Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 21Mar 30, 2011 1:37 pm Hi wildorchid, just out of interest I noticed that you spent $12k at APBC and we only spent $1.5k with $370 of that for the front pull handle. Just goes to show what is included in the "as displayed" price that I was talking about. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 22Mar 30, 2011 3:58 pm I was also wondering what you upgraded to at APBC. I think we were like Annette and only had about $2,000 extra. Most of that was on a bigger and deeper bath for the ensuite. Our price was quoted on the "as displayed" for the Wild Orchid (plus some extra meterage as our house was quite abit bigger). Did you get gold door handles? ------------------------------------------------------ Handover: 14 December 2010 Current: Putting in plants! My View thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38242&hilit=dechellis+magill Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 23Mar 31, 2011 6:33 pm I notice you were at Sampina today : another thing to watch out for. Make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing. We didn't get the fact that we didn't want door handles on our overheads documented, even though it was John's suggestion in the first place. We lost out on that Look out for things like joins in benchtops, handles, rangehood height, etc. Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 24Mar 31, 2011 6:36 pm Oh, and I just read your note about silk effects. We went with it and love it. Have a look at my photos on my thread. I'm not sure how to put a link in, but our thread is called The Entertainer - by Dechellis. Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 25Apr 01, 2011 6:39 pm Hi Wild Orchid - great to see another Dechellis build on this thread. I love your design and all your selections - looks like you have great taste Where are you building? You will be very happy with the quality of build with Dechellis. Look forward to watching your build Building the Sorrento (modified) with Dechellis Status: Paving in progress Site works commenced: 22/2/10 Pre Handover: 14/9/10 Handover: 23/9/10 My thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31665 Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 26Apr 01, 2011 7:59 pm we are building at golden grove. because we changed the plan ALOT, our quote was on grande specs only (no as displayed upgrades) because we needed to make sure we didnt overspend on the base price (floor plan price). so we just concentrated on getting the plan right first and said lets leave everything else to selections. so we pretty much upgraded everything from apbc (the big prices included, 900mm appliances, sink, inf8 front door, semi frameless shower screens, spout bath tap <3, and then basins, mixers, handles all adds up) we had a crappy **** day yesterday!!!! oh, i was getting so frustrated!! so starts with A&L windows, i thought dechellis had a reputation of being above other builders, higher starting price, but includes more. well we found out they dont include sliding door bolts and the sliding windows have a seperate opener lever to key lock, therefore cannot lock it a little open like the ones where the lock is at the bottom of the window ON the opening lever thing. it wasnt much to upgrade, but highly annoying as these are standards with other builders (like our last 'budget' rossdale house) dechellis should include these as standard!!! then sampina......oooohhhhh, not a good experience. we dealt with a lady (not john, as ive heard most people have) she was a bimbo....knew nothing, soooo unhelpful. so first she kept emphasising how 2 pac is one price, you can pick any colour....then toward the end of the meeting "oh metallic is more", we clearly asked he at the start, is there different colour categories. then we find out the colours we picked at laminex are not in the standard laminex range. laminate is laminate.....why does it matter what colour!!! she says it depends on what they buy bulk, now one of the colours they use in displays was not in their range....now if they use it, why isnt it bulk!!!!!! i am extreamly dissapointed that dechellis colour range is VERY SMALL, there were like 20 colours! when i asked about pumice (which is included in silk) she said no, not in their range, so you can get it in silk but not normal matte laminate....no sense at all! the bimbo double checked with someone else and they said, its included as a bench colour, not a cupboard colour! aaaggggghhhhhh!!!!what does it matter!!! makes no sense at all! we also didnt realise that there was price categories for different colours of stone. we were also very dissapointed to find out silk is included for kitchen only....not vanities!!! god dechellis.....your ripping me off on everything!!! we are also having joinery door for our pantry and laundry, this is included in our contract, and i think the allowance was estimated at $2200. first the bimbo said, its too big a door for joinery, it will be like 2 cupboard doors!! oh i was fuming. dechellis put out tenders and got quotes, so if it were a problem we should have been told at quote stage. i asked dechellis selection lady earlier on in the week how much 2 pac was so we can decide on either a colour for that or laminate, instead of wasting time deciding on both so we have a back up and she said sampina can tell you. so when we asked bimbo lady, she said, you need to ask dechellis...aaagghhh, this is not the first time i have been sent back and forth. so frustrating when you are trying to make a selection decision. so at one point john came out and i asked him about the joinery doors, he said it would work (haha bimbo girl felt stupid), 2pac would be better because he can make the door thicker, or in normal laminate because its one thickness, it would need a latch, and still then it would bow over time. i would like to know what the 2200 allowance was for, no way it can be that much for a door in lieu of 2 overheads and 2 underbench cupboard, its not that much more cupboard surface area! then he went away and did approx cost for 2pac and came back at $380 each vanity and i think about $4700 for kitchen. i almost fell off my chair, because i asked our salesman a few weeks ago when we signed the contract and he said about $1800!!!!! sooooo, we still havent picked any colours yet!! oh what a day......very dissapointed dechellis, nothing worse than being mislead or told completely wrong information! sorry for the rant.....thanks for reading oh, today went to caspa electrical, hahahaha what a joke $120 per downlight!! leave the wires in the ceiling thankyou, and hubby will buy for $17 and do himself! Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 27Apr 01, 2011 8:27 pm Wow, you've had quite a day Did Laminex ask you who you were building with ? They have folders with every builder's standard range so you shouldn't have had any surprises. Disappointing if they didn't mention it as it would have saved you much heartache. Very sorry to hear about your experience at Sampina, I would have attached myself to John's leg and demanded he stay as clearly the other girl had no idea. We also chose a non standard colour for our kitchen island, we could still have it, we just had to pay for it, so I'm not sure why they won't let you use the Silk Pumice. It can't possibly cost you more than the 2pac quote in fact it should be less as there's less labour involved. Sorrento and others will know better about the 2pac prices. Might be worth an email to John direct setting out what you had hoped to select and asking for a proper price as it sounds like things were getting pretty confusing by the end. Hope things get better from here, the end result will be worth it. Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 28Apr 01, 2011 8:51 pm Yikes, not good at all! What happens now? can you book another appointment & request John specifically? how frustrating... Building our custom design "Dream Home" Follow my Build - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46820 Contract Signed - 28/04/11 Siteworks Commenced - 20/06/11 Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 29Apr 01, 2011 9:50 pm Oh how annoying. We found Sampina a little difficult to work with ... they didn't document everything we discussed and agreed on and then went strictly from their (faulty) documentation. They also charged what we felt were quite expensive prices for any upgrades (ie silk effects, shadow lines, microwave provision, pot drawers). However we didn't find them as difficult as you are If it's any consolation, they do make a beautiful kitchen! Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 30Apr 01, 2011 10:14 pm how much is the shadowline? does anyone know how much soft close on the cutlery drawers are? Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 31Apr 01, 2011 10:20 pm We paid $235 for the shadowline in the kitchen and $105 for the powder room and ensuite. Silk effects was $1,240 for the kitchen and $260 for the powder and ensuite. Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 32Apr 04, 2011 10:04 am Hi wild orchid, we had the same problems with Laminex and Sampina as we dealt with air heads at both. We've never built before and were a bit green and needed guidance - you have to go through the process and then you learn! At Laminex she showed us all the wonderful things we could have but then when we spoke to John he said "oh that will be another $3k" so we just stuck with what was in the display home because we love it anyway. I agree that the colour choices are very confusing - to know what is included and what isn't! Perhaps you should arrange another appointment with John otherwise you will just go back and forth. I was very uncomfortable about our kitchen design until I called John and he said he would send me the 3d drawings when the time comes. Agree with windows too, although they were very organised - we had to pay an extra $15 to have the window locks placed at the bottom of the window instead of the middle which is no big deal but that should be standard as it looks very ordianry in the middle! Having said that our build is going really well and everything looks like it has been done to a very high standard so far. At least you can have a rant here and get advice from others who have been through the experience. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 33Apr 04, 2011 10:13 am Oh Wild Orchid, I am sooooo sorry that you had such a bad experience. Our experience with John was okay - I think we were lucky not to get the bimbo! They never mentioned anything about the soft close draws for the cutlery bank until just before the kitchen went in. I had just assumed that the price for the sft close draws included them but no, they didnt! I recall it wasnt a huge amount - maybe a few $100? I dont think that we had too much upgrade with Sampina - only overhead cupboards for the laundry. But we were fairly standard - no 2 pac. Although some of our laminate was outside of the selections allocated. Evelyn is correct in that Laminex should have had a booklet dedicated to Dechellis with all the ones that you can pick from the standard selections? We had a few bad experiences with selections and it really does leave a bitter taste in your mouth. However, once you get through this stage, your build will start and you will feel much happier. My husband found the whole selection process very stressful. Lets hope you get Emma and not Nancy at your final selection meeting with Dechellis!!! I think most of us who had Nancy found her custoemr service skills severly lacking! Anyway, take a deep breath, go and get a glass of wine and think about how beautiful your house will look once it is finished. Although it seems very stressful now, you will get a GORGEOUS kitchen and a GORGEOUS house! ------------------------------------------------------ Handover: 14 December 2010 Current: Putting in plants! My View thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38242&hilit=dechellis+magill Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 34Apr 04, 2011 2:27 pm mclaren, what colours are going to be in your kitchen? robbie, i have been dealing with emma a little already, so i assumed i had been allocated to her...i hope, i dont think i could deal with another 'nancy' lol Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 35Apr 04, 2011 2:39 pm Fingers crossed for Emma - we had her and she was great, very thorough and changes made to the plan straight away for you to check or make more changes before final sign off. The picture of what our kitchen will look like is on page 2 of my thread - we changed to 900mm cooktop and rangehood and added pot drawers, microwave provison to the b/bar. It's nothing fancy - just Wenge Straight laminate and glass splashback. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 36Apr 05, 2011 3:32 pm Hi There Wild Orchid and other built with Dechellis members. I have joined the forum as we are currently in the process of selling our home and have also fallen in love with The Wild Orchid. Have found the thread so useful already. Wild Orchid, I began to get a headache for you when I read your experience with the "Bimbo". I remember colour choices all too well ( we built four yrs ago with AV Jennings ) My husband loves the Display home kitchen and wants to re-create it. Shame he doesn't actually use the kitchen as much as he used too!! We also have the windows you refer too with the lock on the actual opener. AV Jen didn't even show us the set up we just assumed when paying for window locks we were purchasing the ones that are fixed to the bottom and allow you to lock partially open. Later we found out they refered to that as a two stage lock and would of cost more ( of course ). At least the "Never Assume" has stuck with me from our last build. Looking forward to reading more and hopefully will soon be building also Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 37Apr 05, 2011 3:40 pm Good advice - never assume. In other words assume nothing. Welcome to the Dechellis club nomorebellybumps (that's abit of a mouthful!). Have you see the thread "things you forget"? That's a really good thread with all the tips/reminders compiled into one list. Look forward to following another Dechellis build! Good luck with it For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 38Apr 06, 2011 11:01 am welcome nomorebellybumps where are you building? have you decided that you are going with dechellis yet? i fell in love with the wild orchid kitchen too, but now ive have toooooo loooooong to look at my photo of it and your mind runs off in different directions. im worried it looks like there are too many cupboards. but im going to stick with my original feeling, i just have to forget about overthinking it! im sure ill be very happy when i can unpack and spread out all my plates, pots, platters, etc and not stack everything so i cant get to it! Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 39Apr 06, 2011 12:09 pm wildorchid - I just wanted to say that the best feeling is when you've had your selections appointment with Emma and signed off on everything as there's no point in second guessing or worrying about colours etc. - it's all been done. I always say if you loved it when you first saw it you will always love it! For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building a modified wild orchid with dechellis - SA 40Apr 06, 2011 5:04 pm Hi Thanks for the Welcome Have gotten a 1/4 of the way through "Things you Forget" thanks for directing me that thread McLaren, should keep me busy for a while. Wild Orchid we have a block on the southern end of How Rd, Aldinga. To start the ball rolling we need to sell our current home which we are in the process of doing. Although all we are hearing at the moment is "Oh the Market is really quiet" I think it's more the case of Banks are tightening their belts and being more stringent with their lending. Yes we definately want to build the 'Wild Orchid". We previously built with AV Jennings as I mentioned and went straight back to them this time. We were looking at building a house called The Discovery 275 that has now been rehashed as The Meridian. The quote came back to us and we still knew we wanted to add/change a few things like a Walk in pantry and Study area. Walking into the Wild Orchid it had everything exactly as we wanted and the quality of build was much, much better. Yes stick to your original vibe about the kitchen. I have already thought about putting in some large pot draws as I have them now but you hit the nail on the head when you said you can spread everything out so it's easy to get to. Plus will keep the costing down ( yeah right ) Also I'm starting to realise by reading the posts that choices aren't the one stop shop scenario. A few of you have mentioned Apbc, Sampina and Laminex. Are all of the selections done at the related company showrooms? Think I had better start snapping some Photo's of the Display home. So I'm just reading up on this ecosystem of lights. I'm planning on putting deck lights along the outside edge of a large deck. Will need about 3 packs (18 lights) plus… 0 23021 |