Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 28, 2009 1:25 pm Hi, I built my house with EDEN BRAE. I had both good and BAD experience with them, as anyone would have with any other builder. Anyone who are building with EDEN BRAE and have any question regarding your home, variations, deletion,upgrade, plan, payment, rental guarantee, practical completion, rain delays,I would be willing to share my story. I am doing this because I want to prevent anyone who are building with EDEN BRAE go through what I went through with them. Initial stages of the construction was generally good and fast. Wait till you get to the final stages, then you would feel the sting. Curious_traveller Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 2Oct 28, 2009 6:49 pm I know exactly what you are saying. Our slab, frame, bricks went up in a hurry and we were sure we were going to get our house early. However the internals have taken an age and the supervisor does not care about quality of finish particularly paintwork, carpets. far out... almost there. would I build with them again...no...there must be other builders that are more interested in our business Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 3Oct 28, 2009 9:01 pm I'm currently buiding a EB Esperence 32 house with quite major floorplan changes. The initial build went quite quickly until the brickwork started. The SS did not read the plans properly and so the brickies did the brickwork wrong on the front facade. Also a late change to our plans to widen our Garage width to suit Hornsby Council's minimum 5.7m width policy meant we had to have steel posts instead of brick piers in our Garage. For whatever reason, somebody missed this and continued building brick piers. Nobody noticed I pointed this out to the SS. Then a royal commission started and the Construction Manager got involved and they realised other parts were done wrongly as well. To cut the story short, it took them 7 weeks to get the steel posts put in and the brickwork re-done and that was when I complained to the CM it was taking too long. Now we're into Week 21 of our build and we still don't have a water-tight house. We still got no external cladding or ground floor roofing installed yet even though the materials have been sitting on-site for 2 months. Progress each week is a crawl, so much so that I'm actually shocked when something has actually been done. Needless to say our house is so far behind schedule that I'm very much doubting it'll be finished after Christmas like they first advised us at the start of the build. Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 4Oct 28, 2009 10:33 pm Esperence32, At this stage of construction, take note of all the rainy days. This would help you in counting the rain delays that would be claimed by EDEN BRAE just before the settlement date. Try to visit the site as often as possible and diarize any progress. I have a strong feeling that the bricks and the roof tiles would be finished just before the Christmas break...hmmm i dont know why When this happen, check the mailbox straightaway and you will find the payment claim. How long is the construction going to take as per contact? This might not help at the moment of frustration but I have realised that we (both you and I and anyone who is building any house with any builder) are passionate about the house and we wanted it to be perfect. There are also expectations that were set due to the promise of the builder like : "customers dont have to pay for builder's mistake", rental guarantee, fixed price , etc. If we presume that the builder and its staff would care for the house that they are constructing, this is where the problem starts. The reality is THEY dont. thay have a business and they need profit. We are just a number to them. . curious_traveller Good luck! Keep us posted,please Good luck! Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 5Oct 29, 2009 8:45 pm Curious_traveller, I have to say the only time we were really affected by the rain was before site excavation when we had a week of rain in late May/early June which pushed the site scrape back by a week before the excavator could start work. Most of the other rainy periods have been evening rain or weekend rain when the tradies don't work anyway. But then you have a showery day, you don't expect any work to be done, and low and behold, external work was done! It's hard to understand this building business... Anyway I have been keeping a diary of the work being done on the house so I have plenty of evidence to show EB if they require it. I'm pretty much at the house every day to see what's happening on a daily basis and I'm at the house on the weekend to study their work and pick out the defects. Our Building Contract says the builder must reach Practical Completion within 36 working weeks after the contractual period commences subject to Clause 9. If our contract was signed mid-Sep 2008, does that mean the Builder must reach Practical Completion within 36 weeks after mid-Sep 2008? We were supposed to have gotten all the relevant authorities/approvals before 28th Feb 2009, but because EB weren't ready and our finances weren't ready it was extended to end of March, but even then neither side were ready and we finally got both our final PCV for the steel posts in Garage and our Bank with the ACC in early May. Therefore we didn't get our Construction Certificate until late May with an early June construction start. Overall I've found the EB experience to be disappointing, right from the start, errors were made by everyone involved. The Kitchen people were ridiculously slow with their quotes, and did not bother to communicate with me so needlessly they didn't quote the kitchen I wanted. The Electricals made incorrect wiring locations on the plans, the Draftsmen changed a window on the Elevation diagram without my authority. The Estimators didn't answer my questions and so raised changes in PCV's which I didn't ask them to do. The only people who did their job competantly was the EB Sales Consultant and DiLorenzos who didn't put a foot wrong. The worst part is nobody cares/notices the mistakes made until I point them out. Even my Construction Certificate from the Certifiers stated I'm building a Single Storey Dwelling until I pointed out my house is actually a Two Storey Dwelling. I guess that's just the poor overall impression of the Building Industry as a whole. Esperence32 Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 6Oct 29, 2009 11:40 pm Esperence32 Curious_traveller, I have to say the only time we were really affected by the rain was before site excavation when we had a week of rain in late May/early June which pushed the site scrape back by a week before the excavator could start work. Most of the other rainy periods have been evening rain or weekend rain when the tradies don't work anyway. But then you have a showery day, you don't expect any work to be done, and low and behold, external work was done! It's hard to understand this building business... Anyway I have been keeping a diary of the work being done on the house so I have plenty of evidence to show EB if they require it. I'm pretty much at the house every day to see what's happening on a daily basis and I'm at the house on the weekend to study their work and pick out the defects. Our Building Contract says the builder must reach Practical Completion within 36 working weeks after the contractual period commences subject to Clause 9. If our contract was signed mid-Sep 2008, does that mean the Builder must reach Practical Completion within 36 weeks after mid-Sep 2008? We were supposed to have gotten all the relevant authorities/approvals before 28th Feb 2009, but because EB weren't ready and our finances weren't ready it was extended to end of March, but even then neither side were ready and we finally got both our final PCV for the steel posts in Garage and our Bank with the ACC in early May. Therefore we didn't get our Construction Certificate until late May with an early June construction start. Overall I've found the EB experience to be disappointing, right from the start, errors were made by everyone involved. The Kitchen people were ridiculously slow with their quotes, and did not bother to communicate with me so needlessly they didn't quote the kitchen I wanted. The Electricals made incorrect wiring locations on the plans, the Draftsmen changed a window on the Elevation diagram without my authority. The Estimators didn't answer my questions and so raised changes in PCV's which I didn't ask them to do. The only people who did their job competantly was the EB Sales Consultant and DiLorenzos who didn't put a foot wrong. The worst part is nobody cares/notices the mistakes made until I point them out. Even my Construction Certificate from the Certifiers stated I'm building a Single Storey Dwelling until I pointed out my house is actually a Two Storey Dwelling. I guess that's just the poor overall impression of the Building Industry as a whole. Esperence32 Esperence32, I sent you a PM. Good luck! Keep on being vigilant. I am truly impressed on what you have done so far as this will potentially eliminate big problems in the future. curious_traveller Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 7Nov 02, 2009 7:52 am Sorry guys, I was busy on the weekend. I will try to respond to your queries tonight. Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 9Nov 02, 2009 10:56 pm Mel_24_ hi im building with EB, about 1 month away from prac comp. what should i expect at prac comp? im a little unsure of what will happen.. thanks Hi Mel_24, Are you a first time builder? what home are you building? how long is the construction period as per contract? have you had any issues with the construction or are you pleased with the progress of the construction? what stage of the construction are you at now. Has the house been painted yet? Were you informed by the SS that the practical completion will be on a specific date already? I would be happy to know your experience and I will share with you what to look and prepare for before practical completion . Thanks, curious_traveller Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 10Nov 03, 2009 12:16 am aus_buster, Ptwindsor, Esperence32, PMs have been sent to you. Thanks, Curious_traveller Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 11Nov 03, 2009 9:32 pm Hi there l am building my first home with Eden Brae. Saville 27. Building will start on Jan 31st. Is there anything l should look for. I've found that there variations are so overpriced. We have just finished signing our electricals and plumbing. We are still waiting for an ammended kitchen quote. The price of our kitchen quote was ridiculous. $17000 for small kitchen. We didnt even get caesarstone for that price or polyurethane cupboards. Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 12Nov 04, 2009 2:27 pm Quote: Are you a first time builder? what home are you building? how long is the construction period as per contract? have you had any issues with the construction or are you pleased with the progress of the construction? what stage of the construction are you at now. Has the house been painted yet? Were you informed by the SS that the practical completion will be on a specific date already? I would be happy to know your experience and I will share with you what to look and prepare for before practical completion Curious Travellor, yes i am a first time builder, contract is 29 weeks. we've got a list of outstanding things needing to be fixed but they are slowly getting done. annoyes me how the builders/subcontractors dont aways refer to plans and do whatever they want as then it takes longer to fix! about 3-4 weeks from completion as an estimate, no date yet. got the kitchen and bathrooms in, main tile, all painting done. carpet and plus driveway and access path and the lost of wring things to be done before completion. how have you been going with yours? many issues or smooth sailing? Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 13Nov 05, 2009 8:12 am janenguyen Hi there l am building my first home with Eden Brae. Saville 27. Building will start on Jan 31st. Is there anything l should look for. I've found that there variations are so overpriced. We have just finished signing our electricals and plumbing. We are still waiting for an ammended kitchen quote. The price of our kitchen quote was ridiculous. $17000 for small kitchen. We didnt even get caesarstone for that price or polyurethane cupboards. hi janenguyen, I suggest that you double check the electrical plan. Have you specified the position of your light switches? Horizontal or vertical? Your kitchen quote seemed a lot considering you did not even get "ceasarstone'. My kitchen upgrade cost me arond $20K but I got the Essastone for the benchtops and the splashback and the feature cabinet on top of the cook top. If you have the chance, keep on checking the progress of the work as you would see mistakes, report this to the SS straightaway. For the kitchen plan, check the cupboard doors. In my case, one big cupboard door was drawn 2 little cupboard doors which looked weird. I wouls suggest that you specify the location of the drawers handle as well. Would you like them in the middle of the drawer or would you like a constant distance from the top of the drawers. Good luck, curious_traveller Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 14Nov 05, 2009 8:31 am Mel_24_ Quote: Are you a first time builder? what home are you building? how long is the construction period as per contract? have you had any issues with the construction or are you pleased with the progress of the construction? what stage of the construction are you at now. Has the house been painted yet? Were you informed by the SS that the practical completion will be on a specific date already? I would be happy to know your experience and I will share with you what to look and prepare for before practical completion Curious Travellor, yes i am a first time builder, contract is 29 weeks. we've got a list of outstanding things needing to be fixed but they are slowly getting done. annoyes me how the builders/subcontractors dont aways refer to plans and do whatever they want as then it takes longer to fix! about 3-4 weeks from completion as an estimate, no date yet. got the kitchen and bathrooms in, main tile, all painting done. carpet and plus driveway and access path and the lost of wring things to be done before completion. how have you been going with yours? many issues or smooth sailing? Hi Mel_24, You are in the stage when the construction progress would be really slow. Keep on communicating with your SS to check on what is scheduled to be done for the week. This is the only way to keep them going a BIT faster. From my experience, there were lots of mistake done by the subcontractors. There is actually no way to avoid this, unfortunately. Keep on checking the work done and if there's any mistake report it to the SS straightaway IN WRITING. Did you up grade the paint to 3 coats? Please make sure that you check with your SS on when is the possible practical completion. My practical completion was 3 months after the completion date ended in the contract.Your practical completion inspection is ACTUALLY the practical completion if there is no major issues found. Based on my experience, the list of items to be fixed was not completed after 2 months of waiting. If you want to move in , you can make a letter of intent to be signed by EDEN BRAE. This will be your guarantee that EBH would have all the items listed in the PCI attended to. Have you paid the progress payments on time?( this is 5 days after the claim was sent to you ). I hope you did. IF you didn't, the number of days you were late in payment will be added to your construction days. Goodluck, curious_traveller Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 15Nov 10, 2009 10:58 am hello first time builders, Please check with your customer service rep is you will be provided with a copy of the Tyrells inspection report. I would suggest that you do this through email. Been really busy. Will try my best to check any post in here. Curious_traveller Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 16Mar 22, 2010 8:08 am Does anyone know the difference between Basic and Essential pack in Eden Brae pricing list booklet? If Basic pack will not give us "REAL" walk-in pricing .. then why would you put Basic there ... it's just misleading.... sigh~ Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 17Mar 22, 2010 8:35 am tempura Does anyone know the difference between Basic and Essential pack in Eden Brae pricing list booklet? If Basic pack will not give us "REAL" walk-in pricing .. then why would you put Basic there ... it's just misleading.... sigh~ From what I was told by EB, the basic price is used so that EB's prices look comparable with other builders. The basic pack does not conform with anything that is referrable to reality and you'd be better off relying on the "essential" pack as your starting point. You will find that the price you will ultimately be quoted if going to tender will be about 30% (or more) greater than the essential price depending on such things as the slope and condition of your land and the "extras" requested by you. Keep in mind that EB are generally more expensive than other builders on the market. Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 18Mar 22, 2010 8:58 am ptwindsor40 tempura Does anyone know the difference between Basic and Essential pack in Eden Brae pricing list booklet? If Basic pack will not give us "REAL" walk-in pricing .. then why would you put Basic there ... it's just misleading.... sigh~ From what I was told by EB, the basic price is used so that EB's prices look comparable with other builders. The basic pack does not conform with anything that is referrable to reality and you'd be better off relying on the "essential" pack as your starting point. You will find that the price you will ultimately be quoted if going to tender will be about 30% (or more) greater than the essential price depending on such things as the slope and condition of your land and the "extras" requested by you. Keep in mind that EB are generally more expensive than other builders on the market. Thanks ptwindsor40. When you said the reality price would be 30% (or more) greater than the essential price .. that would be far far away from those that being shown on their display house with all the upgrades? I was under the impression if I add 50K on top of the essential price, I would be getting the house with all upgrades inclusion as shown in the display house .. i think I'm wrong .... does anyone ever did EBH home with all inclusion of upgrades? How much would they cost? Thanks in advance. Re: EDEN BRAE HOMES BUILDING EXPERIENCE - good and bad 19Apr 14, 2010 1:55 pm tempura, at the display homes they usually have a piece of paper which lists the base price as well as any upgrades for the house as seperate costs. i found this helpful when i built last year. but keep in mind that some additional site costs may apply depending on where you build eg rock subgrade etc. i had a fixed price contract for my house where we chose the house model, added our variations then once da was approved and construction commenced you could not make any other variations. once we signed off all the variations the price did not change. but keep in mind that if you make a variation to have an upgrade you can always make a variation to downgrade. we did this for stone benchtops. we requested a variation to include stone benches, the variation was too expensive so we did another variation to keep with the standard benchtops. upgrades are expensive, more than you would normally pay but we decided to get the upgrades that would have to be done during construction then do other things by contractors in the future. eg. we will get our standard benches replaced with stone in the future as we know we can get it cheaper by contractors. hope this helps. mel I built with EB back on 2009. Check out this thread on this forum. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12911&p=154061#p154061 I can't speak for recent expericience however, we had no… 1 23416 You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. In NSW you would contact a Water services co-ordinator and they would give you advice as to whether or not… 1 16150 11 41672 |