Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1061Aug 14, 2015 6:13 pm Return to Shire Sounds like you are having a terribly slow build, poor thing. Why do you think it has been so slow for you? Banka Welcome to the forum. We have dealt with four builders and K seems to be a better one. Ask any questions. Your total build cost should be base price + $150,000 is about right. Everyone Hope you have been getting lots done in this fabulous weather. I had a date this afternoon with a boogie board and some mad waves! Oh, what fun. Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1063Aug 15, 2015 5:16 pm Banka There are LOTS of hidden costs with EVERY builder. $150k extra will cover extra slab expenses, fences, window coverings, minor landscaping and all the things you need to get final occupancy certificate so you can move into house. Most builders, and many of our forum members, will tell you this is average. Maybe even a bit more for two storey. If this is out of yr budget, start thinking of smaller house. Better you know full cost now before you pay deposit. Everyone We have shower screens! Very pretty. Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1065Aug 15, 2015 5:43 pm EK1976 Yeah I am slack. Will get on to the photos. Banka Suggest you read all 54 pages of this forum to gather info and advice from fellow builders. We were hit with $100k on top of the extra $150k as we had to raise our land 900mm in case the area floods in the next 100 years! Extra expense to you if yr land has any slope. Our land was absolutely flat. Quach, yr land looks sloped so you must have had extra expense. Banka I just don't want you to become another poor person who builds half a house then run out of money. Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1066Aug 16, 2015 5:53 pm Banka, some of the extra costs can be lessened by investigating site costs and cutting back on variations. Some people pay for tenders from different builders to decide what is the best value for money. We have so far spent just under $100k above the base price on our two-storey house and this does not include landscaping and other post-handover things (for which we are budgeting abut $60k. Of these, the site costs (including BAL requirements) and developer requirements were probably the only necessary variations (~35k) but when you're building a house, it's nice to be able to make it what you want rather than just the default design/materials. Have a look at what is included and what above that is a need or a want. Some things can wait but others really (extra insulation, power points) are hard to do post-handover. I agree it's a great idea to read this forum. It gives you an idea of what people have had as variations and whether they were luxuries or necessary or somewhere in between. We have a roof. Any time they complete something I get excited for the next stage. I really want to go in and check out the view from the windows and balcony. Hopefully soon... Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1067Aug 17, 2015 10:15 am Big Mama Return to Shire Sounds like you are having a terribly slow build, poor thing. Why do you think it has been so slow for you? Tell me about it! First of all, the engineer at last minute didn't agree on the build of the roof trusses, so back to the drawing board. Then the SS blames the concreter's for not coming the day they're supposed, delay on delivery of frames, then delay on framer being available. Not one rain delay though. My CSO goes on holiday, no one tells me, SS goes on leave, no one tells me. Excuses - 'the building industry is so busy', I call BS, the SS rarely updates the system, so back office can't tell me what is going on. I have had troubles with K ever since I signed the contract back in August 2014, they are SO SLOW and make SO MANY mistakes!! Anyway enough ranting, I'm getting all riled up!! Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1068Aug 17, 2015 5:38 pm Big Mama Quach, yr land looks sloped so you must have had extra expense Yep definitely ! Was hit with additional 8k of drop edge beams. So far we've had about 25k of on the top expenses and variations. We are taking care of some things ourselves which has saved us a few thousand, KH are just building our house and driveway. If you include the cost of everything, such as the landscape, fence, deck, window coverings, furniture etc.. Then it's easily 100k - 150k on top of base price. But in terms of the cost of the house itself, I would budget additional 30 - 50k on top of the tender price for "unforeseen" costs. There will be plenty of those, some small but it adds up. Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1069Aug 17, 2015 7:23 pm Agree $150k is about right, we are at approx $100k now above tender and that's without window coverings and other 'extras' that are bound to pop up such as the damage to the crossover which will need to be replaced before we can get occupation certificate. HousesforMouses we also have a roof, very exciting when a stage gets completed Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1070Aug 17, 2015 8:53 pm returntoshire Big Mama Return to Shire Sounds like you are having a terribly slow build, poor thing. Why do you think it has been so slow for you? Tell me about it! First of all, the engineer at last minute didn't agree on the build of the roof trusses, so back to the drawing board. Then the SS blames the concreter's for not coming the day they're supposed, delay on delivery of frames, then delay on framer being available. Not one rain delay though. My CSO goes on holiday, no one tells me, SS goes on leave, no one tells me. Excuses - 'the building industry is so busy', I call BS, the SS rarely updates the system, so back office can't tell me what is going on. I have had troubles with K ever since I signed the contract back in August 2014, they are SO SLOW and make SO MANY mistakes!! Anyway enough ranting, I'm getting all riled up!! Hey so where are you up to now returntoshire? I think we're about the same stage of the build.... I've also been told by our SS there is a huge delay on timber frames. We have a slab (completed end of July), but the timber is not due for delivery till 7th September. So the whole month of August will be written off.... Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1071Aug 18, 2015 10:05 am quach128 Hey so where are you up to now returntoshire? I think we're about the same stage of the build.... I've also been told by our SS there is a huge delay on timber frames. We have a slab (completed end of July), but the timber is not due for delivery till 7th September. So the whole month of August will be written off.... Hey quach128, Finally frames started last Thursday, supposed to be finished yesterday with bricking starting today. They worked half day Thursday but won't return until later this week to continue (doubtful!). I noticed you mentioned you were charged for drop edge beams - make sure you check that they actually did them. I was charged for drop edge beams, but the supposed edge looks exactly like all other edges. I questioned them on it over a month ago, as well as a few other things I am doubtful of.....<radio silence>. Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1072Aug 18, 2015 1:06 pm Hi all, I have read through the pages of this post and am getting the overall feeling that the quality of Kurmond Homes is good but they are really slow and can gazump you with hidden costs. My husband and I are about to embark on building a Duplex after knocking down our house. It's such a huge decision which builder to go with we are going around in circles. The slow thing scares me because I am moving in with my inlaws!!!! ATM we are tossing up between Kurmond, Champion Homes and Lily Homes. Would love to hear from anybody who has built a Duplex with Kurmond, would you recommend them, would you choose them again if you had your time over? TIA Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1073Aug 18, 2015 1:06 pm returntoshire I noticed you mentioned you were charged for drop edge beams - make sure you check that they actually did them. I was charged for drop edge beams, but the supposed edge looks exactly like all other edges. I questioned them on it over a month ago, as well as a few other things I am doubtful of.....<radio silence>. Wow! Looks like your ahead of me now! I remember you also had CDC problems same as me right ? Anyway I did check the amount of drop edges and they definitely put them in. We haven't started our timber frame yet, my experience with the delays has been pretty consistent. We had one month from the approval to the peg, then another month till the benching, then another month till the slab, and now it's another month till the frame. I think at this rate, maybe I'll move in the year 2017 Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1074Aug 18, 2015 10:44 pm Returntoshire Drop edge beams are finished off to look like normal edges. The drop edge part is all on the inside. They are required for sloped or built up areas of land. Mishbut Suggest you read the forums and product review sites for the other builders you are considering to get the lowdown from actual customers. K has many comments about good final build quality. No builder can give exact timeframe and most of the "hidden" extra costs are site costs and things the council imposes which are nothing to do with the builder. Everyone Not sure why your timber frames are delayed cos you know they get them from Bunnings? Generally we have had good steady progress on this build. From peg out to lock up just over 5 months. Bit slow now though. Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1075Aug 19, 2015 8:15 am I think KH think they can get away with delays as there is nothing written in the contract about penalties to the builder for delays. Other builders have this written in their contract, I have seen them - Metricon, Allworth, Masterton, Lilly they all have financial penalties for delays so they have to finish within the contracted time. In the case of KH, my contract States 9 months build. We are into the 4th month of the build now so they have 5 months to complete the build. I personally think they won't finish for another 12 months but there's no penalties so I don't think they care. I might have to go see a lawyer about the contract. Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1076Aug 19, 2015 8:40 am Hi guys, got my first set of plans/drawings from KH. Overall reasonably happy, with minor changes it should go to estimator. My question, can you upgrade window sizes later or is this classed as structural? Re: Building with Kurmond Homes 1077Aug 19, 2015 9:31 am Nav12c Good to hear from you. Window sizes are structural as they make the timber frame to match the window size and put additional timber into the frame to hold the weight of the window itself. Quach128 Think you will find that any builder who is prepared to pay penalties will have a much longer quoted build length. Face it, they are not in the business to lose money so maybe they quote 12 months build time. That way they can take longer and never pay penalties. No point seeing a lawyer as you are now bound by HIA contract. Pls remember if you don't make progress payments on time builder can sue YOU for breach of contact. 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 109681 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 26677 Wish you all the best. Once you signed the contract, they will find millions excuses to charge you. And have seen their sites unfinished for a long time. 4 25848 |