Porter Davis homes

dc_1985 · Feb 27, 2017 3:52 pm

Doulton777

dc_1985

Has anyone got recommendations for a site clean up company? we have rubbish and some concrete thrown on our block and need this cleared before site.

thanks,

Do you know who did it? If so you can complain to your council and they can try trace it and get them to remove.

No i'm not sure, we are in a new estate, and there was a lot of new houses going up around us so it could be anyone. And now unfortunately we will have to pay more money to have this cleaned up. Very frustrating.

F1natic · Feb 27, 2017 4:04 pm

nikil

Can anyone also recommend a good demolition person in case ours leaves us in a bad way?

Simon from http://www.simcatgroup.com.au/ did a very good job for us

dc_1985 · Feb 27, 2017 4:08 pm

F1natic

nikil

Can anyone also recommend a good demolition person in case ours leaves us in a bad way?

Simon from http://www.simcatgroup.com.au/ did a very good job for us

do you mind me asking how much you roughly paid?

F1natic · Feb 27, 2017 4:13 pm

dc_1985

F1natic

nikil

Can anyone also recommend a good demolition person in case ours leaves us in a bad way?

Simon from http://www.simcatgroup.com.au/ did a very good job for us

do you mind me asking how much you roughly paid?

around 17k to remove a single story 3 bedroom brick house and clear the block, included some asbestos removal too

sunshine83 · Feb 27, 2017 7:40 pm

nikil

Can anyone also recommend a good demolition person in case ours leaves us in a bad way?

Yes ours was amazing- Melways. Many tradies said best job they'd ever seen.
Paid 15K for 870m2 block, 3 bed brick home including aspestos and trees & a huge garage/workshop.

sunshine83 · Feb 27, 2017 7:41 pm

F1natic

sunshine83

F1natic

that looks great sunshine83, we also went with the Hampton facade and played safe with colours by sticking with the standard colouring in the picture. http://www.porterdavis.com.au/~/media/h ... rop=1&as=1

Those are the colours I wanted! I thought you'd chosen Hampton but hard to tell until colours up.
Did you do white garage?

You don't have a rough timeline do you of what happened with your build ie Dec slab, late Dec frame?

Trying to guesstimate how long it might take

Garage is white (near white anyway as you can't get white) like the picture too, we played safe.

Hope this helps, we slipped a lot with the framer, they didn't have enough people on the job, its complex with the beams and side projections and he was pedantic (not necessarily a bad thing!)

Mid September – Site Cut
Mid Oct – Slab pour
Late Oct – Frame Start
Mid nov – first floor frame complete
Late nov – second floor frame and upper roof complete
Early Dec – Frame Inspection and windows installed (our inspector and the frame still wasn’t 100% complete)
Mid Jan – Downstairs hebel
L

Our contract completion is end of June and we had a chat with our S/S last week about our concern to hit this date, he said that his estimate is still to finish around mid May, more fingers crossed.....

Super helpful thanks!

lizbf85 · Feb 28, 2017 3:49 pm

F1natic

Completely agree sunshine83, I wouldn't say we have had completely smooth sailing by any means, but I think it's also about expectations.

Your build is coming along well, what facade did you go with.

We almost (finally) at lock up.

Expectations are one thing, and one thing we didn't set too high as we knew building usually ended up in a pit of frustrating and tears. We certainly aren't unrealistic either, unfortunately sometimes no matter what expectation you have, your home could be destroyed in 5 mins by someone related to the builder or the builder itself and your frustrations go to a whole other level.

I'm glad others are having a positive experience and that's what this forum is all about i suppose the good and the bad.

F1natic · Feb 28, 2017 3:54 pm

lizbf85

F1natic

Completely agree sunshine83, I wouldn't say we have had completely smooth sailing by any means, but I think it's also about expectations.

Your build is coming along well, what facade did you go with.

We almost (finally) at lock up.

Expectations are one thing, and one thing we didn't set too high as we knew building usually ended up in a pit of frustrating and tears. We certainly aren't unrealistic either, unfortunately sometimes no matter what expectation you have, your home could be destroyed in 5 mins by someone related to the builder or the builder itself and your frustrations go to a whole other level.

I'm glad others are having a positive experience and that's what this forum is all about i suppose the good and the bad.

quite right lizbf85, I hope you are a very unfortunate exception to the general experience, did you find out any more about who/why it happened?

lizbf85 · Feb 28, 2017 3:54 pm

nikil

Hi Guys,

Can anyone tell me if they received these documents at contract time?

Council approved plans (stamped plans)
Builders Insurance contract of works.
Builders Public liability Insurance.

The bank require these documents before we can proceed with the mortgage.

I have just asked our BC and she said they won't be available until they commence the build?

She said that they are not available until they receive the building permit, The building surveyor won't issue the building permit until they receive developers approval.

I don't know what she means by developers approval? We are doing a KDR not building in a new development.

These documents are not available until we receive the building permit, this is available when we commence construction.mflksafkj

hmmm sounds familiar and working for the bank that is true.

The council approved stamp plans and the insurance only comes in after contract and everything is ready to go.
Permit follows after that. The developers approval might just mean the council approval perhaps?

I am not sure how the bank will release funds until all of that is held. id get the BC to elaborate?
As to get your funds you need to have signed your loan offer, and for that you need all of the above.

lizbf85 · Feb 28, 2017 4:13 pm

F1natic

lizbf85

F1natic

Completely agree sunshine83, I wouldn't say we have had completely smooth sailing by any means, but I think it's also about expectations.

Your build is coming along well, what facade did you go with.

We almost (finally) at lock up.

Expectations are one thing, and one thing we didn't set too high as we knew building usually ended up in a pit of frustrating and tears. We certainly aren't unrealistic either, unfortunately sometimes no matter what expectation you have, your home could be destroyed in 5 mins by someone related to the builder or the builder itself and your frustrations go to a whole other level.

I'm glad others are having a positive experience and that's what this forum is all about i suppose the good and the bad.

quite right lizbf85, I hope you are a very unfortunate exception to the general experience, did you find out any more about who/why it happened?

Lets hope so, another lady on instagram is going through a terrible time also, you should see the brickwork that also passed a PD inspector! ( another great reason to have someone independent)The whole house is basically being torn down and restarted , this too is a Vancouver. I am just thankful we are not at that point even though we have our own problems.

We met with a construction manager yesterday to go through all of our concerns. 18 jobs have been left for dead! 3 others also damaged ( confirms our thoughts)
It was very hard to be angry yesterday as the CM has basically been dumped with everything, we are getting a new SS next week. New to PD whome the CM knows, so fingers crossed they have a magic wand.

We finally got into the property yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised that a lot of issues were fixed. A lot of paint touch up, WIR and plaster needs to be fixed but all in all OK. The outside is another issue, over 90+ bricks to be fixed, render, and roof line/facia adjustment etc. We have already today received a call from our WIR people to confirm the set up. which i take as a good sign.

We have been given a 3-4 week turnaround and advised to be in by 7th April........

whilst that seems forever it is what it is. We will wait and see what unfolds in the next few weeks and have everything crossed that we will again #3 meet for PCI!

nikil · Feb 28, 2017 4:47 pm

lizbf85

nikil

Hi Guys,

Can anyone tell me if they received these documents at contract time?

Council approved plans (stamped plans)
Builders Insurance contract of works.
Builders Public liability Insurance.

The bank require these documents before we can proceed with the mortgage.

I have just asked our BC and she said they won't be available until they commence the build?

She said that they are not available until they receive the building permit, The building surveyor won't issue the building permit until they receive developers approval.

I don't know what she means by developers approval? We are doing a KDR not building in a new development.

These documents are not available until we receive the building permit, this is available when we commence construction.mflksafkj

hmmm sounds familiar and working for the bank that is true.

The council approved stamp plans and the insurance only comes in after contract and everything is ready to go.
Permit follows after that. The developers approval might just mean the council approval perhaps?

I am not sure how the bank will release funds until all of that is held. id get the BC to elaborate?
As to get your funds you need to have signed your loan offer, and for that you need all of the above.

Thanks Liz,

They have provided the insurance today and like you said the stamped approval will not come until about a week before the build starts.. We just have to wait to see what the bank says about the demolition funds.

She came back to me yesterday to confirm we didn't require developer approval, which we knew anyway. She said this is the first house she has looked after that didn't require it so she wasn't aware. That's fine though. She said not having to get that will speed up the process.

Doulton777 · Feb 28, 2017 4:48 pm

lizbf85

F1natic

lizbf85

[quote="F1natic"]
Completely agree sunshine83, I wouldn't say we have had completely smooth sailing by any means, but I think it's also about expectations.

Your build is coming along well, what facade did you go with.

We almost (finally) at lock up.

Expectations are one thing, and one thing we didn't set too high as we knew building usually ended up in a pit of frustrating and tears. We certainly aren't unrealistic either, unfortunately sometimes no matter what expectation you have, your home could be destroyed in 5 mins by someone related to the builder or the builder itself and your frustrations go to a whole other level.

I'm glad others are having a positive experience and that's what this forum is all about i suppose the good and the bad.

quite right lizbf85, I hope you are a very unfortunate exception to the general experience, did you find out any more about who/why it happened?

Lets hope so, another lady on instagram is going through a terrible time also, you should see the brickwork that also passed a PD inspector! ( another great reason to have someone independent)The whole house is basically being torn down and restarted , this too is a Vancouver. I am just thankful we are not at that point even though we have our own problems.

We met with a construction manager yesterday to go through all of our concerns. 18 jobs have been left for dead! 3 others also damaged ( confirms our thoughts)
It was very hard to be angry yesterday as the CM has basically been dumped with everything, we are getting a new SS next week. New to PD whome the CM knows, so fingers crossed they have a magic wand.

We finally got into the property yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised that a lot of issues were fixed. A lot of paint touch up, WIR and plaster needs to be fixed but all in all OK. The outside is another issue, over 90+ bricks to be fixed, render, and roof line/facia adjustment etc. We have already today received a call from our WIR people to confirm the set up. which i take as a good sign.

We have been given a 3-4 week turnaround and advised to be in by 7th April........

whilst that seems forever it is what it is. We will wait and see what unfolds in the next few weeks and have everything crossed that we will again #3 meet for PCI![/quote]

We are building with Metricon. But your right it's best to always get a independent inspector. That's what are doing too. If you haven't done it yet. You can still get one at the future stages. It's worth it I think. That's my advice to everyone. This is the 4th time we are building. We are making sure nothing gets passed us. I'm pretty sure Metricon has found us tuff to deal with. But you have to be like that. And when you get an inspector make sure you check their credentials as well as reviews. Cos some of them can be bad too.

Naama · Feb 28, 2017 5:46 pm

We received bad news from the council. They completely rejected our request for a 4m setback so we could have a nice backyard and said we need to have 8.15m setback which means we have a very very tiny back yard. I've been crying for hours and couldn't get the person who is in charge of these things on the phone- every time I called I was told he is on the phone...
It says in the papers we received that the decision is final but I'll try to talk to him myself, hopefully I'll be able to get him to answer me tomorrow.
what are we going to do with a huge front yard?? it's going to be expansive to do the driveway and I don't want to spend tons of money on a stupid front yard that we will only get to see when we are driving home for a few seconds every day and get to look at the tiny back yard from our main living space all day long. I can't believe they didn't even budge and gave us 6 meter, just a clear NO.

lizbf85 · Feb 28, 2017 5:52 pm

nikil

lizbf85

nikil

Hi Guys,

Can anyone tell me if they received these documents at contract time?

Council approved plans (stamped plans)
Builders Insurance contract of works.
Builders Public liability Insurance.

The bank require these documents before we can proceed with the mortgage.

I have just asked our BC and she said they won't be available until they commence the build?

She said that they are not available until they receive the building permit, The building surveyor won't issue the building permit until they receive developers approval.

I don't know what she means by developers approval? We are doing a KDR not building in a new development.

These documents are not available until we receive the building permit, this is available when we commence construction.mflksafkj

hmmm sounds familiar and working for the bank that is true.

The council approved stamp plans and the insurance only comes in after contract and everything is ready to go.
Permit follows after that. The developers approval might just mean the council approval perhaps?

I am not sure how the bank will release funds until all of that is held. id get the BC to elaborate?
As to get your funds you need to have signed your loan offer, and for that you need all of the above.

Thanks Liz,

They have provided the insurance today and like you said the stamped approval will not come until about a week before the build starts.. We just have to wait to see what the bank says about the demolition funds.

She came back to me yesterday to confirm we didn't require developer approval, which we knew anyway. She said this is the first house she has looked after that didn't require it so she wasn't aware. That's fine though. She said not having to get that will speed up the process.

Ah awesome! Fingers crossed for the bank part. I know we wouldn't produce funds without everything so i hope who ever is looking after you can work out a solution . I work for one of the big 4 and without security there isnt a solution for cash out prior.

Good luck. Let me know if u need any help!

lizbf85 · Feb 28, 2017 5:57 pm

Naama

We received bad news from the council. They completely rejected our request for a 4m setback so we could have a nice backyard and said we need to have 8.15m setback which means we have a very very tiny back yard. I've been crying for hours and couldn't get the person who is in charge of these things on the phone- every time I called I was told he is on the phone...
It says in the papers we received that the decision is final but I'll try to talk to him myself, hopefully I'll be able to get him to answer me tomorrow.
what are we going to do with a huge front yard?? it's going to be expansive to do the driveway and I don't want to spend tons of money on a stupid front yard that we will only get to see when we are driving home for a few seconds every day and get to look at the tiny back yard from our main living space all day long. I can't believe they didn't even budge and gave us 6 meter, just a clear NO.

That sucks. Same thing happened to us. Which council r u in? Was it a huge variance between neighbours?

We just accepted the fact that we had to build a decent fence in our front yard so that we could use it along with the back yard at different times and still have some privacy. I feel for you as i can sympathise totally.

nikil · Feb 28, 2017 6:04 pm

lizbf85

nikil

lizbf85

[quote="nikil"]Hi Guys,

Can anyone tell me if they received these documents at contract time?

Council approved plans (stamped plans)
Builders Insurance contract of works.
Builders Public liability Insurance.

The bank require these documents before we can proceed with the mortgage.

I have just asked our BC and she said they won't be available until they commence the build?

She said that they are not available until they receive the building permit, The building surveyor won't issue the building permit until they receive developers approval.

I don't know what she means by developers approval? We are doing a KDR not building in a new development.

These documents are not available until we receive the building permit, this is available when we commence construction.mflksafkj

hmmm sounds familiar and working for the bank that is true.

The council approved stamp plans and the insurance only comes in after contract and everything is ready to go.
Permit follows after that. The developers approval might just mean the council approval perhaps?

I am not sure how the bank will release funds until all of that is held. id get the BC to elaborate?
As to get your funds you need to have signed your loan offer, and for that you need all of the above.

Thanks Liz,

They have provided the insurance today and like you said the stamped approval will not come until about a week before the build starts.. We just have to wait to see what the bank says about the demolition funds.

She came back to me yesterday to confirm we didn't require developer approval, which we knew anyway. She said this is the first house she has looked after that didn't require it so she wasn't aware. That's fine though. She said not having to get that will speed up the process.

Ah awesome! Fingers crossed for the bank part. I know we wouldn't produce funds without everything so i hope who ever is looking after you can work out a solution . I work for one of the big 4 and without security there isnt a solution for cash out prior.

Good luck. Let me know if u need any help![/quote]

Thanks Liz I've sent you a message.

Naama · Feb 28, 2017 6:05 pm

lizbf85

Naama

We received bad news from the council. They completely rejected our request for a 4m setback so we could have a nice backyard and said we need to have 8.15m setback which means we have a very very tiny back yard. I've been crying for hours and couldn't get the person who is in charge of these things on the phone- every time I called I was told he is on the phone...
It says in the papers we received that the decision is final but I'll try to talk to him myself, hopefully I'll be able to get him to answer me tomorrow.
what are we going to do with a huge front yard?? it's going to be expansive to do the driveway and I don't want to spend tons of money on a stupid front yard that we will only get to see when we are driving home for a few seconds every day and get to look at the tiny back yard from our main living space all day long. I can't believe they didn't even budge and gave us 6 meter, just a clear NO.

That sucks. Same thing happened to us. Which council r u in? Was it a huge variance between neighbours?

We just accepted the fact that we had to build a decent fence in our front yard so that we could use it along with the back yard at different times and still have some privacy. I feel for you as i can sympathise totally. :([

/quote]
I'm with Hobsons Bay (Altona, Williamstown etc.) The house on our right has a very big setback but also a huge yard- it's a crumbling down two bedroom house, like most of the houses in that area, they are usually 2-3 bedrooms so they have a big front and back yard. But peoplr don't live like this anymore, people build bigger homes. the two lots next to us are empty lots, one used to be a tiny house with a big setback but was recently demolished. the one next to it is a 2 unit development with a small setback. If we need to appeal to the building board Victoria then we will definitely be looking at every single setback on our street and ask why they got it and we didn't.
It will push the site start but it's a reasonable thing to push for...

Liz, did you appeal the decision? if yes then how did it go? how long did it take you to get the appeal?

nikil · Feb 28, 2017 6:06 pm

Naama

We received bad news from the council. They completely rejected our request for a 4m setback so we could have a nice backyard and said we need to have 8.15m setback which means we have a very very tiny back yard. I've been crying for hours and couldn't get the person who is in charge of these things on the phone- every time I called I was told he is on the phone...
It says in the papers we received that the decision is final but I'll try to talk to him myself, hopefully I'll be able to get him to answer me tomorrow.
what are we going to do with a huge front yard?? it's going to be expansive to do the driveway and I don't want to spend tons of money on a stupid front yard that we will only get to see when we are driving home for a few seconds every day and get to look at the tiny back yard from our main living space all day long. I can't believe they didn't even budge and gave us 6 meter, just a clear NO.

How frustrating, especially to not even make a compromise. So easy for someone in a office somewhere to make this stupid decision in probably 30 seconds! Not considering the huge impact it has on someone.

I really hope you can get hold of someone to speak to and maybe speaking to an actual person and not looking at a piece of paper may make them change their decision.

Fingers crossed for you.

lizbf85 · Feb 28, 2017 6:14 pm

Naama

lizbf85

Naama

We received bad news from the council. They completely rejected our request for a 4m setback so we could have a nice backyard and said we need to have 8.15m setback which means we have a very very tiny back yard. I've been crying for hours and couldn't get the person who is in charge of these things on the phone- every time I called I was told he is on the phone...
It says in the papers we received that the decision is final but I'll try to talk to him myself, hopefully I'll be able to get him to answer me tomorrow.
what are we going to do with a huge front yard?? it's going to be expansive to do the driveway and I don't want to spend tons of money on a stupid front yard that we will only get to see when we are driving home for a few seconds every day and get to look at the tiny back yard from our main living space all day long. I can't believe they didn't even budge and gave us 6 meter, just a clear NO.

That sucks. Same thing happened to us. Which council r u in? Was it a huge variance between neighbours?

We just accepted the fact that we had to build a decent fence in our front yard so that we could use it along with the back yard at different times and still have some privacy. I feel for you as i can sympathise totally. :([

/quote]
I'm with Hobsons Bay (Altona, Williamstown etc.) The house on our right has a very big setback but also a huge yard- it's a crumbling down two bedroom house, like most of the houses in that area, they are usually 2-3 bedrooms so they have a big front and back yard. But peoplr don't live like this anymore, people build bigger homes. the two lots next to us are empty lots, one used to be a tiny house with a big setback but was recently demolished. the one next to it is a 2 unit development with a small setback. If we need to appeal to the building board Victoria then we will definitely be looking at every single setback on our street and ask why they got it and we didn't.
It will push the site start but it's a reasonable thing to push for...

Liz, did you appeal the decision? if yes then how did it go? how long did it take you to get the appeal?

Perhaps the blocks beside have had theirs approved prior and urs is still within the average set back of your neighborhood and street. It would be nice to get that explained other than just a big fat no!

We didnt because we were already 3 months delayed and applying for it again just to be knocked back wasn't worth it for us. We weren't hugely annoied as we wanted a nice front yard too. It can be frustrating though esp when youve had ur heart set on it. Good luck i hope u get some answers.

Waldorf_Grange_Build · Feb 28, 2017 7:51 pm

Naama

We received bad news from the council. They completely rejected our request for a 4m setback so we could have a nice backyard and said we need to have 8.15m setback which means we have a very very tiny back yard. I've been crying for hours and couldn't get the person who is in charge of these things on the phone- every time I called I was told he is on the phone...
It says in the papers we received that the decision is final but I'll try to talk to him myself, hopefully I'll be able to get him to answer me tomorrow.
what are we going to do with a huge front yard?? it's going to be expansive to do the driveway and I don't want to spend tons of money on a stupid front yard that we will only get to see when we are driving home for a few seconds every day and get to look at the tiny back yard from our main living space all day long. I can't believe they didn't even budge and gave us 6 meter, just a clear NO.

How frustrating. I would try and fight it and get evidence of all the shorter setbacks in your street. If all avenues are exhausted can you have a fenced in front yard with a path down the side linking it to the backyard? My current house has a larger front yard an practically no back yard. There are some ways to design it to get the best out of it but certainly not ideal.