Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Porter Davis homes 361Oct 21, 2010 9:37 pm Our update is that PD and myself have agreed to go halves in the cost of replacement vanity. We are loosing out on a few $$$ but it is as per contract so Im just happy that the work is being done and we are getting the house we wanted. It seems that the specs of the display home and what they are building us has changed in a couple of areas - but we are getting it ammended. Someone sitting in an office somewhere decided they could save $50 on materials by changing the spec and giving us less of a product. We do feel let down by that and its costing us alot more than if the orgional spec was kept and priced accordingly. But we didnt pick it up on the contract and signed off on it. So it comes down to our responsibility but at least they have been accomodiating to the change and we are getting the house we want and feel relieved I have to agree with the other posts above. I think the tradies and SS working on my house have done an outstanding job and very impressed with the attention and quality of workmanship. I feel that our SS has genuine pride in his work and that is reflected in the product. However..... we also found the selection process a nightmare Reinsey, you hit the nail on the head with your comment about checking bricks and the leg work that you put into gathering all your ideas and research. So much time and energy is invested it makes it a very emotional process I do not believe for one moment that margins are so thin that PD can not give prices. I found more useful information in gathering prices from other peoples blogs than I did from PD. For many of the upgrade items the prices were exactly the same as written in the blog 12 mths prior. I got reasonably accurate information from another customer than from PD itself. Maybe we should all start posting our upgrades to help out others While the excuse is that this is the way all builders do it may be true, it doesnt mean this is the way your (PD) customers want to be delt with. We are not customers of other builders, we are your customers and this is an insight into our point of view. Other businesses I have worked for pay massive amounts of money to get this sort of feedback as at the end of the day its your customers that allow you to exist I know I left money on the table and didnt spend my entire budget as I was uncertain about the costs of certian upgrades. I even emailed my customer service rep to ask if I could have extra things added but was declined. Re: Porter Davis homes 362Oct 21, 2010 10:31 pm Hi Guys, Ive come back from my contract signing with a $2200 cost for off white mortar. Can anyone clarify why off white mortar costs so much. I know off white mortar uses white sand as opposed to yellow sand, but these sands cost the same is the cement mix different/more expensive?? I might just request that they use white sand with normal cement mix. Has anyone done this previously with PD? appreciate any feedback, as the CSC and girls at hopetoun couldnt give me an answer as to what constitutes this cost and whether i could just use white builders sand and standard mortar cement. Thanks Kel Re: Porter Davis homes 363Oct 21, 2010 11:15 pm Here in the west we get prices,we haven't even signed with a builder yet,are looking at 2 similar houses & the builders are suppling all change/up-grade costs up front . And $2,000 for white mortar Sorry,had to put the LOL in,its a joke, er right Block bought 1st RBC X! 2nd Ventrua,Keeper! Pstart 18/7/11 Ethwks jan 2012 Slab Bricks- finished 7/6 Roof Trusses 15/6-cbond 21/7 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=41185 Re: Porter Davis homes 364Oct 22, 2010 6:17 am Karlewoop Hi Guys, Ive come back from my contract signing with a $2200 cost for off white mortar. Can anyone clarify why off white mortar costs so much. I know off white mortar uses white sand as opposed to yellow sand, but these sands cost the same is the cement mix different/more expensive?? I might just request that they use white sand with normal cement mix. Has anyone done this previously with PD? appreciate any feedback, as the CSC and girls at hopetoun couldnt give me an answer as to what constitutes this cost and whether i could just use white builders sand and standard mortar cement. Thanks Kel Hi Kel, we were charged $529 for off white mortar (white cement and off white sand) __________________________________________ Built Camberwell 29 with PD - Hand Over was on 22/12/10 http://ssazcamberwell29.blogspot.com/ Re: Porter Davis homes 365Oct 22, 2010 6:19 am Karlewoop Hi Guys, Ive come back from my contract signing with a $2200 cost for off white mortar. Can anyone clarify why off white mortar costs so much. I know off white mortar uses white sand as opposed to yellow sand, but these sands cost the same is the cement mix different/more expensive?? I might just request that they use white sand with normal cement mix. Has anyone done this previously with PD? appreciate any feedback, as the CSC and girls at hopetoun couldnt give me an answer as to what constitutes this cost and whether i could just use white builders sand and standard mortar cement. Thanks Kel That has to be for a double story right? My cost was $440 for a 22sq house for off white mortar. Re: Porter Davis homes 366Oct 22, 2010 8:53 am You guys are right it is for a 45 sq double story. I just dont understand why it is so much. If you guys are getting charged 400-600 for single story homes then i would expect something around $1,000 not $2,000.. looks like i will have to take it up with the CSC.... Re: Porter Davis homes 367Oct 22, 2010 3:39 pm Hi, I got charged $400 approx for 22sq home for off white motar. And for my 2 cents when it comes to colour selection, Do heaps of research find the exact colours that you want. Visit hopetoun before your selection and choose what you like and find the price on this forum. No offence but the girls that work there are completely redundant, and they like to push their choice onto to you like oooh I really like kid leather or flokati for the paint yeah well I dont! And stick to your guns - when I chose Royal Base for my stone benchtops the girl actually said really? I prefer this colour ( cant remember which colour because i dismissed her response so quickly) The only thing I did let the tile consultant choose was the grout and BOY AM I SORRY She said number 63 BUFF would go the best. Well unfortunately they dont give you a grout sample and MAN is it an ugly colour I think 1970 called and they want their grout back its a hideous apricot pink colour! GROSS Now I have just had my tiles laid and it looks rotten. i spent over 6k on tiling upgrades including floor to ceiling in bathroom and ensuite and i will be stuck with horrible grout! SO NUMBER ONE LESSON FOR COLOUR/TILE SELECTIONS- DO everything yourself, dont be pushed into anything and stand your ground, because lets face it we have to live with the final product, some stuck up 20 something ditz doesnt. Oh and dont choose buff for your grout its yuk Re: Porter Davis homes 368Oct 22, 2010 6:31 pm Oooohhhh boy am I never ever gonna end up on the wrong side of Erin. You tell em. You have to be sooo careful with grout colour. We have white tiles in our shower and the grout is a yellowish colour that makes the tiles look as though they have never been cleaned. Totally agree about Hopetoun, I want what I want not what you want. Er....I think. Re: Porter Davis homes 369Oct 22, 2010 10:22 pm Ok I had all 3 appointments yesterday. Hopetoun colour appointment at 9am, and it only went for 2 hours, as I was very, very organized! Electrical appointment from 12.30 until 1.45p, also pre did the work & reaearch with hubby before appointment & tile appointment went from 2 until 5! I had everything selected by 3.30p but waiting on quote for a while! As the computer systems kept crashing. Butvwhat a long day I got hm & pretty much was in bed before 9. Draining & I was well organized with everything pre- selected. Today I changed my mind on one thing due to the rough estimated cost in upgrade, but decided to go ahead & get glossy vinyl kitchen for 5k extra instead of plain laminate. So it's good u have 48hrs to change your mind after your app! Check out my blog to see some pics of my selections. Surprisingly my tile uogrades were not that expensive and I did mosaic splash backs & in my niches. just under 1.7k. And I pretty much got alot if STD things, majority of my upgrades were in my tender contract. But overall for my house after yesterday & tender, I reckon I have spent 30k over budget! So a 110k extra overall on base house price BUT my site costs were 30k over my original budget due to sloping block! So roughly 80k add on STD house price but I have gotten everything we wanted. I woukd advise anyone to have a big elec allowance! We had 6.5k budgeted & i spent 8.5k easily (that's without the alarm or ducted vac) just on downlights, extra power points, floodlights, tv points, etc. But overall this forum has helped & I have got so many peoples houses blogs bookmarked. I woukd have rougly done research every weekend since july! And this weekend is going to be odd not researching anymore! Lol Now i am waiting for it all to begin! To see my creation come together! Mel Re: Porter Davis homes 370Oct 22, 2010 10:48 pm Karlewoop You guys are right it is for a 45 sq double story. I just dont understand why it is so much. If you guys are getting charged 400-600 for single story homes then i would expect something around $1,000 not $2,000.. looks like i will have to take it up with the CSC.... Ours was $600-odd for a 35 square single storey, but that was three years ago.... still, seems like a steep increase. The selection process is onerous, but you make it easier for yourself if you visit Hopetoun early on to understand exactly how many things you have to choose and what your options are , then take some time to collect samples of bricks and paint chips etc and start making those major decisions. We chose very little on the day of our appointment, because we'd already made up our minds beforehand. I just showed up with my list and a folder full of samples and it went pretty smoothly. It would have been nice to have a rough idea of prices on the day, but since we'd already added $50,000 worth of upgrades at the sales appointment, and the site costs came in at another $12,000, the extra $13,000 or so for paint upgrades, tiles, taps, handles etc hardly seems important. Re: Porter Davis homes 371Oct 22, 2010 11:30 pm Mel_mox, I am impressed that you completed all 3 appointments in 1 day. Well done on you. I also have been doing research since July. Pretty much online everyday and driving around visiting showrooms etc on weekends. Its been a very tiring and emotional process. And its still not over. I've been told by my CSC that everything will be provided at contract for me to go through and delete if I am not happy with the price. Which means that I will have to go to Hopetoun on the weekends to come up with alternatives (as I did not have time during my colours appointment). Wonder how long the contract appointment takes. To go through the lists of variations, pick which ones to delete, get them amended, go through all electrical, ducting plans, make changes... Esp for the size home I am building, as well as all the upgrades... Not happy... This has been a very tiring last few months, and we haven't even started building yet. Reading the forums and blogs, thats when the real 'fun' begins and I will need to go on site and monitor progress and make sure everything is done correctly. I just wish that PD would have streamlined their processes, so as to give their clients the information (mainly pricing) they require to make their decisions before going to each appointment. This will reduce the doubling up of work by the CSCs and Hopetoun/Sales consultants. And save us the hassle of reading forums and doing research to find out prices. I mean, seriously, we all have limited resources and whilst it is great to have a wish list (like travelling around the world, going sky diving etc), it would be good to be empowered to make the decisions we need to make. I would rather spend the time looking at which options I prefer (which would match the decor of the home I am trying to design), rather than research on how much extra it will cost me. We are building a home, not a house. They should respect that and at the very least, be upfront with their costing. Re: Porter Davis homes 372Oct 23, 2010 6:45 pm Well after much stress, the pain of my brick saga seems to be at an end. We have gone with render to the full house in Surfmist and Dune to the balcony. I am terrified about what it will look like and if it will blind passers by with it's whiteness! But it will have to be better than what is going on now with the multi-coloured house. Porter Davis kindly agreed to refund the cost of the brick upgrade as I would no longer be able to enjoy the bricks. However, I asked if they would be able to use the money for a carpet upgrade instead. A few phone calls later it was all sorted out and the variation docs are now signed so it looks good! Once the construction manager got involved things got much better very quickly, I think my site supervisor who is a lovely chap but new to the job failed to handle it well. But all seems good now. I will post pics once the render is completed. Re: Porter Davis homes 373Oct 23, 2010 8:00 pm Fallen_Apple Well after much stress, the pain of my brick saga seems to be at an end. We have gone with render to the full house in Surfmist and Dune to the balcony. I am terrified about what it will look like and if it will blind passers by with it's whiteness! But it will have to be better than what is going on now with the multi-coloured house. Porter Davis kindly agreed to refund the cost of the brick upgrade as I would no longer be able to enjoy the bricks. However, I asked if they would be able to use the money for a carpet upgrade instead. A few phone calls later it was all sorted out and the variation docs are now signed so it looks good! Once the construction manager got involved things got much better very quickly, I think my site supervisor who is a lovely chap but new to the job failed to handle it well. But all seems good now. I will post pics once the render is completed. Great news Fallen_Apple I think the render will look great, and even though it's not the outcome you wanted fully, at least they have listened to their customer and tried very hard to fix the problem without putting your home behind schedule, just think if they did have to pull all the bricking down, it would be a lot longer before you're in your beautiful new home. Good things for us too, after telling our CS lady at the office PD are willing to listen to our arguments regarding the price increase on our tiles, and will look at supporting evidence and make a decision of if they will give us a decreased price considering we don't get a refund on the standard range at all. At least they're listening to their customers while a lot of builders i'm sure would say "bad luck, pay up". I would say if anybody has any concerns make sure you bring them up, at least you'll be happier venting to them and asking questions than going quiet and feeling like you haven't been heard which will tarnish your whole build and new home. My building thread : viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36059 Paid initial deposit 24/7/10 Tender appointment 20/8/2010 Flooring and tile appointment 25/9/10 Colour and Electrical appointment 13/9/10 December site start delayed Site start (YAY!) 17/1/11 Slab pour 1/2/2011 Re: Porter Davis homes 374Oct 23, 2010 9:24 pm Fallen apple - yeah a win for u Great to hear that u are getting the whole house rendered. So u should. Jpz - yeah it's hard now for me to think, did I pick the right thing, how much have I spent! Etc but after so much research I do feel quite comfortable. Imagine not doing the research & just selecting everything at your appointment? Crazy! And this forum has helped me enormously especially in pricing of items! But yeah reality is I will find out my total costs at contract in a few wks! Hopefully it's what I am expecting! If u have any questions pm me Mel Re: Porter Davis homes 375Oct 23, 2010 10:28 pm We got told to put bricks above the garage is around a 3k extra. This true?? Re: Porter Davis homes 376Oct 24, 2010 7:21 am excitednewhomeowner We got told to put bricks above the garage is around a 3k extra. This true?? Category 1 brickwork over the double garage door in lieu of the standard timber beam & F.C. infill $1,425. Then we upgraded the brick to category 4 for the whole house for $1,898. __________________________________________ Built Camberwell 29 with PD - Hand Over was on 22/12/10 http://ssazcamberwell29.blogspot.com/ Re: Porter Davis homes 377Oct 24, 2010 8:04 am SSAZ excitednewhomeowner We got told to put bricks above the garage is around a 3k extra. This true?? Category 1 brickwork over the double garage door in lieu of the standard timber beam & F.C. infill $1,425. Then we upgraded the brick to category 4 for the whole house for $1,898. Seems a little high, for our single storey we were told about 1.4k for brickwork above the garage door, it would be additional to do the rear door which would vary the amount depending on whether your design has a rear roller door or just a normal door. TBH 3k sounds more like the cost of upgrading from infill panels above all the windows to bricks instead based on what we were told for our single storey at least. The thing to remember though is when you upgrade from an infill above a garage door to bricks its not just the brick cost that they're adding, they also have to change from a timber lvl lintel beam to a steel I beam so that it can support the roof as well as provide a shelf for the bricks to sit in. As an add on to this it also usually means they need to hire a small crane to lift the steel beam into place whereas whereas when its timber its just done by the carpenters. So in terms of a cost breakdown, thats why it seems quite expensive just to add bricks above a garage door, but depending on the exact house your looking at for a single lintel over a double garage door for a single storey 3k seems a bit excessive. Our Build - Places Fairhaven 23+ - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=28045 Our Landscaping - Belial's Backyard - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=45375 Re: Porter Davis homes 378Oct 24, 2010 8:28 am Hi. We are now at the stage of being overwhelmed by colour selections (there are too many shades of "earth tones" to contend with). Seeking advice... House is PD Cayman with Illinois facade. Our "locked in" choices are; - Bricks: Homestead Mushroom - Roof: Baramundi - Gutters and facias: Monument - Windows: Ultra silver gloss The effect that we want to achieve is to have the colours create an illusion of depth - graduating from dark to light or vice-versa. Our yet to be decided on colours are; - Portico: Pale earth - Front projection: Light leather - Front door, balcony door and balcony posts: Thunderbolt, Quest or Wild Yukon - Garage door: Shale grey or Dune - Downpipes and sill capping: Shale grey or Dune So, we are seeking advice from anybody else who's managed to create an excellent combination of colours to match up with the mushroom bricks, or from others who have advice on these combinations. TIA PS: Our plan was finally sent by email after apparently being lost in the post. Quite a few drafting errors, including some windows and doors being drawn differently in the alternate projections. As these will need to be corrected, we'll struggle to get a planning permit submission to council in time for the proposed building start date of Feb 2011. Wayne and Robyn (demolition in progress) Re: Porter Davis homes 379Oct 24, 2010 8:34 am Your locked in choices are extactly the same combo for our place ! Re: Porter Davis homes 380Oct 24, 2010 11:55 am Eve Dweller Your locked in choices are extactly the same combo for our place ! Cool. Have you any advice on other colours? At the moment, we've hot colour burnout!!! My suggestion is that we just get all of the render on one colour, then after we move in we decide on what we want, and what parts to re-paint in our desired shades. 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 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74688 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105496 |