Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Boutique Homes 1341Jul 07, 2015 2:11 pm *sigh* *sigh *sigh* Had a call from the accounts department: Boutique: "did you get the invoice for the fixings stage?" Me: "did you get the email saying I wasn't paying it until the work was actually finished?" Boutique: "we didn't get an email - when did you send it?" Me: "About 20 minutes after you sent me the invoice" Boutique: "Oh right - OK - here it is. So, are you going to pay the invoice soon?" Me: "Well, no. As I said in the email - there is unfinished work from both the lock-up and fixings stage. I've sent multiple emails about it" And on the saga goes... Re: Boutique Homes 1342Jul 07, 2015 2:23 pm We have had a relatively pleasant experience with boutique i dont think we could have got much bettee. But i am woth you shellzmac on the painter... our painter was terrible i have those drip bits too. And you can see sooooo many touch ups. They have fixed alot of it for us but i am still finding them. This is a lumpy touch up i noticed today and emailed them. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ But other than that i would build with them again they have been better than i expected our build to go.. flooring guy coming tonight about the dipping boards so see how that goes. But seriously our house is amazing these little things.. i want fixed sure.. but im inlove with our home couldn't imagine another builder doing a better job. Re: Boutique Homes 1343Jul 07, 2015 4:52 pm Loving your house and the furnishings PetaJ. I too would not accept that bad patch job on the wall there. Good on you for telling them to fix it. I found some runny paint spots too but Boutique were happy to fix it up. Keep us posted on the flooring situation too. Re: Boutique Homes 1344Jul 07, 2015 7:10 pm I agree PetaJ..besides the paint we are very happy with our home..still cant believe its ours..and would build with Boutique again. We had a great client liason Jo, and finished off with a fantastic ss. Re: Boutique Homes 1345Jul 07, 2015 11:44 pm Hi Theon, Yes, having multiple supervisors is painful, but I think it is also an industry issue in that the big builders expect them to manage far too much to produce a good product. That said, from meeting our new ss, we are hopeful for a change as he seems much more passionate and interested in our build. We received word that they finally cleaned up our site today, so I can't wait to drive by and see a cleaner block. I am aware that it is a build site, but it really boiled down to repetitive laziness by the trades and a lack of supervision that saw it get out of hand. Our new time estimate, 10 more weeks, which should put us right around 35 weeks for our build phase! Re: Boutique Homes 1346Jul 08, 2015 7:27 am Szep We received word that they finally cleaned up our site today, so I can't wait to drive by and see a cleaner block. I am aware that it is a build site, but it really boiled down to repetitive laziness by the trades and a lack of supervision that saw it get out of hand. Our new time estimate, 10 more weeks, which should put us right around 35 weeks for our build phase! I really hope it is only 10 more weeks for you. I've been told that for several months in a row now, so I've stopped listening to Boutiques forecasts. For a double story house, you're probably looking at: Insulation before plaster (1 week) before cabinets (2 weeks) before skirting and architraves (1 - 2 weeks), before patching, before stone benches (1 week) before tiling the wet areas (1-2 weeks), before painting (2-3 weeks). After that it's *at least* 5 weeks for the final fitout (carpets/other flooring, electrical fit off, shower screens, builtin-shelving for WIR/linen, driveway, garage door, brick cleaning etc). To our painters credit - he's done a brilliant job - but he's been onsite nearly everyday for the last 9 days (for a single story house). He's also going to have to come back as the carpenters haven't finished the outside yet ("you mean from the lockup stage?" - yes I do). Also, don't forget the number of "build days" is until you've had handover. So even after the final inspection, and they take more time to fix up all the little things (maybe a couple of weeks) - that still counts towards the build days. Good luck! Re: Boutique Homes 1347Jul 08, 2015 4:00 pm PetaJ We have had a relatively pleasant experience with boutique i dont think we could have got much bettee. But i am woth you shellzmac on the painter... our painter was terrible i have those drip bits too. And you can see sooooo many touch ups. They have fixed alot of it for us but i am still finding them. This is a lumpy touch up i noticed today and emailed them. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ But other than that i would build with them again they have been better than i expected our build to go.. flooring guy coming tonight about the dipping boards so see how that goes. But seriously our house is amazing these little things.. i want fixed sure.. but im inlove with our home couldn't imagine another builder doing a better job. Have you heard back Peta? Random question - how do you find the beading around the skirts? Does it annoy you? I really didn't want it, but Boutique wouldn't do it any other way (it's just cost cutting - so annoying) We have another hold up (of course) Its the same one step forward two steps back, but my brother has given me some encouraging words of its more like two steps forward and one back now. So our latest delay is now in some way our own fault... We had a dramatic increase on our slab as we had to change the whole type of slab - I'm talking over $20K (on top of site allowances that were already $40K) Bye bye new furniture, blinds and at this rate a driveway lol (our amazing new house will look so cool with newspaper covering the windows and maybe I won't even bother putting a floor down - I want people to admire our very expensive slab. lol.) ... But we didn't get the bank approval letter or whatever you need to prove your finance re-done - so our file can't go to construction (again). I'm a little peeved because surely someone at Boutique could have foreseen this and advised us to sort it out before we got to this point. So now providing the bank plays along nicely it will be next Wednesday before we can move to construction. ahhhhhh - why do files only get moved on a Wednesday??? On a happy note I walked into Domayne today and had a little day dream about furniture... Needed something to lift my spirits. I'm trying my best to remain positive, and hope that the last 18+ months of "house stuff" consuming my life will long be forgotten once we are in our Airlie. Blog: www.dapplegrey.com.au Re: Boutique Homes 1348Jul 08, 2015 5:02 pm donovansdaily Random question - how do you find the beading around the skirts? Does it annoy you? I really didn't want it, but Boutique wouldn't do it any other way (it's just cost cutting - so annoying) Hmmm, I'm not getting floorboards so I'm not familiar with what you're talking about. How is it cost cutting? Here's where the feature pole/beam had a big hole cut at the wrong place and re-welded (it's about the size of a box of tissues). It looks much worse in real life, stands out like a sore thumb, and needs to be ground down. I wonder if they'll fix it without me telling them? Experience tells me they won't. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I know what you're thinking, "how noticeable will it be?". This is what the house *should* look like, and where the mistake is: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Yep - it's impossible to miss. Re: Boutique Homes 1350Jul 08, 2015 10:26 pm Hmmm, I'm not getting floorboards so I'm not familiar with what you're talking about. How is it cost cutting? According to family and friends who are builders it's because they don't want to bring the carpenters back to lay the skirts after the floor. The carpenters would have finished their work, so to bring them back after the floors are put down costs more as it takes longer and they have to be more precise. It's like square set cornices take longer and there is no room for error. The beading can hide the gaps, which is normally claimed as room for movement, but the flooring people I spoke to said there is still room for movement with no beading, it just takes longer to do. Therefore, less time consuming with beading = less cost to the builder. And time is money. Volume builders can pump houses out pretty quickly so they want things done quickly (normally) to keep them going. Boutique aren't alone in this, but I did have friends with another volume builder who fought and were able to get the skirts put on later - it just looks so much better. If it's helpful at all the farmers - your facade will look fantastic, I love it!!! I hope you get it resolved soon. Blog: www.dapplegrey.com.au Re: Boutique Homes 1351Jul 09, 2015 10:44 am Szep Does the beam get covered by timber? Nope - it's painted metal. donovansdaily According to family and friends who are builders it's because they don't want to bring the carpenters back to lay the skirts after the floor. Oh OK - that makes sense. donovansdaily If it's helpful at all the farmers - your facade will look fantastic, I love it!!! I hope you get it resolved soon. Thanks! Re: Boutique Homes 1352Jul 09, 2015 2:40 pm I'm not a huge fan of beading/quad myself. I think it looks neater without it, but figured you don't even notice it after a while so haven't bothered asking them to leave off the skirting. It's funny that it would be a cost cutting exercise though. I've been through several of their display homes that have the laminate flooring and they all have the beading too. You would think that if they're going to spend the extra money anywhere it would be in their own display homes. Re: Boutique Homes 1353Jul 12, 2015 8:19 pm Hi all, after a hard couple months of running into walls and stalling out, we're happy to say that our new SS has taken the lead and our house build is progressing once again. We met with the new SS on Thursday and went through all the internal corrections. All sorted and he informed us we were ready to plaster on Monday. We went by today hoping to take a few last minute internal photos before the plaster went up, but to our amazement, a crew of plasters were on site and had already plastered the whole house! I know it is only a baby step, but seeing the walls get plastered has renewed our excitement. Hopefully we are still on track for a September finish!!!!! Re: Boutique Homes 1354Jul 12, 2015 9:02 pm Nice to hear things are moving in the right direction for you Szep, makes me more optimistic for a good build when it's our turn and nice to see the photos on the blog, great to recognise the house parts before they are all prettied up. Cheers Location - Geelong Land Purchased - Yep Builder - PD Model - Plaza Options - PWC signed - Colour App- Electrical- Build start date - Progress... Re: Boutique Homes 1355Jul 13, 2015 2:01 pm Yes, we are very excited! Question: Has anyone had trouble with tradesmen smoking onsite/in the house? We noticed yesterday that one of the plasterers was smoking, and my wife is really angry about it. I asked that SS about it today and he said he can't do anything unless he sees them doing it. We are thinking about going and putting up a bunch of no smoking signs in the house. Are we allowed to do that? Re: Boutique Homes 1356Jul 13, 2015 2:26 pm I'd say probably not and probably wouldn't make any difference but Boutique should already have signs up regarding smoking in the workplace and their disciplinary procedure. Location - Geelong Land Purchased - Yep Builder - PD Model - Plaza Options - PWC signed - Colour App- Electrical- Build start date - Progress... Re: Boutique Homes 1357Jul 16, 2015 2:11 pm Hi, I've been reading most of your thread in response to building with Boutique. I've recently signed PWC with them and have arranged for the colour selection in Aug but i've requested that the signing of HIA be pushed back. I was reading through the HIA and was wondering if anyone has had issues when going through it??.. Re: Boutique Homes 1358Jul 16, 2015 2:42 pm JP79 It's funny that it would be a cost cutting exercise though. I've been through several of their display homes that have the laminate flooring and they all have the beading too. You would think that if they're going to spend the extra money anywhere it would be in their own display homes. If there was no beading in the display then they would have to offer that as an option - in my opinion. Szep Hi all, after a hard couple months of running into walls and stalling out, we're happy to say that our new SS has taken the lead and our house build is progressing once again. Hopefully we are still on track for a September finish!!!!! Glad your new site manager is good - and September isn't far away at all... How exciting. As for smoking - I would be annoyed too, but not sure you can do much. If it was my painters or carpet layers then yes I would take it further as the smell would be more likely to stay. We have exciting news - we went to construction yesterday!!! So now I'm eagerly awaiting the phone call with a start date. Still hard to believe it might actually start... Blog: www.dapplegrey.com.au Re: Boutique Homes 1359Jul 16, 2015 3:31 pm HouseOfScents Hi, I've been reading most of your thread in response to building with Boutique. I've recently signed PWC with them and have arranged for the colour selection in Aug but i've requested that the signing of HIA be pushed back. I was reading through the HIA and was wondering if anyone has had issues when going through it??.. We had no issues with it. It was all pretty standard as far as I'm aware. But I'm only new at building. donovansdaily JP79 It's funny that it would be a cost cutting exercise though. I've been through several of their display homes that have the laminate flooring and they all have the beading too. You would think that if they're going to spend the extra money anywhere it would be in their own display homes. If there was no beading in the display then they would have to offer that as an option - in my opinion. That makes sense Re: Boutique Homes 1360Jul 16, 2015 3:35 pm donovansdaily JP79 It's funny that it would be a cost cutting exercise though. I've been through several of their display homes that have the laminate flooring and they all have the beading too. You would think that if they're going to spend the extra money anywhere it would be in their own display homes. If there was no beading in the display then they would have to offer that as an option - in my opinion. Szep Hi all, after a hard couple months of running into walls and stalling out, we're happy to say that our new SS has taken the lead and our house build is progressing once again. Hopefully we are still on track for a September finish!!!!! Glad your new site manager is good - and September isn't far away at all... How exciting. As for smoking - I would be annoyed too, but not sure you can do much. If it was my painters or carpet layers then yes I would take it further as the smell would be more likely to stay. We have exciting news - we went to construction yesterday!!! So now I'm eagerly awaiting the phone call with a start date. Still hard to believe it might actually start... Hi donovansdaily! Congrats on going to Construction stage - I remember it was a very exciting time to be handed over to construction and it wasn't long (about a week) until I saw activity at the block. I totally agree with you regarding the beading at the display homes. If they didn't have the beading then customers will come back and refer/complain that the display home does NOT have the beading. Szep - I found cigarette butts around my site as well before lockup and there wasn't much I could do. The smell did not hang around though as all I can smell now is the smell of fresh paint. 10 16396 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 109759 |