Gj Gardner or Montgomery?

Good morning all from a very excited home builder!

We secured a beautiful sloping block in Hornsby Heights. In the process of getting tenders from Montgomery and GJ Gardner.

Any feedback on experiences with these builders much appreciated..( on sloping blocks in BAL Flamezone)

Thanks ,

Hi Natalie

I had a friend who built with GJ Gardiner in Brookvale who were very happy. Also have a friend who built with Montgomery in Avoca, also very happy

Hope you get the price you need

Cheers

Simeon

I would guess that the GJ Gardner price comes back a lot higher. They seem to operate their Sydney North franchise differently to other volume builders, as they explained to me they don’t provide base prices for the different house designs. And would only give me their total estimate to “deliver a beautiful family home”. Which turned out to be something like $800k for a 270m2 design. So I got the impression they must be used to working for really rich Northern Beaches clients and decided to look at other builder options.

I’m considering Montgomery as well, but have not requested a tender yet. I’ve visited the Montgomery Whitehaven display home, which is a nice tri-level upslope. I’m not sure how many houses they are building in Sydney these days.. the bulk of their work is likely in Newcastle and Central Coast. It would be good if they could provide you some references for homes they’ve built nearby your area to see if you can have a quick chat with the homeowners. It is a shame there isn’t too much mention of Montgomery on H1 to get a better idea of other people’s experiences

Hi Chiz

Without knowing the specifics of your design and site that price does sound expensive.

We are working on quite a few custom builds on the upper north shore even just finished one with an 8 meter fall, and our builds are coming in consistently around the $2,000 per meter mark ( give or take 5%), flame zone homes are a bit higher in the $2300 range. That is for a timber or steel structure with either BV, hebel or FC sheeting. Double brick, and dincel style structures add $400-500/sqm more.

We find that the vast majority of our north shore clients are extremely budget conscious so we have worked hard to keep our costs down.

So assuming you're not in a flame zone or requiring double brick with a suspended concrete slab, your build shouldn't be more than $540,000 incl GST

We have come up against a number of other north shore builders who seem to be charging a north shore tax, so that may be happening here as well. Some of the prices would make your head spin.

anyway, good luck with your builder search

Cheers

Simeon

Thank you for the replies so far. After the tender presentation with Montgomery we decided to rather go with an independent/custom builder. We just found the tender wasn’t detailed enough and important requirements like shutters and fly screens for exterior doors were listed as “by owner” and they were unable to tell me what shutters cost..this is after they included $120k for Flamezone requirements like sarking, bal40 windows etc

They build beautiful homes but I just wasn’t happy with the tender.

So basically their quote wasn’t in budget. We only have a 1.5m drop over the building envelope so not too bad. We at the design stage now with an excellent designer and we feel we have more control over the budget this way. Also managed to find a pool builder who has worked with our builder before which makes for a smoother operation as well.

Hi Natalie3

That's fantastic that you have found a builder you are happy with. It's great hearing stories of builders who are doing the right thing by their customers.

What would be great, if and when you are able to, is to give your builder a shout out on here so other people who are in the same position as you can be pointed in the right direction and have a happy experience as well. Sharing is caring

Have a great easter

Simeon

Hi Chiz, just wondering if you went with Montgomery or not? Like you we have looked at the Whitehaven but haven’t had much luck finding reviews from people that have built in Sydney with Montgomery. Thanks

Hi AmDm,

Not yet. Natalie3's feedback about her Montgomery tender not being very detailed sounds like a bit of a worry. But hopefully that doesn't end up being the case, once I manage to get around to comparing a few builder options.

I noticed a recent DA for a Montgomery Riviera 2 on the Northern Beaches not too far from me. Their block seems a lot steeper than mine, which makes me think I could get away without a split level design. But I have taken a liking to the tri-level design..

Chiz

I had a business acquaintance who built with GJ Gardiner on the Northern Beaches and he raved about the experience. House looked really nice too. So good luck with your journey

regards

Simeon

Hey Natalie3,

I'm in a similar situation. Looking to build on a sloped site in Cowan. Not flamezone, but still a block that needs a house suited to a 2.6 m slope. My husband and I are also tossing up between Montgomery and GJ Gardner. Can I ask the name of the custom builder you went with?

Thanks,

Vanessa

Hi Natalie3

Could you share builder contact please as I have gone thru icon and GJ Gardener and as stated it seems to be over my budget.
and maybe the northern beaches seems to attract these mark up..sigh
Regards

Hi Anita, currently in negotiations with an independent builder called O’Mara Construction. Haven’t gotten tender from them yet (waiting for DA we lodge today yaaaay) .
So far we get a good feeling about him that he’s honest and forthcoming . He specialises in complex builds ie Flamezone, extreme sloping block etc.
They are custom builders so you would need to provide your own plans and they don’t do a tender until you provide approved plans.

Have you locked in your design yet?

Let me know how you go..

I’ve got a quote from GJ Gardner Hornsby coz my land is in bush firezone FZ and have 2m fall.t’s way too expensive they have quote us 300sqm for $835K.at the end , we go ahead with Metricon Homes. with the same money I can get 466sqm home 2 floors with upgrades. Metricon build in FZ bushfire zone, also Montgomery.

I’ve got a quote from GJ Gardner Hornsby coz my land is in bush firezone FZ and have 2m fall.t’s way too expensive they have quote us 300sqm for $835K.at the end , we go ahead with Metricon Homes. with the same money I can get 466sqm home 2 floors with upgrades. Metricon build in FZ bushfire zone, also Montgomery.

I’ve got a quote from GJ Gardner Hornsby coz my land is in bush firezone FZ and have 2m fall.t’s way too expensive they have quote us 300sqm for $835K.at the end , we go ahead with Metricon Homes. with the same money I can get 466sqm home 2 floors with upgrades. Metricon build in FZ bushfire zone, also Montgomery.

Hi Hornsbygirl

Interesting post.

Are you saying that Metricon can build you a fully compliant flame zone home of 466sqm for $835,000? if so that is incredible, there is a lot that goes into building a complaint FZ homes from $100-120k worth of shutters on windows, insulation, the entire roof needs to be lined with 15mm ply, skirts need fire rated silicone, fire rated doors, the list goes on.

The price that GJ Gardiner are quoting sounds very reasonable based on ones we are doing on the North Shore, ie it sounds like they actually know what they are talking about.

Anyhow, good luck, but with whomever you choose, make sure the builder is responsible for OC in the contract. There is a lot that can go wrong and if you are responsible for your own OC, it could be a nightmare

cheers

Simeon

Hi Simeon, we had Montgomery, GJ Gardner & Metricon quoted us, FZ allowance is approx $150K on all builders, shutters components is approx $60K, yes we are aware of it. Thanks for the tip & good luck..

Awesome! keep us all informed as to how you go with the design and build