Porter Davis homes

sunshine83 · Jun 12, 2017 5:35 am

I've been very quiet on here lately, had a baby 9 weeks ago, jugging her and my toddler, and also found out a few weeks after I had her we are relocating to the USA for my husband's work.
I'm sad we won't be living in our new house for 2-5 years so have checked out a bit emotionally on the house.
We had our lock up inspection with Darbecca 2 weeks ago and there were so many issues Darbecca said it wasn't at lock at stage and we are re doing the inspection. Also very little had been fixed from the previous inspection.
PD's own 'independent' inspection picked up very little. I can't encourage people enough to get an independent building inspector.
My husband has refused to pay until they've fixed all the issues, our SS tried to push us to pay and husband had to escalate it as he's concerned about the quality of the build. Not impressed with PD's quality control but looks like things are being fixed now.
Anyway that's our update on our plaza B.
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Waldorf_Grange_Build · Jun 12, 2017 7:11 am

sunshine83

I've been very quiet on here lately, had a baby 9 weeks ago, jugging her and my toddler, and also found out a few weeks after I had her we are relocating to the USA for my husband's work.
I'm sad we won't be living in our new house for 2-5 years so have checked out a bit emotionally on the house.
We had our lock up inspection with Darbecca 2 weeks ago and there were so many issues Darbecca said it wasn't at lock at stage and we are re doing the inspection. Also very little had been fixed from the previous inspection.
PD's own 'independent' inspection picked up very little. I can't encourage people enough to get an independent building inspector.
My husband has refused to pay until they've fixed all the issues, our SS tried to push us to pay and husband had to escalate it as he's concerned about the quality of the build. Not impressed with PD's quality control but looks like things are being fixed now.
Anyway that's our update on our plaza B.
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Wow what an emotional time with baby, and then news of the overseas move. Such big transitions, no wonder you have checked out a bit on the house.

We also recently delayed paying our invoice asking for more defects to be rectified. It's such a shame that we have to micro manage each stage of the build with our independent inspectors just to get a house that is built to Australian building standards.

When do you move overseas? Will the house be finalized before the move?

- View my blog at www.waldorfgrangebuild.wordpress.com

Hurrow · Jun 12, 2017 7:24 am

sunshine83

I've been very quiet on here lately, had a baby 9 weeks ago, jugging her and my toddler, and also found out a few weeks after I had her we are relocating to the USA for my husband's work.
I'm sad we won't be living in our new house for 2-5 years so have checked out a bit emotionally on the house.
We had our lock up inspection with Darbecca 2 weeks ago and there were so many issues Darbecca said it wasn't at lock at stage and we are re doing the inspection. Also very little had been fixed from the previous inspection.
PD's own 'independent' inspection picked up very little. I can't encourage people enough to get an independent building inspector.
My husband has refused to pay until they've fixed all the issues, our SS tried to push us to pay and husband had to escalate it as he's concerned about the quality of the build. Not impressed with PD's quality control but looks like things are being fixed now.
Anyway that's our update on our plaza B.
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

Wow so that's some pretty massive changes for you then! Hope all goes well with the baby and the move!

3rin · Jun 12, 2017 8:59 am

You should go to your council yourself and ask them for a dispensation form. In the description, say you are wanting an approval for 55% site coverage for your new house. Need to send floorplan, site plan and elevation plans with the form and pay approx $300.
Approval will be faster if you get your neighbours to sign the plans. Mine took 2 weeks to get approved else can take 6 weeks if council had to get approval from your neighbour on your behalf.

priya2015 · Jun 12, 2017 5:00 pm

hi has anyone used the bolero rustic coffee as flooring or is there a display where i can have a look of the flooring or something similar in colour.thanks

Waldorf_Grange_Build · Jun 12, 2017 6:54 pm

priya2015

hi has anyone used the bolero rustic coffee as flooring or is there a display where i can have a look of the flooring or something similar in colour.thanks

You can see larger samples at the supplier but it is not a whole room effect like in a display home https://www.hynesgroup.com.au/products/ ... lero-range

fademan · Jun 13, 2017 1:57 am

3rin

You should go to your council yourself and ask them for a dispensation form. In the description, say you are wanting an approval for 55% site coverage for your new house. Need to send floorplan, site plan and elevation plans with the form and pay approx $300.
Approval will be faster if you get your neighbours to sign the plans. Mine took 2 weeks to get approved else can take 6 weeks if council had to get approval from your neighbour on your behalf.

Thanks mate...we have ended up focusing our attention on the Madison 45 instead. It seemed like you did this, and then porter Davis were ok to continue huh?

priya2015 · Jun 13, 2017 4:16 pm

hi waldorf
yes i have seen samples but wanted to look at the dark floors and kind of visualise how it will look.But thank you for the link will have a look at that

cheers

3rin · Jun 13, 2017 6:07 pm

fademan

3rin

You should go to your council yourself and ask them for a dispensation form. In the description, say you are wanting an approval for 55% site coverage for your new house. Need to send floorplan, site plan and elevation plans with the form and pay approx $300.
Approval will be faster if you get your neighbours to sign the plans. Mine took 2 weeks to get approved else can take 6 weeks if council had to get approval from your neighbour on your behalf.

Thanks mate...we have ended up focusing our attention on the Madison 45 instead. It seemed like you did this, and then porter Davis were ok to continue huh?

Yes we went with Vancouver 33, got council approval for over 40% site coverage but at the end decided we needed more room so changed to Forsyth 38. Madison is such a great house! All the best!

Hurrow · Jun 16, 2017 1:24 pm

So what's new with everyone this week?

Our block settled earlier this week after being delayed from last week so we own some land now! We got knocked back for developer approval but only over some little stuff by the sounds of things all of which will be rectified pretty quickly hopefully, then we can move on to council. Hopefully we are still on track to start construction in late July!

nikil · Jun 16, 2017 1:49 pm

Our planning permit saga continues, I submited everything online and paid for the permit, a week later it was alocated to a planner to look after. I tried to get hold of her a few times with no luck as she was away! When I finally spoke to her Wednesday, I explained the situation, that when I contacted the council in January to organise this planning permit I was told we do not require one. She then said, well I don't think you need one either.. She said the only reason she think we may have needed one would be if the build was over 65% of the block as there is a requirement for 35% garden. We are no where near this, our block is 1020sq. I think we have 50% garden at least. She said she will confirm with the senior planner and get back to me that day (Wednesday) or Thursday at the latest. It's Friday now and I still haven't heard anything, and no answer when I call her. This is delaying us as PD are ready to go, we can't get the building permit until we get to the bottom of the planning permit issue.

This is what these people do all day everyday, why is it so hard to get an answer!!!

Hurrow · Jun 16, 2017 5:05 pm

nikil

Our planning permit saga continues, I submited everything online and paid for the permit, a week later it was alocated to a planner to look after. I tried to get hold of her a few times with no luck as she was away! When I finally spoke to her Wednesday, I explained the situation, that when I contacted the council in January to organise this planning permit I was told we do not require one. She then said, well I don't think you need one either.. She said the only reason she think we may have needed one would be if the build was over 65% of the block as there is a requirement for 35% garden. We are no where near this, our block is 1020sq. I think we have 50% garden at least. She said she will confirm with the senior planner and get back to me that day (Wednesday) or Thursday at the latest. It's Friday now and I still haven't heard anything, and no answer when I call her. This is delaying us as PD are ready to go, we can't get the building permit until we get to the bottom of the planning permit issue.

This is what these people do all day everyday, why is it so hard to get an answer!!!

It never ceases to amaze me how bad some people are at the things they are paid to do.

It would also help if you could get consistent answers on questions rather than asking two different people and getting three different answers as you seem to do with a lot of organisations and pretty much any government agency I've ever talked to. It sounds like you should have absolutely no problems with your build but your council needs to pull their finger out and give you that definite answer rather than stuffing about. How hard can it be?

nikil · Jun 16, 2017 5:08 pm

I got an email from her around half an hour ago saying we do require a planning permit. She is working on it now however it can take up to 60 days. Hopefully it won't take than long. It's a completely unnecessary delay that could have easily been avoided had they given me the correct information in January.

Hurrow · Jun 16, 2017 5:16 pm

nikil

I got an email from her around half an hour ago saying we do require a planning permit. She is working on it now however it can take up to 60 days. Hopefully it won't take than long. It's a completely unnecessary delay that could have easily been avoided had they given me the correct information in January.

Jeezus. It'd be great to deal with professionals, it'd be ok to deal with amateurs, but most of the time we seem to be dealing with clowns.

I really hope they sort it out quickly for you, it'd be nice to think they will prioritise given it's their stuff up but this is a council we're talking about so probably not.

nikil · Jun 16, 2017 5:18 pm

That's the only hope we have at the moment is that they might rush it a bit, considering it's their fault. I just want to see some sort of start on the building side. I could never have imagined how slow the process is.

sinbox · Jun 16, 2017 9:16 pm

nikil

That's the only hope we have at the moment is that they might rush it a bit, considering it's their fault. I just want to see some sort of start on the building side. I could never have imagined how slow the process is.

Sorry to hear about your delays nikil. Have you checked if any sort of expedited processing is available from your council?

nikil · Jun 16, 2017 10:29 pm

sinbox

nikil

That's the only hope we have at the moment is that they might rush it a bit, considering it's their fault. I just want to see some sort of start on the building side. I could never have imagined how slow the process is.

Sorry to hear about your delays nikil. Have you checked if any sort of expedited processing is available from your council?

Thanks sinbox, What's expedited processing?? I haven't heard of it?

Renman · Jun 16, 2017 10:36 pm

Sorry to hear about your delay.

Lucky with Metricon and the suburb that we are building. We don't have to go to council for permit approval, an independent body does it.
It's an extremely efficient approval process if the house meets all the requirements at the drafting stage.

nikil · Jun 17, 2017 10:04 am

That sounds like a much better process Renman!

nesschi · Jun 18, 2017 1:22 pm

Hi all,

We are building a Kew 28 with PD and would like to hear some opinions on Bolero laminate vs Cat. 1 Tiles.

We like the wood look you can get with the laminate without the price tag of real boards, but reading reviews on the Product Review website about Unique Timber Flooring was really off-putting... On the other hand, I have read a few blogs and others seems to be really happy with them and they are hard wearing.
So has anyone actually got Bolero laminate? Have you had issues with bubbling and squeaky boards? How did PD handle issues?

Cat. 1 Tiles - why are they Cat 1, do they wear out or chip easily?

We've got our colour selection this week, so would love to hear others opinions before making the decision