Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 16, 2012 1:18 pm Hi all! I have been a lurker on this forum for some time. My partner and I are in the process of building, and we have found this forum invaluable when it comes to having your eyes open and knowing what to expect. I dont want to mention who we are building with, but we are doing a one-off design with a boutique builder. So far it has taken 9 months from when we bought the block, through design, bank dramas (dont get me started on the bloody banks), plans, contract and so on. We have just had the slab go down. Finally. So far the problems have mainly been people promising things will be done/organised in a certain timeframe, only to have that exceeded by months each time. That has been universal, from the brokers, to bank, to builder. Although frustrating, it at least has all been sorted now. Our slab went down, only to find out through the independant inspection that footings are missing and piping that was supposed to be installed in certain parts of the slab was never done. Im currently having a hard time getting the builder to admit that there is a problem, let alone fix it. They certainly havent agreed that they need to pay for any cost increases due to piping having to go through walls and ceiling instead of slab. Then I find out the bank has gone ahead and paid the slab invoice without our approval Thankfully they have cancelled that. I dont want them getting a cent until this is all sorted out. When I think of the fact that this is JUST the slab... what the hell is it going to be like during the other stages??? Im beginning to freak out a tad!!! I think Ill lose my mind by handover.... Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 2Jan 16, 2012 2:35 pm Ok...9 months isn't abnormal from buying a block to slab......but issues with pipes & footings? Hang in there! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 3Jan 16, 2012 4:04 pm ooow, so soon in. Not a good start. so lets paaarrrrtay instead. got to get better...(or carry on like this??!!) and we will just dance and sing and drink and in the end you will have a home that will be perfect!! all the best....hope they will fix it for you. Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 4Jan 16, 2012 4:38 pm Yes, Ive heard some people wait even longer than 9 months - I wouldnt mind the time it takes, if people were honest about how long things took in the first place. Hopefully things will run smoother with the next stage - Im not getting my hopes up tho. Ive just fully renovated a place, and if there is something Ive learnt many times over, its that people can be extremely talented at screwing up things you never thought it was possible to screw up! Keeping my temper and patience through it is the difficult bit! Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 5Feb 07, 2012 5:57 pm Well, 7 weeks after the slab went down, the brickwork has begun!!! YAY!!! They did deal with the issues regarding the slab, but it took a few weeks of pain. Ive got my fingers crossed this stage goes a bit smoother! Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 7Feb 08, 2012 10:32 am Thankyou! Me too. Here are some pics Ive uploaded: http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i114/ ... 090946.jpg http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i114/ ... 241523.jpg Showing the front right of the house - its on a corner block. http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i114/ ... 241185.jpg The back right corner, showing the door to the alfrasco, and the windows that will be around the pool, looking into the lounge/dining/kitchen. Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 8Feb 08, 2012 1:49 pm Check out that blue sky. Where can one of them be found? Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 10Feb 29, 2012 3:29 pm My builder is Kerdels. And Im not impressed. The slab stage was finally sorted out after I had to send a bulk irate email to the salesperson, finance department, building brokers etc. Then client liason pulled their finger out and sent the information needed, its a shame it took that to get anywhere. Then the bank accidentally paid for that stage twice, and the builder wont give the money back, the bank insists they have to. So Ive been the "go between" for both of them - not fun. The Kerdels finance lady has been very helpful and calm through the several weeks of to-ing and fro-ing, I dont know how she does it. The brickwork stage finished two weeks ago, we gave them the independant inspectors report over a week ago. A pier is in the wrong place, the entrace to the walk-in shower is the wrong size, and the piping for the ducted vaccuuming (that was forgotten in the first stage) was forgotten again and not installed in the wall cavity. For 3 days I got emails saying "the site supervisor will call you today" until I cracked it this morning and said that if he cant find the 3 minutes required to sort this stuff out, get someone else to call me - we arent paying for this stage until the problems are fixed. When he did call he was extremely agressive, to the point of yelling. He said that he recieved the report, but coudnt open it and therefore didnt know what the issues were so has not fixed them (despite the email it was attached to detailing what the issues were). He claimed he never knew that pipes were supposed to go in the wall and that the risers were never delivered to site (you have no idea the number of emails between myself, client liason and the construction manager about this exact topic. I sent updated plans to show where they go, I made sure the riser was delivered myself, and it was still there last weekend, propped against the bedroom wall!). He said the pier was "probably moved to a better spot", and that the supervisor probably thought the ensuite entrace was the wrong size due to allowance for plaster. At one stage he sneered "I bet the independant supervisor didnt notice that we used different dimensions on a section of the entrance hall to the plans, did he?". Seriously... When I asked if he could check these things out and let me know when they will be fixed he got very aggro. He spent the whole conversation telling me how nothing was his responsibility, and blaming client liason, vacuuming company, concrete company etc etc. All I want is to know when things will be fixed so we can tell the bank to pay. Thats it. Uuughh, talk about stress... Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 11Feb 29, 2012 3:33 pm OMG!! That is so unprofessional to say the least ... why is it "our" fault when "they" stuff up? Hope you feel better after sharing your rant ... we all understand to some extent.... hope it gets worked out and things improve For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 12Feb 29, 2012 3:45 pm sorry..who is the customer here? disgusting. and why do you have to continually chase them. They dont sound like they are very competent. good luck Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 13Feb 29, 2012 4:03 pm Wow just went on their site and did a search in their homes section - put in my search fields and got the message "Sorry Brah No Results" Umm how can a company say they are so professional when using that kind of language? I am quite young and do admit to using "bro" in my day to day speak but when dealing with a business that you are paying upwards of 200k+ dollars to you would expect professionalism no matter what. Sorry that was somewhat unrelated to your problems OP but just needed to let that one out. Oct 10 - Council Approval Oct 23 - Site scrape Oct 29 - Footings and Prelay OCT 30 - Slabbed Nov 6 - Bricks Delivered Nov 13 - Brickwork started Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 14Mar 01, 2012 12:36 pm You poor thing! I have no advice... just sympathy. It's completely unacceptable that they would behave that way and that your SS would basically deny all knowledge of what is going on on site!? Hang in there. Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 15Mar 06, 2012 4:48 pm Well, we are still waiting! I got my partner to email the site supervisor, as I dont want to deal with this anymore, and he got the same story - not my responsibility. We are still waiting to hear when things will be fixed - two main issues. They are now threatening to charge us interest, despite the fact that they admit the delay in payment is not our fault!! God help us with the next stage, I cant imagine it will be any easier. Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 16Mar 06, 2012 5:00 pm You poor thing what a nightmare, I can't believe this is still not getting resolved. If they are not prepared to do anything about the problems then maybe you should approach the ombudsman or something? It's just insane. Perhaps seeing as the SS is being so extremely unhelpful you go back to the company first and demand proper contact be made and the issues rectified. My fingers are crossed for you Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 17Mar 15, 2012 4:20 pm We now have the roof on! It took a few weeks to get things fixed, but finally its on track again. We requested an onsite meeting with the SS, but were informed that there has been a "reshuffle" and so we now have a new SS (the request for a meeting was ignored). We just had the roof inspected and there is a missing flume and no flashings to the dining, family and kitchen. We have gone ahead and paid for it anyway, but will keep an eye on it and see if it gets fixed. Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 19Apr 04, 2012 1:25 pm Well, the missing bits from the roof stage still havent been fixed. Silly me for paying instead of insisting it all get fixed first. Currently we have the render done inside and outside, ceilings and cornices up as well. Im hoping some plastering got done this week. I just emailed client liason asking for an extimated completion date, since we are so close to lockup stage now. We were told that it is not possible. I then asked if I could get even just a month by which it should be done, no reply. Is it normal for builders to not give any indication of when a house will be completed by? Re: How much stress can one person stand? We will soon find 20Apr 04, 2012 2:29 pm Cantsay it is normal the builder will not give you an estimated completion date on writing (As long as they are on track with the contract build time) Saying that if you have a friendly SS he may give you few hints while you meet him onsite (not on email or sms). All the best with your build Orchid 4200 with Burbank: Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53034 House Built in 7 Months and 2 weeks Sorry! I'm new to this forum and have made a mistake in my posting! I'm looking for a structural solution to a stand alone wooden pickets fence with no structural rail… 1 3290 https://form.jotform.com/240284569218058 Please spare a moment to fill out this survey form for a project. You stand a chance to win a digital gift voucher. Legitimate… 0 2822 4 14292 |