Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 23, 2009 4:13 pm Hi, I've been a member of Homeone for a couple of months now and have avidly been reading and following people's threads and posts, in particular the 'Building a New House' section. Working for a building company, what particularly interests me is a person's building experience and some of the obstacles or challenges they face. It's definitely interesting seeing a lot of questions and answers from the clients perspective after spending a bit of time seeing it from the builders perspective. At the moment, we have two clients who have kept diaries on their build experience with us where we have published everything they write on our website to show the building experience for what it is through their eyes. It has definitely been met with a lot of success and i use the word success in that we've had a lot of feedback from people asking questions which came from these diaries. In 2010, we plan to keep a diary of the construction of one of our display homes, from the initial design meetings through to product selections and of course the construction process. where possible, i hope to bring out a lot of detail in the construction process explaining why we do certain things a particular way, explain a bit about some of the products we use, tips for home design etc. I'm really looking forward to it as i do enjoy sharing any experience or knowledge i can, but also to serve as a memento for one of our display homes. my question though is what you would want out of a blog? i'm trying to keep this as open minded as possible, but would love to know what people wish they could get more info or detail on. some people find they would like more detail on the actual construction, others are on the paperwork and shire/planning side of things. other people want plenty of photos etc, others just want the technical. i would love to be able to do all of these things, but at this point i'm not sure how much time it could all consume. if anyone has any feedback on what they would suggest that would be brilliant. once i've got the blog up and running i'll post up the link for those that are interested. cheers Jay Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 2Dec 23, 2009 4:22 pm Lots of pics seem to be essential - and the opportunity for people to comment, therefore if they have a question about something specific - they can ask. Sounds like a good idea. Blog:http://tamdaz-themajestic.blogspot.com The Majestic - Henley - Adelaide Thread:https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20635 Day 200 23-4-10 Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 3Dec 23, 2009 4:33 pm Yep definately lots of pictures and for me from a design point of view i would want to know what things were included in the house that were not standard. Not things like floor coverings or air conditioning but more like standard doors, laminate colours, bathroom tiles etc. I would love for a building company to build a show home using only 'standard' products and show what can be done using them. Im sure that there are lots of lovely homes built where they did not have to spend thousands more on upgrades here and there. Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 4Dec 23, 2009 5:49 pm OK you asked… Firstly, it's a great idea and kudos to you for suggesting to open up the books as it were. From the perspective of someone who’s been on this forum for a little while and tried to help with whatever domain knowledge I have, I’ll try and encapsulate some of the common issues that people seem to have with the engineering and building end. I’m sure others will cover off on colors, electricals, etc etc, and will choose to add or disagree as they see fit. Explain the contract process from the builder’s point of view. What are the main things you really wish customers would understand about building contracts and why they are structured the way they are. As an example, what does it mean to a builder when a client comes back with a variation, how does this impact on your processes and project management of the building site which might explain the reluctance of some builders to do certain variations. Do you have examples of where the contract has protected your interests in the face of a difficult client?...after all most people will look at the contract from a customers perspective. Explain the process that happens internally within the office when a customer comes in saying “I want this house” to the point where they get drawings and contracts. People get very frustrated with the length of time it takes. Explain the approvals processes, drafting, checking, contract prep process, financing and bank approvals, the tic-tackng between internal and external parties and what makes up the critical links in the chain to build a house. I’m sure people would be interested to understand the background activities being undertaken...and may be more understanding of the time taken. The building supervisor - this is the most important person in a home builders life for the best part of six months to a year. What does the building supervisor actually do? Apart from their obvious role in the client contact on site explain the process of organising labour and materials. Lots of people get frustrated with the lack of communication and face-to-face time with supervisors and explaining all the “other stuff” they do might help to see the supervisor role from the builders end. And how many other customers are they servicing or expected to service? Doesn't help when faced with a belligerent site super but when you get a reasonable one you may cut them some slack if you understand what they do. Foundations. Explain the process of how you get from “I want this house” to “this is how much your site costs are”. Explain the reasons for the wide variations in site costs (viewtopic.php?f=31&t=9017), the process of testing and designing the foundation, and the engineering signoffs required. I know this is not a stick your finger in the wind exercise - so an explanation of your responsibilities and the liability you face if you screw it up would be handy. What can the customer do to make the building process easier? You’ve mentioned diaries, what else can they do. How do you feel about people “sneaking” on to site - which they do because they can’t get hold of the super or feel intimated to inspect whilst the builder is there. Lots of people have problems explaining issues with construction to site supervisors - how does you company handle ** workmanship (if it happens) - and how would you like to customer to handle issues? Whilst the display home blog will be interesting…I think a blog kept by a builder for a “real” house would be far more interesting and revealing…particularly if the blog is honest and presents both sides of the build. Obviously you’d need the owner’s permission. Of course no amount of explanation will help a customer faced with a c*cked up house...and nor should it..."the customer is always right". But I think the discussion would be very valuable. Cheers, Mike PS...I'll dwell on this one a bit more. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 5Dec 23, 2009 8:59 pm I'm probably telling you how to suck eggs... ...but because I think what you are doing is important could I suggest you change the title to something less cryptic...like "What should a builder put in a blog?"...you may get more bites... mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 6Dec 23, 2009 9:15 pm I'm Pmed Jay asking if the head company Rural Building Comp is part of is going to do this. ( Pebble and I both built with them) Agreed TDL . Perhaps Jay was concerned that changing teh thread title could make this appear more like an advertising thread. Like the new Website btw Jay. Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 7Dec 23, 2009 9:34 pm I'd want to know every little cost that was NOT standard and included in the base price of the house being built. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 9Dec 24, 2009 9:43 am I'd like to see it written as a day to day diary of the whole construction process, much like what a lot of us do and with LOTS of photo's especially when something goes wrong and then showing what was wrong and how it was fixed examples would be : Today the client came in and signed the contract, now we can get to ordering xxx. The slab was poured today but I noticed that the slab size isn't quite right so will get the engineers to come out and inspect it. There is a delay in the bricks, the manufacturer can't deliver them for 4 weeks, have asked client if it's ok to wait or do they want to choose new ones The roof went up today, it looks fantastic, the client has chosen some really good colours Today the sparkys came in and did their fitout but damaged some of the plumbing, will need to get the plumbers back to fix it all - bugger! stuff like that 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 10Dec 24, 2009 9:54 am aaron4erin Off topic... just checked out the website, some of those homes are amazing. Awesome floor plans. I love open space! they do have some amazing plans. Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 11Dec 26, 2009 12:41 am Wow! Haven't been on for a few days and only got to check this thread now - thank you so much for the feedback. Definitely some interesting and very good questions asked - all of which i'd definitely like to answer throughout the blog, or even then, happy to answer now if people are interested. Sorry for coming across cryptic - wasn't trying to be tricky. As mentioned, i've been quite open with who i work for and what i do, and definitely haven't come on here to start selling our homes to people and being in your face. I guess the biggest part for joining was to get some insight into the building process from the client perspective. At the end of the day the people on here are the people that keep us going, and the only way we can really succeed is to know what people want, what we do bad and what we can do better. The last 12 months have certainly been interesting and provided us with a great opportunity to reapproach what we do, and look at ways to reinvent ourselves for lack of a better word. I'm taking notes on what i want to cover throughout the blog, and will hopefully be able to answer a lot of questions. that being said, what we do won't necessarily be the same for a lot of others. different companies have different processes and methods, so i'll be mindful when explaining what we do. in response to doing it from the clients perspective as well- would definitely be keen to do it. just need to find our next client who would be happy to do a diary with us - always on the search though! it's also hard as for some builds, everything just goes so smooth it doesn't make it too interesting at all. probably not the right thing to say but you almost want to build a home that has a few hiccups to show how it can all unfold. the house i'll be keeping the diary on is a display, and due to the nature and rapid build time they can have their issues so will be sure to explain them. to answer the other question - we are part of the JWH Group and at this time, none of the others are doing this but do hope to be taking a similar route. Soooo - apologies for the long reply, look forward to more input and suggestions! Thank you for the compliments on our floorplans and website, we spend a lot of time on them and appreaciate the feedback. cheers Jay Re: If i were a blog, what would i be 12Dec 26, 2009 5:21 pm This will be interesting Where you are coming from is where you are going to... We hired Darbecca to do every stage inspection, and I strongly recommend them to anyone that asks me. They were amazing. Thorough reports with photos at every stage,… 6 7103 0 4972 |