Hartley 341 - Dennis Family Homes (College Views, Bundoora)

hi sturmmann
wow i like the progress, and i agree the red splashback looks great
we too are building with DFH, i know alot of people that have built with them and no dramas/delays other than weather, having said that there is always good and bad for everything and i am glad all seems to be on track for you guys now

PM sent, ask as many questions you like and ill try my best to help out.

We visit the block every few days, and will continue to do so. What inspector did you use and were you happy with them? I would like someone out as the frame stage is a few days away from being completed.

I agree with the customer service, admin was poor, very poor. They dragged out our contract for months, we were going back and forth on who is to obtain the stamped plans... It was a joke.

What issue did you have with them, just so I know what to look out for.

thanks shellbelle I can not wait to move my little boy into his new room.

Hi,

We didn';t use an inspector - really wish we had!

Most of our problems were around the finished quality of the house:

Plaster defects (particualrly ceilings)
Internal paintwork poor
Damaged front door (picked up when door was delivered but took about 8 months to resolve)

They also failed to install the Termite Mesh, this resulted in two walls being pulled down and rebuilt.

In the end, I escalated to their CEO, where most of the outstanding issues were dealt with. The attitude of the SS, Construction managers and Area manager left a lot to be desired with whilst trying to resolve the outstanding issues!

Hi Sturmmann,
we are at paint stage at the moment, and so far (touch wood) we have been really happy with our build. We had to wait quite a while for our block to settle, and like you have been living with the in laws, we aslo have a 2 1/2 year old boy so we can't wait for him to have his own room
we have had a few delays with the build and it can get really frustrating when the house sits empty waiting for tradies to show, but all in all has been ok.
we have been happy with the quality (so far).. i guess in the end we get what we pay for? and there is also ex[pectation management associated with that. We will though get an independant final inspection.

look forward to more picks.

G

So in the last 2-3 weeks the frame has been completed and in the last three days the house has been wrapped and the roof tiles & bricks have arrived. Some of the roof tiles have started to go up.. And the 10.38mm glass has gone in..

Brown Terrain Bricks



Roof tiles, I forget the name its a dark grey..ish colour!



Frame up..











Front door to the rear stackers..



And the rest.

Hi Sturmmann, I wanted to see if you had any progress with your build, we are building a hartley and have just got contracts so hopefully starting soon!

So sorry, I only just jumped back ono the forum after 12 months.. I guess you would have commenced your build already.

In regards to the build itself, we had only a few minor hiccups, the stacker doors were put in the wrong orientation, we wanted them sliding from right to left and they had it in the opposite way, quick and painless fix. there was a pipe in the wrong location & again a quick fix. And at the end the painting had to be touched up.

My advice is to check up on the house every day, be vigilant and look at everything with a critically.

I'll post some photos soon.

Thanks, we are now in! We had a few issues but they are happy to resolve, still not happy with a few things so will bring up at 6 month visit.