Who else is building with Eden Brae?

Hi, anyone know how to check water level in rainwater tank?
pump is always on main and reset button does nothing

If it's colorbond tank, feel each ribs one by one from top on sunny time. You will feel the coldness and that's the level.

Just tap up and down on the side of the tank, a difference in sound is very noticable.

I take it that you have an automatic mains water switching device.

I don't know what you mean by "pump is always on main". If you have an automatic mains water switching device, the pump will only pump tank water, the switching device will isolate the pump when it switches to mains water unless you have a water tank top up device like an Apex Rain Aid.

https://apexvalves.co.nz/wp-content/upl ... A4_SP1.pdf

OK. have tried the tapping, sound to be almost empty.

Well, you have had very little rain the last 2 weeks but your tank should have been reasonably full 3 weeks ago. Either you have very good utilisation of your harvested resource which is great or else the system is losing yield somewhere. If you want me to have a look at the system, just put a few photos online that show the infeed pipes etc and I'll let you know if I identify a problem.

Regardless, you are getting a good drop tomorrow and some good follow up rain over the following week.

Hi All,

I am undecided whether to have Abbey to install all the blinds or go out side and have someone else to install the blinds. Any suggestions? How's Abbey's quality? Their price competitive comparing to the other company in the market? How much we are talking about if they are not price competitive? Thank you.

I think you'll find your quote from them is not time based. So you can shop around for a few months while the build is going on and then go back to them. Don't buy the "We'll give you an X% discount if you sign up now". The building industry, like most, is struggling, go back to them in 6 months with some competitive prices and get them to beat it or go elsewhere. You are in control here, especially as it' not part of the build contract etc. Remember that.

Hi All,

My house is around 4 months away from completion. Edenbrae has sent an email couple of days ago saying that the colour we selected for Kitchen cabinetary is discontinued and asking me to select a another colour to continue the work.

What are your thought on this? Do I have legal rights to demand EBH to install the kitchen cabinets as per the contract and final color selection?
What are the options I have to push EBH to install the cabinets with the same colour i opted as per the contract?

Thanks
Nim

you will find that there are clauses in your building contract that allows them to use replacement products similar to original (where original no longer available) or offer products with slight variations in colour due to colour variation in natural products.

Hi,

We are about at the same stage, few more months from completion. We also received an email and a call from the tile company informing us that some of the tiles we selected a year ago is no longer available/discontinued. We went to the tile company and picked the new tiles. You may find what you picked before is not what you want now.



.

With the coronavirus impacting the global market, I think shipping from China or even Europe now may be delayed. Builders obviously don't want their builds to go over allotted finish dates as they are then liable to extension payments. So many will be customers will be forced to make new selections based off available stock. I'd certainly be arguing for a better quality product/price for the same original price. For many years builders have had us by the short and curlies. The shoe is now on the other foot and it's time to cash in where you can.

Brickface I think it's very unlikely builders will be liable for any extension payments (liquidated damages) due to Covid19 related materials delays. Most contracts and common law will include a Force Majeure provision covering unforseen natural events. To minimise delays Customers may have to accept alternatives to keep projects moving and builders should be open about the purchase cost differences to give customers confidence they are not taking advantage of the situation and pocketing extra profit. I suggest when considering alternative material proposals customers ask the builder for full specifications and transparent item cost and supplier rebate disclosure if they are suspicious the builder maybe being greedy. Perhaps the HIA can offer a code of conduct about this?

However, the challenge they have is proving delays are a result of COVID19.

I reckon most volume builders are not too concerned about making extension payments anyway. With typical contract liquidated damages of $120 per week it’s 🥜 peanuts to them, an imbalance against customer’s own delay costs of around $1,000 per week which they use tactically to pressure them to accept defects at PCI. Contract build times are mostly irrelevant.

Hi

Since EB installs steel frames, how did everyone here had the tv wall mounts done, how is it compared to wall mounting on timber frames. Did you do it by yourself or have a recommendation of a contact in Sydney? Please advise

I mounted 77" TV couple of weeks ago. Used someone from Goodguys suggestion. No problem at all. But I do have timber noggins there. But not sure its helping.

Thanks guys for your thoughts and inputs for my last post on 'color discontinued'. Appreciate it. My colour consultant has sent a request to the supplier to check for any leftover stocks nation wide. Will see how it goes.

On another note, i just realised that the tile width we selected for bathroom for both floor tiles and wall tiles doesnt match (300mm and 330mm).
I gave a call to DiLorenzo about this. As its too late for change, They suggest not to align the tiles for edges. Rather align for the center of the tiles. Any ran into similar issues? Any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Nim

Have a look at display homes. We don't have aligned floor and wall tiles and you won't notice. I would argue it looks nicer. As for colours, the colour palette is huge. You might actually find a better colour to your liking?

Hi Guys

We haven't dont tender get, but wanted to get some information.

With the builders choice, is the material good or at least decent ? alot of colours ?
we're not sure how much the tender process will cost us.

and what would be the must upgrades and things we can leave for later.

thanks guys !!

Bobby 24,

Whatever you do, don't go to Eden Brae. We regrettably have signed with them and are way down the path.

their standard range has very limited choices and these choices are often too basic. Everytime you deviate from the standard range, it is a chance for them to charge more, even though the cost of your preferred choice is probably the same as the standard. This is their business model and this is how they make their margin.

Don't get fooled by the supposedly good value 'upgrade package' either. You will realise later you need to spend more to make the upgrade worthwhile. One example is the 'free' or 'low cost' ceiling height upgrade, the sales people will never tell you it will only look good if you have correspondingly higher doors. You want higher doors? We did and spent a further $5000. You wouldn't think adding a few centimetres to the door height will be so expensive but that's how they get you. I later figured out that few extra centimetres cost a few times more than a whole new door you can get from Bunnings from the same brand.

The tender will cost about a few hundred ($700 from memory) and it will cost a further $2000+ to draw up a contract. It is not an insignificant investment so you want to do your research before you enage in a tender or two. Also if you are getting more than one tender done, make sure you have a list of things for them to quote on, so you are comparing the same things.

You want to upgrade things that are hard or impossible to do later, things like insulation, lighting for downstairs (if you are building double storey), staircase, kitchen, windows and doors. Things you can leave for later would be joinery, perhaps floors.

Upgrades are where they make their most margin. There are two layers of margin here - one for the suppliers, and the suppliers will also pay Eden brae a commission.

One thing that makes me very uncomfortable is they never give you an itemised quote even if you request it. And they don't allow you the opportunity to get the items quoted before you sign the contract. So you really go in blind with just some faith in good business ethics. And your faith is not always rewarded.