Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 121Nov 11, 2009 6:39 pm Well I hope the rest of the building is smooth for you! We are also building North, Laurimar to be precise & we also have a slight elevation at the frontage of our block but the house setback should be ok, hopefully now I am not so confident!! When is your start date & what design have you chosen?? We chose the Mannum 181 We were walking around Laurimar & came across a Rivergum home. It was funny we loved it as soon as we saw it & I said to my dh I bet you that is a Rivergum home as it had a smiliar look to the design we have chosen. DH & ds actually went up & knocked on the door & had a little chat with the owner who was most complimentry of Rivergum. He said it didnt take long to build & he had been there 12 months. So there is hope for us Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 122Nov 13, 2009 5:22 pm We are building the Sorrento , we loved the floorplan as it suits what we need, and lets hope our build goes well after the shaky start, we thought they were really efficient and on top of things - so we will see how we go
Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 123Nov 15, 2009 2:51 pm I thought you had written on before! I thought there was two Eleanor's! I hope the slab is cut for you tommorrow I know how frustrating the waiting can all be! Lets hope we have both had the rocky beginnings & now we coast through the building How is your son's house? Is he happy with his??? What did he build?? We walked through the sorrento it was very nice! We went with the Mannum because we liked the colonial style as I am not a super modern person. We are still awaiting the final contract! Amy told us last week she would contact us this week & send it out to us. We rang her on Thursday & she apoligized saying they are still awaiting the drafts people to sign it off & it still needs to go to the enginer for site costs! Apparently the drafts oerson was sick all week! Dont they have more than one drafts person???? So we are now having to wait until next week now! Talk about annoyed. I said to dh I am sure they are dragging it all out now as Xmas is almost here & they want to start next year! We were hoping for a slab for Christmas! I dont think so. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 124Nov 20, 2009 2:07 pm Yes we are completly frustrated & furious right now!!!!! After ringing Amy yesterday wondering where our site costs were?? She gave me the usual comments as to why they hadnt arrived. After much complaining by me she said I did you a favour by putting urgent on the request to the engineer! Doing me the favour it wasnt my fault the one drafts person was off sick for a whole week! Anyway she said she would see what the hold up was. She rang me back & said they had assured her that they would be out by the end of business & she would email me to let me know they had gone on to the site people. The email never came but we did get a phone call this morning from another lady as Amy was off sick! Anyway she said there is a problem! I thought oh god what now! Apparently the engineer will not go any further until they find out what the trees are that have been planted on our nature strip. I said why, she said it is because they need to identify them before they can continue because it couuld effect the design of the slab & if so it would have to be redesigned & would cost us more $$$$$$$$. I said the whole street has them & the houses have all been completed. SHe said they needed us to go out there & take a photo of the 2 trees on our nature strips (we have 2 as we are a corner block) & email them to her & she would get them identified & only then would they continue! We live 50 mins away from Laurimar so it is stuiped to have to drive there to take a photo of one tree when it is the same as the other one I said there is a photo of the tree in the report for the soil tests. She said she would have a look & then said her manager said they required both trees! I asked her to ring the advisor of Laurimar & talk to him as he would know what the trees were. I then rang the Delfin office & they said in all the years they had been there they had never been asked that question before & they were laughing as they thought it was ridiculous! There are thousands of homes built there in Laurimar now & more on the way, they have the standard trees all throughout the estate why is our builder making such a big deal about it!!!! With our set back the house is no where near the damm trees! He wa slovely & said he would go out there & take a photo & speak to the Delfin rep as well. Rivergum rang us back later & said they would send one of their people over to take a photo & that the Delfin rep said the trees could grow up to 8 metres. If that is the case we could be up for a new fee on a redsigned slab! The landscaper for Delfin is not there until Monday so we wont know the answer until then. We are both so furious because it feels like a money making scheme to me & we have no leg to stand on due to the technical side of slabs etc. So we have people heading out to our block to take a photo of 2 trees that are found throughtout Laurimar but according to our wonderful building company could set us back more $$$$$$$$$$$$ Not happy Jan!!!!!!!!!!!! Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 125Nov 22, 2009 4:56 pm we've been double stuffed around now, broker is blaming CBA, but im personally going to blame the broker as hes the common denominator in all of our finance problems and hold ups, the loan that was approved turned out to be only 90% of the what we need to borrow, so we all of a sudden had to either come up with another 27k on top of our already 20k deposit, or reapply for finance, while now RG is waiting for us to give them to go ahead to start. im actually beyond being annoyed at this stage, whole thing has been nothing but trouble so far, but Jodie, just another way to look at it, if they put the slab down before christmas and they then break for 6 weeks, as will happen, you'll be paying a lot more because theyll draw down the first payment for the slab then there will be no work done for nearly 2 months, we're in the same boat, we've just accepted that they can get started after the christmas break and hopefully the build will be started and completed in a shorter time span, therefore saving us money. so maybe think like that and you will calm down a bit, its annoying but what else to do? Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 126Dec 01, 2009 12:47 pm Thanks for your thoughts! We have calmed down a bit since the last entry mainly due to the fact we had an apology from Rivergum. When we had the discussion about the trees they said the slab would need to be redesigned but what they meant was it may need to be strengthed in the two area where the trees are. That was not definite as they had to research the trees etc & see if it was going to be a problem. We got an email from Amy on Friday to say the engineers had sent our contract back & it was now going to the site people. No news yet on the site costs but I am dreading them after Eleanor's last entry & the bumpy road we have had. Our neighbours site costs were 9,000 & they had slight elevation so we are hoping & praying ours will be them same but like I said I hate to think what they will be. I have just got the point now where I am happy to just plod along because we have had so much else going on I dont have the energy to argue with Rivergum nor do I want the stress. Nothing will be done before xmas so there is no point in jumping up & down anymore. They dont care & it only frustrates us more. I hope things have progressed for you with the banks Eleanor & that you are a step closer to having things finalised. What a pain to find yourself in that situation. The financial stuff is so technical that you put your trust in others to do the right thing! Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 127Dec 03, 2009 10:44 pm Hooray we finally got our slab done , so we are quite excited now as we can see something happening, its been down for a week and looking good (cant believe I am saying a lump of concrete can look good ! ) Our site cut was humungous, I guess we didnt realise what goes into this technical part of the build and its got to be done right in the beginning so we will put all of our trust into the expertise of the building team .. well done so far. Fair dinkum those tradies are messy though, I am tempted to go and clean up after them .. ha ha .. I dont expect to see our frame up before Xmas but I am the same as you Jodie - I am just going to forget about it for awhile and enjoy !! Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 128Dec 07, 2009 8:46 pm hyst:I am so excited for you that you have a slab that is wonderful news!!! When all you have is bad news & shocking communication it it is very hard to stay positive about the whole process. It is nice to see something for all of the stress & frustration of it all. Congrats Eleanor I am really happy for you! Did you take some photo's??? Would love to see them! Do you have a good Site supervisor?? Have you met them??? What is the next step a portaloo????? I have read how excited everyone gets about them. I was also happy to see your change of heart about the building process. It gave me some hope for us! We got our site costs today after another 3 days of very ordinary communication. Anyway not good news! $24250!!! Can you believe it?? I burst into tears because that is such alot of money to us & how it can cost that is beyond me as we also have flat land with only a slight rise of 1.5m at the very front. Brett spoke to Andrew my husband & explained why but like you we felt a bit lost with all the comments about why etc. DH understood a bit more than I but it is hard not to feel a bit robbed & like they are taking us for a ride. Reading your comment tonight made me feel a little better because you were in the same boat as us initially & then you saw your block & what the construction team had done & you were a bit more comfortable with the situation???? Still it has blown us away when our neighbours only paid $9000. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 129Dec 07, 2009 9:11 pm hi jodie 76 you can still get out of RC and save thousands if you just paid only1000 bucks and if no contract is signed. you may find some some small builder in your area and you can have peace of mind. 25k is very big amount. they say many reasons for that, but never put on contract nor they do it on site, just got to their pocket. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 130Dec 08, 2009 6:58 pm Building with Rivergum started off well, however it is over 2 year since we signed out contract and the house still isnt finished. As I was advised by one of the directors the contract only states that the house needs to be livable when it is handed over. For us it feels as if they have tried to make life so hard that it is easier to give up than to get anything finished. Also it is very important that when you deal with them you should always follow up "every" conversation or discussion which you have either in person or over the phone will stop any issues later on in the process. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 131Dec 08, 2009 7:15 pm I agree, its intresting how the service tapers off once the money is in the bank and how hard it is to talk to anyone who can make a decision. So long at you dont get angry when talking to them you are ok. There is also a new buildng commission which will come in and assist you once they start to give you a hard time and not return your calls when promised. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 132Dec 09, 2009 7:35 pm Thanks for your advice everyone. We have spoken to them & they have explained why as we got an itemised invoice. They have told us they get nothing from site works, is this true??? IIt is an awful lot of money to us & we did discuss using another builder because we have paid 1500 already. The only problem is no one else seems to do colonial style houses it is all so modern now & we prefer older style which is hence why we went with Rivergum. I am hoping Eleanor's experience is alot like ours & we to will also be happy but I dont know really what else we can do but pay it. It just means we have to stick to alot of standard features & not upgrade & that our garden make take alot longer to come together. It is very hard to swallow. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 133Dec 12, 2009 9:17 am Hi Everyone Well I am at the stage where i have had a gut full of the crap that is Told . Today i am going to see a new builder yes i have paid my $1500 over 3 months ago and am prepaired to walk away and kiss that $1500 down the drain.But i wont be walking away from it without anything in hand because as stated the new home building order and fully paid deposit monies entitles the building owner/s entitled to the following which has been requested but has not been supplied to date Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 134Dec 15, 2009 5:20 pm Hi Everyone Yes yes yes i am walking away from Rgc and have found a new builder woohoo Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 135Dec 15, 2009 5:40 pm rivergum as easy as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17.............. i wish we walked away before giving them the $1500 but happy we let them have it so we did not have to deal with them i slept so good after having a contract with another builder. any one thinking of handing over the $1500 be ready for the sleep less nights thinking of when will they start or at least get a contract to sign i waited 4 long months for nothing i should of gave up after 2 weeks the builder that we used had them to us in 3 days! easy as 123. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 136Dec 17, 2009 11:04 am We have been in our "building" (wouldnt call it a home due to the amount of arguments) for over 5 months and still waiting for the basic stuff ups to be fixed. The shower leaked like a colander and the tiles had to be pulled out and the base resealed and relaid. The spa had 2 cracks in it. The tiles were laid with the wrong colour grout The plumber tried to do bricklayers work and really my grandson (5) could have done better The air con works overtime due the problems with the thermostat boiling hot or artic blast. The kitchen called once and said he would call back (never happened) The inaction of the people in their office is nothing short of a disgrace. If you get a chance walk away from them, lose some mony but save yourself a lot of grief Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 138Dec 19, 2009 10:46 am OK Been lurking in this forum since July 09. We'd decided to go with RC after eliminating several others thinking they were good. Like some others in here we have been burned. We signed the New Home Building Order in 20/08/09 and paid the $1500. And still nothing, - 7 weeks after we signed, several phone calls and emails we were told that due to the fall of the land and the covenants on the development the house was impossible to site and that we'd need to apply to council to have the house set back to 14.5m. To do that we need copies of drawings to submit to council. I requested this information 2 weeks ago, I got a read receipt that my email had been read but still no answer. In the mean time we have approached another builder and as of last week paid another deposit to these new builders and contracts will be out in 2 weeks. By comparison we are getting a better house for $20k less than RC AND their site costs are $10k cheaper than RC. I am in agreeance with previous posters. RC are very quick and friendly and accommodating at Point of Sale but come down to the pointy end of contracts and dealing with Head Office they have completely dropped the ball. I'd hate to see what they are like at building the house. Apparently their display house at Melton took 18 months to build! Their own bloody display house! Now I am hoping someone can give me advice as to how to apply for a partial refund of our $1500. I know they have done the Soil Test but I also know they haven't done the drawings, that has to at least be worth a partial refund but I just don't know how to start the process so they take notice and not just ignore me. Any advice would be appreciated. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 139Dec 27, 2009 10:08 pm Hi all, Just wanted to share our experience with Rivergum. We spoke to Rivergum Christmas Eve 2008 & chose a house design with them & paid our $500 deposit to secure pricing etc before any increases - just another way to rope you in. By the end of June, (6 months & an additional $1,000 later), we had only just received our site costs which were over the top. Their main reason for the huge site costs was that we had trees on the block & they had to have barriers to protect the roots & slab. Brett told us that if we chopped the trees down, including trees on our neighbours block, mind you we have a half acre block, then it would reduce our costs by about 45% - what a load of rubbish! We tossed this around for a bit & did some calculations as this was alot of money to outlay that we really didn't have & our affordable home was becoming quite expensive. We decided to speak to other builders, we knew this would delay us in building our home & we really did like the design we had chosen with Rivegum BUT then we come across this forum & decided a new builder was looking like the way to go after all the negative comments. Plus DH's brother was also building with Rivergum & was also having issues with them, worse problems than we were having. Thankfully we pulled the pin on Rivergum, it was the best decision we made & we slept so much better after making the decision. We lost $1,500 but it was worth it. We received a letter from Rivergum a few weeks after pulling the pin advising us the amout of money it had cost them to work on our job so far less our $1500 payment leaving a total which they were "willing to overlook & considered our job cancelled". Rivergum would make a killing by taking $1500 from each person they reel in & not do any work. DH's brother also received a similar letter even though they had less work done on their place & also lost the $1,500 deposit. So no matter what stage you're at they'll take that money from you. We are waiting for our new builder to come back from the Christmas break in mid Jan & poor our slab. It was the best decision we made changing builders, we are going to get a much nicer & better quality home in the end. If you have the chance to pull out of Rivergum before it's too late do it. Look at other builders & what they have to offer & how they make you feel before going any further. We should have seen the signs with Rivergum when speaking to our salesperson in the early stages of the process, they were the most disorganised person we have ever met & this didn't change once we started speaking with the people dealing with our home in the office. Our new builder has made the building process so much smoother & hassle free for us, it's actually an enjoyable experience which we would not have had with Rivergum. Re: Building with Rivergum constructions 140Feb 20, 2010 12:04 pm finally got slab and most of frame up, we havent even paid them for the slab yet and theyre already working on the frame, have to say, once our finance finally got sorted out, rivergum were very very quick off the mark with putting down the slab. and we had no rock whatsoever (tarneit gardens (leakes road)) go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110592 Even if it's not being sub-divided and you want to keep it as Torrens title, you will still need to talk to a town planner or Council themselves, to see if they will allow… 1 11039 |