Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 03, 2011 12:42 pm PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! Hello ladies and gents, I’m looking to build with Porter Davis. Currently I’m booked in for my tender appointment and would love for you to share your experiences with Porter Davis. Also this forum might help us all in knowing what to expect during the process and what traps to look out for. If you can please specify the following: House being built: Area: Pros: Cons Rating:(1=Crap; 2=Poor; 3=Standard; 4=Good; 5=Excellent) Cheers Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 2Feb 03, 2011 12:59 pm You may find information you are looking for here... http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=497 We have a house in Doreen. Built the PD Kensington 24 (with Alfresco & Rumpus option). We are in...Decorating in progress...pics to come soon... Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 3Feb 03, 2011 1:15 pm My experience so far.............. The PD sales consultant was friendly, very helpful and prompt in getting my questions answered (trust me I had a million questions). The only frustration I had was trying to get prices on doors, stair up grades, air conditioning. He tried his hardest but the systems in place let him down. Also I went down to Hopetoun on the week end and was very disappointed that they couldn’t advise of prices. Fair enough that certain upgrade is specific to house plans and can’t not be priced on the spot, but I don’t understand why they can provide prices on standard upgrades like: Toilet Vanities and taps Doors Door handles Carpet per sqm Carpet underlay Garage doors To these prices change daily basis???????????? LOL I think that they suck you in at tender and take your 3% deposit and then overcharge you at your selections appointed where it’s virtually to late to back out without losing a tone of money. House being built: Brooklyn Area: Berwick Pros: Good house designs Cons: none so far Rating: 3 (standard) (1=Crap; 2=Poor; 3=Standard; 4=Good; 5=Excellent) Cheers Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 4Feb 04, 2011 3:19 pm Hi Tstr1a, I am sorry to hear that you've been unhappy with your initial dealings with PD. We appreciate your feedback and are always on the lookout for new ways of improving our service to our clients. I am sorry to hear of your frustrations at not receiving final costings. In the end we want our clients to be happy, and across working with different suppliers and accommodating for regular changes in pricing, for now we can only provide price point estimates throughout your appointment to help with decision making on the day. If you can get information from other forum members for what they ended up paying for materials and upgrades, then that's a great resource to go by for a rough idea. On a side note, for some further information on the Tender Process, I thought I'd direct you to this PD Blog Post: http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/index.ph ... emetender/ There is also an article on our blog about costs and Hopetoun - take a look: http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/index.ph ... pointment/ Also, we have posted some Feature Articles on a couple of PD clients & their build journeys. They might be worth checking out: http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/index.ph ... ground-up/ Hopefully they provide you with some good insights. I hope that helps Cheers, Jess. Porter Davis Homes Questions? Call 1800PORTER Mon - Fri 9am-8pm Sat - Sun 10am-4pm info@porterdavis.com.au http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/ http://www.porterdavishomes.com.au Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 5Feb 04, 2011 3:47 pm Hey T, In our earlier chat, i mentioned how this forum is a great avenue to do the investigatory work on pricing etc. Rob and I were a bit put out we couldn't get pricing at Hopetoun too but thinking outside of the box thought we have the name of the item so did a bit of a google search or visited the showroom of the suppliers who had that part (such as reece to check out the taps, national tiles outlet to see the builders range, carpet court to look at the carpet etc) That way we had an idea on what the price should be and i found our costings were not that far off of what PD's was when it came to our tender appt and not so much of a shock . Obviously they may have a better buy price being a We also found that the range on display at some of these places were a lot more than at hopetoun (for example the carpet selections at hopetoun were smaller than the one at Chaddy?). There's always a way around to get the info you want or as close to the info you want . Happy to pass on pricing that we were provided to you as you are building the Waldorf too yeah? Just PM us an email addy and i can shoot it through for you. House being built: Waldorf 44 Area: Ferntree Gully Pros: We have a very good CSC who responds very quickly. PD have delivered so far on everything that they are promoting. Cons: none Rating:(1=Crap; 2=Poor; 3=Standard; 4=Good; 5=Excellent) To date i'd rate them a 5. Building Waldorf 44 with PD Feel free to follow our build progress - http://melnrobsknockdownrebuild.blogspot.com/ Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 6Feb 04, 2011 4:51 pm I cant say much as i have not built with them either, but am looking into them building our new house and i must say anytime i have asked for something over the phone or via email (as i am still yet to get to visit a display house) they have sent it or rang with price of what i was after straight away. More than happy to help. I know that is nothing to do with build quality but great customer service so far. i agree with melandbov, even we have googled some prices they are easily found so its not to shocking! plus you can always remove them before signing if you think it is to much. The Porter davis thread quoted above is a great thread if you get a chance to sit and read it! Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 7Feb 15, 2011 11:00 pm We are building with them and are now firmly getting the feeling that they are trying to push this house upon us regardless of our concerns with respect to finishing qualities. I have been told that manafacture recomendations (for example - from corinthian doors) were only recomdendations and not required. Ie. Its not going to happen. We are feeling a bit jaded by the whole process considering all the reassurances of PD having high standards. Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 8Feb 15, 2011 11:22 pm Most people on here who praise them have only gone through the initial sales period and haven't actually got to see the finished product. I'd rate them on par with any major builder in that the quality and timeframe is totally dependant on the luck of the draw with contractors and site supervisors all of which can vary to a large degree from one build to another. My critisism is that they have no quality control and the final say of what's acceptable depends purely on how hard you push them and if their employees can be bothered to fix the problem. I found their after sales service to be quite possibly the worst I've ever experienced. We are talking about a company that barely ever even answers the phone let alone returns calls or follows through with warranty issues. I've phoned them on occasion 5 times before I got to talk to someone without either the phone not being answered or simply being hung up on. I give them a big thumbs down but to be fair I give the entire Australian building industry a big thumbs down so I'd say they are representative of what's out there. My recommendation if you build with them is to keep the best part of a year free as thats how long it can take if your not lucky (don't believe their sales spin about 16-20 weeks) and keep some money in reserve to hire some actual quality tradesmen to come in and fix the problems at the end rather than rely on the rectification work that you will get free of charge (which is worth nothing anyway). Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 9Feb 16, 2011 8:09 am I would go with Mozzie on this ... We have not had a great experience building with them. We are still going on with fixups its been 6 months since we have moved in .... build quality is very average ... and as Mozzie said ... there is no quality control. next one will definitely not be them. Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 10Feb 16, 2011 8:13 am thanks Mozzie and 46fan for your comments... I'm thinking of buildign with them and starting to think twice now. As Mozzie put it I think the industry in general needs a shake up. How would you rate them? Rating:(1=Crap; 2=Poor; 3=Standard; 4=Good; 5=Excellent) Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 11Feb 16, 2011 8:37 am Agree with mozzie. we built with them 3 years ago. pre sales = awesome, it was exciting and our dreams were being fulfilled. until... contract/tender and build = worst experience of my life. couldnt have been more painful, a list of mistakes a mile long and horrible customer service administrator who was less than helpful and treated us with snarky comments and attitude at all times. The 24/7 site was never updated correctly. the build quality is poor and we still have things they havent fixed over 2 years since handover. I got so angry at handover i stormed out of their office and the CSA had the nerve to even put that on the 24/7 site. Our 3 monthly inspection didnt take place until 6 months later and the guy that went through our house dismissed all our complaints. we were naive and put too much faith in them to look after us. i could go on, but its too upsetting to talk about. we thought we were alone in this situation until we spoke to neighbours in our street who went through similar problems. I will never build again and I couldn't recommend Australias most Unprofessional builder less. Steer clear. Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 12Feb 16, 2011 11:44 am We had a standard sales/tender/contract experience..... a bit painful but pretty ok. A lot better than the same experience when we were dealing with two other builders. Our build was quite smooth, 6 months for a just under 40sq single storey which we were pretty happy with. We had a few little problems during the build but nothing major and all build issues were addressed as they came up. We also had a good relationship with our site supervisor. But, and it's a big but, we had handover and from then on they just couldn't give a rats. We have been in 14 months and we are still waiting for issues to be rectified. We cannot use one bathroom properly, we can only use part of the kitchen due to the gaps that have opened up where the joins are in the stone and we can only use the top shelves of the pantry. Our kitchen in the words of PD staff that have been out to see it...... "amongst the worse I've seen"..... "you've got to be f***ing kidding" (referring to the 2.5m expanse of stone in the pantry with NO support underneath).... "this is laughable". Yep they recognise that it is unacceptable, they recognise that the splashback and the benchtop needs to be replaced, but 14 months on it still hasn't been. We have render falling off, a large expanse of guttering that needs another downpipe as it overflows and runs back into the alfresco, an overhang issue at the rear of the house that they recognise needs to be addressed, scratched windows, etc, etc, etc. Our house is structurally very good. We have no pressing safety issues, most of our issues are cosmetic but they compromise the way we live and the kitchen is a complete PITA to use. Our most concerning issue is the main water line into the house.... it wasn't buried properly and is completely exposed. They've known about it since handover...... 6 PD houses within 200m of our house have started contruction since our handover.... would it have been so hard for one of the plumbers doing the rough in to come and spend half an hour at our place burying the pipe? Obviously it's all too hard to co-ordinate. There is no dispute with PD about any of our issues, they agree they all have to be fixed..... with the exception of what could be dealt with by the general maintenance man, they simply haven't been. As of handover we had nothing but positive things to say about PD, we would have been glowing in our praise. But 14 months of living like this and that is no longer the case. We didn't expect all our issues to be addressed within a week, but we sure as hell didn't expect it to take this long. But as Mozzie rightly points out, this seems to be the "industry standard". I doubt whether our experience would be any better with another builder. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 13Feb 16, 2011 12:07 pm joles We had a standard sales/tender/contract experience..... a bit painful but pretty ok. A lot better than the same experience when we were dealing with two other builders. Our build was quite smooth, 6 months for a just under 40sq single storey which we were pretty happy with. We had a few little problems during the build but nothing major and all build issues were addressed as they came up. We also had a good relationship with our site supervisor. But, and it's a big but, we had handover and from then on they just couldn't give a rats. We have been in 14 months and we are still waiting for issues to be rectified. We cannot use one bathroom properly, we can only use part of the kitchen due to the gaps that have opened up where the joins are in the stone and we can only use the top shelves of the pantry. Our kitchen in the words of PD staff that have been out to see it...... "amongst the worse I've seen"..... "you've got to be f***ing kidding" (referring to the 2.5m expanse of stone in the pantry with NO support underneath).... "this is laughable". Yep they recognise that it is unacceptable, they recognise that the splashback and the benchtop needs to be replaced, but 14 months on it still hasn't been. We have render falling off, a large expanse of guttering that needs another downpipe as it overflows and runs back into the alfresco, an overhang issue at the rear of the house that they recognise needs to be addressed, scratched windows, etc, etc, etc. Our house is structurally very good. We have no pressing safety issues, most of our issues are cosmetic but they compromise the way we live and the kitchen is a complete PITA to use. Our most concerning issue is the main water line into the house.... it wasn't buried properly and is completely exposed. They've known about it since handover...... 6 PD houses within 200m of our house have started contruction since our handover.... would it have been so hard for one of the plumbers doing the rough in to come and spend half an hour at our place burying the pipe? Obviously it's all too hard to co-ordinate. There is no dispute with PD about any of our issues, they agree they all have to be fixed..... with the exception of what could be dealt with by the general maintenance man, they simply haven't been. As of handover we had nothing but positive things to say about PD, we would have been glowing in our praise. But 14 months of living like this and that is no longer the case. We didn't expect all our issues to be addressed within a week, but we sure as hell didn't expect it to take this long. But as Mozzie rightly points out, this seems to be the "industry standard". I doubt whether our experience would be any better with another builder. Hey Joles, Thanks for sharing your experience.. wow.. Can’t believe the grief that PD is putting you through. If anyone from PD is reading this post “FIX THE HOUSE” as they paid you GOOD MONEY for it. They gave you the privilege over many other business to build their house so please do it properly. PD THIS IS A DISGRACE Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 14Feb 16, 2011 12:37 pm I'll just add, if we had our time again, we would not have accepted handover with any outstanding issues. We would have been really happy with the house and the company if we'd stood our grand. But as most of our issues were cosmetic and we'd had quite a postive experience with the company until then, we mistakenly thought that we'd be treated ok. We love our house, but the blow offs do leave a sour taste. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 15Feb 16, 2011 1:19 pm Let me share my experience with PD We had a soil report with class M before we decided to go with PD. They did new soil test and report out with class H. Slab upgrade of class M to H was $8k. We walked away with PD. Another builder did new soil test and report came as class M. same land two class M and one class H. Next issue was wrong floor plan on site sitting. We wanted to build 35 sq home and site sitting done for same layout in 42 sq. rest of the floor plans were 35 sq. I notice this error and asked the tender presenter. She checked with drafting team and confirmed the error. Then I asked about site cost (which was 16K) saving from 42 to 35. She said cost remain unchanged. I did not sign and walk away. She even told me that if I do not sign the tender quote site start will delay and I will not get another tender appointment because she was fully book for two months. Later I phoned sales consultant and explained the situation. Next day I got a call from CSC to book a new tender appointment within a week. Same tender presenter told us we have a new site cost with 2k discount. what a shame ............... I do not know if this is a drafting error or not…… Moved in 25/6/11 Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 16Feb 18, 2011 5:09 pm Sorry for the ignorance, (and I guess this question goes for all builders) can you negotiate outcomes from the standard contract stage to put a greater requirement on the builder to rectify the issues such as those raised by Joules? So that you don't get caught out like this? Something to the effect that any outstanding works must be completed within 28days? If Jess is reading, we are thinking of building with PD (the greater issue being when will the land title?) and I was surprised at the lack of detail the sales consultant had on appliances used. All I've been told is that the heater is a Brivis and Brivis seem to do about 30 heaters! No information on energy use, controls etc Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 17Feb 21, 2011 8:39 pm lastone, you should ask your CSC for the model number and then go onto the brivis website to get the info. We were able to get lots of details about the heater upgrade and refrigeration unit (if it's relevant we started a thread about BRIVIS refrigerated cooling to ask some questions and got a bit of info from that). Also this website has been very helpful in getting info to then research further. Fortunately, Rob and i have had really good responses from our CSC and also the original sales rep, however, we also spent a lot of time visiting display homes and making it a point to talk to the ppl there. We soon found out who were the helpful ones and who to steer clear of. Sometimes it just pays to ask more detailed questions...nobody will think you ignorant or anything (lord knows i ask some pretty silly questions . Just remember you're paying a lot of money for a big investment and it pays to do lots of research. Good luck with your choices! out of interest, what PDhouse are you thinking of building? Cheers, Mel Building Waldorf 44 with PD Feel free to follow our build progress - http://melnrobsknockdownrebuild.blogspot.com/ Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 18Feb 21, 2011 9:48 pm lastone Sorry for the ignorance, (and I guess this question goes for all builders) can you negotiate outcomes from the standard contract stage to put a greater requirement on the builder to rectify the issues such as those raised by Joules? So that you don't get caught out like this? Something to the effect that any outstanding works must be completed within 28days? If Jess is reading, we are thinking of building with PD (the greater issue being when will the land title?) and I was surprised at the lack of detail the sales consultant had on appliances used. All I've been told is that the heater is a Brivis and Brivis seem to do about 30 heaters! No information on energy use, controls etc Hey Lastone, I experienced the same thing when asking about the heater/air conditioner. No one knew anything... But like Mel mention keep on asking and digging and you will find the answer. There are lots of details in a house and it's hard for the sales reps to remember every detail about every house. Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 19Feb 21, 2011 9:59 pm Mel - looking at Heywood with some rooms swapped around. Not sure what we will do now as we're a bit nervous with delays in the land going to title (which means I can put my head back in the sand!!) Re: PORTER DAVIS. Share your experience Good or Bad! 20Feb 22, 2011 12:14 pm lastone Mel - looking at Heywood with some rooms swapped around. Not sure what we will do now as we're a bit nervous with delays in the land going to title (which means I can put my head back in the sand!!) Builders are increasing base prices every 2-3 months. If you are planning to build a house select the builder and lock-in the prices. We paid the deposit on Sep and one week later price increased 2K. January another 9k goes up. Moved in 25/6/11 Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 12320 traditional gable roof facade - Have you did the dark and light gray color combination in facade with gray stone in facade… 0 4203 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 16127 |