Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Celebration Homes Build 27Apr 25, 2019 5:37 pm lisalula Trotdeglobe lisalula Finally getting to this.... So here's a breakdown of our prestart costs
We had $2k credit from celebrations to start, so it only came in just over $3k. We also had our block 12.5 BAL rated, as bush that is meant to be cleared for future blocks is still sitting there which means a further $4,900 variation. And great news - WE HAVE NOW SETTLED! Just waiting on our building permit to come through and then it will be slab down! Hi there, Just wondering how your build went. Have you moved in ? We have built the mirror image of the franklin i.e. The Crawford ... Was wondering if you find the house to be a bit dark ? We realized after moving in that the living areas are a bit dark, a bit disappointing but just wondering if you feel the same and if you have any suggestions ? Thanks in advance Hey, yea all finished and moved in. It went ok, we had a number of issues with our build, one that may be applicable to you is the tiled pillar at the front, they built it larger than the plan but within tolerance and so it required 2 tiles rather than one and looked terrible, so we asked them to remove it and they did this begrudgingly and we had to pick a new, bigger tile. We also had issues with the tiling fall, which I’m still not really happy with as water doesn’t drain towards the overflow drains. I know what you mean about the house seeming dark but it’s actually quite light and open, although we haven’t yet installed our room divider between lounge and games so that might make it slightly darker (assuming Crawford is exactly the same as the franklin). We have all Led lights in the living, dining, games, kitchen area so that helps too, I think that was standard though when we signed up. Another issue is how long the kitchen tap takes to heat up... it takes so long, constantly wasting water or just end up boiling the kettle when needing hot water, we are going to look into why it takes so long, might just be an issue with our house. Best thing we did was hired our own building inspector for incremental inspections which kept the builder in check and there were a number of things picked up on that we wouldn’t have noticed, we used PCM Concepts, the guy was good but he misquoted is at the start and it ended a bit nasty, we still never heard back from him. Doors are also a bit rubbish as they rattle in the wind, I’ve had to put a few of those little gel dots (2 on top of each other) to stop the door from banging on the frame when they’re closed, we will be following this up. We had issues with our flyscreens all being installed damaged, our servery window was installed with a bar in the centre, which they had to fix, we installed our own ovens after handover and they wiring was done incorrectly and the holes for the ovens were the wrong size. There’s probably more that I can’t remember (or have buried deep in my mind haha). Where are you building? Are you building the standard plan or have you made changes? I had the intention of keeping this post up to date but ended up getting pregnant and it got moved down the priority list! 😂With the issues we had, Celebrations would initially shrug us off so we had to persevere to get items rectified, which was a total pain and made it all the more unenjoyable, fighting for what you paid for at every turn. Hi there, Firstly congrats on the pregnancy. I hope alls going well on that front with you. I think our situation was quite similar, I'm expecting my little one end next week so I totally understand the stress of building and being pregnant at the same time. We had hired a building inspector too ( thankfully ) and he did pick up on a number of issues. All these glorious reviews we see on product review - I'm thinking to myself I just wish they have the common sense to have their build cross checked. Yes the Crawford is exactly the same as the franklin. We have made a few changes, I've attached my floor plan. I've swapped the cinema with the masterbedroom and we are currently using it as a kids room + nursery. Because of this change the Sq mt of our house increased and they conveniently pushed our house back thereby reducing our garden. Pushing it upfront was not allowed by the council but they just ignored to tell us that ( so frustrating when you want that space for kids) To accommodate the powder room they reduced the size of the cinema room instead of the small rooms out back again something we didn't realize assuming that the final plans were as decided earlier. (Its not good to be too trusting in today's world) With regards to the rooms being dark I think it's how the plot is oriented, maybe your living area are facing north or west, ours face SW AND S so a bit more darker I guess. And of course we have the half wall installed already which I agree blocks part of the light, but also hides my kids mess 😂 Now we are thinking of investing in skylights, but after summer sets in to just be sure if this darkness is not winter induced. We have the issue with the rattling door too in the cinema and we will be bringing it up with them. We choose to go with the Rheem storage water system, precisely because of the water taking too long to heat in our rental. We don't seem to have that problem thankfully with this system. I agree with the part that they were very reluctant to make changes as per the building codes and even had the audacity to tell us celebration does it differently. I told them that if they don't want to follow the standards by the NCC then it's ok but we need it in writing. From chipped face bricks, cracked bricks on internal walls, bathroom two being retiled it was not the best experience. I didn't enjoy the build and it stressed out my pregnancy too. I suggest you keep a list of all the issues, will come handy later at the 1 yr mark when they come in for maintenance. I wish you luck with everything and I'll touch base with you and hope you do the same if you have any concerns. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 19601 3 51693 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 109207 |