Browse Forums Building A New House Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 82Sep 13, 2016 2:53 pm Hey CB, Haven't had any contact from the Builder since 2 weeks ago. I only heard from my inspector last week that they are scheduled to pour the slab today. I have a scheduled meeting with the builder on Thursday at 4pm. Also the the inspector will be onsite at 4pm Thursday to inspect the slab. The site supervisor seemed to be pretty good, but I think when he found out we are using a certifier he seemed abit suprised by this and lack of communication started. I am itching to to email them for an update, but I honestly thought they would give me an update. On a side note, does anyone know if the rangehood needs to be externally ducted or does it go into the roof space? Reading online it looks like it's external. I will be asking them this, but if it's a legal requirement to be external I don't want to pay them any extra. Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 83Sep 13, 2016 3:08 pm I think many builders just do roof space or use range hoods with charcoal filters you need to replace monthly (but haven't met anyone who has done that in my life). Mine is being externally ducted as I don't want to fill my roof space with grease also it was 'standard' with my builder. ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 84Sep 13, 2016 3:23 pm Wow, poor communication!! Yay for a slab!! Can you get slab pics for us?? GJ Gardner Modified Coolum 277 viewtopic.php?t=83643 Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 85Sep 15, 2016 8:14 am How'd your meeting go? Did you get to see your slab? Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 86Sep 15, 2016 3:58 pm Just got here, only waffle on-site! The didn't even let our private certifier know the slab was not poured. I highly doubt the builder will show for this meeting. The certifying company said the will send the guy to meet us still as we have flown up here and have some questions at no charge . Looks lke I will be visiting their office shorty..... Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 87Sep 15, 2016 4:00 pm Oh and... It looks like they put the slab layout too close to the side fence. We wanted .800 to have side access. Will be interesting to see what they will say about that Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 88Sep 15, 2016 11:33 pm deejay08 We paid $2.2k to up our insulation to r2.7 walls and r4 in the ceiling. Got an email today (after reminding them to purchase the correct one) that the r2.7 won't fit in the wall cavity so they have changed it to r2.5HD (high definition lol) apparently it's high density ha! Wanna hear the funny part....apparently I'm not entitled to any refund as the r2.5hd is expensive???? WTF?! R2.7 is THE most expensive which we forked out for our thermal assessment to be met and figured it would pay for itself within the first 12 months. I'm seriously p i s s e d! I'm going to make a few calls tomoz to find out exact pricing. Anyway Ads the small investment on insulation can give big returns so I'd still recommend adding it to your tender but maybe ask then to double check it'll fit in the wall cavity our builder handled our connections with agl and we can change to our preferred provider once we move in to Hi Deejay, Was talking to my builder and they have provided for r2.7 roof insulation and r1.0 in the walls. We are installing a ducted Aircon in a 220m2 house. Is this enough? Where did you do your energy saving research from. Thanks Goandownunder Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 89Sep 15, 2016 11:34 pm Ouch, bet they are hoping since you are not there all the time they can get away with things. Def time for a meeting. ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 90Sep 16, 2016 7:07 am seadogg14 deejay08 We paid $2.2k to up our insulation to r2.7 walls and r4 in the ceiling. Got an email today (after reminding them to purchase the correct one) that the r2.7 won't fit in the wall cavity so they have changed it to r2.5HD (high definition lol) apparently it's high density ha! Wanna hear the funny part....apparently I'm not entitled to any refund as the r2.5hd is expensive???? WTF?! R2.7 is THE most expensive which we forked out for our thermal assessment to be met and figured it would pay for itself within the first 12 months. I'm seriously p i s s e d! I'm going to make a few calls tomoz to find out exact pricing. Anyway Ads the small investment on insulation can give big returns so I'd still recommend adding it to your tender but maybe ask then to double check it'll fit in the wall cavity our builder handled our connections with agl and we can change to our preferred provider once we move in to Hi Deejay, Was talking to my builder and they have provided for r2.7 roof insulation and r1.0 in the walls. We are installing a ducted Aircon in a 220m2 house. Is this enough? Where did you do your energy saving research from. Thanks Goandownunder Hey seadogg...it depends on where your home is being built and a few other factors. What the builder has included would be the bare minimum for basix. Do you have a thread? I got my thermal assesor from the www.yourhome.gov.au website which is also very helpful as it will show you your climate zone and gives you a guide for your insulatiom etc based on that. Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 91Sep 16, 2016 7:11 am ads87 Just got here, only waffle on-site! The didn't even let our private certifier know the slab was not poured. I highly doubt the builder will show for this meeting. The certifying company said the will send the guy to meet us still as we have flown up here and have some questions at no charge . Looks lke I will be visiting their office shorty..... ads87 Oh and... It looks like they put the slab layout too close to the side fence. We wanted .800 to have side access. Will be interesting to see what they will say about that What a let down!! How did the meeting go yesterday arvo with your builder? Remember to take pics and update your thread, we all love to see pics GJ Gardner Modified Coolum 277 viewtopic.php?t=83643 Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 92Sep 16, 2016 9:42 am Just sent a lengthy email to the owner of the franchise and also cc'd the GM for QLD. Meeting was OK, there could be no solution found, without a cost. But lets see how this email goes. It addressed all the lack of communication, mistakes, variation and how we have never felt so unsure. I quoted the GJ site and their "GJ+". I told them to not pour the slab until this is resolved. Lets see if they listen to this. The mrs is really upset about it and want's nothing more to do with the company/builder/home. We are also going to reach out to a lawyer to see where we stand regarding the location of the slab. I asked the site manager yesterday, who's responsibility is it update our inspector if dates change etc. Reason being is he told them that slab would be poured Tuesday and it didn't happen. So i called the company and they still sent the guy free of charge because he knew we flew up for this. The GJ Builder was like, why does he need to come out for a slab inspection? What is he going to check? The builder didn't give me an answer as to who's responsibility it is for letting him know, he just shrugged his shoulders. I made it clear that what if he came out and I got charged for nothing? Apart from that, the builder did seem very knowledgable and we spoke about the process etc. I kept him for over an hour till 5:30/5:45 as he made me wait for so long. I don't expect they will happy after the email that was just sent. Will keep you posted. We didn't take any photos yesterday, but will see if we go back today and will take some. (Good weather today) Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 93Sep 16, 2016 8:33 pm Hey ads just caught up on your thread, how disappointing for you guys.. If you have the final engineering drawings with the specs stating the placement of the slab they have to stick to the drawings. A lawyers 'oh so formal kick up the behind' might be the wake up call they need. Keep the pressure on them and dont let them intimidate you. Of course you would have an inspector if you cant get out there and measure for yourself.. Really hoping you get a worthwhile response to your emails. Best of luck. First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 94Sep 16, 2016 8:39 pm Oh Ads!! Sorry to hear about to stuff around!! This must be incredibly frustrating, I hope you get something sorted. If you can't get it sorted, I would be asking for some sort of compensation as it is not to plan and it's not what you asked for. Any pics? GJ Gardner Modified Coolum 277 viewtopic.php?t=83643 Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 95Sep 17, 2016 12:49 am I would def be pulling out your plans. They have to pour the slab where it is on the plans approved by council, not just change it - council will not accept that and nor should you. However double check those plans to make sure you didn't miss it or measure incorrectly - I know I mess up on my plan and land plan as its ratio is 1:200 not 1:100 and I have to remember to double everything. Also I would be making sure its in the correct spot as I remember a couple months ago reading a thread on here, the builder poured the slab to close to the rear fence, like you not where it should have been. Noone picked it up until council came for its second last inspection and the officer noted the house distance from back boundary and that is when the picked up it was 0.5m closer to the rear boundary than the plans of where it should be. Council refused to relax boundary rules for them and basically the 2 choices given to the owner was either knock the whole house down and start again - which meant another 8+ months for them to rebuild, pay rent and pay mortgage at the highest rate as they were one payment of final payment at the time - or choice 2, have 0.5m of the back of the house knocked down as it was their living areas and get a small compensation of credit for that 0.5m which was only like $8000. However they would have it done in 8 weeks veruses 8 months. I think they went with knock 0.5m off the back of the house as they couldn't afford both rent and mortgage any longer than 8 weeks but we were so upset they now had a smaller living area then they planned for and the whole situation took away the exciting feeling about it. It was one reason the day they formed up for slab I was there that afternoon measuring it from boundary etc to make sure it was in the right spot. So as long as its def not in the correct spot as per your plans, stick to your guns and they have to change it. It will mean delays, and that could be a couple of weeks - but worth it to know that you got the space you were after and also won't have that council issue to deal with if its to close to the boundary. ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 96Sep 23, 2016 10:32 pm Hey all, finally got some time to post recent photos. I have been in contact with the owner and GM of QLD. Both have been not helpful or neither respond to emails. Got one back from both but very vague and didn't answer my questions. Unfortunately the plans are correct. They did .800 off the boundary which includes the retaining wall. They are requesting a slab payment now, but our inspector hasn't been able to get a hold of the SS. I let them know we will not pay till this has been inspected. The SS sent some photos of the build so far. .400 mm off the fence Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Slab Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Building Noah's arc : Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I believe the photos are the wrong way, not sure how to rotate them? Love how they left the frame laying across the slab like that Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 97Sep 24, 2016 12:41 am Sorry the plans were correct and not what you thought. Wow that is close to the fence. It's common for the frame to be delivered into the slab, stops it moisture etc affecting it while waiting to be put up. Mine was also delivered onto the slab. ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 98Sep 27, 2016 5:50 am Yeah, that's correct. But we found an email saying to "move it .800 off the boundary to fit a wheelie bin". Slab payment is due today, but called the owner yesterday at 5pm saying that we have been chasing you for a week to provided paperwork to the bank so we can work out the first payment. Our broker got it from them yesterday afternoon. I told him that we can't pay it by tomorrow as our bank won't get back to us in time. also that our slab inspection will be on Wednesday afternoon. He wording was "that's fine, I won't charge you any interest, but try to have it paid as soon as possible"...grrrrr, they delay is all them! I spent a good hour on the phone yesterday trying to rectify the electricity issue because energex came onsite and left a form 3. I believe that the sparky didn't install a meter box. Because of this form 3, origin energy cancelled our account. So was on the phone between all 3, and finally have this sorted, they should be onsite again within the week to install the meter. With the slab being poured, the house looks like it will be small, but I guess once the frame is up and you can do a walk through it will make a different impression Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 99Sep 27, 2016 7:20 am Sounds like the office you are building with has very poor communication!! Makes it hard doing an interstate build but that is no excuse for their lack of communication with you!! Don't want to be all doom and gloom but maybe the admin stage was a warning of sign of things to come? Fingers crossed things get better from here GJ Gardner Modified Coolum 277 viewtopic.php?t=83643 Re: First Build - GJ Gardner - Modified StillWater 100Sep 27, 2016 10:38 am Our admin stage has got worst post build. My theory at this point is I am paying a lot of money for this experience so as long as the buid is progressing, without issue I will accept their lack of communication. Our office states they don't have any way of knowing exactly where they are up to onsite as that is the site supervisor. The site supervisor has ignored us trying to communicate so we did complain about him, however since that complaint nothing has changed. May I ask why you chose not to use GJ Gardiner? I'm actually meeting with one of the sales guys tomorrow for an appointment. Definitely not signing anything yet… 3 14142 hi guys. Please be nice. First time home builder in Qld. I would like some feedback please on whether I should build my granny flat first before my main house at the… 0 5407 Soak wells and electrical run in happening this week! Summit has told me they will relocate the laundry plumbing after the walls are completed. I'm actually pretty happy… 13 37771 |