Porter Davis homes

Roshi · Jul 12, 2011 1:33 pm

George's

Roshi,
our PCI was supposed to be the 23rd of June with handover on the 28th, as the SS was being pushed to complete by EOFY. We had our NHI independent inspection and then PCI, there were 30 items on the inspection, which were reasonably picky (which is good). PCI we listed a lot of paint defects but not too much else, 15 items in total. Scheduled for Final inspection and settleent on Friday. ::lol::

All I need is the Cert of Occupancy so I can get my loan finalised so that I can pay PD ::frown::

Then the fun begins, as we are installing flooring after handover.

Hi George,

Good to hear that you didn’t have heaps of defects & specially the major onces.

In my case there were some major defects such as:
- Removing the carpet in an area on the first floor due to the sound it produced when walking on that area. The floor board has to remove & fix this area.
- Powder room & Master Ensuite the caesarstone bench tops has to be replaced as the cuts for the basins are wider.
- Had to replace few windows & the bi-fold door glasses due to scratching
- Have to replace a plaster board in the walking robe as there is a big hole
- Problems with the tiling – Majorly when placing the Mosaics in the wash rooms – This had to redo.

Did you get a chance to walk into the house to verify the defects after the PCI? or will it be on the day of settlement.

Hope you are soo excited as the handover will be on Friday... I have been advised by the CSC that the Certificate of Occupancy will be forwarded to me 2 weeks back, still she is silent on it.

Good Luck & keep us posted....

MelNRob · Jul 12, 2011 1:33 pm

J & C

Is it best time to build a fence before the constructions starts or after ?

Do it after J & C. We'll be replacing one side afterwards and i'm glad we decided to wait...scaffolding is butting up right against it and their is crud all over it.

Wish our nice new shed/workshop that we put up 8 months before deciding to build could survive unscathed. Big dent in side of shed within first week of construction and now lots of mortar slops all over the front.

Rob can clean that up..lol

Roshi · Jul 12, 2011 5:13 pm

What is the action I should take????

Hi, I had the independent inspection with NHI & Kevin identified a defect on the roof at the Pre-plaster inspection. When I enquired from SS he said all the defects in that report has been fixed. At the PCI, I have requested from Kevin to verify the defect in the roof as we were unable to verify those items.

Kevin said one of the defects has not been fixed & he mentioned it in the Pre-Handover inspection report. As a result of this I have enquired from SS at the PCI & he said that it is not a defect & he has received a letter from an authority specifying the cause.

As we are not aware of the building standards, I requested for this letter from SS & few days back I forwarded it to Kevin. This afternoon Kevin said that the documentation confirms that it must be done.

I simply have no idea what to do now, coz Kevin says it is a defect & SS says it is not....
Could you please advise me what I should do at this stage.

For your information the defects is:

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flagstaffIV · Jul 12, 2011 7:25 pm

Team PD

karmaz

Mel, with PD again, this time in Pakenham - completely looney hey? Not sure as yet, still *thinking* about it. The house is a relatively small 16 sq. - I'd like to see a house that size before signing up. Does anyone think a 16sq 3 br, 2 bathroom house is tiny?

Hi karmaz,
I understand that you’re thinking about building again? I want to let you know we have display houses in Wollert that would be around the 16 sq size that you are thinking about, they are part of our Smart Living range, here is the Display Information http://www.porterdavis.com.au/#/display ... eucalypt_s . I’d like to hear what you think of the displays if you go. Cheers, Ebony

Awesome!!

karmaz

Thanks all for your feedback - really appreciate it. I've been thinking about it a bit more and wondering if we have the time to do this again. Still in two minds, but leaning towards buying an established house now; one being that working full time doesnt give me much opportunity to keep an eye on the build esp as it is further afield from where we are. Also, the details that the sales consultant at the display home gave me dont match the quote that was sent, and am reluctant to start battling this all over again.........

Good luck Karmaz, have to agree with you, I'd buy established too.

rabbs · Jul 12, 2011 7:44 pm

Hi Guys,

Im new to the forum! Just looking to build the Montorse 19 at Clyde. Does anyone have pics of the Coburn facade currently being built?

building1 · Jul 12, 2011 7:54 pm

Roshi

What is the action I should take????

Hi, I had the independent inspection with NHI & Kevin identified a defect on the roof at the Pre-plaster inspection. When I enquired from SS he said all the defects in that report has been fixed. At the PCI, I have requested from Kevin to verify the defect in the roof as we were unable to verify those items.

Kevin said one of the defects has not been fixed & he mentioned it in the Pre-Handover inspection report. As a result of this I have enquired from SS at the PCI & he said that it is not a defect & he has received a letter from an authority specifying the cause.

As we are not aware of the building standards, I requested for this letter from SS & few days back I forwarded it to Kevin. This afternoon Kevin said that the documentation confirms that it must be done.

I simply have no idea what to do now, coz Kevin says it is a defect & SS says it is not....
Could you please advise me what I should do at this stage.

For your information the defects is:

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

We also had the chipboard not being supported properly as a defect and it was fixed before handover.
Anything that was listed if our SS disagreed we asked him to supply official documentation to support his argument (and not from his bossed but from suppliers or government bodies).

J & C · Jul 12, 2011 10:40 pm

Thanks to all that have replied back to my query, we are hoping your comments will be of help to others reading this forum too.

Team PD · Jul 13, 2011 10:34 am

rabbs

Hi Guys,

Im new to the forum! Just looking to build the Montorse 19 at Clyde. Does anyone have pics of the Coburn facade currently being built?

Hi rabbs,
Welcome to the forum. The Montrose is lovely design, especially with the theatre space! I’m sure you’ve noticed that the forum is a great place to get honest and open feedback and advice from other members. Be sure to check out our blog on the PD home page, this also has a load of Q&A's and informative topics - http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/. Also, feel free to ask me any questions you may have along the way. Goodluck with everything and keep us posted on what you decide. ::lol::

Cheers, Ebony

Team PD · Jul 13, 2011 10:50 am

Wateman

Hi Everyone,

My partner and I have just put a deposit on our first home - a Porter Davis house & land package out here in Pakenham, the Eden Brook estate. It is one of the smaller (eAccess) houses - Montrose 19.

We are only in the very early stages, but so far things have felt great. We have recently dealt with a couple of other smaller builders and information that took us 3-4 weeks to get out of the previous builders, we already have within 2 days of the initial deposit.

Our last experience with a previous builder and land developer was heartbreaking and nearly put us off building all together (put a holding deposit on a package, 4 weeks later had developer come out, sign contracts and take rest of 10% deposit, got a little excited, then the next morning had a phone call saying that block (the last of the size we wanted) was actually sold months ago but they didn't update the spreadsheet). We are still trying to get back one of the initial $500 deposits back!

I must say, reading this thread has scared me a little! Now to be honest I'm not too worried about the negative feedback people have given regarding building, only because I have been reading a lot of forums and reviews on many different builders, and I don't think I have seen one that doesn't have complaints in it.

What does scare me is the amounts people are saying they had to pay for extras! Now we are prepared to pay more than what was in the base price, we want to add a few things and I know it will cost, but I'm a little scared that this could get out of hand quickly. We are looking to add things like;
-an alfresco (priced at $5,100 in the booklet we received, but I have heard that doesn't include the slab that you must get?)
-Maybe an extra gas connection to the alfresco
-a solid internal access door from the garage
-driveway & front landscaping (I was told roughly $7000, anybody else had this, is it worth the price?)
-cavity sliding doors to a BIR
-doors to WIR + ensuite (anybody have an opinion on this? I notice a few houses with no doors to WIR or ensuites)
-plenty of extra power points, tv points and data point (it is a FTTH estate)

To be honest we really aren't looking to upgrade much else, maybe just a nicer underlay in the carpet (we haven't looked at Hopetoun yet, so that could change, especially if our parents come along, I swear they enjoy this more than us). Can anybody give me a rough idea on any of the pricing for things, are we going to be in for a bad shock when it comes time for contracts?

Hi Wateman,
Glad to see you on the forum

I am happy to hear that you'll be building with Porter Davis. The Montrose is a great choice which I'm sure you'll be happy with. It’s great to know that you’ve been reading the forum for a while and I’m sure you know that it’s a great place to get advice and help from other members like tstr1a, who’s been really helpful in supplying you some prices. I’m also here to assist where possible as well so please feel free to ask me questions. Be sure to keep us updated with your progress. Cheers, Ebony

building1 · Jul 13, 2011 11:07 am

Wateman

Hi Everyone,

My partner and I have just put a deposit on our first home - a Porter Davis house & land package out here in Pakenham, the Eden Brook estate. It is one of the smaller (eAccess) houses - Montrose 19.

We are only in the very early stages, but so far things have felt great. We have recently dealt with a couple of other smaller builders and information that took us 3-4 weeks to get out of the previous builders, we already have within 2 days of the initial deposit.

Our last experience with a previous builder and land developer was heartbreaking and nearly put us off building all together (put a holding deposit on a package, 4 weeks later had developer come out, sign contracts and take rest of 10% deposit, got a little excited, then the next morning had a phone call saying that block (the last of the size we wanted) was actually sold months ago but they didn't update the spreadsheet). We are still trying to get back one of the initial $500 deposits back!

I must say, reading this thread has scared me a little! Now to be honest I'm not too worried about the negative feedback people have given regarding building, only because I have been reading a lot of forums and reviews on many different builders, and I don't think I have seen one that doesn't have complaints in it.

What does scare me is the amounts people are saying they had to pay for extras! Now we are prepared to pay more than what was in the base price, we want to add a few things and I know it will cost, but I'm a little scared that this could get out of hand quickly. We are looking to add things like;
-an alfresco (priced at $5,100 in the booklet we received, but I have heard that doesn't include the slab that you must get?)
-Maybe an extra gas connection to the alfresco
-a solid internal access door from the garage
-driveway & front landscaping (I was told roughly $7000, anybody else had this, is it worth the price?)
-cavity sliding doors to a BIR
-doors to WIR + ensuite (anybody have an opinion on this? I notice a few houses with no doors to WIR or ensuites)
-plenty of extra power points, tv points and data point (it is a FTTH estate)

To be honest we really aren't looking to upgrade much else, maybe just a nicer underlay in the carpet (we haven't looked at Hopetoun yet, so that could change, especially if our parents come along, I swear they enjoy this more than us). Can anybody give me a rough idea on any of the pricing for things, are we going to be in for a bad shock when it comes time for contracts?

Hi Wateman ::lol::

We've just finished building with PD (Prestige) and overall it was a great experience for us.
Just remember any builder will charge you for upgrades, by memory the access door from the garage isn't much, I haven't seen what they offer in the way of driveway or landscaping but there is a guy that has been recommended to us whose doing our driveway outside as I type, he's doing exposed agg out the front, we do have a triple garage and a wider front path and he's charging 5.5k for that which is a really good price, when you consider PD would most likely offer plain concrete and honestly I don't think they'd do as good a job as this guy is doing right now.
Cavity sliders, we added one cavity slider to our WIR and the cost was $654, and extra power points, I can't remember.
We also upgraded carpet underlay to the top type (totally worth the $754 it cost for all carpeted areas ::wink::

)
Good luck in your build

eli-kay123 · Jul 13, 2011 1:49 pm

J & C

Is it best time to build a fence before the constructions starts or after ?

After, otherwise there is a high chance the builders are sure to damage it whilst building.

eli-kay123 · Jul 13, 2011 2:11 pm

Wateman

Hi Everyone,

My partner and I have just put a deposit on our first home - a Porter Davis house & land package out here in Pakenham, the Eden Brook estate. It is one of the smaller (eAccess) houses - Montrose 19.

We are only in the very early stages, but so far things have felt great. We have recently dealt with a couple of other smaller builders and information that took us 3-4 weeks to get out of the previous builders, we already have within 2 days of the initial deposit.

Our last experience with a previous builder and land developer was heartbreaking and nearly put us off building all together (put a holding deposit on a package, 4 weeks later had developer come out, sign contracts and take rest of 10% deposit, got a little excited, then the next morning had a phone call saying that block (the last of the size we wanted) was actually sold months ago but they didn't update the spreadsheet). We are still trying to get back one of the initial $500 deposits back!

I must say, reading this thread has scared me a little! Now to be honest I'm not too worried about the negative feedback people have given regarding building, only because I have been reading a lot of forums and reviews on many different builders, and I don't think I have seen one that doesn't have complaints in it.

What does scare me is the amounts people are saying they had to pay for extras! Now we are prepared to pay more than what was in the base price, we want to add a few things and I know it will cost, but I'm a little scared that this could get out of hand quickly. We are looking to add things like;
-an alfresco (priced at $5,100 in the booklet we received, but I have heard that doesn't include the slab that you must get?)
-Maybe an extra gas connection to the alfresco
-a solid internal access door from the garage
-driveway & front landscaping (I was told roughly $7000, anybody else had this, is it worth the price?)
-cavity sliding doors to a BIR
-doors to WIR + ensuite (anybody have an opinion on this? I notice a few houses with no doors to WIR or ensuites)
-plenty of extra power points, tv points and data point (it is a FTTH estate)

To be honest we really aren't looking to upgrade much else, maybe just a nicer underlay in the carpet (we haven't looked at Hopetoun yet, so that could change, especially if our parents come along, I swear they enjoy this more than us). Can anybody give me a rough idea on any of the pricing for things, are we going to be in for a bad shock when it comes time for contracts?

For PD to provide M class waffle slab for rear alfresco $2865
PD to provide M class waffle slab for portico $449
Bushfire Assesment Level Report $250
Temp fencing front, rear, and left hand side $1490
Added powder room with Porcher Heron basin and Posh Bristol Basin Tapware and 1400mm wide shadowline vanity unit + Cat 1 tiling $1387, (we upgraded tiles after this)
Added 9ft (2740mm) high ceilings in lieu of 2590mm $3718
Closed the Games room up to form a 5th bedroom with double built in robe $1355
Added linen/broom cupboard in laundry by relocating WIR/Laundry wall by 300mm $550
2100mmx2990mm wide stained timber 3 stacker sliding door to alfresco $3683
21 x 2040mm high corinthian atherton 4 panel doors in lieu of standard flush panel $1617
1x 2040mm high x 820 wide stained corinthian WIN 40 with clear bevelled glass to study $741
1x Lockwood Nexion Velocity Summit L1 Mechanical Lockset to Front Entry in lieu of standard $167
2x lockwood Paradigm 005 round deadbolt for laundry external door and garage access door $264
1 x lockwood velocity summit L1 privacy set in lieu of passage set $48
1 x laundry external door 2040 x 820mm painted corinthian interblind IBP2 $651
Colourbond downpipes in lieu of standard zincalume $608
Cat 2 Tudor roof tiles to house and garage in lieu of standard $1110
Extended mirror in main bathroom $91
1 x 425mm x 425mm x 90mm tiled niche in main bathroom $165
1 x 425 x 1025 x 90mm tiled niche to ensuite $465
4 x decorative columns as per Waldorf (Williams Landing) $404
Blum soft close to kitchen base doors and drawers in lieu of standard $1478
26 x Laminex upgrade handles Part No: 935379 $494
4 x Laminex Upgrade Handles Part No: 935378 to pot drawer in lieu of standard $76
1 x opti-glass/starfire glass splash back in lieu of promo splashback $876
Cat 3 ceasar stone to both kitchen bench tops in lieu of standard $1351
1 x 20mm cat 1 caesar stone to bathroom vanity top incl 20mm thick edging in lieu of standard laminate $316 Ensuite is $568
1 x kickplate to suit Blanco 900mm standing oven $162
1 x overhead fan with light installed in alfresco $456
1 x Mizu 1500 wall mixer to Master Ensuite shower and bathroom shower in lieu of standard $364
1 x Porcher Vallo Vessel basin and 1 Mizu 1500 sink mixer to bathroom vanity in lieu of standard tapware and basin $128
Our electrical came up to around $4000

-doors to WIR + ensuite (anybody have an opinion on this? I notice a few houses with no doors to WIR or ensuites)

We put doors on our WIR and ensuite. The 2 panel and 4 panel doors we $77 each. It's up to you if you want doors. I've put them in because if the WIR is messy I can just shut the door and same with the ensuite. If you are in the ensuite late at night or early in the morning and the other partner is in bed you can shut the door so the light doesn't shine in the bedroom or if you have the hair dryer going you can shut the door so less noise gets out also for that added privacy if you want.

Chorlton · Jul 13, 2011 3:42 pm

building1

...but there is a guy that has been recommended to us whose doing our driveway outside as I type, he's doing exposed agg out the front, we do have a triple garage and a wider front path and he's charging 5.5k for that which is a really good price

Hi Building1,

What is the total m2 that he is concreting?

building1 · Jul 13, 2011 3:50 pm

Chorlton

building1

...but there is a guy that has been recommended to us whose doing our driveway outside as I type, he's doing exposed agg out the front, we do have a triple garage and a wider front path and he's charging 5.5k for that which is a really good price

Hi Building1

What is the total m2 that he is concreting?

I'll write his quote 66m2, front path with step, 25mpa concrete, crushed rock base, f52 steel reinforcing, sawcut expansion lines, 8 meter drain, 2 coats of concrete sealer ($5100)

Excavation with one load removed, less for excavation if dirt spread on block ($380)

Chorlton · Jul 13, 2011 4:29 pm

building1

Chorlton

building1

...but there is a guy that has been recommended to us whose doing our driveway outside as I type, he's doing exposed agg out the front, we do have a triple garage and a wider front path and he's charging 5.5k for that which is a really good price

Hi Building1

What is the total m2 that he is concreting?

I'll write his quote 66m2, front path with step, 25mpa concrete, crushed rock base, f52 steel reinforcing, sawcut expansion lines, 8 meter drain, 2 coats of concrete sealer ($5100)

Excavation with one load removed, less for excavation if dirt spread on block ($380)

Thanks mate...... could you PM me his details please.....

I've contacted 4 concreters so far and none of them will even return my calls !!! Very frustrating :::

humble · Jul 13, 2011 5:16 pm

Chorlton

[

Thanks mate...... could you PM me his details please.....

I've contacted 4 concreters so far and none of them will even return my calls !!! Very frustrating :::

Me 2 please.. good price.

J & C · Jul 13, 2011 11:11 pm

How many copies of the contract did you'll receive ? We were given only one copy...that means the bank does not get an original copy...is this correct ?

Wateman · Jul 13, 2011 11:37 pm

Thanks Eli-kay123 and everyone else for all your help! It gives me a good idea of some of the costs we are up for.
I think we will get driveway done afterwards.. And PD have told me because of our block we don't need a slab for the alfresco, so maybe I'll get that tiled after too.

tstr1a · Jul 14, 2011 12:09 am

humble

Chorlton

[

Thanks mate...... could you PM me his details please.....

I've contacted 4 concreters so far and none of them will even return my calls !!! Very frustrating :::

Me 2 please.. good price.

Banks will accept a photocopy or a scanned copy sent via email

Roshi · Jul 14, 2011 11:27 am

J & C

How many copies of the contract did you'll receive ? We were given only one copy...that means the bank does not get an original copy...is this correct ?

Hi J & C,

In our case we got 2 copies of contract one for ourselves which is the original & the other was the photocopy set to be passed to the bank.

But if you have only one copy as tstr1 said just photocopy or scan & email, it is not a must to pass the original copy to the bank...