Browse Forums Building A New House Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 21Mar 22, 2010 12:50 pm Hi Jane thanks for sharing! your layout looks excellent.. good idea changing the tiny media room in the middle to an office. we changed it to a walk in pantry. also building a saville 27 but changed floorplan dramatically and added an double bedroom size extension (play/media room for the children) to the back of the house. moved the French doors from the Master Bed to the playroom so there's two access points to the back garden (so kids don't walk dirt into the main living area). isn't it irritating that they don't draw in the changes to the kitchen layout till last minute? we made dramatic changes there and asked for the floorplan to be changed because we knew it would cause confusion with the electricals etc. they refused and yes, we went around in circles for weeks with our terrible EB Customer Service Admin. She answered crucial questions wrong resulting in a three month delay to our start date. We went up the management chain when we realised and eventually they admitted their mistake and appointed a new person to look after us (who is patient, attentive and answers her phone.. we loved dealing with her). You HAVE to document everything otherwise you have zero negotiating power. the kitchen company HOK quotes were astronomical (and service non-existant until I complained and met the senior manager who ended up helping me with the design) and we decided to use the whole standard kitchen allowance for our 3mx1m long island bench (they wouldn't give us a credit for cabinetry). We'll be doing the back wall of kitchen cabinetry after handover. Our experience to date of EB has been mixed. We signed our contract in July last year but start date was mid-Feb (ridiculous!). Our concrete was poured a week ago. Our neighbours are months ahead in their builds even though all the blocks of land were registered at the same time with council. There's obviously a large range of builders used on our street - several Metricons, several Clarendons, couple Wisdom Homes, & few owner builders. There's two other Eden Braes. Both homes (from the externals anyway) look leagues better in terms of the finish than the other builders. We look at that and feel a bit safer seeing the beautiful homes that EB creates. They will try to double up what you pay on upgrades by not automatically giving a credit on the standard item unless you ask (******* behaviour.. wonder how many people don't ask??) Also had issues with things appearing as standard in the display home but then they tried to charge us for it (drawers in the ensuite). I had to show photographic evidence (that I took from the display home) to get this in at no charge. All in all.. we realise that due diligence is our responsibility and have spent countless hours checking and researching things to ensure we get what we expect for what we are quoted. this has resulted in a better floorplan above other things. Would I build again? I wouldn't mind (my husband refuses to contemplate this!) but hopefully at a time we don't have young children and a business to run! Good luck with it all and keep us posted. http://homewithcoco.blogspot.com/2009_0 ... chive.html Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 22Mar 22, 2010 4:37 pm janenguyen Hi michael How did you find the build process? Did you have any major dramas with eden brae? Everything has gone pretty smoothly with us. Fingers cross that it stays that way. How did you find your site supervisor? Hi Jane, I never really know what is going on in the build process, unless I call. Even then, the day I'm told something is suppose to happen seems to happen a few days after. Issues so far, we had some frame overhang in the framing stage, some windows positioned incorrectly which were fixed. Overall, the brickwork and frame was quite reasonable. More issues are coming up in the fit-out of the home. The painters are s*** so goodness knows how many times they will be back to touch stuff up. Also the carpenter likes installing damaged architraves so that will end up having to be replaced. We have a pantry wall in the wrong position, I'm not sure when this is going to be moved (notified EB a few weeks ago). However, pantry shelving is now installed so even more work for them now! Overall, the majority of the people doing the internal fit-out have NFI! Our site supervisor is a nice guy though, perhaps to nice as all those tradies with NFI really need a kick up the backside! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 23Mar 22, 2010 7:27 pm Hiya Cocobeanhouse l wish l could have extended the back of the house as well though l think if l were to do that then l wouldnt get much of a backyard. I would have loved for the media room to be bigger. I think we'll end up using that as a kids room in the future(when we decide to have kids). What did you end up doing with the study that is linked to the main bedroom? We just decided to make the main bedroom bigger. Yeah l found the kitchen people at HOK to be really expensive. l wish l could have gone for caesarstone but they wanted to charge astonomical prices for that. We have already spent more then what we expected on the kitchen. l found a stonemason that can do the caesarstone for me after handover at less than half the price they quoted. I really love the waterfall edges for the island bench. (Hopefully l can afford it) l'm really shocked that they let you do the whole back wall of your kitchen later. l asked them if l could do that and they completely said a flat out no. Have you got any plans on what you will be doing to the back kitchen wall. One thing l regret is not having the kitchen back wall inset. We were going to get overhead cupboards near the rangehood in a frosted glass. HOK wanted way too much for it. So we will be getting that done after handover. l'm a bit confused about the bulkhead that goes on top of the overhead cupboards. Most of the saville display homes have overhead cupboards without bulkheads. l wonder whether it would look ok with bulkheads. If l could go back one thing l would have added would be another toilet in the laundry. (for guests). Where are you guys building? Hopefully everything goes well! Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 24Mar 22, 2010 7:41 pm Hi Michael oh no your freakin me out. At least you picked up on the problems so they'll definately have to fix it up for you. Did you get an independant building inspector? When you do spot problems do you normally notify your CSR or SS? We havent had a problem yet so a little unsure as to what happens now. They have just finished doing our slab and usually at slab stage we are meant to pay them a percentage. Are we meant to check the slab with the site supervisor to make sure everything is ok? Our SS has only called us once to introduce himself but we havent heard from him since. How do they notify you that you need to pay? Do they stop all work (framing) until you pay? l'm a little confused as to what is meant to happen. Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 25Mar 22, 2010 8:05 pm janenguyen Hi Michael oh no your freakin me out. At least you picked up on the problems so they'll definately have to fix it up for you. Did you get an independant building inspector? When you do spot problems do you normally notify your CSR or SS? We havent had a problem yet so a little unsure as to what happens now. They have just finished doing our slab and usually at slab stage we are meant to pay them a percentage. Are we meant to check the slab with the site supervisor to make sure everything is ok? Our SS has only called us once to introduce himself but we havent heard from him since. How do they notify you that you need to pay? Do they stop all work (framing) until you pay? l'm a little confused as to what is meant to happen. Hi Jane, We got an independent building inspector at lockup and will get one at handover. If you spot a problem you should notify your SS, remember you aren't suppose to go on site though! They should send the invoice in the mail to you to pay. They won't stop working (assuming you pay in a reasonable time frame). A good guide for home builders is available here: http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Tenants_and_home_owners/Home_building_and_renovating/The_building_process/Guide_to_standards_and_tolerances.html At the slab stage, all you can check is that there isn't any major cracking (check the guide for standards). Once they put the frame up, the key thing is to ensure you don't have any frame overhang (I think 10mm is the allowable tolerance - again in the guide). You have to assume they will make errors though, no builder is perfect, however it is amazing the number of simple things they seem to do wrong. At the end of the day though, they have to fix them. You just have to put your foot down to make sure they do it. Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 26Mar 22, 2010 10:20 pm Hi Michael thanks for your reply and the info l will definately have a read of the link. Glad l have something to go by. Would you be able to keep me post on whether the independant site inspector picks up on anything that tyrell doesnt pick up on. Also if you could let me know how much you paid for an independant inspector. thanks greatly appreciate it Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 27Mar 22, 2010 10:41 pm Hi Jane I've put our final floorplan on my blog. It's hard not to continue to look for places that could have been improved and wonder whether the colours and finishes are going to look good together isn't it? I think EB's answers re kitchens etc depend on who you're dealing with. Our kitchen was a saga and cost us months in delays because originally we were told that it was fine to relocate ALL the standard cabinetry to the walk in pantry and laundry and have the plumbing capped at the right places so our own kitchen installer could do plumbing and electricals. Choosing to do just the island with them was the compromise because we went up the management chain when they started saying that the entire standard kitchen needed to be installed in the kitchen because of council requirements (rubbish - the council didn't care who did the kitchen). We're installing our own appliances and got credits for everything incl backsplash. Was a pittance but still cheaper to install quality appliances at the beginning because cabinetry won't have to be ripped out later. We're building in Kellyville Ridge. Just signed up with Howard http://www.hnkryan.com/ who will do inspections at frame and completion stages. Are you getting this done? _____________________________ http://homewithcoco.blogspot.com Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 28Mar 22, 2010 10:47 pm btw we made the office/multi a bit bigger because it will function perfectly as an office as both my husband and I work from home a lot. It's also as far from the living areas and kids' rooms as possible which mean less interruptions. or so we hope =) Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 29Mar 23, 2010 5:56 pm Hi cocobean We asked them how much it would be to deduct the kitchen appliances but found that it wasnt worth it. It seems that they can charge you an arm and a leg for upgrading but for them to delete a standard product they only give you a measly amount back. Sometimes l wonder how they can justify the prices. Did you change the rear hallway from being carpet to tiles. We did that and thought that they would keep it the same price because the allowance for tiles and carpet is the same but no, they had to charge us extra for it. We will have to get our benchtops ripped out once we move in. Hopefully by doing that it wont wreck our cupboards underneath. l asked them if they can leave it unglued because we were going to change it anyway after handover and they still refused. l think l'll try asking the supervisor when they start on the kitchens. Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 30Mar 23, 2010 5:59 pm Another question cocobeanhouse. Would you be able to let me know how much it was for an independant building inspector. l know that EB use Tyrell. Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 31Mar 23, 2010 6:08 pm T's are paid by EB so if you're going to rely on an inspection report, you're better off having an independant one. Not to disparage T's but......................... Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 32Mar 23, 2010 6:13 pm Thanks Southie l'll have to look into it. Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 33Mar 23, 2010 6:51 pm janenguyen Another question cocobeanhouse. Would you be able to let me know how much it was for an independant building inspector. l know that EB use Tyrell. Tyrells are paid by Eden Brae so naturally they will have their interests at heart - not yours. I called a couple and was happy with Howard http://www.hnkryan.com/ who was highly recommended by others in this forum. He inspects at the frame and completion stages. Cost is $595 for each inspection. Spoke to him yesterday and he has direct line of communication to Snr Mgt at EB and get the faults he finds fixed fast. He seems to know how EB work because 70% of his business is inspecting their work and has been in business for years. To me the extra cost may save weeks of potential delays if we rely on our inexperience at picking up things in time. Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 34Mar 23, 2010 7:14 pm janenguyen Hi cocobean We asked them how much it would be to deduct the kitchen appliances but found that it wasnt worth it. It seems that they can charge you an arm and a leg for upgrading but for them to delete a standard product they only give you a measly amount back. Sometimes l wonder how they can justify the prices. Did you change the rear hallway from being carpet to tiles. We did that and thought that they would keep it the same price because the allowance for tiles and carpet is the same but no, they had to charge us extra for it. We will have to get our benchtops ripped out once we move in. Hopefully by doing that it wont wreck our cupboards underneath. l asked them if they can leave it unglued because we were going to change it anyway after handover and they still refused. l think l'll try asking the supervisor when they start on the kitchens. We didn't get the builders package that included flooring, alarm, etc etc I didn't want carpet or tiles and knew that upgrading to something else would be ridiculously priced. That's awful that they wouldn't agree not to glue down the benchtops. I would definitely talk to the SS to see if he can do something about it. We asked if they could just tack on the skirting boards so we could install our own flooring a bit easier.. they put it in a PCV with a $350 charge.. what the? so we reversed that out and will let them install it as per the norm although we'll talk to our SS to see if that's negotiable. You'd think from all their advertising that their service would be at a higher level. Just out of interest I had a look at their website. Here's an excerp from their "About Us" section: "When it comes time to building your new dream home, you'll look for peace of mind with a builder who can offer the best value for money, a hassle free building process with time-frame certainty and no hidden surprises in cost. Not to mention superior quality workmanship, service and inclusions. At Eden Brae Homes, we not only offer these commitments to our customers, we guarantee them. We call this commitment 'BuildSure'." _____________________________ http://homewithcoco.blogspot.com Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 35Mar 23, 2010 8:54 pm hehehehe We also asked if they can just tack in the architraves in the kitchen because we wanted to add a bulkhead in after handover and they said no. Another thing on my list to ask the site supervisor. Did you get Eden Brae to do your electricals? Your lucky that you didnt get the builders pack including carpet and tiles because the tiles and carpet are overpriced if you want to upgrade. Also with the alarm system that they give you it has only 2 sensors. At first l didnt mind until l decided to ring up a couple of home insurance companies to get quotes. Usually when you have an alarm your rates are reduced a little but they said that you need to have a minimum of 3 sensors. l asked EB about upgrading and adding another sensor and they said that it cant be done. boo hoo We always thought that it would be cheaper getting the builders pack. Little did I know. l guess its a learning curve all the way. Have you been given a start date yet? they said it takes 27 weeks to build and in the contract they also guarantee it. l wonder when they start counting. Do you think it is when they peg out the block? When the SS calls? Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 36Mar 24, 2010 6:15 am janenguyen hehehehe We also asked if they can just tack in the architraves in the kitchen because we wanted to add a bulkhead in after handover and they said no. Another thing on my list to ask the site supervisor. Did you get Eden Brae to do your electricals? Your lucky that you didnt get the builders pack including carpet and tiles because the tiles and carpet are overpriced if you want to upgrade. Also with the alarm system that they give you it has only 2 sensors. At first l didnt mind until l decided to ring up a couple of home insurance companies to get quotes. Usually when you have an alarm your rates are reduced a little but they said that you need to have a minimum of 3 sensors. l asked EB about upgrading and adding another sensor and they said that it cant be done. boo hoo We always thought that it would be cheaper getting the builders pack. Little did I know. l guess its a learning curve all the way. Have you been given a start date yet? they said it takes 27 weeks to build and in the contract they also guarantee it. l wonder when they start counting. Do you think it is when they peg out the block? When the SS calls? huh why can't they add a sensor? are you pre-construction? Did they give you the "construction" set of floorplans? In the final PCV they give you the "start date". Ours was 15 Feb and when they didn't start at the beginning of March we were getting very jumpy. They gave us 26 weeks to build the house. Our concrete is poured and the frames are due to be delivered tomorrow. From all accounts and our experience, once they start, it flies along. I think once they reach lock-up and start doing the internals is when it slows down a lot. We're banking on them taking the full 26 weeks. There's the rental guarantee so we'll get some compensation if they go over the guaranteed completion date. Of course $400 doesn't even cover the rent, never mind the land and house mortgage. When you know who is your SS, PM me. It will be interesting to see if we have the same one =) We can compare notes. _____________________________ http://homewithcoco.blogspot.com Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 37Mar 24, 2010 6:51 am They said that it was a basic alarm so more sensors cant be added on. This was when l spoke to the electricals people. You cant even delete it out. Yes they already gave us the construction floor plan. Have you got images of your slab. i Just want to compare to make sure it looks up to scratch before l pay them. My SS is p--- b-----. Let me know if yours is the same. Handover date 3rd August 2010 WOOHOO!!! Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 38Mar 25, 2010 1:29 pm janenguyen hehehehe We also asked if they can just tack in the architraves in the kitchen because we wanted to add a bulkhead in after handover and they said no. Another thing on my list to ask the site supervisor. Did you get Eden Brae to do your electricals? Your lucky that you didnt get the builders pack including carpet and tiles because the tiles and carpet are overpriced if you want to upgrade. Also with the alarm system that they give you it has only 2 sensors. At first l didnt mind until l decided to ring up a couple of home insurance companies to get quotes. Usually when you have an alarm your rates are reduced a little but they said that you need to have a minimum of 3 sensors. l asked EB about upgrading and adding another sensor and they said that it cant be done. boo hoo We always thought that it would be cheaper getting the builders pack. Little did I know. l guess its a learning curve all the way. Have you been given a start date yet? they said it takes 27 weeks to build and in the contract they also guarantee it. l wonder when they start counting. Do you think it is when they peg out the block? When the SS calls? In terms of getting lower quote for home content insurance, does this mean that EBH default alarm (2 sensors) is no good? Did anyone of you choose the extra variations for 2590mm roof ceiling increase? do you know how much they (EBH) quote you on that? Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 39Mar 25, 2010 3:51 pm tempura Did anyone of you choose the extra variations for 2590mm roof ceiling increase? do you know how much they (EBH) quote you on that? Hi tempura, I have the higher ceiling, I think the cost was approx $4k. Where are you building? Re: jane and Daves First building experience with Eden Brae 40Mar 25, 2010 3:59 pm michaelharvey1982 tempura Did anyone of you choose the extra variations for 2590mm roof ceiling increase? do you know how much they (EBH) quote you on that? Hi tempura, I have the higher ceiling, I think the cost was approx $4k. Where are you building? thanks michaelharvey1982. the plan is the Ponds. If so what were the "special circumstances" under which it was granted? "Note: If the development consent is for 'dual occupancy' an owner-builder permit can only be… 0 14070 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17598 |