New Build - Gemmill Homes - Nevada

We have had some feedback from Gemmill about the issues we raised. The green colour comming through on the facebricks is appartently calcium and we have been told this will disappear with time. Gemmill have agreed that if it isn't gone by the time the house is finished they can chemically remove it.

The other issue we had is with the same bricks being chipped on the inside of the garage. Gemmill have told me that it is common for the bricks to be damaged on the second face and there was nothing they could do about it. Their response to this issue has been the most dissapointing part of the build to date. I didn't expect them to basically admit to causing the damage but not offer any form of compensation, effectively saying that they have damaged it but it is now our problem. My biggest concern is if this will be Gemmill's approach to any other damage they cause throughout the building process.
I am waiting to hear back from the construction manager about what can be done. Our CLO indicated that they have had this issue raised in the past but have been unable to do anything about it, again dissapointing. They have however been very efficent in asking for the progress payment.

We almost have a roof! The majority of the roof frame has been completed. Gemmill advised that the carpenter would be finished tomorrow and then the electrician starts and does all the chasing for the power points etc. Then the roof cover goes on.

Hopefully the rain doesn't delay the process too much, we are already a bit behind due to time lost from weather and some other issues. Gemmill have told us that once the roof cover is on they will be able to make up this lost time.

Can anyone on here who is building/built in the Cockburn Shire recommend someone for soakwell installation?

Also has anyone other than Mandy received a BBQ or similar from Gemmill Homes as a handover gift?

I'll update photos of the house shortly.

Starlight we had a Jim's guy do our soakwells in Atwell earlier in the year. He was very reasonable priced (will have to dig out the invoice to see what the actual cost was if you're interested) and we had several soakwells plus some paving that he had to dig up and relay. PM if you'd like his details.

Gemmill's response about the bricks is very disappointing. I don't understand how they can say it's not their problem??!! Good news about the roof though!

Hi Starlight,

Seems you have progressed waaay further than we have- our bricks arnet even fisished yet either outside or in- its been gpong for just on a month now and still quite a bit for them to finish. I dont think its necessarily been the weather as other houses round the street are progressign on also...

Anyway, fingers crossed for some movement this week. Re the soakwells- in Canning vale we were told by Gemmill that it was compulsory for the soakwells to be installed by the builders rep to comply with council regs. It cost us near 4k for the soakwells, which a plumbeer friend of mine told me was abnout 2.5 times the expected rate, but there was zero I could do about it. At least you get the option of doing it yourselves!!!! Good luck!!

Jonesby PM sent. The reponse about the brickwork is less than great, but we have to give them the opportunity to honour their word that it would be fixed prior to completion. If this is not the case it will be a very heated discussion with me and Mr Gemmill himself! In saying that I think they will make good with their promise.

Keith, I have found I get a good response from Gemmill whenever I raise issues about work not being done. I do this frequently, as I try and visit our site as much as possible and if there has been no progress from the last visit I am on the phone straight away to the CLO.

I don't think it is acceptable to be paying the amount of money it costs to build a house, only for it to drag on more than needed. 4 weeks for your brick work to not even be finished is ordinary at best. Ours took less than three working weeks and there was some rain in that period. So they can do it a lot quicker. I'd be straight onto your CLO and telling them in no uncertain terms that it's not good enough, as well as getting them to explain how they intend to make up the lost time.

Hi Starlight

I had the same problem as you, chipped bricks in garage, and getting worse, somehow my garage is not level on the pier and one panel. they answered the same thing to me as well. also i got chipped bricks on first face too.

Can you please tell me what brick you choosen? from which company?? even i realised the paving on the driveway also being chipped ..

i really dissapointed with gemmills... no quality at all..
my plan is monte carlo handed over in July... too many problem for the house.

@ Jimstring, we have austral bricks. The only face bricks are on the inside of the garage and one external garage wall these are a sandstone colour brick. The rest of the house will be rendered so the chips shouldn't be too much of an issue and I am confident Gemmill will fix any issues, as they have done to date.
Were your driveway pavers chipped before you moved in? If they were I would think this would be as a result of the building process, however if they have been damaged subsequently then it is more a product quality issue than a building issue.

Update: Our roof is now on and looks fantastic. We visited our house on Saturday morning and the roofers were finishing the roof off. It is surfmist (white) colourbond and was quite bright even in overcast conditions. All the wiring and gas plumbing has been done as well.
I spoke with our CLO this morning and she advised that the plasterers would start next Monday and do the internal rendering with the cealing being completed later in the week. Things are moving along quite quickly now and it is becoming a bit more real, we are crossing our fingers to get in by christmas but it will be very tight.
I'm having some issues with pictures but will upload new photos when I can.

Hi, good that your build is progressing.. My Tax invoice came pretty quickly as soon as the slab was laid. Very efficient in that department. Guess all builders are the same

Hi Everyone

I am building pretty much the stock standard Nevada with a few small modifications. It was quite rare to find a place that we liked pretty much as is. The minor changes we made were:

Extended kitchen bench to square off with the kitchen area
Closed off study
Closed off theatre room (we will put in a sliding door ourselves later)
Changed the window near the kitchen to a sliding door to give side of house access to the outside
Removed the low wall in the living room
Changed laundry door to a sliding door
Made double cupboards in bedroom 2 & 4
Full render
3 phase power supply

I am at scheduling stage so hopefully not too long before things start to happen.

I will keep you all up to date on my progress.

Do you have your plans you could show us Roxclan?

Well my bricks are finally finished- about 6 weeks I reckon in the end. Have a meeting with the SS on Monday morning- so looking forward to it. I notice all the timber and beams are now onsite also for the roof so fingers crossed it wont take long for them to start playing catchup. Will post a few pics over weekend when down next.

I too have some green marks on the bricks- so will bring this up also. However, I wil say the brickwork seems pretty good both internally and externally so no real issues thus far, apart from them beinga tab slow.

cheers,

Keith

Wow 6 weeks seems like a long time to do the brickwork! I was hoping for 3 weeks!!

Sorry, I can not add any graphic files, it is saying the board attachment quota has been reached.

Keith, six weeks does seem like a long time, unless we were really lucky with house quick ours were laid, less than three weeks. If Gemmill give you the same SS as us then you will do well. He seemed very capable and explained the whole process to us and the standards he demands, he even showed us some brick work that he made the brickies pull down and re-do.

We didn't visit our house this weekend as nothing was expect to be done, as they brickwork and to dry out with the roof on. Hopefully by this saturday the internal rendering is done and the ceilling is in. From there hopefully windows and lock up.

Roxclan it sounds like you have made some similar changes to us, we too found the nevada design to be pretty good stock standard and only requiring a few modifications to meet our needs.

I have been lazy with sorting out photos but will add the current ones we have and any new ones we take on the weekend.

Also the slab is down for the Nevada being built next door to us now!

Hi Starlight,

Our SS is Phil- we met him on Monday mrning and he seemed pretty good. The bricks weere finished last Thu/ Fri and the roof frame is now on and last night I noticed guttering on site also so they have moved pretty fast after the slow brickwork. Phil mentioned the colorbond roof will be on by Mid next week also so seems things are now moving along at a better pace.

Hopefully we can follow along similar to you with the ceilings and internal rendering etc. Am glad to finally see it all starting to take shape.

I too have been lazy uploading pics, but will endeavour to get some through shortly. After so long getting sorted with plans, prestarts and site works, I am sure I am beginning to see some light toward the end of the tunnel, even if completion is set for late Dec early Jan.

I'm glad things are moving a bit quicker now Keith!

Hi Jonesby,

Yep definatley moving a lot quicker now. Roof carpenters are all finished, and electricians have been in yesterday and cut in all the powerpoints and ran all the electrical cabling through the house. I would say by end of next week the colorbond should be on and the internal work should have begun on the ceilings and rendering etc. It really has sped up considerably since the bricks finished!

So far, fingers crossed everything looks good and no chipped bricks/ no bad workmanship so am happy. Still a long way to go though!

Hi, I haven't given an update for a couple of weeks and am still having problems with pictures
Gemmill have made some good progress in the past two weeks, we now have the first coat of external render done, the cielling is in and plastered and the white set is due to be finished this week. The windows and external doors are booked to be fitted on 13th Oct and then it will be at lock up!

Gemmill called to advised they installed the wrong window in the kitchen and provided us with options to fix the issue. We have decided to raise the kitchen benches by 47mm to bring them up to the bottom of the window. This is really only a minor issue and had Gemmill not called to tell me about the window we would never have know. It was good to see that level of customer service from Gemmill.

We now have the fun task of starting to arrange the finishing trades for painting, floors and window dressings. Can anyone recommend a good painter in the Cockburn area?

I will try and get some photos up this weekend...... no promises.

Hi Starlight,

thats good news things are progressing well for you, and as you say their service in advising you. I reckon I am still a week or 2 behind you, roof is done, electrical and gas/ water is in, so am waiting on the plastering and ceiling to go in. Looks like you will be locking up very soon- exciting stuff!!

Glad its all working out well starlight!

That's great that things are moving so quickly Starlight! And also very good to see that Gemmill fessed up to doing something wrong. Looking forward to seeing your pics.

We're also going to get someone to paint our house before we move in so let me know how you go with this.

PS I've just uploaded pics of our brickwork in my thread