Who pays after initial install

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62 posts

Master Geek

#1901322 15-Nov-2017 14:48

DarthKermit:

@puggy, are you able to post a few pics of your drive/section or an overhead pic?

@DarthKermit, have attached some images, you can see the drop point to the left of the property, the house is all of about 7m away. As you can see the drive is in no condition to cut and no contractors are happy to replace the drive as the ground under it all is unstable, you can see to the left a product that is in the ground to stop that side moving as we park boats and trailers on the grass.

As mentioned before the conduit goes under the drive already and I have been keen on using that but they say this is not an option as they are not 100% sure where it terminates under the house. They have pushed a second(yellow plastic rod) rod through it and while the house is only 7m away they pushed 10m or more through and could not find the end, so this is why it is not an option.

As for the fence once inside the property you can see the old fence built in 1978 and around behind the garage they cannot dig into the ground as it has too many tree roots, so they just string it across the gaps and if we replace the fence then just staple it to the new fence I have been told.

I have not managed to hear from anyone at Chorus, trust me I have tried calling many times, I have had over 10 teams sometimes 3 people at a time come out and spend the day at the property and their boss came out once to have a look. Note these are all contractors, not Chorus themselves and they have all suggested move the drop point but at the beginning of the week Chorus cancelled the install for the 3rd time saying it could only be fence mounted, Chorus do not allow drop point moves and if the dog either side of the fence chews the cable it would only be fixed at my expense so now this has me really worried and frustrated as they seem to just be taking the easy option of no digging, not using any conduit, just bang to the fence right around the property and wipe their hands clean when it is done and make it my issue for a terrible install.

So back to my original question, who pays if I do allow this crazy way of install to happen? Chorus says me, so I am not happy to do a half-baked install.

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Goosey

2342 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1901326 15-Nov-2017 14:56

Do you own the house?

If so, perhaps time to get a new drive ! (long term will help value if you want to sell).

Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1901330 15-Nov-2017 15:06

Why can't they put it in the grass on either side of the driveway coming up to the house?

DarthKermit

5346 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1901345 15-Nov-2017 15:18

Thanks for the pics. Would you be able to do something like what I did for my own install, under your drive way?

I knocked a 2 inch steel pipe under my concrete path and then pulled it back out with a machine. leaving a nice bore hole to run conduit for my UFB.

puggy

62 posts

Master Geek

#1901359 15-Nov-2017 15:40

Love your spadework, can't dig that deep on the left as we have a sewer main with 4 pipes right behind the fence then the rest of the grassed area has matting and stone that goes down about 300-400mm as the hillside kept moving. Both myself and Chorus have tried to dig it but too much stone and matting.

I have had 3 quotes to replace the drive, did this after the first contractor had been in and said he couldn't get it from one side of the drive to the other however, no one will back the work due to the poor quality of the ground as any new drive would crack the first lot of heavy rain.

Have said if they move the drop point then I will dig the trench, I have given them permission to dig anywhere on the property to see what options we have.

Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1901380 15-Nov-2017 16:46

DarthKermit:

Thanks for the pics. Would you be able to do something like what I did for my own install, under your drive way?

I knocked a 2 inch steel pipe under my concrete path and then pulled it back out with a machine. leaving a nice bore hole to run conduit for my UFB.

Why did you install it in another conduit chorus would have put it between the grass with a spade and they have ruggedized micro conduit would have saved you doing all that unnecessary work.

itey

470 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1901395 15-Nov-2017 17:23

why not mount conduit along the fence so that the dogs can't bite the cable?

Chorus wanted to place the cable along my families fence also, but my family wanted it to be more protected so they self funded some conduit

Wheelbarrow01

1441 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Chorus

#1901398 15-Nov-2017 17:45

Personally, if this was my house, I'd hire a small concrete cutter and cut a slot trench 30-50mm wide across the driveway just inside the boundary, bury conduit in it, back fill it and seal it up with 'ashpalt in a bag' (available from Bunnings etc), then drive over it a few times in a heavy car to compact it. At the end of the day, the rest of the driveway is not exactly pristine, so doing this is not going to make it look much worse.

Then it's up to Chorus to do the digging work from the drop off, under your front fence to the near side of the driveway, push the cable through your conduit to reach the house side of the driveway, then slot trench up the grass to the house. It shouldn't matter that the digging is hard work - it's a legitimate method of install that you should have been offered (in my personal opinion, based on what I can see in the photos)

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

sparkz25

750 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1901405 15-Nov-2017 18:21

so you say you had a guy push a snake up the duct?

did they eve look? did they get under the house?

if so couldn't they use a locator to find the duct before it enters under the house??

they already have a cable up there dont they???

how hard is it to attach a locator to the spare pair and locate the duct before it goes under the house and then dig it up and cut in to it???

chorus contractors in general are so lazy its not funny, i have been at a job recently where you have to tell them how to do their own job, these guys are supposed to be the brains of the operation, some of their workman ship is so bad it makes a tradie look like a god

if it was me i would tell them to get their Sh** sorted and tell them that they are going to use the duct that goes under the drive way as that's what it was installed for all those years ago and to actually go under the house and open their eye holes and look for the duct, surely it cant be that hard to find!

so far to date every chorus contractor or rep i have had to deal with have no clue on how to do things properly or neatly and they are all to lazy to do their job, every time i deal with them they always find some excuse or make up some excuse on why they cant do something even if they have some one show them the simplest way of doing their job.

thats my 2c any ways

tripper1000

1539 posts

Uber Geek

#1903322 17-Nov-2017 15:36

I'd also do something along the lines of Wheelbarrow01's suggestion.

Except the driveway is so busted up already, I'd forgo the cutting. Lift a section (like paving stones), lay the conduit and re-concrete the section. Just make sure concrete is at least 100mm thick at the least and give it a double or triple does of steel mesh to help slow it from breaking up.

DarthKermit

5346 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1903428 17-Nov-2017 19:54

Starscream122:

Why did you install it in another conduit chorus would have put it between the grass with a spade and they have ruggedized micro conduit would have saved you doing all that unnecessary work.

After seeing a lot of really piss poor install jobs by Chorus subbies on GZ and in person, I wanted to have a near bullet proof install for my own UFB connection. I purchased some second hand conduit to span the 11 metres across our front lawn. Plus I have the tools and the know how to make such a project a reality. Yes, it was a lot of hard work but the end result is very good, has no ugly conduit or micro duct visible (it's all buried 500 mm down) and likely to out live me.

gingerman93

30 posts

Geek

#1905041 21-Nov-2017 10:20

Not meaning to support Chorus in any way, but that driveway is shocking. What sort of "integrity guarantee" are you wanting on that? Looks a bit like a bucket with a thousand holes in it, and you want assurances from the waterboard that any water you put in it won't leak out, or they pay for a new one.

Having worked for one of the main roadworks companies, I can understand why moving that dropoff point isn't Chorus' preferred option ... have you seen how much the council charges for a Traffic Management Permit or a Corridor Access Request? Either of those two alone would blow the government-allocated budget of your install.

Do you know the size of the existing pipe to your property? How wide is it?

puggy

62 posts

Master Geek

#1905246 21-Nov-2017 13:29

Bit of an update, I have been in touch with the government how have sent their own people around, the drive is 100% no go as we do park heavy trucks on it and one of the engineers who came said impossible to cut and the types of soil we have the property it will never work as the ground is far too soft, the reason the drive is all broken.

The team looked at the fence option Chorus proposed but worked out it was over 75m of fencing and the fence is 40 years old and there is no way anything would stay attached and dogs would eat the cable as they did the piece of test cable.

Another group of Chorus contractors has been asked to look at it as they felt the local guys were taking the easy option and the government team that visited have requested the conduit be used as it is over 10mm and when tested the test rod goes well beyond the far side of the drive, it is just a matter of working out where we can pick it up.

At the moment I have to leave it int he hands of TDR and the government, who are fully backing me. If anyone else is having a hard time from chorus around installs the government is keen to know as they are supposed to be installing it to last not a quick oh I got the job done.

deadlyllama

1221 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1905269 21-Nov-2017 13:50

puggy:

Bit of an update, I have been in touch with the government how have sent their own people around, the drive is 100% no go as we do park heavy trucks on it and one of the engineers who came said impossible to cut and the types of soil we have the property it will never work as the ground is far too soft, the reason the drive is all broken.

The team looked at the fence option Chorus proposed but worked out it was over 75m of fencing and the fence is 40 years old and there is no way anything would stay attached and dogs would eat the cable as they did the piece of test cable.

Another group of Chorus contractors has been asked to look at it as they felt the local guys were taking the easy option and the government team that visited have requested the conduit be used as it is over 10mm and when tested the test rod goes well beyond the far side of the drive, it is just a matter of working out where we can pick it up.

At the moment I have to leave it int he hands of TDR and the government, who are fully backing me. If anyone else is having a hard time from chorus around installs the government is keen to know as they are supposed to be installing it to last not a quick oh I got the job done.

"The Government" -- who did you contact?

puggy

62 posts

Master Geek

#1905275 21-Nov-2017 13:54

I started with Clare Curran's office and now all communication is through, broadband@mbie.govt.nz. and I have been amazed at the speed and attention they have given this.

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