Browse Forums Building A New House Re: McDonald Jones Homes 43Jun 18, 2009 2:51 pm OMG it's a small world.... Mav, I think we are your new neighbours! Your story about the vandals and your parents. It has to be. I was just talking to your folks about the roller shutters the other day. We are building on the block next to the church, so.... are we neighbours? buzz Re: McDonald Jones Homes 44Jun 18, 2009 10:10 pm buzz OMG it's a small world.... Mav, I think we are your new neighbours! Your story about the vandals and your parents. It has to be. I was just talking to your folks about the roller shutters the other day. We are building on the block next to the church, so.... are we neighbours? buzz Yep that would be us. I have just green lighted Central Coast Roller Shutters to install them on all windows and the sliding glass door on the patio, they will be installed next week if we manage to get to hand over before the house gets done again. Nice to kind of meet you Buzz. I am planning on getting down there around the 14th of July to hopefully help my folks move in. The shutters worked out to about $880 per window after the quote from Modern they look like bargains. Anyone contemplating roller shutters please do not get fooled by the Modern hard sell approach. There are just so many businesses out there vying for a piece of the money pie it aint funny. Re: McDonald Jones Homes 45Jun 18, 2009 11:58 pm Nice to kind of meet you too! Your folks are lovely!!! Your place looks great, apart from the broken glass . We heard about the breakins too (2 in our lot of 5 houses). Unbelieveable. I hadn't even thought about proper security until I heard those stories. Glad you found some better priced shutters too. At least your parents will be able to feel safe. It was good to hear your build turned out well... in the end. Gives me hope for ours! We have just gone to council, so hoping to start soonish. buzz Re: McDonald Jones Homes 46Jun 28, 2009 2:06 pm Well Buzz, I can tell you that MJH did the right thing by us in getting the house repaired again in quick time. We had hand over last Monday afternoon and since then we have had roller shutters put on eevry window and glass sliding door. I ended up getting Central Coast Roller Shutters to do the job and they were fast and efficient and getting the shutters on before this weekend. I really did not want to go through another Friday and Saturday night without them on. I have now contracted 5Star Property in Newcastle to fence, concrete and landscape the property and they should be starting this coming Wednesday. Re: McDonald Jones Homes 47Jul 14, 2009 1:46 pm Can anyone advise me as to whether or not they have had a good expeirnce with McDonald Jones? Re: McDonald Jones Homes 49Jul 19, 2009 1:16 am AB59 Can anyone advise me as to whether or not they have had a good expeirnce with McDonald Jones? Just remember to dot the I's and cross the T's when it comes to the contract and you should be okay. They were pretty quick with our build but I would recommend that you make sure you are building within the local area of Newcastle/Maitland/Port Stephens to get the best out of them. They have been good when it comes to rectification of problems so far. I would probably use them again if I were to build in the areas stated above. Though I would not build in the same locale as I have just built. Re: McDonald Jones Homes 50Jul 19, 2009 1:20 am buzz Hi AB59, we are going to build with them. Just got council approval so hopefully starting in the next few weeks. So far so good, I have no complaints up until this point. Where are you building? buzz Hi Buzz, sorry bout the pile of dirt on your land. I am at a loss as to why the idiot I have used did that, he is a complete moron! I would not recommend the guy to do any work on anyone elses property. I will be giving him an ultimatum this week to either finish the job or I will be terminating his services and employing someone else to finish the job. Re: McDonald Jones Homes 51Jul 19, 2009 5:59 pm Oh no.... I was just about to drop you a line about how great your driveway and paths look - and to ask you if you got a good deal. Not necessary now! Bummer too, I thought that pile of dirt was possibly something to do with our house oh well. So did your folks move in then? I know it was supposed to happen, but I thought it would have been delayed because the outside wasn't finished. The guys you had working on it were in full force on the first day they started, it looked like Backyard Blitz had arrived... haven't seen much of them since - although we have been a bit housebound with us all sick. Were they supposed to do the fencing too? Let us know what you find out about the cost to fence between our blocks, or if you'd like me to try and find someone. Good luck trying to get them to finish! buzz Re: McDonald Jones Homes 52Jul 19, 2009 7:03 pm buzz Oh no.... I was just about to drop you a line about how great your driveway and paths look - and to ask you if you got a good deal. Not necessary now! Bummer too, I thought that pile of dirt was possibly something to do with our house oh well. So did your folks move in then? I know it was supposed to happen, but I thought it would have been delayed because the outside wasn't finished. The guys you had working on it were in full force on the first day they started, it looked like Backyard Blitz had arrived... haven't seen much of them since - although we have been a bit housebound with us all sick. Were they supposed to do the fencing too? Let us know what you find out about the cost to fence between our blocks, or if you'd like me to try and find someone. Good luck trying to get them to finish! buzz Yes they are suppose to be fencing and landscaping the place but the guy is a compulsive liar, I don't know why he thinks he needs to lie like he does but I have given up trying to figure him out. He basically gets a contract to do everything then subs it out, the concreter he used did a good job just to bad I had to stand guard on the concrete until half midnight then back at 5:30 am but that still did not deter the little cretins from graffiting the driveway. The kids around the area there are just out of control and the police know who they are and have told me they are powerless to stop them. I will get the guy to give me a hard price for the dividing fence between us so you can have a good idea of shared cost. To be honest I am in two minds to keep the house or sell it furnished and move my folks into a retirement village down in Salamander Bay. The fence was suppose to have been started last Friday but as you know it bucketed down with rain all day, may be they will start on Monday if it is fine. Cheers Mav Re: McDonald Jones Homes 53Jul 19, 2009 11:09 pm Oh that SUCKS!!!! Yes, I have heard too that all the police and locals (we have only been here 2 years) know who is behind the vandalism and breakins. Why they "can't" do anything is a mystery. "Can't" be bothered? It's such a shame because it's such a beautiful area. I hope your parents aren't too stressed out about it all. Hope you get something (good) happening at your place this week. buzz Re: McDonald Jones Homes 54Sep 21, 2009 3:55 pm I have built with McDonald Jones and I would not recommend them to anyone. We had problems with them as soon as we handed over our deposit and got locked into a contract. If you want to build a house with out any of your own input then they would be fine. We are also still waiting for them to finish the repairs to the rough work they did and we have been living in it for 14 months now and we have not heard from them after contacting them several times. They have our money therefore they don't want anything to do with us. DON'T DO IT. Pay the little extra money and go with a smaller private guy, they have more pride in there work. Re: McDonald Jones Homes 55Jan 19, 2010 3:24 pm buzz Oh that SUCKS!!!! Yes, I have heard too that all the police and locals (we have only been here 2 years) know who is behind the vandalism and breakins. Why they "can't" do anything is a mystery. "Can't" be bothered? It's such a shame because it's such a beautiful area. I hope your parents aren't too stressed out about it all. Hope you get something (good) happening at your place this week. buzz Re: McDonald Jones Homes 57Jan 19, 2010 9:09 pm Hi Susie, we are building with them. Will be finished (hopefully) in the next week. Not had any problems so far, but agree with others that once things get going, there isn't a lot of chance to provide "input". They are building the house, and we pretty much stay out of the way. Some positives: We are happy that the house appears to be well built. They have always been happy to answer our questions. The standard inclusions are very good I would build with them again, but would advise against it if you are looking to get really involved in the actual construction part. Hope this makes sense.... school holidays + packing = buzz Re: McDonald Jones Homes 58Jan 29, 2010 3:36 pm buzz Hi Susie, we are building with them. Will be finished (hopefully) in the next week. Not had any problems so far, but agree with others that once things get going, there isn't a lot of chance to provide "input". They are building the house, and we pretty much stay out of the way. Some positives: We are happy that the house appears to be well built. They have always been happy to answer our questions. The standard inclusions are very good I would build with them again, but would advise against it if you are looking to get really involved in the actual construction part. Hope this makes sense.... school holidays + packing = buzz Re: McDonald Jones Homes 60Jan 29, 2010 8:12 pm Hi susie, a good experience for us. Final inspection on Tuesday, then handover asap (once the bank pays the last payment). Our house looks great... there have been NO problems with the build. I think the success of a build (no matter who the builder) depends on the supervisors, admin people and trades involved. Ours have all been great. As I mentioned before, there could have been more communication. I'm sure they just didn't realise that as the client's, we would have liked to have known every little detail of what was happening... bit sad like that! Very happy, but hesitant to recommend them... only because my experience is mine and yours will be different. They all are. Anyway, that's my story. Good luck in your decision... it is a tough one. buzz Hi AKG, We had a base tender of $592 for 31 squares from MC Donald Jones. It looks relatively cheaper than other builders. But I assume there are many hidden things that… 1 16742 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74200 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105110 |