Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 19, 2011 12:22 pm I'll be listing the things I find the most annoying about the building process 'in order' from Design to Completion. I'll be adding them over the next few days so Leave some of yours here, you might have something to add that I've left out. Remember we won't mention any names ( secret squirrel) 1. Designers that don't design your plans within your budget, then having to pay for them to be re-drawn. Why is it so hard to to design a house the first time round on budget or slightly under??? Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 2Mar 21, 2011 1:00 pm Builders, contract admin officers and site supervisors that don't reply to emails or keep in contact...COMMUNICATION is the biggest thing. When a problem arises, its better to follow it up sooner rather than leave your client waiting, as it just makes them more and more frustrated (I write this as one VERY frustrated client ) The road to success is always under construction House completed April 2011 - slowly making it a home... Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 3Mar 21, 2011 1:05 pm Zarli Builders, contract admin officers and site supervisors that don't reply to emails or keep in contact...COMMUNICATION is the biggest thing. When a problem arises, its better to follow it up sooner rather than leave your client waiting, as it just makes them more and more frustrated (I write this as one VERY frustrated client ) I completely agree. Communication is extremely important, but seems lacking during the building process. contract signed: Nov 09 Released to Construction: 23 Jul 10 Slab poured: 9 Aug 10 Frame completed: 30 Aug 10 Windows & Gutters: 7 Sep 10 Bricks: 15 - 23 Sep 10 Roof: 24 Sep 10 Gyprock: 20 Oct 10 Lockup: 25 Oct 10 Kitchen: 27 Oct 10 Tiling: 6 - 9 Nov 10 Painting: 17 Nov 10 Carpet: 30 Nov 10 PCI: 15 Dec 10 Handover: 17 Dec 10 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=35943 Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 4Mar 21, 2011 2:18 pm Yep, communication! It's the thing that makes the biggest difference, but it's so often lacking. Metricon Riva 33 - http://herlihy-riva.blogspot.com Site start 15/03/2010 - Handover 23/12/2010 9 months and 8 days (284 calendar days) from site start to handover Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 6Mar 21, 2011 5:08 pm Zarli Builders, contract admin officers and site supervisors that don't reply to emails or keep in contact...COMMUNICATION is the biggest thing. When a problem arises, its better to follow it up sooner rather than leave your client waiting, as it just makes them more and more frustrated (I write this as one VERY frustrated client ) Yep, I think this is what the building industry is lacking ... I would rather be given a timeline of "It should be complete in four weeks, but if not I will let you know why and how much longer it will be" than not be told anything! I have no idea where my build is at other than visiting on the weekends.. but I don't know what needs to be done! Looks finished to me! I have never had a site inspection (I'm about 3 weeks away from moving in!!!) because my SS clearly said he only works "8.30am -2:30pm for inspections" I work 9-5, but I could make an 8am inspection, NO FLEXIBILITY at all.. Mrs P Colour selection was the most frustrating. Everything else has been fantastic I think colours was a bit daunting for me, but I did a lot of research and roughly knew what I wanted, in hindsight my colours are way too pale for what I was intending; I wanted good contrast like darker doors and tiles, but they all look a bit pastel-y. Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 7Mar 21, 2011 5:13 pm Victoria_g06 Zarli Builders, contract admin officers and site supervisors that don't reply to emails or keep in contact...COMMUNICATION is the biggest thing. When a problem arises, its better to follow it up sooner rather than leave your client waiting, as it just makes them more and more frustrated (I write this as one VERY frustrated client ) Yep, I think this is what the building industry is lacking ... I would rather be given a timeline of "It should be complete in four weeks, but if not I will let you know why and how much longer it will be" than not be told anything! I have no idea where my build is at other than visiting on the weekends.. but I don't know what needs to be done! Looks finished to me! I have never had a site inspection (I'm about 3 weeks away from moving in!!!) because my SS clearly said he only works "8.30am -2:30pm for inspections" I work 9-5, but I could make an 8am inspection, NO FLEXIBILITY at all.. Mrs P Colour selection was the most frustrating. Everything else has been fantastic I think colours was a bit daunting for me, but I did a lot of research and roughly knew what I wanted, in hindsight my colours are way too pale for what I was intending; I wanted good contrast like darker doors and tiles, but they all look a bit pastel-y. Totally agree with both your points - Our contract admin does not allow us to contact SS or have anything to do with him. Unless we visit site or get updates from people near our new home, we wouldn't know where we are at. We have had first PCI a couple of weeks ago, to which we found out we haven't had a SS for a couple of months as he quit and they haven't allocated anyone to his position And my colours are all A LOT lighter than what I thought, didn't realise the little swing tag looks a lot darker than the real thing...not really a building complaint, just lack of knowledge on my behalf. Instead of dark brown and dark greys I've got light wishy washy type colours The road to success is always under construction House completed April 2011 - slowly making it a home... Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 8Mar 21, 2011 5:27 pm I am meeting with an interior decorator tomorrow about paint colours so hopefully she will no better than me. I feel very lucky to have picked our builder. I've made 30k+ in variations at no charge, I use their suppliers for quotes so get their price and they haven't put a mark up on anything. My ss emails me every Friday and is happy for me to call him whenever I want and go on site whenever I want. The admin ladies are wonderful. I'm waiting for things to go bad! Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 9Mar 21, 2011 5:29 pm not being able to do it all yourself in 5 minutes. Nonna's Nest House set for completion November 2013 Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 10Mar 21, 2011 5:50 pm Mrs P I feel very lucky to have picked our builder. I've made 30k+ in variations at no charge, I use their suppliers for quotes so get their price and they haven't put a mark up on anything. My ss emails me every Friday and is happy for me to call him whenever I want and go on site whenever I want. The admin ladies are wonderful. I'm waiting for things to go bad! My goodness Mrs P... who are you building with! Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 11Mar 21, 2011 5:53 pm mapcalla Mrs P I feel very lucky to have picked our builder. I've made 30k+ in variations at no charge, I use their suppliers for quotes so get their price and they haven't put a mark up on anything. My ss emails me every Friday and is happy for me to call him whenever I want and go on site whenever I want. The admin ladies are wonderful. I'm waiting for things to go bad! My goodness Mrs P... who are you building with! A small private builder here in Brisbane, we almost went with one of the major ones I am glad we didn't now Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 12Mar 21, 2011 6:14 pm Mrs P mapcalla Mrs P I feel very lucky to have picked our builder. I've made 30k+ in variations at no charge, I use their suppliers for quotes so get their price and they haven't put a mark up on anything. My ss emails me every Friday and is happy for me to call him whenever I want and go on site whenever I want. The admin ladies are wonderful. I'm waiting for things to go bad! My goodness Mrs P... who are you building with! A small private builder here in Brisbane, we almost went with one of the major ones I am glad we didn't now We are thinking about doing that as well here in Perth..... sometimes it is worth it as with some of the major ones you are just a number! Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 13Mar 21, 2011 6:19 pm Like some of the guys mentioned above, most definitely COMMUNICATION... or lack thereof... Admin not passing messages onto the site supervisor. Discussing issues with the site supervisor, then putting it in writing to the admin afterwards to make sure it was followed up... and they STILL didn't follow up. Terrible communication on the builder's behalf, that was more frustrating to us compared to any little building defects that we found along the way (that were eventually corrected... after a LOT of following up and reminders). Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 14Mar 21, 2011 8:53 pm Mrs P mapcalla Mrs P I feel very lucky to have picked our builder. I've made 30k+ in variations at no charge, I use their suppliers for quotes so get their price and they haven't put a mark up on anything. My ss emails me every Friday and is happy for me to call him whenever I want and go on site whenever I want. The admin ladies are wonderful. I'm waiting for things to go bad! My goodness Mrs P... who are you building with! A small private builder here in Brisbane, we almost went with one of the major ones I am glad we didn't now Ditto - We used a small private builder and we are so glad we did thats the only way I would build again. After hand over service has been wonderful as well I just send a txt or email and they get straight back to me not that there has been anything major. I think there is a lot of pride and ownership in their work. The most frustrating think is not having an open cheque book.... Cheers Lou http://take2-customdesigndownslope.blogspot.com 07-10-09 omg they have cut the block 14-05-10 we finally have the keys Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 15Mar 21, 2011 10:11 pm Our biggest gripe was being sold a house & land package where the house marginally exceeded the allowable site coverage. Fortunately we were able to get council consent to go ahead with the build as is. Building the Ascent 3000 with Burbank http://www.burbank.com.au/HouseDetails.aspx?houseId=82 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39638 Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 16Mar 22, 2011 6:28 am take2 Ditto - We used a small private builder and we are so glad we did thats the only way I would build again. After hand over service has been wonderful as well I just send a txt or email and they get straight back to me not that there has been anything major. I think there is a lot of pride and ownership in their work. The most frustrating think is not having an open cheque book.... Cheers Lou ditto as well. So fast, texts returned instantly, go on site whenever, buy things through his a/c ~all up a wonderful build! Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 17Mar 22, 2011 6:46 am yes we used a small builder in Williamstown, and had virtually no probs, finished 2wks early - great! but most frustrating was simply couldn't get in soon enough!!! A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 18Mar 22, 2011 6:51 pm I totally agree with the communication, That's funny I just did a blog post called married to the builder! I'm not sure if I can put a URL in my posts but it's totally relevant to the conversation :http://sarahidmentor.blogspot.com/2011/03/married-to-builder.html I did the picture in Photoshop, I was quite proud of myself. Hope I don't get busted for posting that Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 19Mar 22, 2011 7:04 pm Number 2 on my list: waiting for council to approve plans. And waiting........waiting......... Sarah Re: The most frustrating and annoying things about building? 20Mar 22, 2011 7:07 pm the huge markup on everything you want to add/change... Thank you. That is really helpful. Once we get the place done and passed for OC we can upgrade in the future once we get back on our feet and not paying mortgage and rent. 4 5727 The worst thing you can do is sign a building contract without a pre contract review. Over the years many people have come to me with disputes where they just signed… 0 8339 Depends what you're current inclusions are, but we're not including wardrobes and will just use second hand ones until we can save later on to get them built. Also have a… 3 11633 |