Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 18, 2021 7:57 pm Hi there, My husband and I are about to start construction with McDonald Jones Homes. We’re building the Miami 15 in south-west Sydney. To say we’ve had a very rough, disappointing start to our journey is an understatement. From initial site inspections not being done due to “our land being unregistered and no roads in the estate” (land has been registered since Oct 2019 plus they’ve built 4 other homes in the same estate, two of which have been handed over for at least 5 months now) to having the drafting team completely flip out house mirror imaged and shrink it on the plans 5 days before we were due to attend our plan presentation. (Based on what they apparently assumed would be best for us). To then even having our project coordinator temporarily taken off our file by management due to her argumentive behaviour towards us over compliance issues with our local council which my husband and I had already sorted out and had letters from council stating the same. We’re nervous to say the least and after reading reviews, reading posts here on homeone and speaking to people that are both building with, and others that have now handed over, makes us think we’ve made a very big, very expensive mistake. What are some recent experiences from others out there currently building, and handed over? Has anyone built the Miami 15? Does anyone have any suggestions on what we need to really look out for now? Any stories, links to blog spots or advice would be greatly appreciated at this point. Re: Recent McDonald Jones construction experiences. 2May 07, 2021 10:25 am How has your build progressed? We are considering building with them but in the Port Macquarie area and trying to get as much information as possible as we are also looking at other builders (Hotondo, Coral). Re: Recent McDonald Jones construction experiences. 3May 30, 2021 7:06 pm Hey sorry for late reply, We’ve finally got our slab down but still having a list of issues with them. It feels as though it’s nothing but a complete battle and trying to talk with anyone about our concerns, questions or anything for that matter is just a waste of our time. There are several other homes in our estate both completed and still in construction with McDonald Jones and the owners are also quite upset with a various list of items and issues they have caused. I understand some people are happy with the whole experience with them, however my husband and I are yet to see it for ourselves. The sheer lack of communication from supervisors and the bad attitude from the office construction team at Baulkham hills are enough to make anyone feel like just another number and endless money pit. They have beautiful designs, their sales staff are absolutely wonderful, but that’s it in my opinion. I’d recommend you really look around at other builders. A joyful experience to build a beautiful family home has not been experienced yet. Re: Recent McDonald Jones construction experiences. 4Jan 13, 2022 9:00 am We had a really good experience building in S/W Sydney and dealing with the South Coast office. The sales team were lovely and so where the people at the studio. Our build went smooth and on budget, the end product was really nice too… Where they lost points is in communication both at admin and onsite with the SS Would I build with them again ? Without a doubt I said after the 1st build “ never again “ & now im on my 3rd Re: Recent McDonald Jones construction experiences. 5Jan 13, 2022 10:21 am CD12JD We had a really good experience building in S/W Sydney and dealing with the South Coast office. The sales team were lovely and so where the people at the studio. Our build went smooth and on budget, the end product was really nice too… Where they lost points is in communication both at admin and onsite with the SS Would I build with them again ? Without a doubt I’m happy to hear you had a good experience with them. Some people do, most people I speak to do not. We’ve moved in, the overall build is great. Our last construction ruin supervisor was wonderful. We went through 3 construction supervisors as the ones we had all resigned and moved on to other builders. Says a bit doesn’t it? Now sitting in a BAL 19 rating zone, with pouring rain, we can see they have neglected to install flashing from our front Patio to the eaves over the garage and bedroom. Water is pouring into our eaves, roof and coming out through our downlights. Not to mention the gaping holes where we can clearly see the blue frame. Lucky there aren’t fires around like a few years back. Perfect entry point for hot embers to get in yeah? Emergency service call out logged and it’s been over a week and they are still not coming to fix it until next Monday. Oh well, I guess we just put up with water damage and water in our electrical work until then 👍🏼 Re: Recent McDonald Jones construction experiences. 7Aug 28, 2024 5:02 pm S.Trent Hey sorry for late reply, We’ve finally got our slab down but still having a list of issues with them. It feels as though it’s nothing but a complete battle and trying to talk with anyone about our concerns, questions or anything for that matter is just a waste of our time. There are several other homes in our estate both completed and still in construction with McDonald Jones and the owners are also quite upset with a various list of items and issues they have caused. I understand some people are happy with the whole experience with them, however my husband and I are yet to see it for ourselves. The sheer lack of communication from supervisors and the bad attitude from the office construction team at Baulkham hills are enough to make anyone feel like just another number and endless money pit. They have beautiful designs, their sales staff are absolutely wonderful, but that’s it in my opinion. I’d recommend you really look around at other builders. A joyful experience to build a beautiful family home has not been experienced yet. I feel this is where it changes based on location, and will be the same regardless of builder. Our experience has been near perfect. We have received calls every Friday since our slab pour, and are approaching PCI 6 months later. The only gripe i have had is the friday updates only seem to outline whats happening the next week rather than a bigger outlook weeks ahead, but i get it, they may not know whats coming as things change. But, we have had had a wonderful experience so far. You have mandatory building inspections and privately engaged building inspections. The difference between the two comes down to inspecting the building so it's safe and… 3 32869 Hi Kayne I am building with Rivergum at the moment. Do not build with them our experience has been horrific. 12 months and all i have is a timber frame and they have built… 1 26580 Hi Mrboh Just wondering if you have any BAL or flame zone issues on your block, as getting compliance with BAL requirements whilst doing bearers and joists is tough. Not… 1 22903 |