New House nbn Conduit Blocked

kenzstar on 13/09/2024 - 16:27
Last edited 13/09/2024 - 16:39 by 1 other user

Hi All,

I just moved into a new house and trying to get NBN installed but the conduit it blocked 1-3meters inside the wall cavity outside the house (might be under concrete pathway). If the builder and nbn refuse to fix, who can I contact to do this conduit job? Will it be costly to fix?

Please give me some options I can do to locate the blockage. I don’t mind doing the labor to dig up, and hiring someone to locate and replace the conduit. I’m located in western suburbs of Melbourne.

I appreciate if anyone can help.

Thanks

Internet Broadband nbn

Comments

  • FoxJump on 13/09/2024 - 16:29

    so .. you built a new house,
    get the hard landscaping done
    then nbn couldnt be installed?

    • kenzstar on 13/09/2024 - 17:07

      I didn’t built this house, I bought it off a vendor who built the house and sold it for a profit.

      • FoxJump on 13/09/2024 - 17:08

        :(

      • Jake D on 13/09/2024 - 17:13
        +4

        Builder's warranty lasts 6 years and transfers to new buyers. Call the builder and ask them to rectify it.

        • kenzstar on 14/09/2024 - 01:31

          Been trying to contact them after they looked at it on Monday, now they won't return my calls or texts.

          • EightImmortals on 14/09/2024 - 06:42

            @kenzstar: Call them using a different phone or get onto your conveyancing solicitor for advice?

          • Hirolol on 14/09/2024 - 07:48

            @kenzstar: They know it’s not going to be an easy fix.
            If you need to, speak to your solicitor and write a letter of demand.

            I know someone that bought a newly built house and there was a defect, went to their solicitor and got it fixed up.
            Nbn won’t fix it.
            Don’t spend any money out of your own pocket.

            • SnoozeAndLose on 14/09/2024 - 08:01

              @Hirolol: Don’t spend any money out of your own pocket.

              It will cost money to speak to the solicitor and write a letter of demand

  • Twix on 13/09/2024 - 16:36
    +4

    The builder should fix it. If the builder is being difficult get at least 3 quotes from a registered cabler.

    • jv on 13/09/2024 - 17:50
      +2

      The builder should fix it.

      Not if it was damaged after they built it.

  • pharkurnell on 13/09/2024 - 16:51
    +4

    conduit it blocked 1-3meters inside the wall cavity outside the house

    Huh?

    • kenzstar on 13/09/2024 - 17:08

      The conduit is located outside the house under the electrical panel, and the rod won’t go past 1-3 meters inside the conduit

      • timthetoolman on 13/09/2024 - 18:43
        +1

        Rod??

        • kenzstar on 13/09/2024 - 19:31

          Yes the rod that used to feed the fine cable into the conduit

          • Nugs on 13/09/2024 - 20:35
            -2

            @kenzstar: 1-3m?
            Do you mean between one and three metres as written or one and a third of a metre? Just curious, because surely that helps determine location of blockage
            Does dial before you dig show placement?
            .

            • kenzstar on 13/09/2024 - 23:50

              @Nugs: Yes it’s between 1 and 3 meters. I did get a report from nbn and it’s blank lol, guess a private contractor that is not nbn did the conduit from pit to house.

  • Cluster on 13/09/2024 - 16:56
    +8

    I had NBN fiber installed at my house in 2014. Built in 2012. After trying for an hour to suck the fiber through the underground conduit, they decided to dig up the conduit and take a look. Fortunately I have paving around the house so it was a pretty easy job. The tradie who laid the original conduit didn't glue it together, and didn't even put in elbow joints. The phone cable was laying in dirt.

    NBN installers installed a new conduit, filled the hole and redid the paving. Took about five hours of faffing about, all because the original tradie thought 'she'll be right mate, no one will ever know!' as they did the dodgiest job possible. According to the NBN guys they come across these kinds of installs time to time. They didn't charge me anything extra for the work, but that was a long time ago and policies may have changed.

    The builder is responsible for the bad conduit and should fix it during the warranty period.

    • cuteseal on 14/09/2024 - 09:12

      Yes if the NBN installer can't get it done they will hand it off to another crew who specialise in unblocking stuff. In my case, the installer couldn't get cable through the conduit from the pit on the footpath, that ran under my garden bed, to my house.

      Two guys showed up a couple of days later, who were able to determine where the blockage was, then dug directly into that spot in my garden and rectified the blockage. After that they patched things up pretty nicely and the original crew were able to finish the job.

      Not sure what they would do if the blockage was under concrete or a structure though…

      • Cluster on 14/09/2024 - 14:46

        I asked my NBN installers what would happen. Their response was they'd have to cut the concrete. Technically nothing should be standing on top of conduits, but practically people do all sorts of things on their properties.

  • GordonD on 13/09/2024 - 16:59
    +1

    You stuff a wire down the conduit as far as it will go, and the length of wire will tell you where the conduit is blocked. Do that from both ends, if you can get access to the other end, which you probably can't because it requires access to the pit. See what that tells you.

    If there's already a wire in there, but its broken, you use a TDR (time domain reflectometer) which measures how long it takes pulses to get to the break and reflect back. Again, its best if you can do it from both ends. TDRs cost a couple of hundred bucks.

    • kenzstar on 13/09/2024 - 19:33

      The nbn guys used a rod to feed in from the pit and the length was very long, but from the house the rod didn’t go far.

  • jv on 13/09/2024 - 17:49
    -1

    If the builder and nbn refuse to fix

    Why would NBN fix it?

    Does it belong to them?

  • Ocker on 13/09/2024 - 19:09

    Get a camera to see the issue

  • kenzstar on 13/09/2024 - 19:35

    I hope that the conduit is not under the concrete under the house, that will be a nightmare. I’ll call a registered cabler on Monday.

    • Iwantthebestprice on 13/09/2024 - 20:04
      +2

      Hopefully for your sake it’s not! Will be a complete nightmare trying to organise that with the builder to fix. Will literally be a knockdown and rebuild if it’s under the house. Or having a new cable installed from the street to your NBN box. Builders are meant to have NBN ready to go when you move in. When I moved in the cable was hanging out with a string around it ready to be pulled through the brick wall to the box in my garage.

      Hopefully NBN come and check it out and find a way to fix it.

      • Cluster on 13/09/2024 - 23:09

        The cable will be running along side the house, not under it. Even if the cable was underneath the house there's no reason for the builder to literally knock down and rebuild the house. When I was building my house the next door neighbours had the indoor plumbing on the concrete slab coming out the living room instead of the bathroom. The error was only noticed when the frame went up. Even then, new piping was installed under the concrete and the old pipes plugged up. It was cheaper to do that than tear down the frame and rip up the concrete.

        And even if the NBN cable 100% cannot be installed, the builder would just offer lifetime 4G/5G internet and leave it at that. Far cheaper than ripping down the house.

  • follow on 14/09/2024 - 05:09
    -2

    Can you make a diagram of house and the pit and concrete pathway?

  • Sidor on 14/09/2024 - 07:11

    Have you considered alternative location that NBN can install without fixing the builder conduit inside the cavity?

  • jattsta on 14/09/2024 - 07:50

    Id just dig it up my self and hope for the best. 1-3 meters is a small length so should be around a 1-2 meters from house wall and easy to dig.

  • VW-Kombi on 14/09/2024 - 09:08
    +2

    Had a similar thing years back.
    The NBN installer said blocked, and I allowed then to cut some of the gyprock on the other side of the NBN box which was the garage wall for me.
    They cut a small hole and said still cant access through it.
    I said, go for it, lets cut a big hole - so about 300 high and 200 wide and they found the conduit went up from the concrete path into the wall, then a sharp U-bend back down for some reason. Got a nice access door now in case this is needed again!
    The u-bend was blocking it, once they could go from the inside of the house they sorted it.
    I was packing it that the path and drive would need digging up!

  • Melb Deals on 14/09/2024 - 09:33
    +1

    Have you tried getting a vacuum on the pipe? Could be some sand or a bad join.
    If you get suction on the other end, send some string through (tie a bit of soft plastic bag on to it) and send it through. Can then ise that to pull through the fibre.
    Those rods can get stuck pretty easily on joins.

  • BigBirdy on 14/09/2024 - 09:36
    +2

    I recently got the free nbn upgrade from FTTN (copper) to FTTP (fibre), but they encountered a blocked conduit. They sent a different team and dug into it, tee’d off it, bypassed the slab and ran conduit up the external wall to get into the ceiling. No charge, but it took a couple of months to resolve.

  • netjock on 14/09/2024 - 10:56
    +1

    I recently had FTTC upgraded to FTTP. They found conduit blocked at 10m from the house. They suspect there was a problem at the pit. Funniest thing is they tried to locate the pit and couldn't find it.

    They had to put in a new pit it seems. I wasn't here when they put the pit in.

  • kenzstar on 14/09/2024 - 13:17
    +1

    Hey guys i found a diagram on the back of the switchboard, would this be a diagram of nbn conduit or electricity.

    https://gyazo.com/44da0d91150f8a3af9c679fa886ae282

    Thanks

  • jz06 on 15/09/2024 - 14:37

    If it is a brand new house, it is the builders responsibilty to fix it, nbn would not touch it. Normally in a new house, the builders always provides a drawstring from the conduit at the house to the pit. What did the nbn tech tell you with regards to this.

    • kenzstar on 15/09/2024 - 17:27

      nbn civil team told me to contact builder because they won't touch the pipe due its a new house build. There is a drawstring inside the pipe, but when the nbn tech tried to feed the pole into it its blocked 1-3 meters from the entry point of the pipe on the house side.

      • follow on 16/09/2024 - 12:26

        I'm thinking either a bend or dirt preventing the cable being fed
        you wouldn't happen to have a karcher pressure washer? you could get this and blow out any dirt blockage. could probably also do it with an air compressor
        could also hire a pipe camera to see what's going on

        • Sidor on 16/09/2024 - 16:11

          Great advice to flood a brand new house.

          • follow on 16/09/2024 - 17:15

            @Sidor: bit dramatic 😂
            what makes you say that?

            • Sidor on 16/09/2024 - 19:15

              @follow: the blockage is of internal conduit inside the wall cavity or under the roof as per OP.

              • follow on 16/09/2024 - 20:02

                @Sidor: no it's between the pit and side of the house.
                it'd be a non-issue if it was internal wiring

  • yellowfever on 15/09/2024 - 23:17
    +1

    I bought a house that was 4 years old..the owner didn't bother to connect NBN. The NBN conduit was blocked or crushed in the ground. After a few months dealing with internet companies, NBN finally came to dig and install a new conduit along my driveway and under the paving. They installed fibre to the building. All free of charge

  • kenzstar on 03/10/2024 - 09:50

    Okay I have solutions from other trades. Should I run conduit along the brick wall in front of the house but it’s on the left corner of the house, sure it will be ugly but I can paint it same colour as brick.

    https://paste.pics/6f569923202ac391c42b8b8171c050d4

    Another solution is to run conduit under concrete pathway but I need to cut a section of concrete for the conduit to come up to the brickwork wall next to meter box. Concrete colour won’t match old vs new

    Can you please help me decide which one? I would appreciate it. Thanks

    • munecito on 07/10/2024 - 18:49

      I would use the first solution but instead of going up straight there, I would get a couple of elbows and get it to run up next to the downpipe that is right there and paint it the same colour as the downpipe.

      It would be just a bit of conduit exposed at the bottom.

      We did something similar at my mother's place.

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