Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Dec 03, 2008 4:46 pm any one builing with Porter davis in the deer park area?? they are asking us to allow 15K for site cost. But the other builders are quoting a much less allowance. i love the floor plan of Porter Davis but concerned about the hidden costs.. if any one has experience building with PD pls let me know,,
thanks MW MW Re: Porter Davis homes 4Dec 03, 2008 6:52 pm If I was building again (Gawd, just KILL me if I ever suggest it!), I would do a bit of preparatory work prior to signing with a builder, so that I'd be well informed when it came to site costs. These are just a few things that might be helpful for you:
First, if you're building in a new estate, ask the developer if a controlled fill report exists for your block. If so, get them to email or post a copy to you. Next, I'd seriously consider getting my own soil report done - I doubt the cost is huge. You'd also need easement details, if there are any on your block. We have a sewer easement on ours, and the pipes are very close to the back of the house, so piering along the rear of the slab was required. Then, armed with those things, I'd ask the builder to fix the site costs from the start. They might not do it, but it'd be worth a try. And at the very least, you'd have a lot of info to help you understand (or argue against) any seemingly high site costs. Remember that two blocks next door to each other can present totally different problems. We had a lot of fill, plus the sewer, and the soil type was rated as "P". We ended up paying $12000 for our 35-sq single storey home. There are two other blocks in our street, only 3 doors down from us, where at least a hundred huge boulders were excavated during site preparation. It took weeks for 2 or 3 guys with some serious machinery to dig it all out. I hate to think what the site costs were for those people.... Re: Porter Davis homes 5Dec 03, 2008 8:53 pm out site cost came was presented to us by PD last week, over 23k - ooouch. I hate to think about it.
i do think they over charge this. out block is flat but they said still need to cut and fill 100mm, and they provided concret slab on alfresco and porch area - i bet they added a big chunk on it. nh Re: Porter Davis homes 6Dec 04, 2008 6:27 am Ours were 15k for the house plus an extra 4k for the garage extension, so 19k all up. I try not to think about it too much now seeing as we have a flattish block, no rock, M class slab....thinking about it just upsets me, because I think we got ripped. Our friends got a quote from 'H' for a bigger slab in the same estate, not as flat as ours, with fill on the site for 12k. Re: Porter Davis homes 7Dec 04, 2008 8:20 am also, 15k would just be a salesman's suggestion, i bet all of them exceed that.
also the wet area upgrade - absolutely a rip off, - they roughly 4 times of the tile price i quoted from National Tiles for wet area upgrade. darkside of it. nh Re: Porter Davis homes 8Dec 04, 2008 10:30 am We are building near Deer Park and they've quoted us 15k as well. Our land will be titled next year and based on the plans the developer will be compacting soil on it.
I was trying to negotiate that since soil is being compacted on it we wouldn't have rocks but the sales consultant countered that they might still be rocks under the soil and the soil type might require an upgraded slab. We have a site fall (not sure if this is the correct term) of maybe 1-2 meters. Anyway, I think its better to get a fixed site cost now to avoid surprises later on. Re: Porter Davis homes 9Dec 04, 2008 5:37 pm Sounds like our costs were reasonable then - we have an H class slab, with piering and full concrete to alfresco and portico (Yay! No need to rush to deck or pave those!). Our block is also flat and there was no cut & fill..... well, none to speak of anyway. They barely scraped a few blades of grass off the soil. Re: Porter Davis homes 10Dec 14, 2008 9:47 pm We are building with Porter Davis in Rose Grange, Truganina near Leakes Road.
The land developer has assured us that the land will have a compaction report showing catagory 1 engineered fill. This is apparently good, the fall over the site is less than half a meter. For the Hayman 29 the initial 'guestimate' of site costs on our land was $10,000 with a H class slab. My gut tells me that the site costs might rise. Re: Porter Davis homes 11Jan 17, 2009 4:42 pm Before I went with PD, I obtained 2 quotes from Simonds and Metriiicon and both places allowed $10k for site cost but after setting foot into the Mariot 48 I decided to go with PD. My Sales Rep from PD allowed for $15k just in case we under budget ourselves. It turns out to be only $7.8k (H Class which is $3k to $4k more than the M Class slabs) and another $1.7k was charged for temporary fencing and crossing protection.
I guess I was lucky because my block was fairly flat and they only needed to cut and fill 10mm and there was no signs of rocks on my land. Surprisingly, there was at least 20 large rocks (at least half the size of my little Toyota echo), so far they haven't mentioned that there will be any additional cost nor have i asked them just in case they decide to charge me an extra grand or two for it. Overall I am extremely please with PD craftsmanship, after revisiting a few of the Metriiicon and Simonds displays in the past few weeks, I must admit that the quality PD offers are definitely far more superior than any of the other big builders. Re: Porter Davis homes 12Jan 17, 2009 4:57 pm Tameline I guess I was lucky because my block was fairly flat and they only needed to cut and fill 10mm and there was no signs of rocks on my land. Surprisingly, there was at least 20 large rocks (at least half the size of my little Toyota echo), so far they haven't mentioned that there will be any additional cost nor have i asked them just in case they decide to charge me an extra grand or two for it. Big big boulders more like it! Where abouts are you building and what house? Re: Porter Davis homes 15Jan 17, 2009 7:19 pm kek Sounds like our costs were reasonable then - we have an H class slab, with piering and full concrete to alfresco and portico (Yay! No need to rush to deck or pave those!). Our block is also flat and there was no cut & fill..... well, none to speak of anyway. They barely scraped a few blades of grass off the soil. We are the same. Our quote was $7k but the costs came in at $10k but at least we get the concrete to the alfresco and portico included. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Porter Davis homes 16Jan 17, 2009 8:22 pm nh i do think they over charge this. out block is flat but they said still need to cut and fill 100mm, and they provided concret slab on alfresco and porch area - i bet they added a big chunk on it. This sounds odd to me. We have a significant cut and fill (almost a metre in front and back over a 2m drop, check the blog for pics) with the slab extending to our alfreso and water tanks and we're only paying $8k in site costs to Simonds. They actually reduced our site costs when they fixed them after the second site inspection. Re: Porter Davis homes 17Jan 17, 2009 8:58 pm Borg -
Site costs involves everything the builder does to your land before and up to the time the slab gets poured, so it includes excavation, removal of soil and rocks, piping, termite treatment, temporary fencing, crossing protection etc Re: Porter Davis homes 18Jan 18, 2009 5:41 pm nh out site cost came was presented to us by PD last week, over 23k - ooouch. I hate to think about it. i do think they over charge this. out block is flat but they said still need to cut and fill 100mm, and they provided concret slab on alfresco and porch area - i bet they added a big chunk on it. nh If they're concreting your al fresco and portico, then your slab has been upgraded due to soil conditions or something else .... there will be a reason for it - ask, if you're not sure why. Don't accept a half-baked answer either. It's your house, your money - you should know the answers to these things. Re: Porter Davis homes 19Jan 23, 2009 3:24 pm Tameline Borg - Site costs involves everything the builder does to your land before and up to the time the slab gets poured, so it includes excavation, removal of soil and rocks, piping, termite treatment, temporary fencing, crossing protection etc Does anyone know if PD allow you to do your own excavation? Also, if they over estimate, do they only end up charging you the lower fee or do you just pay the lot regardless? 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Porter Davis homes 20Jan 23, 2009 3:59 pm I dont know if PD would let you do your own but on that note I wonder if you did it before they do the soil test, what would the sites costs come back as?
I guess it would take someone to do it to find out. Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 12345 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74717 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105617 |