Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 26, 2014 11:19 pm Hi! Anyone heard/built with White Design and Construction before? Any feedback or experience you want to share? We heard about them through colleagues. Cheaper than big builders obviously but from what I can see... close to same inclusions as they are using mostly same suppliers. Just not sure about quality of the house itself. Any info would be welcome. Thanks! Re: White Design and Construction 2Jun 27, 2014 6:24 am We are about to start our build in the Hawkesbury with them after a recommendation from this forum. Our experience so far has been really positive. The communication is excellent (mostly email) and the inclusions far beyond all the other builders we looked at. We got tenders with several other builders and Whites include as standard what you pay big $$$ for with others as upgrades. As for the quality, as they don't have a display home, they were happy to show us through several nearly completed houses prior to contract signing and we liked what we saw. Another benefit is their build time - we are building 2 storey 40 square house and they are saying about 20 weeks! From others I have spoken to who have built with them, this timeline is pretty accurate. Good luck with your decision 11/11/13- dep paid 4/4/14- settlement Feb '15- DA app 6/8/15- CC site works begin 19/8/15- Formwork 25/8/15- slab 3/9/15- elect. appt 13/10/15 - frame started 19/10- bricks started 31/10 - roof done Re: White Design and Construction 3Jun 27, 2014 1:25 pm thanks caff! great to know someone else is building with them. i'd like to see how your build goes. we went to a nearly completed home last week and it looks ok. we might be paying deposit to clarendon too as Plan B, to lock-in the price, just in case we don't like what WDC has to offer. do you think we should do that? who are the other builders you considered? Re: White Design and Construction 4Jun 27, 2014 5:09 pm We got tenders prepared by Firstyle and Rawson. Both were pretty good but we felt the flexibility in design provided by Whites was superior. I really like the personal service we have received- we don't feel like a number. Look at Maximus' thread as he was the one who recommended Whites to us. 11/11/13- dep paid 4/4/14- settlement Feb '15- DA app 6/8/15- CC site works begin 19/8/15- Formwork 25/8/15- slab 3/9/15- elect. appt 13/10/15 - frame started 19/10- bricks started 31/10 - roof done Re: White Design and Construction 5Jun 27, 2014 10:51 pm Saw maximus' thread... Looks fantastic! Thanks for the referral! Let me know how you go with yours! Re: White Design and Construction 6Jan 28, 2015 12:32 pm Hi, any one building with White Design currently? Would like to hear your experience please. 18/03/15 Deposit 02/09/15 CDC 22/09/15 Slab 05/12/15 Frames 15/12/15 Brick started. 11/04/16 Roof start 04/05/16 Roof finish 09/07/16 Gyprock. Re: White Design and Construction 7Feb 07, 2015 6:28 am Hi firsthome2, We dropped plans with WDC as we found it very hard to communicate with them. It was a shame because my husband was really looking forward for the custom built. Plus, they are significantly cheaper (in price, of course) given the inclusions they have proposed to us. However, probably due to lower margins they get from their projects, they are not able to hire more people to deal with clients, hence, everyone is always so busy and we always felt we needed to fight for the attention we need for this project. Not very happy with the service we are getting for such a big spend. Re: White Design and Construction 9May 15, 2015 9:45 pm HarryV Hi, any recent views of White design builders and how their current standards and prices are? I have heard that they now have too many projects and hence being too pricey? Thanks! They are still quoting 16-20 week build times on their website, which is one of the big advantages. I expect any prices rises are largely due to the massive boom in the construction industry. i.e. All the trades have lifted their prices. I think you will find, if you do as I did and compare similar for similar inclusions you will get a larger home for the same price. I was fairly thorough in my price comparisons, obtaining a full-tender from one of the other builders and a fairly thorough estimate from another. This was in addition to the scribbled numbers I got from numerous other builder sales staff. They were also one of the few builders willing to give a fixed-price contract. When comparing prices with other builders, just make sure the other builders have no wriggle-room in site-costs and other variations. I also recommend you ask for quotes for any extras in electricals and other fitout before you sign a contract. That way you will be very clear about costs. Most builders won't do this and you end up with price shock when you suddenly find all the electrical and other add ons you want when you go to selections blow your bank-approved budget. ( I met with their carpet, kitchen, tiling and electrical suppliers in the preliminary stages - I think I annoyed the staff at WDC, but the approach meant I had better certainty in final cost of the build ) [edit - all the extras I had priced up totalled around $80k extra, of this from memory I went with about $60k of those extras, so the pricing I gave my bank was: (base price to build a "turnkey" package on my block) + (selected extras) = total construction loan requested] Build thread: here Land Nov 12, Contract 6/07/13, Consent 15/08/13, Start 20/09/13, Slab 25/09/13, Frame 4/10/13, Brick 21/10/13, Roof 2/11/13, Lock-up 17/12/13, Handover 3/3/14 Re: White Design and Construction 10May 15, 2015 9:55 pm Hi, I am in the process with them, I think their pricing is reasonable, but I ma yet to finalize it though. But their dealing is bit easier than the other builders. They are busy for sure. 18/03/15 Deposit 02/09/15 CDC 22/09/15 Slab 05/12/15 Frames 15/12/15 Brick started. 11/04/16 Roof start 04/05/16 Roof finish 09/07/16 Gyprock. Re: White Design and Construction 13May 20, 2015 10:00 pm Where are you up to? Have you signed the contact or just in planning stage? 18/03/15 Deposit 02/09/15 CDC 22/09/15 Slab 05/12/15 Frames 15/12/15 Brick started. 11/04/16 Roof start 04/05/16 Roof finish 09/07/16 Gyprock. Re: White Design and Construction 14May 21, 2015 6:24 am We signed our contract with Whites a year ago but haven't started building yet!! This is due to significant delays with council and BAL restrictions and not the fault of Whites though. We have DA approval now and are just waiting on Construction Certificate (any day now hopefully). We have to reapply for bank loan as the delay has been so long that the loan expired. Throughout this delay (17 months in total) we have had good communication from Whites and have maintained a good relationship. Fingers crossed for a start very soon as the waiting is killing us. 11/11/13- dep paid 4/4/14- settlement Feb '15- DA app 6/8/15- CC site works begin 19/8/15- Formwork 25/8/15- slab 3/9/15- elect. appt 13/10/15 - frame started 19/10- bricks started 31/10 - roof done Re: White Design and Construction 15May 21, 2015 7:13 am I had a look at your blog yesterday, found it when I went through maximus's and wondered why it did not go past April. I am waiting for the contract, hopefully soon. ot sure when they will start building once we sign the contract. 18/03/15 Deposit 02/09/15 CDC 22/09/15 Slab 05/12/15 Frames 15/12/15 Brick started. 11/04/16 Roof start 04/05/16 Roof finish 09/07/16 Gyprock. Re: White Design and Construction 16Jun 05, 2015 10:42 pm Any one else in the process of building and waiting for paper work to finish? 18/03/15 Deposit 02/09/15 CDC 22/09/15 Slab 05/12/15 Frames 15/12/15 Brick started. 11/04/16 Roof start 04/05/16 Roof finish 09/07/16 Gyprock. Re: White Design and Construction 17Jun 06, 2015 8:16 am Hi FirstTime, Yes we are still in admin stage with White at the moment. Things have slowed right down over the last couple of months with no movement at all for about a month now. Frustrating as our plans are very nearly ready for submission to our estate for approval and then to council. White keep making promises about timeframes that turn out to be completely inaccurate. I was told 'a day or two' for their estimator to check on an issue. It has now been a month. Their level of inclusions for the price and ability to custom design are great but, we are at breaking point and have had enough and are starting to look at other builders. How have you found things? Re: White Design and Construction 18Jun 06, 2015 8:43 am HI Jlo2015, I am of the same opinion, their false promises is driving me mad. I am in the process of getting the approval through, but taken a long time to get there and still they have not done all what is needed for the approval. I went to them because of their inclusion and quick process, being a small team, don't have to deal with different departments to get things done. The way they are progressing, I am not sure when they would finish everything. I have wasted so much time with them now, I am at breaking point as well, but hoping that things would turn around soon. 18/03/15 Deposit 02/09/15 CDC 22/09/15 Slab 05/12/15 Frames 15/12/15 Brick started. 11/04/16 Roof start 04/05/16 Roof finish 09/07/16 Gyprock. Re: White Design and Construction 19Jun 06, 2015 8:55 am Sorry to hear you are in the same boat. I think that they may have expanded and have taken on a lot of business but don't have the staff to keep up with it. All things seem to have to go through the one person too. Luckily I made the conscious decision not to give them a cent of my money yet and won't until contracts are signed. That way I can walk away to another builder if we go that way and it will not have not cost us anything. Re: White Design and Construction 20Jun 06, 2015 9:23 am I believed them and have paid the money, so if I move I will lose it. They are nice to deal with. Their false promises keeps our hopes high, and when we get the actual fact, get very disappointed. When I started with them at the beginning of the year, believed that we could finish it by end of the year, but now no chance till some time next year. 18/03/15 Deposit 02/09/15 CDC 22/09/15 Slab 05/12/15 Frames 15/12/15 Brick started. 11/04/16 Roof start 04/05/16 Roof finish 09/07/16 Gyprock. Thanks very much! And would the landscaper/contractor generally involve the engineer or is that something the client would do? Thanks for your help 2 10008 ideal house depends on the site and location as much as internal floor plan....what is the distance from the house to all four boundaries, where is north, describe your… 3 15142 We are about to commence a new build I and I’m reading about defects along the way. My question is should we employ a independent building inspector to come in and… 0 5237 |