Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building in SA! 141Jan 10, 2009 7:11 pm Hi all! I stumbled onto this site this morning and have been having a nosey around - decided to sign up and post when I saw this thread! So excited to read about other people's experiences building in SA.
My partner and I are building with Fairmont Homes in South at Seaford Meadows. We have been waiting on settlement on our land since July!!!!!! and have just been notified we will finally settle on the 21st of this month. We have been signed to build for a few months so are very eager to get underway. (We are first home owners, and missed out on the extra FHOG by 6 days on our contract!!!! and we are yet to even *start* the construction process. Sigh.). The blocks are quite narrow and ours is a bit oddly shaped so we have designed our own home - if anyone is interested I might see if I can motivate my boy to scan the plans in sometime. If anyone wants to share any expieriences/etc about building with Fairmont Homes I would be very grateful! Re: Building in SA! 143Jan 11, 2009 10:39 am Helyn Welcome to the forum alulei! Hope you have a smooth journey building and YES! please post your floor plan and any pics - we love pics, even just dirt if your building hasn't started yet! Thanks, Helyn! There is not much to see with our block yet, I'm afraid. No fences up or anything - just bare land all around - I suppose once they finally release the land we might start seeing some fences and stuff and then it might be more obvious where we are going to build. Will get out there and take some photos one of these days In the meantime, I won't hijack this thread by posting a big picture of our floor plan etc. But here is a link: http://www.users.on.net/~pudgey/House/plan2.JPG Any comments/suggestions/constructive criticisms welcome!! Oh, and if anyone has any recommendations for our exterior colours I would be happy to hear them - we have to finalise our decisions soon and I am very nervous. Thanks again for the welcome! Re: Building in SA! 144Jan 11, 2009 10:43 am hi alulei
Welcome as Helyn said . Try Michelle for decorating advice. Although plenty of us put our two cents in as well . Good luck with your build.... and pics ... plenty of pics welcome . Re: Building in SA! 145Jan 11, 2009 7:03 pm Hi alulei
Just wondering have you asked your builder if they are willing to change the date of your contract so you can get the extra FHOG?? We thought that we may have had to do that but our builder hadn't yet signed off on our contract so we didn't need to change. Our builder was more than happy to change it though if need be. May be too late now but definetly worth asking as you may get an extra $14K Re: Building in SA! 146Jan 11, 2009 7:35 pm sammy_sj Hi alulei Just wondering have you asked your builder if they are willing to change the date of your contract so you can get the extra FHOG?? We thought that we may have had to do that but our builder hadn't yet signed off on our contract so we didn't need to change. Our builder was more than happy to change it though if need be. May be too late now but definetly worth asking as you may get an extra $14K Hi Sammy! The day the FHOG boost was announced i called RevenueSA (and sat on hold for almost an hour) and was told that if we cancelled and resigned and were audited and they discovered there was not a reasonable reason to cancel then we would not only not get the money but could also be charged with **!!!!! I asked what an acceptable reason would be and she said: footings come back too much, not approved finance from bank, etc. I said "what if we wanted to change something from our plan?" And she said it would have to be something "major" that could not be rectified by simply having an ammendment to our current plan/contract. I also read a news article a month or so later that said that the government are aware of brokers/sales consultants forward dating contracts and will be doing audits to catch people! So after all of that: I was shaking in my boots and decided I was lucky to be getting anything at all really so I shut up (mostly). The boy does seem to get rather cranky-pants everytime it comes up in conversation so this has helped me be rather quiet about it Did you get the extra boost, if you don't mind my asking? Re: Building in SA! 147Jan 12, 2009 12:00 pm Hi Alulei
We were able to get the extra boost as our house company had not yet signed the contract. We had signed a few days prior to the announcement and the builders signed early Nov. They have investigated and advised me that because the contract isn't entered into until both parties sign we still qualify. Re: Building in SA! 148Jan 12, 2009 11:33 pm Hi All,
My name is Tim, married with two boys. I signed contract with Weeks Macklin on May 2007. We are building in Woodvile West and it will be our first home. I received the engineering report and variation cost with $18k plus on October 2007. They told me it's because 400 mm fill is required. I asked them for different option, and they came out with waffle pod. They promised me to give the revised variation cost before Xmas last year but I didn't received it. It's really difficult to contact them, I send emails, left phone messages but they didn't call me back. I manage to get talk to somebody today but he promised to give me a call back today, and nothing happened. I'm thinking to cancel the contract and try my luck with different builder. Not sure if this is a good idea, but if I sign contract with other builder I'll get the $25k grant plus I probably get a better deal (???) with other builder with better understanding what details to look at when signing the contract (including the option to design my own plan). The only thing I'm not too sure is how much they are going to charge for the termination, and I have completed all the selection appointment, only the final builder appointment to go. I probably will end up with different problems with other builder and also I'm not too sure which builder to choose as there is always pro and cons when reading in this forum Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated. Re: Building in SA! 149Jan 13, 2009 12:08 am Well, FWIW, I'd expect to be well and truly in my new home if I signed in mid 2007.
It really seems NGE. So, I'd lean towards trying other builders. I also advocate a genuine, up-front approach. Some would see this as transparent and, even, niaive. But I'd tell them about my experience so far and ask them to convince me they could do better. The builder we're with in SA seems to move things along at a cracking pace so far at least. But they're fairly pricy (commensurate with the quality of their homes) and I appreciate that this whole house-building caper is highly budget dependant. A close rellie built with Faimont Homes and achieved an outstanding result and another with Oakridge with minimal dramas and smiles all round at the end. So, I think there are good builders at all budget levels and I think you need to investigate other possibilities. Personally, I'd be upfront with the current builder about your dissatisfaction and give them the opportunity to "lift their game" if they want to retain you as a customer. Just my 2c worth cheers zeke Re: Building in SA! 150Jan 13, 2009 9:47 am Tim,
What is the soil classification on your block? Size of your house? Footing beam sizes according to the engineer's report? I'm also building with W&M. My variations for footings and siteworks were very high (see my various posts in this thread and also Poor Soil Test Result thread). As mentioned by various people in the forum, Adelaide soil is generally bad to very bad to build on. S-class ("standard") is almost unheard of. M-class (medium) is considered lucky. H-class (high) is common. E-class (extreme) is not all that uncommon. Maybe go to another comparable builder, choose a similar size home and ask for a quote, telling them the soil classification, fill required, etc. Then you'll be able to judge how expensive/cheap the W&M is. Chris Re: Building in SA! 151Jan 13, 2009 12:12 pm Hi folks.
I'm a fellow Adelaidean and I'm just beginning the process of building a house in Torrens Park - it will involve demolishing an old house, subdividing and building two new ones (only one will be ours). I've started doing my research on this forum and elsewhere, but I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction . I'm looking into a variety of builders but there seem to be an awful lot of them with varying opinions about each. How did everyone here select their builders? Thanks for your help.[/b] Re: Building in SA! 153Jan 13, 2009 2:30 pm ChrisL Tim, What is the soil classification on your block? Size of your house? Footing beam sizes according to the engineer's report? I'm also building with W&M. My variations for footings and siteworks were very high (see my various posts in this thread and also Poor Soil Test Result thread). As mentioned by various people in the forum, Adelaide soil is generally bad to very bad to build on. S-class ("standard") is almost unheard of. M-class (medium) is considered lucky. H-class (high) is common. E-class (extreme) is not all that uncommon. Maybe go to another comparable builder, choose a similar size home and ask for a quote, telling them the soil classification, fill required, etc. Then you'll be able to judge how expensive/cheap the W&M is. Chris Hi Chris, here's the details .. What is the soil classification on your block? H Size of your house? 3BR 136 m2 Footing beam sizes according to the engineer's report? Beam width 200 mm Required of beam depth 550mm That is what I have from the report, I don't really understand it though. The land was actually in the flood zone so that's why it needs to be higher. I have made a few phone calls with other builder and make appointments. We'll see what I'll have from this. Re: Building in SA! 155Jan 13, 2009 7:38 pm Tim,
My contract with W&M has allowance (over “standard”) of $17k (footings, earthworks, soil removal). Then determined that my soil is H-D (highly reactive at depth). Size of my house 160 m2 (each). Engineer’s report specified beam width 250mm & beam depth 850mm. RC Raft min 200mm into firm ground. W&M wants nearly $15k over and above the $17k. Something for you to compare with. Would like to hear how you go with your enquiries with other builders. Homes with H-class soil will almost definitely attract flexible connections for stormwater system – not covered in the contract. Chris Re: Building in SA! 156Jan 13, 2009 8:00 pm Spud,
In my case, we wanted a steel-frame home. This narrowed the field significantly but it was still difficult to make final choiceby no means easy to make final choice. From what friends have told me, Mitcham council can be a pain when it comes to development. So, especially important for you to do your homework. Chris Re: Building in SA! 157Jan 13, 2009 10:13 pm Hi, I just found this forum today and I can just tell I'll be spending many hours on here!
Anyone building in The Settlement in Golden Grove. My husband and I have a block on hold and I'm pretty excited. Still got the small matter of selling the old house - yikes - but hey gotta keep moving forward. I've also found the statesman posts pretty interesting because I've had my eye on The Wayville or Waverly for a while, but getting a little turned off. Especially because the four of us our at my Mum and Dads for the duration. Its really encouraging to read about other people having the same concerns and worries as we've got, especially about actually making the leap to build at all. Does anyone know what the footings are like out in GG? Hopefully I'll have some good news soon and we'll have sold our house and bought the block. Re: Building in SA! 158Jan 14, 2009 5:37 am ChrisL Tim, My contract with W&M has allowance (over “standard”) of $17k (footings, earthworks, soil removal). Then determined that my soil is H-D (highly reactive at depth). Size of my house 160 m2 (each). Engineer’s report specified beam width 250mm & beam depth 850mm. RC Raft min 200mm into firm ground. W&M wants nearly $15k over and above the $17k. Something for you to compare with. Would like to hear how you go with your enquiries with other builders. Homes with H-class soil will almost definitely attract flexible connections for stormwater system – not covered in the contract. Chris I didn't aware that the variation will be that big when signing the contract (as this is the first time I build). The sales consultant did explain the allowance but he never mentioned how much it can vary. I asked him but he kept saying it's difficult to know at that stage. And reading on other experience in this forum, almost 99% has quite big variation for their footing compare to the allowance in the contract. So I think, this is actually how the builder works, they get you to sign the contract with "not good enough" estimation for footings and then when the engineering report comes in, they add more to it (double the cost) and at this stage you don't really have a choice but to agree with it. This is a not good practice at all! By the way, I've called the builder yesterday (again I have to contact them), and the cost of the footings will be $12k additional to the original $15k in contract. Previously it was $18k more. I haven't received the details yet but I guess I'll keep trying other option with other builder. Has anyone had an experience terminating a contract with a builder? Re: Building in SA! 159Jan 14, 2009 5:42 am The quote for our footings is 25k, but we have noticed there is nothing in our contract to mention this. Now we are worried that they will try and blow the figure out when building commences. So, we are going to do our best to get it written within the contract or the whole process will be over for us, as we financially have no more bucks to spend on footings. Re: Building in SA! 160Jan 14, 2009 7:01 pm TheGang The quote for our footings is 25k, but we have noticed there is nothing in our contract to mention this. Now we are worried that they will try and blow the figure out when building commences. So, we are going to do our best to get it written within the contract or the whole process will be over for us, as we financially have no more bucks to spend on footings. Hi there, The Gang. I think it is standard to be able to "pull out" of a contract at footings stage if you are not happy with the amount they come back with. In our case (and I assume this is standard?) it was after having paid a deposit, so if you are not prepared to potentially lose your deposit if you are not happy, then you may need to tread carefully. I am not sure how accurate you are really going to get until they are able to send people out to test the soil - it is all a guessing game. Our salesperson always said to us "there are 3 things that will happen. 1. it will come back under what I have quoted. 2. it will come back exactly as I have quoted (unlikely!!!), or, 3. it will come back over what i have quoted". Seemed obvious to me but I guess he was trying to prepare us. As it turns out, we are building in a new development and they had done many quotes for the area previously so they made a pretty educated guess when it came to our block. Hey guys building a new place through a volume builder and just wondering if i should complain to the site supervisor as we just had plasterboard installed. Looks like… 0 11754 Elvis has left the building... The site supervisor quit after 2 month on the project. I guess he was just instructed to bark at people, but didn't like when he was… 26 21492 |