Pinholes, screed falls and box gutters: the Box Hill water problems we find

In short: Every water problem we find in Box Hill was visible at one point and then covered. Pinholes through a shower membrane and a box gutter discharging into another are both cheap to fix on the day and expensive to fix later.

A membrane fails quietly

Waterproofing is the one trade whose work is judged entirely on what you cannot see afterwards. We have photographed pinholes through a shower membrane in Box Hill: small enough that nobody looking casually would notice, more than enough to let water into the substrate for the life of the house. Tiles go over it the next day.

Screed falls before the tiler arrives

The other half of a wet area is the fall. Water has to reach the waste, and that is set by the screed before tiling, not by the tiles. We check falls in Box Hill bathrooms at the screed stage for the same reason we check the membrane: afterwards the only evidence is water sitting where it should not, and by then the room is finished.

Box gutters are a Box Hill pattern

We have recorded one box gutter discharging into another here. Box gutters carry a lot of water and have very little tolerance for being wrong. Where one discharges into another rather than into its own downpipe, the second gutter is carrying a load it was never sized for, and the overflow path is usually into the roof space.

The steel that goes with it

Box Hill jobs also give us steel connection items: M12 bolts missing from a beam connection, and a connection that did not match the engineering. In The Hills Shire the newer estates are building at density and speed, and steel is where the consequences of a missed check are least forgiving.

When to book

Waterproofing inspections are worth booking twice on a Box Hill build: once at screed, once after the membrane is applied and before tiling. That is two short visits at the only two moments the work is visible. Reports are referenced to the Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2017 and go to your builder as written.

Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Box Hill. Licensed building practitioners, NSW Fair Trading licence 366177C.

Questions Box Hill owners ask about this

Is a waterproofing inspection separate from a stage inspection?

It can be included at lock-up, but the timing rarely lines up perfectly. Wet areas are often ready before or after the general lock-up stage, so booking it on its own is usually better.

What if the tiles are already down?

Then we are looking for symptoms rather than the cause - moisture readings, staining, movement in grout. It is a defect investigation at that point, not a waterproofing inspection.

Who is responsible if the membrane fails?

The builder, under NSW statutory warranties. Waterproofing failure affecting habitability is generally treated as a major defect, with six years to claim.