Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 25, 2021 12:17 pm Hi Guys, We have recently bought a quite old house on a 730sqm block and was thinking of living renovating at the time of purchase. We were there for a shock of the cost of renovation being close to the cost of a new build. Pondering around owner builder/renovator and living in for while until building craziness settles. We end up considering building with Lofty Builders now. We were looking at a custom builder who can implement our sketch of 5 rooms with 2 bathrooms and an open living/dining kitchen with decking/alfresco. There are not many reviews/feedbacks for local small builders out there, unfortunately. I was reading some horror stories of volume builders like Metricon, Metro Homes and Weeks Homes which seems to be interstate managers hiring local tradies on their product review pages. Also, we have friends building with them and 1 year on the houses are not even a meter above the ground, with no apparent reason stated than Covid. Considering the skills and material shortage, I was wondering if anyone had experience with this small/medium size builder? How did the process go? Were there delays in delivery times? Also how much did the budget blow from their initial quote? It was surprising that Lofty has assured us that build will be done before the end of next year. While a couple of smaller builders mentioned 18 to 22 months. Also cost-wise they were sure that they can keep it under 400K including their luxe specification of fittings. Thanks, G Re: Anyone building with Lofty Building Group in Adelaide? 2Feb 01, 2022 9:30 pm Did you end up going with Lofty in the end, G? What has your experience been like so far? I have a family member looking at building with them. Re: Anyone building with Lofty Building Group in Adelaide? 3Feb 02, 2022 9:19 am Yes, we did, we are still in the process. They seem to claim not to be affected by wood shortage due to massive stock (hope thats still the case). We had to delay it slightly due to easement issues we come across. Now we're in the queue for the elevation and final drawings. I like how flexible they are with the layout we are after, rather than pushing templates. Friends are building with them, they have started a couple of months ahead of us and so far positive feedback. They had a view of their finished houses. Feedback was pretty good even for the standard finishing. Only time will tell. Let me know if you want to know something in particular. Re: Anyone building with Lofty Building Group in Adelaide? 4Feb 02, 2022 10:40 am Glad to hear the good word on this builder Gunay, thank you! Congrats on getting to the end of the drawing stage Will be in touch if something comes up down the line and feel free to share your progress as you go! Re: Anyone building with Lofty Building Group in Adelaide? 5Apr 12, 2022 1:14 pm I have recently finished building with Lofty and would not recommend using them. We were drawn to them as they nailed our layout we wanted and price was very reasonable, it seemed like we were getting a premium build for an average cost. Yes they were fast, they promised an 8 month build for a double story, handover was 9 months so very good considering the building boom. However communication has been shocking, during the process I have dealt with 4 different project managers, none knowing anything about the job from the last. In general the trades used were very poor quality. If it wasn't for me on top of the build many of the issues would have gone unnoticed and I would have had to raise them at handover. A list of some of the issues I had... Skylight not in correct spot Taps not in correct spot in multiple bathrooms Tiling plan not done as agreed in final signoff Cabinetry in butlers not done as agreed in final signoff Control joints not added on first floor until raised Incorrect items installed in vanity Roofing in particular was of a shocking standard, when I raised the poor quality I was told that as I could not see the flashing it was considered acceptable. (although you can see this when looking out of first floor windows) I was met with push back many times and they tried to charge me for every minor detail. Even a request to put two extra studs in a home theater wall to mount a tv they attempted to charge me for "materials" even though there's bits of off cuts everywhere. I am still working through my 3 month list of fixes. I suspect I will be battling to get any movement there as well as once they have final payment don't expect them to give you any priority. Lofty claim to do custom builds but after my experience this does not seem to be their strong point. They should stick to their developments, sub divisions and house and land packages where client has minimal input. In the end I have a nice house but the stress and mountain of issues along the way would not give me confidence to recommend them. People say you have issues with any builder I just feel like there were too many with mine. Re: Anyone building with Lofty Building Group in Adelaide? 6Apr 12, 2022 1:33 pm Interesting and very worrying. We hit hurdles even before we start building. Hit two easements in the lot and we were forward and backward with the ETSA, Techincal Regulators from SAGOV and SAWater. Neither one wants to budge and tries to corner us as much as possible away from their easements on our land. Lofty being understanding so far and pushy back, but 6 months on we haven't even started demolishing yet. Went over our initial budget already, although included a second storey. And this is before selections. But I agree that you need to keep repeating yourself and bounce back on drawings to make sure your point is taken onboard. Otherwise, they go with a standard pencil and do not consider how what you requested matches with what they output or even surrounding elements. Let's see how far they will go. We are still at the edge of justifying if it is worth the build or considering another location. Still waiting for the building approval. But so far they were responsive and understanding. Perhaps depends on whose hands your project goes to. Seems PMs are settled on a project basis and do not swap around. Probably their commissions go on project base too. Re: Anyone building with Lofty Building Group in Adelaide? 7Apr 12, 2022 2:24 pm I felt their main focus on the build was to get it done as fast as possible to the detriment of quality. For example they did all roofing at the same time, and then rendered ground floor towards the end of the job. So if you lift the flashing of roofing up you can see there is no render underneath it. This saves them having to get the roofer around again later but not the quality you want as a home owner. I had a great experience with the sales guy and the floorplan process, once construction started though the issues came and the biggest one most came back to was lack of communication. All the best with your build. Hope it works out for you. Re: Anyone building with Lofty Building Group in Adelaide? 8Apr 12, 2022 2:29 pm Appreciate your feedback. Now with all that experience in dealing with them, how would you suggest we push back on "missed" or "overlooked" steps? Do you sneak around at night and check? I believe they do not allow the owner to poke around and complain while it's ongoing. Criticism in the end is just bound to be ignored or delayed until you pay for it. Especially in this climate where all tradies are booked out! 4 14924 Building a new home, and looking for a garage builder (home builder not contracted to do this). Someone to build steel garage (double), colorbond, including supply and… 0 3453 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 25586 |