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Are Your Bespoke Builders Only Developer Quality?

There’s a world of difference between the standard of home - building on basic developer sites and self-build sites — or at least there should be. David Snell explains the differences to look out for to ensure you get a great finish.

On volume sites the ethos is ‘get ’em up and do it fast’ coupled with ‘what’s quickest, cheapest and easiest’. A bespoke home requires more thought and, whilst the shell of the house is largely covered and dictated by the regulatory authorities, the finish tends to fall outside their remit. So the self-builder needs to be aware of different practices, some of which have no place in a bespoke home. Here they are.

GROUNDWORKERS AND BRICKLAYERS

DEVELOPER	BESPOKE
Service ducts knocked through later	All services sleeved into building in accordance with suppliers' requirements. Thought given to where they arrive
Soil vent pipes put in with no thought of where they appear in upper floors	Soil vent pipes planned to minimise disturbance, loss of space and noise pollution
No attention to level, upright or square	All walls square and plumbed
Internal door openings out of upright and undersized	All internal door openings plumbed for upright in both planes and built oversized by at least 30mm

FIRST FIX CARPENTER

DEVELOPER	BESPOKE
Timbers and rafters tosh-nailed (at an angle) to plates	Rafters fixed to plates using proprietary truss clips
Joists simply slotted into joist hangers or laid on supporting walls	Joists levelled to a string line and packed up and secured with a batten
Decking nailed haphazardly to joists	Decking nailed or screwed to a regular pattern

PLASTERERS/ DRY-LINERS

DEVELOPER	BESPOKE
Self-adhesive scrim tape put up to joists day before plastering; poor attention to, or omission of, scrim tape at abutment of ceiling and walls	Scrim tape applied just before plastering: careful application of scrim tape at wall/ceiling junction - possibly a non self-adhesive scrim applied with plaster
Hard plaster on walls stopped before floor, leaving an uneven edge	Hard plaster taken down to floor level or to set a batten to provide a clean edge
Dry-lining put up on dabs and jacked clear of the floor	Dry-lining set to a batten just above floor level and fixed by a continuous line of adhesive at lower edge and ceiling level
Hard plaster swept over conduits and changes of substrate	Scrim or reinforcement over conduits or changes of substrate

SECOND FIX CARPENTER

DEVELOPER	BESPOKE
Door linings cut-nailed to blockwork using its upright as the guide. Wounded timber left to be dealt with by painters/ decorators	linings fixed vertical in both planes, head horizontal, fixed using packing blocks with plugs and screws counter-drilled 10mm. Screw holes filled with plugs cut from the same timber
Window boards cut square to the reveal and nailed down to blockwork at rebate. Rear tongue cut off	Window boards cut proud of the reveal: rear tongue set into the groove in the window. Blind fixings beneath board taken down the face of the blockwork and securely screwed
Skirting fixed to the wall with cut nails leaving the wound to be patched by the decorators; skirting fixed by gluing, leaving a 1-2mm gap to be filled by caulk. Skirting mitred at inside corners	Rustic or natural oak skirting fixed by cut nails left slightly proud as a feature; fixing by panel pins to a batten fixed before plastering by drilling, plugging and screwing. Screws counter-drilled with plugs of the same timber filling the hole. Skirting scribed into inside corners
Architrave hammer-nailed to the lining with panel pins	Architrave fixed to the lining with panel pins that are countersunk using a punch; fixing using a nail gun
Doors hung to the ling. Butts (hinges), often only two to the door, upside down causing black leakage of lubricant. Any creaking 'cured' by oil	Doors hung to upright. Three butts per door the right way up with two knuckles to the door and two to the lining. Any creaking cured by graphite powder

CERAMIC TILER

DEVELOPER	BESPOKE
Floor tiles commenced along one side of the room	Floor tiles commenced by squaring off the room and starting in the centre, or the main visual plane in front of units
Wall tiles commenced with a full tile at floor level	Wall tiles commenced from a batten so as to leave a full tile at the lowest point of the floor

PAINTER/ DECORATOR

DEVELOPER	BESPOKE
Work commenced whilst other trades working	Work only commenced when all other trades are out and the property has been completely cleaned out
Timber painted without knotting; raw timber stained	All timber to be painted, selaed and knotted; timber rubbed with fine sandpaper before staining and between coats

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