Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5042May 27, 2015 10:43 am R2D2 we did exactly the same - big downstairs front room has been divided in 2 with the front room becoming a "library" (although plans say "home theatre") with built in bookshelf and the second room a study/kids playroom. Sounds like your floors are not dissimilar to us either - brown bamboo downstairs (and on stairs) and carpet upstairs. Works really well .... when people ask my kids their favourite thing about the new house, they say "the carpet" - we paid an upgrade and got quite soft plush carpet, with the upgraded underlay as well ... they are up there doing cartwheels/gymnastics every evening - no risk of injury at all (unless they fall down the stairs). The house we knocked down had carpet so thin and bare it felt like tiles !!! Your PCI issues also sound similar to ours ... not long now, bet you CAN'T wait to move in after all this time!!!!!!!! 2013 1st tender 24/10 Dep. 18/11 2014 5% 25/02 CDC approval 5/5 Demo 26/5 Pool 3/7 Valid'n 10/7 Slab 11/8 Frame 19/9 Bricks 23/10 2015 Roof 3/12 Lock up 11/2 PCI 31/3 Final insp. & keys 30/4 Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5043May 27, 2015 10:47 am R2D2- your house is lovely nice tile choice also KDR. Overture Premier 09/14 $3900 10/14 Plans 11/14 Contracts 03/15 Demo 04/15 Validation 05/15 Slab 06/15 Frame 06/15 Bricks 09/15 lock up 16/12/15 Keys Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5044May 27, 2015 10:53 am Yeah, we looked at that big front open room and thought massive waste of space, so enclosed the front half with a door and a built in wardrobe so it can be home office, study, bedroom whatever. We went for carpet on stairs as I am pretty clumsy and it is much nicer landing on your rear on carpet! We too paid for very nice carpet and they threw in upgraded underlay. Will hopefully reduce footstep noise too. Bamboo was just the standard one (choice of coffee or blonde) since we weren't using tiles from the yes promotion it was almost no cost to upgrade. Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5045May 27, 2015 10:55 am homerun2oran Looking good r2d2. I hope your pending issues are fixed without any more hassles. Was yours a KDR? Yes it was a KDR, but we did the knocking down, not M, as we had major asbestos clearing needed. Tried v hard to save the old house but wasn't to be thanks to our council! Glad we didn't in the end - nice to have it all new... Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5046May 27, 2015 11:11 am Great pictures R2D2. Everything looks great! Guys, I was wondering what was everyone's experiences like with your Site Supervisor? A fair bit of works been happening on our lot already and I haven't heard from him yet. Do they normally call you and introduce themselves and update you with how things are? Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5047May 27, 2015 11:33 am Ours is pretty good, a fair bit happened before we met him too, although we did get a call where he introduced himself. In the latter part of the build he has met me on site pretty regularly, provided weekly updates of what was finished and booked in for the coming week and even posted a few snapshots to instagram for me.. At PCI we spent about 3 hours and he let me organise visits from electrician, flyscreen company etc at the same time to get some measuring and quoting knocked off.. I suspect we have a very good SS though... Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5048May 27, 2015 12:01 pm R2D2 - You're nearly in! Do you think that once you've moved in that you'll just forget about the action you want to take against M for all the money they've drained out of you? Are you mostly happy with it all? You too Villinaeliters?? Villinaeliters - My 15 year old loves to prance around, dance and do cartwheels and handstands too. Not sure if a timber floor will work for her!! TNC2004 - Our SS was good to begin with... he called us to introduce himself and make appt to see us. He also provided us with photos for the first couple of stages. He hasn't since which is a little disappointing as he seemed to be one of the rare ones to do so. He seems reasonable. If we call or sms him he'll respond. No reason why you can't call him. Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5049May 27, 2015 12:30 pm Redwynne, I'm happy with the build, but still very unhappy with the process. I felt swindled and bullied. I will talk to fair trading about lodging a complaint post build. I feel that out of the $ they have cost me, it is worth investigating action - that's $ i don't have for my landscaping, and to be honest, i feel it is such a clear cut case of being M's mistake in not commissioning a report (after an email from sales consultant saying they will) and filing the wrong one and then failing to supply windows as listed in the contract, agreeing to remove the price increase and then pretending they didn't agree, that they should be held accountable for some of it - why should I be out of pocket so significantly for their mistakes. Talked to SS about ceiling heights, got him to measure with his proper measuring tape, upstairs is bang on 2.7, so will probably end up 2.68 after carpet in (that's still 20% less of the 10cm extra!), downstairs he reckons will end up at 2.65 or 2.66 with flooring so that is a much bigger concern, but i told him we will measure after flooring and I will take it up with M. Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5050May 27, 2015 12:35 pm Not sure how relevant this is but I was at M in Kellyville earlier and could not resist measuring ceiling heights.....2.72m downstairs!! Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5053May 27, 2015 12:47 pm Redwynne although I have had a lot of issues along the way, the final product is good (well, as good as you will get with a project home builder I think!). I still believe the finishes (ie paintwork, brickwork etc) could have been a bit better (especially brickwork), but now that the furniture is in (well, half of it - still yet to fill lots of spaces), I no longer notice a few paint issues here and there! And to be honest - NO-ONE who visits my home will ever notice these things but me (and possibly other builders). To his credit, my SS has always delivered on what he said he would when I have had complaints/things to change (not necessarily on the DATE he said it would be done, but in the end it was done nonetheless). So now that we are in, there is nothing that I can say "if only I had asked my SS to fix/change that". I have done the asking along the way and it has been done along the way. My SS always returned my calls/texts within about 3 minutes of sending. So fast he was, I would delay sending texts (on bus going to work) until the last stop before I got off, so his call would arrive once I was OFF the bus! So I have no reason to complain .. just wish I had built before so a few design/other issues would have been tweaked at the planning stage. That being said - 4 weeks after handover, I am still waiting for my final brick clean (which should have been done before handover) .... but as we have the keys and are in, I am no longer stressing about timing (as I am not forking out rent as a result of the delays!). The M window company came yesterday to measure all my scratched windows (5 out of 6 of my stacker doors, plus another 8 window panes - WHAT a huge cost for M!) - in 2 weeks they will all be new again! My missing master bedroom flyscreen is FINALLY being installed tomorrow (one month after handover - need I say it was also missing at PCI - 10 weeks ago?). Air con company coming today as one zone not working properly. All the bits and bobs are getting actioned .... I now email my SS once a week with an updated list of done/not done, and he emails me back saying what/when/who etc. Usually he just gives me a phone number these days. So now M is almost done ..... Big q - would I recommend them? Answer - yes, with some BUTS .... and then I would set out all the BUTs (ie Be prepared for a very long pre-construction period, it will not be 4 weeks, it will be 12 or more etc, you are likely to get hit with a price rise as a result of their, not your, delays ... try and get them to commit to something about that earlier on - ie extended contract period of 4, not 3 months, to get to validation) ... as long as someone is aware of the time delays, the potential things to watch out for (bulkheads and ceiling heights on top of the list!), the additional costs - AND be prepared to be vigilant during the build.... then they SHOULD be happy in the end. My masseuse (don't ask!) said she is now building with M after seeing our house go up/hearing about my experiences ... except that I didn't have a massage for the whole year we were renting/all the stress was happening, so she didn't hear all the bad stuff! Now I have simply done the warning ..... She also heard all about my stresses in the 2 years prior to making the KDR decision - house hunting, falling in love with houses, seeing them go for over $400k above reserve (and our budget!) at auction .... 4 auctions later, countless sleeplessness nights pre-auction, stresses etc - and about 80 houses inspected .... I have to say, the build process was not much worse .... and in the end - about 18 months from start to end (24 oct 2013 first tender received, 30 april 2015 keys!) ... so shorter than my unsuccessful house hunting period.. we now have a brand new house to show for all our stresses, not an old one like the ones we were looking to buy. Plus with the crazy Sydney property market, we certainly don't have to worry about over capitalisation ... our house is already worth about $300,000 more than we thought it would be at the time we started the build! M is not perfect - far from it. Their homes are not perfect - far from it. Our home is not perfect - far from it. But if my conversations with others are anything to go by (including a Boral rep, who had to inspect our gyprock due to my wonky ceiling issues - and he told me M was one of the better ones, and he inspects across all project home builders), M are better than most and their homes are better than most. And I think our home is good enough, at the end of this journey. Some people have some horrific experiences with M (R2D2, Thunder .. thinking of you both here!) ... and neither of you are likely to ever recommend M. Nor would I if I had been through what you both did. But I would like to think/hope (??) that you guys are in the extremely unfortunate minority (and there will always be someone who has a terrible experience, no matter which builder you go with). 2013 1st tender 24/10 Dep. 18/11 2014 5% 25/02 CDC approval 5/5 Demo 26/5 Pool 3/7 Valid'n 10/7 Slab 11/8 Frame 19/9 Bricks 23/10 2015 Roof 3/12 Lock up 11/2 PCI 31/3 Final insp. & keys 30/4 Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5055May 27, 2015 1:47 pm 89joel I was looking at house and land packages on Ms website last night and it appears 2.7m ceilings are now included in the yes package. I just saw this as well. Their House and Land Packages states 2.7m high ceilings whilst their Yes Package promotion states 2.6m. Hmm... Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5056May 27, 2015 1:59 pm well said, villinaeliters! I think that also sums up a lot of our thoughts. the things that may not be perfect are relatively minor (paint not perfect, a few blocked drains, squeaky sliding windows) and can be all fixed. If we had bought an established house, it would have cost us a similar amount but would also have things that need fixing (and no warranty period), wouldn't necessarily be a design that we love, wouldn't be brand new, and there may well be lots of compromises living with someone else's original choices. I'm so sorry that lots of people here are having problems with ceiling height. To be honest, I haven't measured ours and don't plan to, but then I also didn't pay any extra, so I can understand everyone feeling more than a little annoyed to be paying for something and not getting it. Our living room is supposed to have 3m ceilings, and if they're out by a cm or two, so be it. A partial refund should surely be given to those who paid for something they didn't get? Let's hope! Would we do it all again? Definitely! I always felt, throughout our constantly delayed build, that the end result would be worth the stresses along the way....... that all the hassles and pains would be something to chuckle about in years to come. And that's how it has worked out. What would I do differently? I would go over plans more painstakingly to ensure what we were getting was what we were expecting. I would ask more about the options, alternatives, and costs from whatever is standard. I would take our plans back to the display home and check , room by room, what is there compared to what is on our plans, and make changes if needed. I have learned so much from this forum and all the wonderful people who share their experiences that our next build (if we ever go there again!) will be so much better planned! Even just knowing what the "extra" costs are likely to be will be a huge advantage! And I would still be visiting/driving past the site every day and talking to whatever tradies are onsite (our SS was not the "cherry on top" with our build, so communication was sadly lacking). But at the end of the day we love our house. I would definitely recommend M, but with warnings about what to watch out for! I have had friends who have built with other companies and they have all had similar issues. And if you read through other forum posts about other companies, there's similar problems with them all. Try to keep smiling everyone..... it WILL be worth it when you get your gorgeous new homes!!!! Masterton Overture 17/12/14 - Handover ...... we got the keys !! blog - http://www.mcnamaraadventure.blogspot.com Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5057May 27, 2015 2:47 pm Wow! Lots to catch up on! Welcome markP! R2D2 - wow that bullying and refusal to build is ridiculous! No wonder people get scared off from pursuing it any further! Your house is looking fab! Loved looking through all your pics! Marina - as far as I know it's the date it was laid, ours was! Maybe you had some silly tradies that didn't know the correct date? How much was it out by? I don't think it really matters! As long as they don't stand the frame the next day! Good idea dealing with tile company rather than m. We dealt straight with them when we decided to change our splashback grout colour and was easy peasy. Paid the difference straight to them. It was only a minor change though! Wow Mgardz, expensive pendants! But they are all stunning so well worth the cost if affordable! My budget would definitely not agree haha! Congrats on moving in ckingo74. I haven't heard about the paint! Hopefully it isn't true! TNC2004 my SS has been pretty good. Our first SS rang us after we were cut to introduce and let us know work had begun, my second SS doesn't seem to be much of a people person in the sense that he isn't too keen on making the effort to work around us for meetings but in saying that, I have managed to see him on site twice, and he does call back or text back if he misses our call. He did call me once to ask me to go meet the brickies to make sure our feature brick was being done correct which I thought was good because some probably wouldn't even bother, but back to the people person statement, he wanted me to go asap and had "just left our block" would have been nice if he had called when he was still there! I think you should ring yours! Redwynne, if I had issues similar to yours I would most definitely be taking some sort of action. It's just not right! The follow up email just shows that they don't care, and won't admit wrong doing. Like I said before, you didn't ask for it to ripped down and started again which would have been a huge cost to m! Just the small refund (small for m that is!) although, without others it may be hard and I would say that the 2700 "approx" will be their end excuse for being under 2700. How far do you expect it will be out by?? We had gyprock delivered today yay!! And I'm pretty certain they took away our temp stairs so they mustn't be too far away! Starting to get excited now! I did a little mock up timeline compared to R2D2's timeframe from gyprock and hopefully if all goes to plan, we will be in there in less than 100 days!! I've started counting down, hoping I'll be in there before I reach 1!! Time will tell! Concerto Elite Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 5058May 27, 2015 4:22 pm Has anyone used Ark Shutters through Masterton? We are looking at using them for our plantation shutters, roller blind on the back door and security doors. At the moment I'm tossing up between the pet mesh or crimsafe type security doors. I'm wondering how people have found their security door pricing as we have been quoted $900ish for pet mesh twin doors or $2600ish for crimsafe. I know they are a little more pricey for window coverings but I like the convince of having them measure before handover. Thoughts? 4 17267 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16744 Hi all I am looking to run a water line under my concrete footpath which is directly next to my home, was seeing if this is possible without cutting the entire section… 0 20779 |