Building in Hunter Region with Coral Homes

Hi there!
My family and I are about to embark on the journey of building a new home and we have just paid the initial tender fee with Coral Homes. There isn't much on this site about Coral Homes in NSW, keen to hear from others...the pros/cons, things to consider! We are excited about this journey! Looking at building an 'extremely' modified Bribie 30.

Thanks in advance!

We are also very interested as we are looking at building the Casuarina 30 with several mods,We are at the point of going to tender stage & are we did not get in earlier before the price rise on 1st sept due to our daughter being in serious car accident has put us approx month behind.

Hi Scruffo,

Thanks for the reply. I liked the Casuarina design but it was too wide for our block. We have paid for our tender and unfortunately it was two days after the price rises, but that's life I guess. Was hoping there'd be a few others on here from Coral Homes to give some advice!

Where are you planning to build?

I was start with coral earlier,once got a final tender move to other builder

just up the road from our home a coral home built
tiling great as we had the same tiler for our house.
they finished very fast as far as i know from talking to owner they are happy with their home.
this is the only coral home in our estate as most are perry homes and a couple of adenbrook

We are in Port Stephens and we had a Coral built across the road from where we were renting. They were very quick, start to finish in less than 16 weeks. House was wrapped and gyprocked before it was bricked. House looked OK - never went inside so cannot comment on what they were like.

Thanks for this, I have heard that they build fast, which is great. I have read some negative feedback from people in QLD but not much for people in NSW. Hoping this is a good sign.

We are looking at Coral in Sydney also. Goodluck with your build, looking forward to reading your updates as you go through the progress.

Thanks SrSau. Do you know which design you are interested in? I did a lot of research with builders and even went down the path of doing a tender with M@sterton but all the negative feedback from them really turned us off building with them, loved their display homes in Kellyville though.

We moved into our Coral home on July 26th this year. We built in Bolwarra Heights so in the Hunter region. I would say mine would be a mixed review. The paperwork side of things takes forever. Be prepared for at least 6 months from paying for your tender to being ready to build. Once we got to building our site supervisor was fantastic and we were having a dream build. Quality was fantastic. Loved our bricky and tiler. Both did some of the best work I have ever seen. We were well on track for a 15 week build. However, just as the painters came in we lost our site supervisor. We weren't told he was leaving and only found out when we called his number and got someone else. This new site supervisor was terrible. The house sat untouched for 5 weeks. We kept being told that things would happen by a certain day but it was obvious they had no intention of actually starting these things. For example we were told the driveway was being poured on a day and when we went to have a look they hadn't even moved the waste bin from where the driveway was supposed to go. We ended up getting fed up and going further up the line of command to get the house completed. Our 15 weeks turned into 18 and we were told we were lucky to get that. We moved into an uncompleted house and spent the first four weeks letting tradies into the house. Our house was painted 3 times because the painting was horrible. Our driveway is unusable so I would strongly suggest not using them to pour your driveway. It doesn't match the plan and doesn't line up at all. And our pipes for the stormwater to go to the street leak. We have called numerous times about this and keep being told there is nothing wrong with them. Except for the massive mud pit we have in our front yard and the fact they have a round pipe connecting for a square pipe. We only have two things that are still wrong and the rest of the house is structually good. Tiles and bricks are great. Price was right and the build time was good. I think it just really depends on the site supervisor you get. If we had of had our first one until the end our house would be perfect. It was just the one that took over that sucked.

Thanks for your response Jasons Girl. We are fairly sure we will build with Coral, so what you have said is very helpful because it helps us to know what to look out for. Hopefully either the SS is improving OR we get someone else. Very glad that your bricks and tiles are good, because they are a significant part of the build. If there is anything else you can think of, that would be great.

Hi Bek21w and everybody else,

We are waiting for council approval for our build with Coral in Northern NSW. A bit far from the Hunter region, but will be good to compare. We are building the "Hamilton 28". Apparently at the moment after slab stage, the houses are being completed in about 10 weeks - but I'll believe that when I see it!

So far, we have been very happy with the paperwork stage. The price has been fair and the sales guy fantastic. I have been to Beaumont Tiles and done my tile selection and next week have my colour appointment.

Let's see how it pans out after we get back from council! (which the sales guy reckons to allow about 8 weeks - and so far he was been extremely accurate with everything else)

I have so far been impressed with the fact that there have been (so far) no hidden surprises in the tender through to contract. (we were initially going with another builder and the day of contract signing, they told us it was $60K more than the tender!!!!)

Will be good to see how it all goes with you and to swap some potential horror stories

Hi, were building a modified, modified musgrave hamilton in Pottsville also. Just waiting for the banks. Will be great to follow all these builds at the same time. Good luck all, lets hope within a few months weall'v have a beautiful new house we love living in.

Hi Jenm,
I am also building in pottsville! Currently waiting for council approval. We are in seabreeze. Hopefully start by years end, this is the worst part - the waiting. I have my electrical appointment in a week or so - debating in my head about downlights.
Good luck!

Thanks for the replies, still nothing new to report, waiting for final tender and final plans! It's a bit of a slow process this admin stage but it is good to take the time to get it right! Looking forward to hearing more from you all AND and hints, tips and things to be aware of! Anyone have any surprises come up that should have been included in your contract but they weren't? I know someone else in another thread said that the floor waste in the laundry isn't included....anything else to think of?

Our tender came in yesterday! It was not higher than expected but was higher than what we hoped and now comes the time where we decide what we really MUST have now and what can be done later.

I have a question - when we were doing the preliminary tender process I noticed that they had only allowed for painted cement sheeting above the garage roller door. I asked for this to be changed to brick - as to be honest I hate the look of cement sheeting above the garage, especially when the WHOLE house will be completed in brick. They have come back and said they cannot do this.

Anyone come across this before? Nearly every other house in the subdivision has brick above their garage doors, especially the single stories.

The items we will be having as they are pivotal to the design and mostly cant be changed later without significant cost/effort-

- Upgraded bricks to the E grade - extra $8000
- Increased ceiling height from standard 2550mm to 3000mm - extra $12500
- Increased internal and external door heights throughout - $795 (15 doors)
- Larger Kitchen Island bench - 1300mm wide by 4300mm long - 40mm Caesarstone with Waterfall Edges - Cupboards on both sides (Similar to the kitchen in the Bronte Display Home at Chisholm) - $3692
- 300mm drop feature ceiling above Kitchen - $200

These are the major upgrades - we have chosen the Inspiration Package - which has a majority of the extra things we wanted included already.

Our soil was classed as H2/P - which is super annoying and super expensive (an extra $25000 in site costs) - not sure what to do about this.....at the moment our Fire Rating is BAL19 - we will be disputing this as we are surrounded by grasslands with no hope for any trees etc (land is right near wetland type grasslands and its still up in the air as to what BAL rating we will have). At the moment, we have to pay $5000 for gutter guarding - which seems really odd as there are no trees (and probably NEVER will be trees nearby). Anyone know a good fire rater?

I was considering starting an upgrades list to help people out (like the one the Masterton Threads have) - would anyone be interested in adding to this? I havent found anything anywhere for Coral Homes on this. This forum has been such a wealth of knowledge for us on this journey - would love to do my bit to help others out.

Hope you are all having a great day!

The problem with brick above any opening is that it requires a lintel, and brick above a double garage door with 3m high ceilings requires a fairly significant lintel, because it will have to support a meter or brickwork and probably requires input from a structural engineer.... you may find that your H class lot further complicates this

Oh thanks for that bgkdavis, we will ask when we go into our appointment. We have increased the height of garage door to 2380mm so our garage doesnt have a massive 'forehead' look. Will see what they say!

If this means having the ordinary mesh that disrupts the necessary cross flushing, promotes sediment build up and weeds growing, I would be doing some research and choosing a much better option. The meshed products are far from being maintenance free.

Hope it's no too late... Here are my suggestions: I would (and did add) sarking (extra insulation) and if you are getting Coral to do your slab to alfresco, then I would suggest taking the concrete out to the eaves. I regret not taking the concrete out to the eaves on our portico. It creates an illusion of more space. These aren't essential items (like a floor waste to the laundry), but I think they are nice to have.