Porter Davis homes

9528 · Apr 04, 2017 10:41 am

Ashik_09

Hello All,

we finished our tender yesterday and paid the 3%.. We had two really good coordinators and were done by around 2 PM.

Two major surprises in the tender
1. Site Costs - Our SC had quoted 20K as site costs but based on the engineering drawings they came back with 28K (booom)
2. N3 Wind Rating - Have never heard of this until yesterday, another 7K gone

So, we are kinda 20K over our budget right now. But, I got to hand it to PD, they really did a fantastic job finalising our structural changes and helping us decide on few confusing stuff. As we were getting close to the arvo, most of our changes were included and they told us not to question when they give stuff for free

Over all it was a great day, hoping we get the site costs cut down post soil test and N3 and BAL removed before start. Huge savings then.

Hi Ashik,

Good to know you are travelling well with Tender. Do you mind sharing roughly how many structural changes were included, in other words, free of charge during the process? Thank you

Ashik_09 · Apr 04, 2017 10:50 am

9528

Hi Ashik,

Good to know you are travelling well with Tender. Do you mind sharing roughly how many structural changes were included, in other words, free of charge during the process? Thank you

Hi 9528,

Our key structural changes were adding a powder room - ~2K, extending our bedroom into home theatre and also re-arranging our WIR and ensuite - ~1.5K. Increasing the length of entry walkway and removing obstructions - free, changing door locations and sizes and types - free...

That is most of what I remember, but our plans have evolved and looks way different than the stock feng shui kitchen dunedin 29. it feels bigger and simpler with straight lines and bigger rooms.

dojrude · Apr 04, 2017 12:35 pm

For anyone interested in how quick Porter Davis are to resolve issues in the house once you take ownership - I'll have been in the house for 1yr on Thursday and I'm still waiting for issues that were identified at the 3 month inspection to be resolved.

Hurrow · Apr 04, 2017 12:48 pm

Ashik_09

Hello All,

we finished our tender yesterday and paid the 3%.. We had two really good coordinators and were done by around 2 PM.

Two major surprises in the tender
1. Site Costs - Our SC had quoted 20K as site costs but based on the engineering drawings they came back with 28K (booom)
2. N3 Wind Rating - Have never heard of this until yesterday, another 7K gone

So, we are kinda 20K over our budget right now. But, I got to hand it to PD, they really did a fantastic job finalising our structural changes and helping us decide on few confusing stuff. As we were getting close to the arvo, most of our changes were included and they told us not to question when they give stuff for free

Over all it was a great day, hoping we get the site costs cut down post soil test and N3 and BAL removed before start. Huge savings then.

I think for site costs SC's just put down an average figure with a bit of a margin for safety. But if there's something which is going to make it more difficult to build on, that average figure is going to be too low. There's no incentive for them to quote a high number because you might be put off by the cost, and realistically if they don't know what the site is like it's going to be pretty tough for them to come up with an accurate figure anyway.

I've never heard of an N3 wind rating, what is that?

Good luck with getting those costs down, we are hoping for the same thing with the BAL. We have a block of dirt behind us and the whole area will probably be developed in the next year or so, but at the moment we are apparently in a bushfire zone despite having nothing flammable there.

lizbf85 · Apr 04, 2017 12:51 pm

dojrude

For anyone interested in how quick Porter Davis are to resolve issues in the house once you take ownership - I'll have been in the house for 1yr on Thursday and I'm still waiting for issues that were identified at the 3 month inspection to be resolved.

Ive heard that too! Another member whome i speak to often is also in the same position. There works are extreme and have been on going for a year. Its been a nightmare for them. Floors walls ripped up. Its crazy.. when we were handed our post care booklet at our pci last week i had to laugh!!!

I just thought to myself that theres no way we are settling this friday until its all 100%.

I hope you get some resolution soon.

nikil · Apr 04, 2017 12:56 pm

Fingers crossed it's all good on Friday Liz! How long left until they meet the end for the contract days for the build?

I'm guess if it's coming up they will be quicker to fix any issues you might find.

lizbf85 · Apr 04, 2017 1:08 pm

nikil

Fingers crossed it's all good on Friday Liz! How long left until they meet the end for the contract days for the build?

I'm guess if it's coming up they will be quicker to fix any issues you might find.

Thanks! We are on track and all finished. The clean happened over the weekend. We have our cert of occupancy already and bank cheque ready to go. So its just a matter of showing up. Dont want to jinx it!

We still have a while i believe its june sometime. Explains why they havent really given a s! Remember how i mentioned our rediculas 287 day build time.
Weve got floors and blinds booked and all deliverys booked so its all feeling alot more real... i just cant get excited until those keys hit our hands friday and i crack tht bottle of verve at 8am ha

nikil · Apr 04, 2017 1:14 pm

I'll be thinking of you, well deserved bottle of V indeed!

We finally got our loan documents today but it will still be another few days if not a week before we can access the funds. CBA are so slow! We have got a slightly lower interest rate though so I guess that's a positive!

lizbf85 · Apr 04, 2017 1:19 pm

nikil

I'll be thinking of you, well deserved bottle of V indeed!

We finally got our loan documents today but it will still be another few days if not a week before we can access the funds. CBA are so slow! We have got a slightly lower interest rate though so I guess that's a positive!

Yes they are. It depends on the lender too. We also went with cba but was actually pretty easy and got our val done fairly quickly and before the cert of occupancy which was lucky. It came through Friday so was all sorted yesterday. Working for the bank that was my priority because i know how slow some of those teams are. Speak to your lender and ask them to escalate because it is possible to get funds faster.

Will keep you updated Friday!

Waldorf_Grange_Build · Apr 04, 2017 3:12 pm

sinbox

@Waldorf_Grange_Build What were your original site costs? (i.e over and above the base). In my case, I'm not seeing any refunds of the site costs - which is over 45K in my contract...

Or site costs have gone up and down along the way. Our initial sales consultant put in an allowance of about 28K in our quote but said it would be confirmed after they did the soil test.

At tender we were told $4,600 for excavation, $11,000 for slab upgrades, $2500 for services, $8500 for retaining walls, $1200 for local government. The BAL had been removed so it pretty much evened out and didn't change the overall quote much. Then the second soil test was done and months later the slab was deleted which meant we got the credit. So all in all our site costs ended up being less than the original guestimate that our sales consultant had factored in.

nikil · Apr 04, 2017 3:21 pm

Just spoke to Ausnet and out electrical pit is going to cost $5500 or if they are able to put it on the other side of the block it will be $4282 (depends on the neighbours brick wall).

I was really hoping it wouldn't be so expensive ☹️ and it's not as though there's any choice but to pay it.

lizbf85 · Apr 04, 2017 3:34 pm

nikil

Just spoke to Ausnet and out electrical pit is going to cost $5500 or if they are able to put it on the other side of the block it will be $4282 (depends on the neighbours brick wall).

I was really hoping it wouldn't be so expensive ☹️ and it's not as though there's any choice but to pay it.

Oh no that does sound excessive. I remember hearing about 3k when we stared that process. We eneded up having a new pit on our side due to the granny flat built at the back of our neighbors in recent years. Huge win for us because i have heard how long they take to get underway.

Unfortunately they are one of those things that have to be done with KDR. Hopefully you can make some of that cost up along the way.

AnnPerkins · Apr 04, 2017 7:51 pm

stayxtrue

Hi guys,

We are looking for some information. We have currently signed up with Henley as we built with them the first time however they have been delayed and back logged to the point that we have paid our deposits and now we have absolutely no contact or updates from them.

We are now looking at PD Rochdale, forsyth or charlton. My question is has anyone else built these house and how much did you end up spending?

As these houses are quite small we will be adding the alfresco and grand dining/living areas as we were going to build a 40 square house with henley so we will be looking to have close to the same square meterage. Some of the other thigns we are wanting to add other things like stone benches and the higher ceilings. How much have people spent with a similar style house?

Hi. We are building a Forsyth 35 with the 5th bedroom and alfresco (so it's actually 38 iirc). The fth brm and alfresco was $10,000. We raised the ceiling height on both storeys ($7500), got stone bench tops throughout, added eaves ($2500), galley kitchen,colorbond roof ($3000), evap cooling ($6000), double glazed windows (about $5000), heating upgrade, insulation upgrade, plus electrical upgrades ($8000), plus some other stuff like Cat 4 bricks ($4000). Base price of $235,000 went up by 100,000. I deleted their kitchen appliances (-$2500) and have bought our own ($11,000).

sinbox · Apr 04, 2017 11:38 pm

Waldorf_Grange_Build

sinbox

@Waldorf_Grange_Build What were your original site costs? (i.e over and above the base). In my case, I'm not seeing any refunds of the site costs - which is over 45K in my contract...

Or site costs have gone up and down along the way. Our initial sales consultant put in an allowance of about 28K in our quote but said it would be confirmed after they did the soil test.

At tender we were told $4,600 for excavation, $11,000 for slab upgrades, $2500 for services, $8500 for retaining walls, $1200 for local government. The BAL had been removed so it pretty much evened out and didn't change the overall quote much. Then the second soil test was done and months later the slab was deleted which meant we got the credit. So all in all our site costs ended up being less than the original guestimate that our sales consultant had factored in.

Thanks Waldorf_Grange_Build.

In the end it turns out the variation sent had a typo in it, and was referring to the report provided by the 6star energy report. We are having a rigid raft slab after all per the original site plans...

Madison40builder · Apr 05, 2017 9:52 pm

We are building the Madison 40 in Gisborne. I'm a long time lurker. The advice on this site has been invaluable. WoS appointment in a couple of weeks.

Hurrow · Apr 06, 2017 11:14 am

Madison40builder

We are building the Madison 40 in Gisborne. I'm a long time lurker. The advice on this site has been invaluable. WoS appointment in a couple of weeks.

Good luck, I hope it goes smoothly for you! Where are you in the process at the moment?

EllieJeffery · Apr 06, 2017 12:25 pm

Hi there,
I’m new to this but have been reading through a little. We are currently awaiting construction of our Bermuda 23 next month in Geelong. I’m wondering if anyone has the “Pure Malt” Cat 2 carpet in their home? It’s not displayed anywhere and the small sample at World Of Style is hard to go off.

Thanks

lizbf85 · Apr 06, 2017 12:50 pm

Ashik_09

9528

Hi Ashik,

Good to know you are travelling well with Tender. Do you mind sharing roughly how many structural changes were included, in other words, free of charge during the process? Thank you

Hi 9528,

Our key structural changes were adding a powder room - ~2K, extending our bedroom into home theatre and also re-arranging our WIR and ensuite - ~1.5K. Increasing the length of entry walkway and removing obstructions - free, changing door locations and sizes and types - free...

That is most of what I remember, but our plans have evolved and looks way different than the stock feng shui kitchen dunedin 29. it feels bigger and simpler with straight lines and bigger rooms.

sounds fantastic!! would love to see your plans. This was our second choice, and i absolutely loved this home

Score on all the freebies!

Ashik_09 · Apr 06, 2017 12:57 pm

lizbf85

sounds fantastic!! would love to see your plans. This was our second choice, and i absolutely loved this home

Score on all the freebies!

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That's the plan liz.. its a 14x32 lot

lizbf85 · Apr 06, 2017 3:13 pm

9528

Hi Liz, your pricing is not excessive. I sort recall you paid $330 for 2 hinged door cupboard over fridge. Yesterday at WoS appointment with Kitchen Culture, for the exact cabinets, I was quoted for $545.90 for Laminate finish. To get silk finish, there is an additional charge of $86.
It seems they charge whatever they like and transparency is virtually non existing.

Could anyone share how much they paid for overhead cupboard above fridge? Thanks guys

Yes that's correct, at the time i thought this was insane!! looking at the cost now though WOW i'm shocked.
Looking at the finish product though i must say my husband was right, the cabinet really finishes it!
It was worth it. The huge gap over the fridge def isn't a great look and not something i thought about at the time. I guess that's why they charge what they want