thank god. when he gave the list to the builder he said that if i ever wanted him to go out again for anything to let him know, and at that i do not think he was gonna charge.
give him a bell and see how ya get on...... best of luck with the house

hunnymonster

thanks scuby, will do.

Of course I could do the cosmetic stuff outlined above myself, however, I would rather have a professional for the bigger things. I wouldn't know the correct depth of insulation in an attic, the distance gutters should be from the eaves and the 300 or so other things the snagger is supposed to check

danger_mouse_tm

Couldn't find that number for Jim Canning in the phone book. Builder want's us to do a snag list for the house in Bandon. Seems difficult to find a snagger in Cork, parhaps i could do it myself if anyone had a checklist that they could give to me.

Thanks

Hells_Belle

Just as an FYI because I don't know which of these items would be on a snagger's list... when we moved into a new build, nearly all our problems were around plumbing/heating/appliances.

If your house comes with appliances, run each and every one. Our washer was improperly plumbed in and the first laundry load flooded our kitchen and new living room carpets. Our dishwasher was missing some part and couldn't release the dishwasher tablet. Several of our electric wall heaters were missing fuses and didn't work. Our super-efficient new wave boiler was so new wave, it took them 4 days to find an engineer actually qualified to repair the non-functioning timer (and thus, non-functioning heater, and non-functioning hot water).

I spent more time the first two weeks in the builder's on-site office than in the house. Getting everything sorted out was pretty much a full time job.

taxman

Just came across this post today, a bit out of date, but ...I used Niall Leahy, an engineer in Midleton. He was a reasonable rate and came recommended from other people on the Affordable Homes and rent2buy schemes in Cork