Porter Davis homes

Drew01 · Sep 13, 2015 11:54 am

Emmz70

joea

Drew01

Has anyone had PD agree to install a wool/foil ceiling blanket under colorbond roofing, and insulation bats in the exterior walls?

We want our build to be as thermally efficient as possible, and have been told that a roof blanket isn't necessary, and that PD can only install wrap and sisal in the walls...

A couple of my custom builder mates won't install a colorbond without without a blanket, and nearly always install bats to exterior walls..

Our sales consultant is being awesome trying to get a win for us, but ultimately, if we're prepared to pay for it, what's the issue?

This would make our build closer to 7 star than 6... Surely that's a win for PD too?

Sarking is an additional cost that PD does not include in the base price. We added it on no issue.

As for the insulation, wait for your energy rating application. Most likely they will ask for upgraded insulation and PD will upgrade those at no cost to you. Then you can choose wether to upgrade even further from what they will include as a minimum for 5 or 6 star rating.

Hope that helps.

Hi Joea
How much do PD charge for sarking now?

It's included in the current promo's

ChrisHeli · Sep 13, 2015 9:42 pm

A while back there was much discussion on the quality contol of the slabs. Knowing the issues that some had faced, I'd asked for a copy of the report. It did finally arrive, and I detail about it here:

http://itsallaboutthewaldorf.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/quality-control-of-slabs-concrete-report.html

The original blog post is here:

http://itsallaboutthewaldorf.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/quality-control-of-slabs-concrete.html

Which brings me to some interesting statistics that I looked at today.

The two most viewed blog posts that I've written are (in order, but little separates them):
1. The frustration about Porter Davis's Tender Process - http://itsallaboutthewaldorf.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/the-frustration-about-porter-daviss.html
2. Quality Control of the Slab's Concrete - http://itsallaboutthewaldorf.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/quality-control-of-slabs-concrete.html

So clearly people are concerned about their processes. A bit of feedback for PD.

Pungentia · Sep 14, 2015 7:57 am

Quick post from me.. we had handover on Friday and now have the keys to our beautiful house :z:

We landscaped with an excavator over the weekend and moved 5 cubic metre of crushed rock in to allow for our move in, and 10 cubic metres of top soil for the back yard. We'll install turf in a few weeks, or at least turf to most of it as the backyard is huge.

We are laying the flooring today and tomorrow, curtains on Wednesday, gas log fire place on Wednesday and move on Thursday/Friday.

Re insulation and roof blanket - we have batts to all the external walls which was standard for the 6 star rating, although I would have upgraded batts further retrospectively. We have a colorbond roof and there is reflective sheeting under that, which may be sarking, but I'm not a professional.. nor did we pay for sarking. We have soundscreen to most upstairs internal walls, which was worth it.

A&L windows seem fairly reasonable (we upgraded to double glazed a huge aluminium stacker downstairs which looks awesome).

I'll try and post some pics next week.

joea · Sep 14, 2015 10:25 am

Pungentia

Quick post from me.. we had handover on Friday and now have the keys to our beautiful house :z:

We landscaped with an excavator over the weekend and moved 5 cubic metre of crushed rock in to allow for our move in, and 10 cubic metres of top soil for the back yard. We'll install turf in a few weeks, or at least turf to most of it as the backyard is huge.

We are laying the flooring today and tomorrow, curtains on Wednesday, gas log fire place on Wednesday and move on Thursday/Friday.

Re insulation and roof blanket - we have batts to all the external walls which was standard for the 6 star rating, although I would have upgraded batts further retrospectively. We have a colorbond roof and there is reflective sheeting under that, which may be sarking, but I'm not a professional.. nor did we pay for sarking. We have soundscreen to most upstairs internal walls, which was worth it.

A&L windows seem fairly reasonable (we upgraded to double glazed a huge aluminium stacker downstairs which looks awesome).

I'll try and post some pics next week.

Congratulations! Such exciting times for you

Can't wait to see some photos.

Unfortunately, we don't have any good news. Settlement has been delayed again. Was really disappointed to get that email this morning.

We were promised that the house would be up to our standard by PCI. It didn't meet either our standard nor the independents. That's why we have the delays which is disappointing.

Anyway..it will happen in time!

katemorley91 · Sep 14, 2015 10:41 am

Congrats Pungentia!!!

ChrisHeli · Sep 14, 2015 11:21 am

To all of you who know better than I:

Do you need a permit for the driveway that is on your own property?

I understand, in the litigious world, we need permits for the public side, the cross over and driveway leading into your property, but on your own?

Pungentia · Sep 14, 2015 1:27 pm

Thanks all

Drew01 · Sep 14, 2015 2:41 pm

ChrisHeli

To all of you who know better than I:

Do you need a permit for the driveway that is on your own property?

I understand, in the litigious world, we need permits for the public side, the cross over and driveway leading into your property, but on your own?

We didn't get one for a driveway we just put in at my parents place...

Did we need one? No idea! Common sense would say a cross over goes to a driveway, but common sense rarely prevails

ChrisHeli · Sep 16, 2015 12:45 pm

We have our PCI this Friday. Not expecting too many issues. Our independent inspector went through the house yesterday and said it was the thinnest report he'd ever produced. He was so happy with it, he forwarded a copy of it to the PD general manager, stating that this is how all homes should be presented.

He then wanted to buy it from us!

So we are very excited and happy!

ya1980 · Sep 16, 2015 1:27 pm

ChrisHeli

We have our PCI this Friday. Not expecting too many issues. Our independent inspector went through the house yesterday and said it was the thinnest report he'd ever produced. He was so happy with it, he forwarded a copy of it to the PD general manager, stating that this is how all homes should be presented.

He then wanted to buy it from us!

So we are very excited and happy!

Congratulations!

You're blog has been a great help too. Thank you.

Quick question, what happened with the height restriction?

ChrisHeli · Sep 16, 2015 8:42 pm

ya1980

ChrisHeli

We have our PCI this Friday. Not expecting too many issues. Our independent inspector went through the house yesterday and said it was the thinnest report he'd ever produced. He was so happy with it, he forwarded a copy of it to the PD general manager, stating that this is how all homes should be presented.

He then wanted to buy it from us!

So we are very excited and happy!

Congratulations!

You're blog has been a great help too. Thank you.

Quick question, what happened with the height restriction?

Thanks!

And thanks about the blog, that is why I do it. People helped me when I started, so consider it my "pay it forward".

Regarding the height please see http://itsallaboutthewaldorf.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/reach-for-sky.html

FirstTimePDBuilder · Sep 17, 2015 12:42 am

joea

Pungentia

Quick post from me.. we had handover on Friday and now have the keys to our beautiful house :z:

I'll try and post some pics next week.

Congratulations! Such exciting times for you

Can't wait to see some photos.

Like Joea said.. congrats Pungentia.. Looking forward to seeing some photos.

We had our pre-pour inspection today. A few fairly minor things picked up by our independent so all being well... Pour tomorrow!

KDR Chadwick 41 Eastern Suburbs

FirstTimePDBuilder · Sep 18, 2015 8:40 am

Reading this forum and many of your blogs it's clear some people have relatively 'smooth sailing' with their builds and others, for various reasons, definitely do not. Just wondering. If you don't mind sharing, how long did it take PD to build you house (single or double storey) from site start to handover? (Or how long it will likely be) And if you built over the Christmas break, how many weeks were tools down? TIA. Just hoping a quick straw poll will give me and others an idea of actual build time as compared to time allowed per contract.

KDR Chadwick 41 Eastern Suburbs

sogg · Sep 18, 2015 9:24 am

FirstTimePDBuilder

Reading this forum and many of your blogs it's clear some people have relatively 'smooth sailing' with their builds and others, for various reasons, definitely do not. Just wondering. If you don't mind sharing, how long did it take PD to build you house (single or double storey) from site start to handover? (Or how long it will likely be) And if you built over the Christmas break, how many weeks were tools down? TIA. Just hoping a quick straw poll will give me and others an idea of actual build time as compared to time allowed per contract.

KDR Chadwick 41 Eastern Suburbs

Started June 30th 2014, Handover was July 23rd 2015
Waldorf 48

ChrisHeli · Sep 18, 2015 10:31 am

FirstTimePDBuilder

Reading this forum and many of your blogs it's clear some people have relatively 'smooth sailing' with their builds and others, for various reasons, definitely do not. Just wondering. If you don't mind sharing, how long did it take PD to build you house (single or double storey) from site start to handover? (Or how long it will likely be) And if you built over the Christmas break, how many weeks were tools down? TIA. Just hoping a quick straw poll will give me and others an idea of actual build time as compared to time allowed per contract.

KDR Chadwick 41 Eastern Suburbs

Yes, we've been fortunate. See dates below.

knyght · Sep 18, 2015 1:17 pm

All dates are on my blog. Essentially we are seeking damages for 27 days over contracted allowance.

ChrisHeli · Sep 18, 2015 5:20 pm

We had our PCI today, nothing major. We are extremely happy and our SS said that he'd never seen people smiling so much.

We should have the keys on the 30th, if not sooner.

Jackula · Sep 22, 2015 10:56 am

We have updated our blog with a list of tradies we recommend for post-handover works, good for you Chris

http://waldorf44oakleigh.blogspot.com.a ... tions.html

ChrisHeli · Sep 22, 2015 11:18 am

Nice one thanks!
Our first port of call was going to be the tradies that worked on the house to start with. I ask our SS for their details, he was happy to hand them over and give them the heads up that we'd be calling.
However, when it comes to Landscaping etc, I'm all ears! Particularly for the CAD guy. Now a CAD guy, being a draftsman, is not necessarily an engineer. So I may be still looking for one of them.

I'd like to remove an easement so I can put the sauna and change-room/shower/toilet over it and make more room for the pool. Or, not have the pool so close to the house.

To apply to build over the easement, you need plans... So I'm still looking for someone to assist me with that. Can you guy help?

So, apply to City West Water for that, then take that approval, along with the plans for the pool/sauna etc to council (as they have a storm water easement there as well - but I cann't find it!) for final approval...

Ah, the paper work! It never ends!

Jackula · Sep 22, 2015 11:37 am

ChrisHeli

Nice one thanks!
Our first port of call was going to be the tradies that worked on the house to start with. I ask our SS for their details, he was happy to hand them over and give them the heads up that we'd be calling.
However, when it comes to Landscaping etc, I'm all ears! Particularly for the CAD guy. Now a CAD guy, being a draftsman, is not necessarily an engineer. So I may be still looking for one of them.

I'd like to remove an easement so I can put the sauna and change-room/shower/toilet over it and make more room for the pool. Or, not have the pool so close to the house.

To apply to build over the easement, you need plans... So I'm still looking for someone to assist me with that. Can you guy help?

So, apply to City West Water for that, then take that approval, along with the plans for the pool/sauna etc to council (as they have a storm water easement there as well - but I cann't find it!) for final approval...

Ah, the paper work! It never ends!

Check with your council and water first about your easements, you won't be able to remove them if they have assets in them. But yes, Glenn from Syndal CAD did all the drawings for the plot for the easement removal, after that all you'll need is a surveyor to submit the paperwork. I wouldn't recommend ours (surveyor) because he was hopeless.