Hi all,
Is anyone out there having the same problems we're experiencing with Places Homes?
We're building the Drysdale 30. We visited the display home in Feb'10 and we signed our building contract in April'10. We had 8 variations to our building contract because they couldn't get it right (We didn't make any structural changes, we added the Alfresco and we upgraded the windows to double glaze etc). By this time, I knew I'd have to manage this project myself and I'm glad I did.
Construction started in Aug'10. In sept'10 the brickwork was half done and that's then the big problem started. From my untrained eye, the brickwork didn't look right. I raised the concern with my site manager, but nothing was done. In Oct'10 I visited my site again, and told the site manager the brickwork didn't look right. They told me to wait for everything to be finished and to give them time to fix everything. I did just that.
So I waited patiently.
We had our PCI inspection last Thursday. Prior to our PCI, we engaged our own independent building inspector to inspect our new home. We did this to put our minds at ease about the Brickwork. Surprise, surprise.. Most of the brickwork came back defective.. Most of it was 60% to 100% above the allowed tolerance. In addition to the brickwork, 35 other defects were identified. Including a bow in the wall between our study and living area. Mind you, our site manager couldn't see the bow and I had to show him (!!??!!). He eventually agreed it needed to be fixed.
In addition to the defects my inspector detected. I found about 20 other problems.. Including: The installed evap cooler was the wrong colour, brickwork over the garage door was missing, cables/data points/power points installed in incorrect locations, bubbling in the architraves (in 5 separate areas), double glazed windows scratched, missing feature walls, down lights popping out of the roof, toilet seat installed on an angle (??!!??), gaps around the external window frames and the list goes on and on...
Are we the only ones experiencing these problems?
If you are building with Places Homes, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU HIRE YOUR OWN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR. Our building inspector was amazingly detailed and worth every penny!
During my PCI, my site manager denied the brickwork was defective. I’m sending them some additional proof in the next couple of days, which will hopefully convince them. If they don’t accept responsibility soon, then we’ll be getting legal advice.
Another disappointing aspect is the massive quality difference between the display home and our home that was built. Look at the differences here. The pictures show the shelving in our W.I.R. The first is the display home and the second is our house. My site manager says it’s an upgrade from the display home….. Ummm yeah, sure! Another lie.
Picture of Display Home
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Picture of our home
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