Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 201Jul 15, 2010 10:07 am nice rockabilly and congrats allyd Kodiak Data Cabling onFaceBook Consult*, Design and Installation Data, TV, Home Theatre/ AV Cabling, Multi Room Audio, IP CCTV and Door Intercoms Ask for a Quote. *DIY DATA Cabling Is Ilegal Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 202Jul 15, 2010 10:31 am I got slugged another $455 for "stockpiling of soil", not happy. Tried to argue the case but got stonewalled. It was finally explained that because I'm on a narrow block the trenching contractor has to change buckets to get the soil off the pad, #%%$^ OFF!, my soil removal guy said he removed soil directly off the pad as the trenches were being dug. For those about to organise their own soil removal be careful what you agree to, I agreed to a PS amount of $1000 dollars for soil removal if I did not remove the soil in time, in hindsight I should not have agreed to any PS amount. $455 is not a lot of money but it's the loss of trust and faith that has left me gutted. I did everything I could and still I got charged. http://ourlamontbuild-allydandmei.blogspot.com/ Initial signing and deposit done Soil test done Contract signed Demolition of old house done All finance approved Building approval from council Site prep done Trenching done Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 203Jul 17, 2010 6:20 pm Hi allyd, I am on a narrow block and arranging our own soil removal so I expect we will have the same issue. I will be very surprised if we end up with any of the $1k back to be honest, I'm sure its just one of those stupid things they charge "just because". Very frustrating I know, especially when you think of what you could be spending with that money! I have a question - we have had first stage council approval and there is a little change we might like to make - making a shower smaller and putting a little cupboard alongside it. Did anyone else have any changes like this to make after council approval and is there an issue? Is it a simple variation fee, much more complicated than that, or not possible at all? We have not done selections yet. Thanks in advance. Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 204Aug 02, 2010 10:36 pm Hi Guys. Interesting reading. I am also building with HS and just had my site scraped. Feels good to finally see something happening. .. Although they put the sign on the wrong block (yes they scraped the right one..). A few of you were discussing the 90 day clause. TTG council took over 3 months to come back with all of the approvals for my house. Homestead did charge me, but only after almost 180 days. Not sure if that is good or they were just waiting on finance approvals. I am also debating soil removal options. They have included a PS of $2500, but their estimate is 356 tonnes. This works out to about $7 per tonne?? Does this mean that they will slug me more for this on the day? Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 205Aug 03, 2010 6:52 pm 356 tonnes!! Whoa! Yep, I reckon you're going to get slugged. Soil removal costs vary a lot, I ended paying $3500 for 200 tonne and I'm not finished yet. I've heard of cheaper rates but my soil is potters clay. Good luck in your build. My frames are up and finished, the gutters and fascia's are up, they have started putting up the safety barrier for the tilers but that's all so far. I'm putting a deposit on a shed this week, 6 x 10 x 2.7m, it's my hiding spot and refuge when swmbo gets pooey http://ourlamontbuild-allydandmei.blogspot.com/ Initial signing and deposit done Soil test done Contract signed Demolition of old house done All finance approved Building approval from council Site prep done Trenching done Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 206Aug 03, 2010 9:09 pm Crazy - thanks for the note about the 180 days... i am guessing there is probably not many people who dont go over the 90 days.. would love to know if anyone didnt get charged the +90 day fee (anyone lurking wanna share?). Great pics on the blog allyd, wow look at that mud hey. i guess the small consolation of our pre build taking so long is the weather may have improved by the time things get started. We dont have room for a shed unfortunately, we will be lucky to fit a cubby house out the back! Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 207Aug 05, 2010 9:57 pm Has been a bit quiet on the forum. Glad to see that some homes are progressing, congrats allyd on the frame I see what you mean about the narrow block. The cost for the soil removal from your site isn't too bad it seems to be what I have heard per tonne but that is a lot of soil. Crazy_dan the qoute for your amount of soil from Homestead must be wrong because they charge double the going rate per tonne. They have added a varitation to our contract for soil removal of $2814 for 87 tonne which is $32/tonne where realistically it should only be about $17/tonne. Of course they say it is only there if we fail to remove it in time, as per allyd situation, and they also have the detail of limited site access to stockpile soil which is wrong because we have over 1300 sqmt and having discussed it with home consultant he believed it wouldn't be an issue if it was stockpiled. got to go will post again later Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 209Aug 12, 2010 12:42 pm I'm sure they'll find your block eventually! Homestead Homes SA: The Lamont Bayswood Estate; Aldinga Beach Preliminary Signing: April 2010 Floorplans: 13 June 2010 Building Contract: 19 June 2010 Selections: 28 Sept 2010 Scraped; Trenching: 21 Jan 2011 Slab Poured: 28 Jan 2011 Framing: 17 Feb 2011 | Completed 24 Feb 2011 Roof & Gutters: 02 Mar 2011 Bricks: 03 Mar 2011 Wire-up: 12 Mar 2011 Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 211Aug 14, 2010 10:50 pm Sorry to hear Lee, we signed in January and we now have a roof 98% complete. Must be excruciating waiting, maybe approach the HIA or some other advocate body to see what options you have. I'm hoping we will have hand over by xmas but I'm not expecting it. http://ourlamontbuild-allydandmei.blogspot.com/ Initial signing and deposit done Soil test done Contract signed Demolition of old house done All finance approved Building approval from council Site prep done Trenching done Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 212Aug 15, 2010 11:07 am Thanks for responding allyd.. I wrote a response and then decided against it and this is my "edit" We paid our first dep in jan and then had the other signing in March so technically we are 2 months behind you.. If someone told me in the next 2 months we would even have a slab I would be happy but I seriously doubt it. Some of the issues are council related that I am hoping for guidance with and whether or not I receive that guidance is yet to be seen. Ok enough wingeing from me I just hope some good stuff happens soon, I am sick of the constant challenges and pitfalls.. bring on the good stuff please!!! Rant over... Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 213Aug 29, 2010 10:15 am It'll all be worth it Lee.. we had a bit of a messy start but we got there in the end. Speaking of which, handover time! I've got a youtube clip up... timelapse video of 30 week build compressed into 2 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o37peh1XtOI And some pics Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Blog : http://ournewhaven.blogspot.com/ (Modified Newhaven - Homestead Homes) Status : DA - Dec 09. Slabbed - Jan 10. Handover - Aug 10 Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 214Sep 05, 2010 6:37 pm Just a quick update, they started our bricking and we are happy, happy, happy. Now turn off the rain!! Follow the link for a better photo's in our blog Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ http://ourlamontbuild-allydandmei.blogspot.com/ Initial signing and deposit done Soil test done Contract signed Demolition of old house done All finance approved Building approval from council Site prep done Trenching done Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 215Sep 06, 2010 8:38 pm allyd I think the rain gods were listening, nice sunny day for you today! hope your brickies were hard at work! House is looking great by the way.. Howie - same to you, house is looking superb. Thanks for posting photos guys its great to see.. Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 216Sep 06, 2010 11:05 pm Lee75 allyd I think the rain gods were listening, nice sunny day for you today! hope your brickies were hard at work! House is looking great by the way.. Howie - same to you, house is looking superb. Thanks for posting photos guys its great to see.. Howies place looks better in person... Kodiak Data Cabling onFaceBook Consult*, Design and Installation Data, TV, Home Theatre/ AV Cabling, Multi Room Audio, IP CCTV and Door Intercoms Ask for a Quote. *DIY DATA Cabling Is Ilegal Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 217Oct 28, 2010 9:01 pm Hi guys, So i take it that nobody is really building with homestead anymore as this forum has become very quiet? We have signed up with Homestead as of the end of July this year, check out our blog if you're interested. Cheers Signed with Homestead: 27-07-2010 Land Settled: 10-08-2010 Building Design: Custom design based on Homestead's Sandridge Building Contract Signed: 19-11-2010 Site Scrape: 21-02-2011 Follow our building process at our blog... http://nathandjessbuild.blogspot.com/ Support our business - Indulge Yourself Lingerie http://www.indulgeyourselflingerie.com.au Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 218Oct 28, 2010 10:01 pm Thanks for sharing your blog. You should add it here also: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=1522 Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 219Oct 29, 2010 6:28 am allyd and howie - what interior colour did you guys choose just out of interest? Looking forward to more pics soon allyd .. Howie are you guys in? how is it going? Nathan, we are building with them and had our site scrape yesterday. Will be following your blog for sure! I had some real quite time there but I think its now happening.. yay Re: Homestead Homes (SA)? Any opinion? 220Oct 29, 2010 8:12 am Hey Lee and welcome aboard Nathan, we originally chose full strength Dulux Grand Piano but whimped out and went half strength. We get our keys on the 8th of November, the house is looking great with only some very small defects picked up at the PCI last Monday. Flooring goes in on the 17th and the aircond is set for the week after. We chose vinyl plank flooring for the main living areas and main bedroom with carpet in the rest. I am quietly stunned at how quickly the house has been finished, our SS was Robert as he only does the southern areas. My main gripe with Homestead was with some ****** in the admin side of things, really left us with a bad taste in our mouth. One other issue I found odd was the gap left under the internal doors, they state that 25mm is normal. Normal if you are having shag pile carpet throughout. Now we have huge gaps under the doors. Ask at the start about doors gaps if you are going with thin flooring options. http://ourlamontbuild-allydandmei.blogspot.com/ Initial signing and deposit done Soil test done Contract signed Demolition of old house done All finance approved Building approval from council Site prep done Trenching done Thanks for the suggestion. The space between shower and sinks was too tight. I agree about the toilet location. So I have tried two other options: The lower one is… 3 6225 these look like missing batts. Go up and take a look. But yeah moisure meter is a completely different tool 4 9502 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 75867 |