Browse Forums Building A New House Re: anyone built/building with *? 41Jul 05, 2011 1:05 pm Hi all, please can anyone give me any tips on building with **, we have just agreed to a Land and House package but really don't know anything about extras, costs etc. We have signed some paperwork but are waiting for their finance person to contact us to ensure we can obtain a mortgage. Just alittle worried as its a big decision. Re: anyone built/building with *? 42Jul 05, 2011 1:24 pm Uk2oz, If you find that you are changing your mind about your builder for whatever reason rest assured you can opt to change builders and keep your land, you can go to another builder and say you are hesitant after reading reviews and most builders will pay out your initial deposit (the one you made to your current builder) back to you after you build with the new builder Hope this eases your stress a little And on a different note if you are still unsure about builders I can recommend redink, we are building with them and have family and friends who have built with them and they have been fantastic, and their current promotions are sensational!!! Building our own custom design with Redink Pre-start - 28/06/2011 Building license approval - sept 2011 Footings - 8/10/2011 my thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=48921 Re: anyone built/building with *? 43Jul 05, 2011 4:23 pm Hi uk2oz, I'm half way through building a house, roof about to go on, with *, it could be best described as hassle free. I live just around the corner and I go there every day so nothing gets past me. My father-in-law is in the industry, so I've been taking him out there most weekends since the start. The really good thing about * is you do your whole colour selections etc before you sign the contract, which is really ethical in my opinion. As a lot of my friends have built with other builders and they won't let you proceed with any changes or colours until you sign the contract. I found this website a couple of weeks ago and I'm going to start my own thread regarding my own house, if I get really technical, I'll put some photo's on it too. Look out for it. Otherwise, enjoy the experience! Re: anyone built/building with *? 44Jul 07, 2011 3:30 pm Exciting times. We have just recieved our finance approval and forwarded it on to Content. My prestart officer is awesome, she picked up a couple of mistakes we made and offered fantastic suggestions for some colours we were unsure about. We would recommend her to anyone. They have told me that the slab will be down shortly, I cant wait! Will keep you posted Re: anyone built/building with *? 45Jul 11, 2011 5:49 pm Thanks for your replies, still in the can we afford it situation.... very worried about the extra costs that you don't find out about until you've handed over the deposit. can anyone shed some light on cross-over fees etc? BTW.....very helpful site, cheers Re: anyone built/building with *? 46Jul 12, 2011 5:13 pm uk2oz Thanks for your replies, still in the can we afford it situation.... very worried about the extra costs that you don't find out about until you've handed over the deposit. can anyone shed some light on cross-over fees etc? BTW.....very helpful site, cheers I'm doing my own cross over, they gave me two options either for them to do it but they had to do it to council specifications which they are compelled to do by law, which seriously, you could have driven a 100 tonne truck over OR they said I could do it to the same specification as the driveway. Therefore it was a no brainer because it was a damn side cheaper to do it myself and it will still carry my 4WD and the motorbike trailer not a problem. Re: anyone built/building with *? 47Aug 23, 2011 9:24 am I would not recommend building with CL. The customer service is absolutely shocking, I call the everyday and I never hear anything back for any of the so called management team. I have been living in my house for a month now and there are constant problems arising. I am tearing out my hair trying to get them to fix them to no avail. It has NOT been an easy building process, we have had three supervisors, been told many things were going to be done when they clearly were not. The only good part of the process was pre-start and then EVERYTHING goes down hill from there. Not sure who they are employing to do the trade work, but "attention to detail" is not part of the vocabulary....I have picked up so much stuff and constantly chasing after the supervisor to do his job, that I think that they should start putting me on the payroll. You definatelty do not feel like a "valued customer" that is spending their hard earned cash building a house. I think you get more better service at the reject shop to be honest. Re: anyone built/building with *? 48Aug 29, 2011 11:01 am Hello people. Exciting times, the front door has just gone on. I'm really happy with the whole process. These people won't stop ringing me and giving me updates, which is hard because I can't answer my own phone or take private calls at work. The ceilings went in, in a day and a couple of days later the cornices were put up. Then the job sat there for three or four days, which I was unhappy with, but they told me that is to allow the white coating mix that goes over the joins in the ceiling to set, so that they can then sand it back. The explained each coat had to set and they put on quite a few coats. They've asked me for money and I've got my loan with NAB, they are seriously useless, I signed all the paperwork and every progress payment they either lose it or say they didn't get it. But life goes on. I'm going to be in my house way before Christmas with time to finish it off with the landscaping and my boys only shed in the back. Happy times. Re: anyone built/building with *? 49Aug 29, 2011 3:20 pm We're building a very modified Grandview with CL, and our roof frame is going up this week. We were attracted to this builder & design because of it's value for money, and very reasonable costings for upgrades. However communication between departments is little to none, and we had to provide printed copies of emails from the salesperson, to our prestart officer as prices and certain measurements didn't make sense. I asked to talk with the draughting dept personally as so much was getting lost in translation and the plans had to be redrawn several times. (I never did get an audience with the draughtie). However due to their disorganisation, and my persistence, we have come out of the deal on top I believe. We got heavily discounted Essa benchtops with waterfalls, as they couldn't/wouldn't do a waterfall edge in Laminex, despite it being in the pre-start folder. Our elevation is completely custom, and because the salesperson quoted a certain amount, we made them honour it even though there had to be several expensive changes in order for it to look exactly as we specified. Prestart was very emotional. We had to go in for a second prestart as they just didn't have enough information available to us, and there were many things were were told we couldn't do, so alternate choices had to be made. However, after a lengthy period in council & scheduling (about 3 months), since the slab went down we have had no dramas. Maybe because we nominated our bricklayers? Lol. Fingers crossed the rest of the trades are quality, and the worst has passed. We are on our second liason officer, and as someone has previously said, we call maybe fortnightly and either cant get a hold of our officer, or they take days to call back, and when they do, they know less than I do about the progress. Does anyone know how long the build should take from roof frame to completion? We're crossing our fingers for Christmas, but are betting the tradies will all take off on holidays, lol. Building the 'Grandview' in Meve, WA land deposit paid 10/10 Re: anyone built/building with *? 50Aug 29, 2011 4:58 pm Hey Lweehumpie - When My site works started they counted 25 weeks and said, that would be my PCI date. They were 5 days earlier than predicted! (lol!) So I would expect the same? Building with Life$tyle Homes in Perth SOR Key Dates on First Page of my Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38761 Re: anyone built/building with *? 51Aug 30, 2011 5:45 pm bobbywells These people won't stop ringing me and giving me updates, which is hard because I can't answer my own phone or take private calls at work. I know the feeling Bobby, these people won't stop ringing me either. Our slab went down in the middle of July and that was the first time that we were contacted by our Supervisor. We then met with him at what they call a plate high meeting (I do not understand what this term means). I think this basically means when your brickwork is completed. The brickies they used were outstanding. Old school italian gentleman and his two sons that have been with the supervisor for years and they really get along together. I had a building inspector check it out just in case and he commented that it was some of the best brickwork that he has come across. I had a lot of questions for my supervisor and he knew his stuff! If he didn't know, he found out straight away for me. Since this meeting the roof frame and the metal roof has been installed. Very happy with how quick the build is going. I told the supervisor not to go too quick as I'm worried that quality might suffer. He assured me that he has a select group of subcontractors that had been working for him for a long time that only do quality work. We shall see. Our client liaison is a lovely, knowledgeable lady who always makes me feel at ease. The supervisor just called to say that the plastering would be done this week and the ceilings will be completed next week. Re: anyone built/building with *? 52Oct 12, 2011 11:54 pm I wish that we had read a lot of this before we had built with Content. We are coming up to the end of the building process at the moment. Really we thought we would have nearly been moving in now but it hasn't worked out that way. We chose Content for the plan, the plan is exactly what we wanted (with a few changes that we made). From the start it was good, the rep was good, the Pre Start lady was great, helped us choose colours and gave us heaps of ideas on things that we hadn't even thought about-small things like making shower screens higher and having two switches for two sections of lights in the kitchen- but things that have made a difference. We did pre start in December last year, then we had to wait for our finance to get sorted which took a while over Christmas. Our site works and slab finally went down at the end of February. After reading the rest of the posts, they all sound so familiar, our brickwork also looked like it was an apprentice learning (I understand they have to learn somewhere but it shouldnt be left like that) My partner did our plastering and he said that its the most shocking brickwork he has ever seen. I dont know if its the slab or the brickwork but there are gaps everywhere, there is also a massive dip in the slab in the passage which is going to be a problem when our tiler tries to lay our 600x600 tiles- hopefully wont cost us extra when should have be done right in the first place. For a while after, we were satisified with the progress, with the ceilings being put in on a Sunday- but they have also missed a bit in the fridge recess. Now we are at the point where we have received a letter saying that it was going to be finished on the 7/10/11 but the days are going past and nothing is getting done. The painters started a couple weeks ago and havnt been back again. We have also gone through three supervisor. I get that its hard for them to pick up on a job that is half finished and get it sorted but really, does it take this long. I have spoken to the Client Liason officer multiple times, and she has been good, but I have also dealt with two other Client Liasson officers since we started. I finally got to the point where I had to whinge, alot more then i had wished to but its ridiculous when you are told that hand over will be 6 weeks from when the bathroom tiling is done and it has now been 12 weeks and nothing is getting done. We want to be moving in as soon as possible but I dont see that happening when we still have to organise our own tiling, carpet, blinds and painting after we get hand over. I definately will never build with Content again and wouldnt recommend it to anyone. Now that I have actually spoken to the Supervisor, and he was at the house looking at things that were done wrong about three months ago, im hoping that things will start getting done. We went there today and they have done some cleaning and they also rung to book the First inspection next week, so I guess we will see how that goes. Re: anyone built/building with *? 53Feb 06, 2012 4:49 pm Anymore updates K ellie and others that has built or is building your house with CL? We are thinking of building with CL, they have the best value for money house and the plan suits us too. Any advise and comments would really help me and my wife to choose a builder. Thanks!!!! Hi All, we are starting to think of building with Masterpiece Builders in Victoria, has anyone had any feedback or experience with them 0 13603 I haven’t. But have a Lowe Design home. Not only did I find Matt Lowe patronising and a bully, but the home is NOT TO CODE. I have water coming through the bricks… 1 14408 Hi we are looking to talk to people who have built with them recently. We have signed mid range built contract but identified that a lot of things are not included.… 0 742 |