Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Porter Davis homes 11161Apr 13, 2015 11:56 pm Question for everyone... has anyone removed the solar hot water service unit and had it replaced with a dedicated gas or electric unit? If so, what other changes did you have to make to get keep the 6-star energy rating? Re: Porter Davis homes 11162Apr 14, 2015 1:28 pm joea Hoping it's a more positive experience for the rest of the build... been quite stressful so far I haven't really got anything positive to say at the moment. We still have some slab issues not rectified such as honeycombing to the edge, crumbling corners. Some have been resolved but others are still outstanding. We didn't see anything like Chris & Heli in terms of testing/sampling during the slab pour. We have a number of unresolved frame stage issues such as the frame going over the edge of the slab, incorrect window frame sizing etc. Bricks were delivered this morning and I'm concerned bricking is going to start happening and this will mean that the frame issues won't be resolved. We have had no communication acknowledging BC or CS have received our inspection reports or any advice as to a plan to do anything/rectify issues. We are very frustrated regarding a 419 Report and Consent to Council for an overlooking window which wasn't actioned by PD and incorrect planning assessment which saw a number of windows overlooked. Further, we have been advised that windows we worked had to design and modify at the tender stage, and ensure were clear glazed must be obscured or we must pay for another Report and Consent to Council. We are, as far as I know, meeting the CS on site this Friday (although he hasn't confirmed). This will be our first formal onsite visit with anyone from PD, nearly 2 months from start. I'm feeling particularly frustrated, our BC and CS seem to be nice people, but the communication is far from good. Very hard to stay positive and I can only hope issues will be resolved and the end product of the build will be at least of middle of the road quality. Hoping the Friday meeting with the CS goes ahead, that a plan for rectification of issues is worked out and communicated, and that communication across the board improves. Build blog - http://hasslingthehoff.wordpress.com/ Re: Porter Davis homes 11163Apr 14, 2015 2:44 pm sorry to hear that from you joea, even us theres alot of mistake that our inspector noticed in our frame and we already submitted those reports to our BC,we already spoken to our SS which is a nice bloke and promised that all of those will be rectified before doing the plastering,and we sent a letter from our BC that were not going to sign the frame stage as long as those issues were rectified according to BCA!and we were concern now throughout our building!hope in the end it will end up good on our side! Re: Porter Davis homes 11164Apr 14, 2015 7:19 pm Pungentia joea Hoping it's a more positive experience for the rest of the build... been quite stressful so far I haven't really got anything positive to say at the moment. We still have some slab issues not rectified such as honeycombing to the edge, crumbling corners. Some have been resolved but others are still outstanding. We didn't see anything like Chris & Heli in terms of testing/sampling during the slab pour. We have a number of unresolved frame stage issues such as the frame going over the edge of the slab, incorrect window frame sizing etc. Bricks were delivered this morning and I'm concerned bricking is going to start happening and this will mean that the frame issues won't be resolved. We have had no communication acknowledging BC or CS have received our inspection reports or any advice as to a plan to do anything/rectify issues. We are very frustrated regarding a 419 Report and Consent to Council for an overlooking window which wasn't actioned by PD and incorrect planning assessment which saw a number of windows overlooked. Further, we have been advised that windows we worked had to design and modify at the tender stage, and ensure were clear glazed must be obscured or we must pay for another Report and Consent to Council. We are, as far as I know, meeting the CS on site this Friday (although he hasn't confirmed). This will be our first formal onsite visit with anyone from PD, nearly 2 months from start. I'm feeling particularly frustrated, our BC and CS seem to be nice people, but the communication is far from good. Very hard to stay positive and I can only hope issues will be resolved and the end product of the build will be at least of middle of the road quality. Hoping the Friday meeting with the CS goes ahead, that a plan for rectification of issues is worked out and communicated, and that communication across the board improves. Hi Pungentia, Sorry to hear about this. I know exactly how you feel! Can you post some photos of the honeycombing and issues you have? Hopefully some people can give you feedback and advice as they have given me. Overhang is usually an easy fix, we had it only on one section and it was fixed without us even raising it. Yes communication is a big downer for some PD staff. To be honest I can't fault my BC or any SS we have had so far. Communication has been excellent and issues resolved very quickly. Unfortunately, our slab supervisor has let the whole build down and it seems we are not the only ones not happy (neighbours too!). Let us know how you go on Friday... Re: Porter Davis homes 11165Apr 14, 2015 8:13 pm Can anyone recommend an independent inspector that they have engaged that they were happy with? I am very likely to need to rely on one. As an update I was contacted on here publically (msg following mine) and thats it - still no return phone calls, no update and no plans. No resolution offered. Construction supervisor is a nice guy (Nathan) but he is in shock by how badly 'head office' is handling it. For example to meet 6 star rating a number of windows need to be double glazed. Not a huge issue - except I was advised on the 8th of April ...when my build started in March and the windows have already been ordered. They are nothing like the windows I had chosen (all awning). This is all pre-building issues. Can't even get an independent inspector engaged at the moment as I don't have final plans ... Re: Porter Davis homes 11166Apr 14, 2015 8:33 pm Chris610 Can anyone recommend an independent inspector that they have engaged that they were happy with? I am very likely to need to rely on one. As an update I was contacted on here publically (msg following mine) and thats it - still no return phone calls, no update and no plans. No resolution offered. Construction supervisor is a nice guy (Nathan) but he is in shock by how badly 'head office' is handling it. For example to meet 6 star rating a number of windows need to be double glazed. Not a huge issue - except I was advised on the 8th of April ...when my build started in March and the windows have already been ordered. They are nothing like the windows I had chosen (all awning). This is all pre-building issues. Can't even get an independent inspector engaged at the moment as I don't have final plans ... I highly recommend Darbecca. Re: Porter Davis homes 11167Apr 14, 2015 9:19 pm We used New Home Inspections - friendly to deal with, didn't mind the fact that we had to postpone the PCI four times and their written report is clear, provides pictures of the issues and the appropriate building code standards with they are outside tolerance.
... if we ever make it to handover. I've mentioned before that my build experience has been slow, and wondered if it is because of my location (7k out from Melbourne) - and things just have not changed. I am now closing in on a month past the build guarantee, and three weeks since the PCI (site start 1st June 2014) The PCI itself was meant to be 'this Friday....No, next Friday...maybe next Friday...maybe Wednesday' - and since PCI there just does not seem to be any rush to finish - a correction to a bowed wall seems to be it, and about 90% of the remaining items are still outstanding. Handover is scheduled for this Friday (I'll let you know when I am told that it has been shifted to next Friday). Being so close to completion and not seeing anyone on site for several days is disappointing - the excitement of passing the house is pretty much gone - just replaced with frustration. Seems like either : a) My house is not a priority to complete and tradesmen are redirected elsewhere that are either more important, or their owners are kicking up more of a stink than I am b) The tradespeople in my area can't keep appointments and consistently don't appear when they should (that is what is meant to have happened in the lead up to PCI) c) It's not until I escalate this that things will get moving As it stands I know there's a good chance I'll be breaking one of my own rules about accepting an unfinished house. Apologies on the rant - hoping the best for everyone's build. Oh- the question I had on the phone line physical connection - looks like it has been asked before, short answer is it's through Telstra not PD. Will find the link. Re: Porter Davis homes 11168Apr 14, 2015 9:20 pm We used New Home Inspections - friendly to deal with, didn't mind the fact that we had to postpone the PCI four times and their written report is clear, provides pictures of the issues and the appropriate building code standards when they are outside tolerance. ... if we ever make it to handover. I've mentioned before that my build experience has been slow, and wondered if it is because of my location (7k north of Melbourne) - and things just have not changed. I am now closing in on a month past the build guarantee, and three weeks since the PCI (site start 1st June 2014) The PCI itself was meant to be 'this Friday....No, next Friday...maybe next Friday...maybe Wednesday' - and since PCI there just does not seem to be any rush to finish - a correction to a bowed wall seems to be it, and about 90% of the remaining items are still outstanding. Handover is scheduled for this Friday (I'll let you know when I am told that it has been shifted to next Friday). Being so close to completion and not seeing anyone on site for several days is disappointing - the excitement of passing the house is pretty much gone - just replaced with frustration. Seems like either : a) My house is not a priority to complete and tradesmen and redirected elsewhere that are either more important, or their owners are kicking up more of a stink than I am b) The tradespeople in my area can't keep appointments and consistently don't appear when they should (that is what is meant to have happened in the lead up to PCI) c) It's not until I escalate this that things will get moving As it stands I know there's a good chance I'll be breaking one of my own rules about accepting an unfinished house. Apologies on the rant - hoping the best for everyone's build. Oh- the question I had on the phone line physical connection - looks like it has been asked before, short answer is it's through Telstra not PD. Will find the link. Re: Porter Davis homes 11170Apr 14, 2015 9:51 pm Chris610 joea I highly recommend Darbecca. Thanks - will look into them No worries! Re: Porter Davis homes 11171Apr 15, 2015 8:08 am Chris610 They are nothing like the windows I had chosen (all awning). Hi Chris, we were advised that if windows were to be double glazed they must be awning. We had the cost of changing all of ours to awning and then the cost of double glazing. Houspect have been quite good and have spent a lot of time on site for us - they were literally there 3 hours for the framing stage. We had some further discussions with friends who have recently completed their build with another volume builder last night. They advised asking your inspector to note down whether they consider the stage 'finished' or incomplete due to issues needing resolution. We are now thinking we were a bit silly allowing ourselves to be pressured to pay invoices for frame stage, our neighbour, a master builder, asked the legitimate question "how can you be asked to pay a frame stage invoice when the garage hasn't been framed or roofed at all"? Fair question that. AHuxtable - we are concerned that all our building variations and sales incentives are being deducted from the last invoice. This means that at this stage the last payment will be absolutely miniscule.. I think I need to raise this as an issue, as there is no real financial incentive for handover in that instance. Fingers crossed that communication and issue resolution improves all round. Acknowledgement of issues, a timeline for fixing the issues before moving on to the next stage and regular communication is what I require and isn't being delivered at this point. Build blog - http://hasslingthehoff.wordpress.com/ Re: Porter Davis homes 11172Apr 15, 2015 12:09 pm joea Chris610 joea I highly recommend Darbecca. Thanks - will look into them No worries! Another recommendation for Darbecca here. Had my lockup inspection yesterday and a list of serious issues have been highlighted that do not meet/comply with the building standards or regulations required. It does make me wonder what Porter Davis' own inspectors actually check when items are passed that clearly do not meet the required standard as laid down by the industry. And strangely they keep questioning my reasoning for having an independent inspector when their own inspector is already checking the build at each stage - or so they tell me. Makes me feel sorry for the people who don't bother with an independent inspector and really have no idea what is right or wrong in the house they are building and trust the builder to do the right thing. Re: Porter Davis homes 11173Apr 15, 2015 12:17 pm Pungentia - makes sense to pay less earlier in the build - after all it gives you more leverage to make sure they complete, and you'll just be paying more interest on that amount for longer. We picked this up at the contract stage - not sure how you will go if you want to change the payment schedule midway through the build. Heard back from the SS and the expected handover on Friday is now.... Maybe next week. At least we were able to have another walkthrough and the painter was there so we were able to pick up a couple of other spots that need fixing. For paint you almost need 3 inspections - morning, noon and late afternoon - you will pick up new things each time - stuff that is glaringly obvious in different lights. Here's that thread on the Phone line: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36269 Re: Porter Davis homes 11174Apr 15, 2015 12:29 pm dojrude Another recommendation for Darbecca here. Had my lockup inspection yesterday and a list of serious issues have been highlighted that do not meet/comply with the building standards or regulations required. It does make me wonder what Porter Davis' own inspectors actually check when items are passed that clearly do not meet the required standard as laid down by the industry. And strangely they keep questioning my reasoning for having an independent inspector when their own inspector is already checking the build at each stage - or so they tell me. Makes me feel sorry for the people who don't bother with an independent inspector and really have no idea what is right or wrong in the house they are building and trust the builder to do the right thing. I agree with you. That was the most concerning part of our experience during frame stage. We were told PD's 'Independents' have been through the property and have deemed the frame complete and compliant. We request our own inspector to go through the property and he raises some structural issues. Something doesn't add up?? The good thing for us is that we (our inspectors) have picked up these issues and they will rectified. PD are usually pretty good and rectifying issues raised, especially ones that do not meet the BCA. Yep, best decision we made was to get an independent. Re: Porter Davis homes 11175Apr 15, 2015 1:00 pm joea Chris610 Can anyone recommend an independent inspector that they have engaged that they were happy with? I am very likely to need to rely on one. As an update I was contacted on here publically (msg following mine) and thats it - still no return phone calls, no update and no plans. No resolution offered. Construction supervisor is a nice guy (Nathan) but he is in shock by how badly 'head office' is handling it. For example to meet 6 star rating a number of windows need to be double glazed. Not a huge issue - except I was advised on the 8th of April ...when my build started in March and the windows have already been ordered. They are nothing like the windows I had chosen (all awning). This is all pre-building issues. Can't even get an independent inspector engaged at the moment as I don't have final plans ... I highly recommend Darbecca. +1 Re: Porter Davis homes 11176Apr 15, 2015 1:06 pm ahuxtable Pungentia - makes sense to pay less earlier in the build - after all it gives you more leverage to make sure they complete, and you'll just be paying more interest on that amount for longer. We picked this up at the contract stage - not sure how you will go if you want to change the payment schedule midway through the build. We could not do that at contract stage. The only people who have done that were mandated by one of the banks (Westpac/Bank of Melbourne), I believe, and it was only a few % anyway, IIRC. Re: Porter Davis homes 11177Apr 15, 2015 2:17 pm ChrisHeli ahuxtable Pungentia - makes sense to pay less earlier in the build - after all it gives you more leverage to make sure they complete, and you'll just be paying more interest on that amount for longer. We picked this up at the contract stage - not sure how you will go if you want to change the payment schedule midway through the build. We could not do that at contract stage. The only people who have done that were mandated by one of the banks (Westpac/Bank of Melbourne), I believe, and it was only a few % anyway, IIRC. They refused to change it for us at contract. They changed after contract stage when our bank would not accept PD's 'modified' payment schedule. We are with Bendigo Bank. The %s set out in the standard HIA contract are much fairer and more spread out IMHO. Re: Porter Davis homes 11178Apr 15, 2015 4:56 pm Have to say that recent posts have certainly got me worried about our upcoming build. We're still keen to go ahead but I'll admit I'm nervous, both about potential timeframe issues and the build quality. Thanks for the recommendations of Darbecca. Husband & I have our WoS appointment on Monday, we've been 4 times and think we have everything we can have nailed down at this stage, except items pending pricing which we won't be able to make a decision on until the day of. Any suggestions/recommendations for this appointment & any other prep we should do? Building a Porter Davis Livingstone 23 in Mayfield, Cranbourne East | Our thread 18/05/15 - Contract Signed 24/12/15 - Land Settlement 30/1/16 - Slab poured 9/06/16 - Handover Re: Porter Davis homes 11179Apr 16, 2015 2:04 am ChrisHeli joea Chris610 Can anyone recommend an independent inspector that they have engaged that they were happy with? I am very likely to need to rely on one. As an update I was contacted on here publically (msg following mine) and thats it - still no return phone calls, no update and no plans. No resolution offered. Construction supervisor is a nice guy (Nathan) but he is in shock by how badly 'head office' is handling it. For example to meet 6 star rating a number of windows need to be double glazed. Not a huge issue - except I was advised on the 8th of April ...when my build started in March and the windows have already been ordered. They are nothing like the windows I had chosen (all awning). This is all pre-building issues. Can't even get an independent inspector engaged at the moment as I don't have final plans ... I highly recommend Darbecca. +1 +2 'Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.' Blog: http://prestigebuild.blogspot.com.au Re: Porter Davis homes 11180Apr 16, 2015 9:21 am I also highly recommend Darbecca as I am using them for my inspections too. David the inspector was very thorough and even my site supervisor was scared of him and told me he is too picky on all things which I want anyway as that is what they are paid to do. Still planning to use them for my pre-plaster stage now. Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 13908 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 109117 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 26391 |