Porter Davis homes

You know what the solution could be? put some non slip matts and you have an outdoor shower??? ...just kidding...

Mel have you spoken to them about the slat porch above??

For what it's worth I will put my two bobs worth in.

We are nearing the end of our build now with PCI and Handover within the next couple of weeks.

We began our build process last year Feb when we purchased our block. We had spent ALOT of time doing the display crawl, dealing with Salesmen/Women who I would liken to leeches and morons. Initially we were going to build with Metricon, but cancelled when they could not build the home we wanted on our block. In hindsight it was Karma.

We decided on Porter Davis after finding the Waldorf and began the lengthy process.

The Sales Consultant we dealt with was fabulous - she was honest and down to earth, what she didn't know, she found out answers for us.

Then we were introduced to our Customer Service Consultant, who, without a moment's hesitation I will declare an absolute gem, efficient, pleasant and always keen to listen. She is a true credit to PD.

We are both in our late 40's and went into this venture knowing that there would be ups and downs - we expected it. A conscious decision was made to be firm in our desire for a quality build and that we would accept nothing less. We declared as much right from the get-go. Yet, we also were quite laid back about the small things. This made colour selections, contract signing etc a breeze. This also helped as mistakes happened.... as they always do.

The build began without a hitch... tradies were brilliant! I strongly believe that the build is only as good as your tradies. We have been fortunate that ours have had pride in their workmanship, they have been nice guys, easily approachable. If we visited the site and they were there we never gave them instructions, never critisized - even though there would be minor errors. We rang our CSC to advise so she could pass it on to our SS. The sooner these things were picked up the sooner they can be rectified. These were never in the vain of "there's a scratch on my window"... more "the mortar is two different colours" or "there's a light fitting where there shouldn't be".

Mid-way, we hit a bump and we had words with our SS. Lack of communication being the primary reason. PD made every effort to resolve our grievances and listened to our side. We were given assurances and to date they have followed through. In fact I would even say the process since then has been excellent. I still find him frustrating - but believe that is a personality clash more than anything. He is certainly ensuring all is getting done now.

The quality of our build I would class as above average. There are aspects that are outstanding, like our tiling and our staircase... and others that are average - like our mortar. To me, no house is perfect, small things I will not quibble about as I am quite handy with a well equipped tool box and am quite willing to take care of these things myself.

By the sounds of some of the posts here, I consider ourselves fortunate to have had a good build. I truly feel for those who have had a challenging experience. I commend PD for having Jess here to help those sort out their issues. How many other builders are willing to do this on the Forum?

At the end of the day I still believe alot of issues can be avoided by applying "Caveat Emptor". I can't blame the builder if I didn't read the plans well enough to know that the kitchen drawers were too shallow to be used for anything useful. To me - small price to pay. I also believe as you guys have said, respect must be mutual, don't call after hours and respect that they have other homes to build, customers to deal with and a life outside of work.

Once again, we are perhaps the lucky ones - but I felt it important in this "climate" of "bash the builder" that credit should be given where credit was due.

PD I thank you for building a lovely home, the majority of your staff have been exemplary. I look forward to finalising our dream in the next few weeks - fingers crossed!!

I wish you all a speedy resolution to your issues, I feel your anxiety and hope you all find peace and harmony in your new homes.

Stepping off soap box now....

Greetings again. Been offline for a while so I haven't been keeping up.
Got a question though. We're having our electrical appointment soon. I've had ******* advice in the past with lighting (currently living with crappy lighting as we speak which I curse every afternoon) and I don't know much about it myself. Do the people at electrical know enough about good lighting or do I need to learn about this before I go in?

Specifically I don't want downlights - I know I'm in the minority here but I hate them when used for general lighting. And if possible I'd like wall lights, at least in the Master bedroom. That's about all I know.

Hi Ebony, can you get my porch fixed please? I will be very impressed if you do.

Roshi, count your contract days and identify the cut off date. That's what I did - and sent my CSC a note saying I would claim compensation from that date onwards as per the contract. PD finished a day over nominated contract days and kind soul that I am, I did not claim compensation. Good luck!!

Puppyso, we have a couple of pieces of timber that have edges that look like that too. Rob and his dad assured me that as long as it isn't a weightbearing part or has to have plaster attached (where the nail might miss the piece of wood) it's not worth worrying about (I guess we're not going to see it once it's plastered up). We spoke to our SS about it as well and he too said as Rob and his dad said, and as long as they are not loose, the natural imperfections of the timber should not affect the structural integrity of the building.

Speak to your SS though if you want reassurance...

Cheers,

M

Thanks builidng1 for helping to post the pic

Thanks MelNRob for the feedback and advice, I feel better now knowing its normal but will check with SS if its a weight bearing part just in case.

Sorry mel_mox, I should've pointed out the defects
The timber has chips and the other one which Building1 help post looks like a part is broken off.

cheers

Hi, as according to the contract the house has to be completed by the 3rd week of June and as there are plenty of stuff to be completed we have
enquired from our SS. SS said that the contract days has to be enquired from Porter Davis & he is not able to provide any information with regard to that which
is correct I guess. I have emailed twice to my CSC & still I did not receive any feedback from her. We had a nice CSC before from the begining, but unfortunately, she quit from PD few months back.


I am building in South Eastern & is there any Manager whome we can spoke to when there's no any feedback from the CSC?

Thanks in advance....

Hey puppyso. I wouldn't worry about it either. Also, check to if the frame is hanging over the slab or it not in line. A good frame should be build on the edge of the slab.

PM me your email address and I'm send you a doc with all the building tolerances. It's a good reference.
Cheers
TS