Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 09, 2012 10:34 am We signed and paid the 1000 in April done the colour selections 4 weeks later and then completed contracts in June which were not correct, it's taken another 3 weeks to get the variations sorted and now they are saying we need a dispensation for the back easement as the house doesnt fit ( mind you we had the house before the block and gave them the block to site before we purchased it and was told to go ahead and buy it because it fitted) we are in August and they are saying that it they will be on site end of this month depending on how long the dispensation takes to get back from the council!!! How long does it take once they start to build to keys? We have Christmas and Easter and if course January so in thinking we won't be in to may next year! What was your experience with Dennus Family Homes? So far slow! Hoping things pick up once on site! Re: Taking forever DFH 2Aug 09, 2012 11:02 am We are building with DFH as well and they are very renown for a super slow admin process. We paid a deposit with them in February, colour selection end of March and didnt get the contract ready to sign until June, was a very stressful time for us as we needed to sign by June 30 for the FHOG. We are also supposed to be commencing with our build at the end of this month... I have heard a 20-25 week build time is about the norm with DFH so we are hoping if they start end of this month we could be in Feb or early March (of course thats if everything goes to plan and there are no errors or issues) Re: Taking forever DFH 3Aug 09, 2012 11:11 am Thanks for your reply! I have also found that the upgraded carpet seems really expensive. We opted for a cat5. Did you get the standard range? Or upgraded? they are saying its an extra $4000 plus! Re: Taking forever DFH 4Aug 09, 2012 11:30 am The carpet was more than I thought it would be to upgrade which is why we didnt bother upgrading the carpet. We had already upgraded a number of other things so the better carpet didnt make the cut. We chose a carpet called Cascade Waters which is actually quite plush and soft being that it is in the Cat 1 range. Not like those other carpets in that range that tend to be hard and scratchy so we went with that. The floor tiles I chose at the colour selection and requested when we did the initial estimates were not even included in the contract so we had to do a variation for that and despite being told at the colour selection those tiles would not be any extra it actually came back as more. I didnt really make an issue out of it as I just would have got back 'what you are told is just an estimate etc etc'. Anyways I absolutley love those tiles and I was not changing so I just copped the extra cost. Oh and when we got the contract they had decided to add on evaporative cooling for $6000 despite us not even wanting the cooling (getting our cooling done after handover) I found that a bit of a laugh and just got them to take it off. So yeah not the best admin experience but we are past that now and so long as they build us a good house I will be happy. We are building the Hartley, which house design have you chosen? Re: Taking forever DFH 5Aug 09, 2012 11:53 am We are building the Hartley 361 love the layout actually saw one for sale when we were selling up and asked the agent who built it, now we are building it . Which Hartley are you building? We have added a freestandibg bath in the ensuite, I've got three small boys do being the only girl in the house I wanted my own " Girly space" lol! I know what you mean by not wanting to make an issue out of it. I've already queried the carpet and they said it was actually more then they had originally quoted but they will just leave it at the original quotes price... Sounds a bit suss to me but I can't be bothered arguing! In sure if I went to the supplier and made some calls I would find out the correct cost but then it will take more time and variations and paper work so I would rather just let it go so they can start already! Spoke to admin before looks like they are aiming for September now! Re: Taking forever DFH 6Aug 09, 2012 12:19 pm We are building the Hartley 322, just me and hubby at the moment so until we have our kids it will prob be too big lol. We absolutely love the design... We had considered changing builders when the contracts just kept getting delayed and we were worried we wouldnt sign in time for the First home owners grant but I just couldnt part with the Hartley design.. lucky it all worked out.. I so hear you about the girly space, my husband has claimed one of the bedrooms as his computer room and the back games room as his home theatre room with the giant screen and the speakers and what not so I have claimed the front formal lounge as my girly space.. This is all until we have our kids of course and then I am sure it will be taken over but ill enjoy it until then lol.. Shame the build isnt starting until September but it will be here before we know it the way the days are flying by Re: Taking forever DFH 7Aug 09, 2012 12:44 pm That's a Lovely design also, it's ironic after I posted that I got a call from administration again I think I've spoken to her 4 times today! They were waiting on a dispensation to come through they originally told us we needed to get two permits from the council which takes weeks and would hold up the start date, well she just called and said that we won't be needing them! So now they just have to wait on our bank then they can slot us in for this month! Let's hope the bank gets a move on, finally some good news I was stressing about the permits! Good luck with your home looking forward to seeing some pics if I could work out how to put them up I'd show you the colours we picked, we went for chocolates and whites for the kitchen! It's hard to see the big picture when it's in tiny little samples so hoping it comes together nicely Re: Taking forever DFH 8Aug 09, 2012 12:58 pm Thats great you no longer need the permits, hope the bank gets going for you quickly We have gone for chocolates and creams for our internal colours so kind of similar. How did you go for your external selections? I have been so up and down on the external colours I really hope it all comes together well. We have the Boral Mocha bricks with an ebony roof tile and monument garage door and front door and then the cream for the windows and fascia etc.. I was really worried it might be too dark but I think I am (mostly) at peace with it now after being yes and then no about it for so long, just excited to get going to see how it comes up P.S I have no idea how to post photos either lol probably have to learn at some stage Re: Taking forever DFH 9Aug 09, 2012 2:59 pm Hi, I agree with you both that DFH do take their time with contracts, 5 months for ours. Great choice on the Hartley, we are having the Hartley built too. My partner and I paid our $1000 deposit 31st June last year and got our contracts back in November. We had a few mistakes in the contract so had the mistakes fixed and signed them in December. After the Christmas break we had to get dispensation as well so the build was delayed and didn't start until the first week in March but since has come along very quickly. Our handover should be in the next 4 weeks or so finger crossed. Good luck with your build Re: Taking forever DFH 10Aug 09, 2012 5:56 pm Our external colours were hard to choose I found unamused much easier! We chose the mocha bricks by boral as well with monument garage door how funny the same lol! We went for a colour called twilight for the roof which was a dark grey from memory and the window frames black we are matching the door colour with the wood that goes above the enterance as our facade has a bit of wood paneling at the front. Graham , good luck with your house as well, I have found it frustrating that so many mistakes are made at contract! We had added a free standing bath a black one gave them the measurements and cost to both the sakes rep and the colour consultant and they had a standard bath fitted in the contracts not to mention they were planning to lay a cat3 and a cat 5 carpet in the same spot! As frustrating ad this is I'm hoping their work makes up for it in the end Re: Taking forever DFH 12Aug 10, 2012 10:18 am External colours were harder to choose I agree, we went to the colour appointment and went through a few options and had it all picked out but then I had a sleepless night that night because I actually wasnt happy so I changed it all just based on my memory of the other colours together. Havent really had any doubts about the internal selections..yet!lol see how we go when things start to go in the house. It seems that the Hartley would have to be one of their most popular designs, there are not many DFH threads on here but of ones that are the majority seem to be the Hartley Re: Taking forever DFH 13Aug 10, 2012 10:31 am Yeah I agree I liked it because all the rooms we will definitely use, I find some displays have 3 pointless sitting areas we are using the games room as the lounge and the living as a theatre room the play room sold us because with three kids they can have there own section and space which we loved! And even the hartley disolayed wirhout the play area is great because of how the rooms were positioned, I just wish we could of added a gas log fire in the living room or family room but $$ instead we got an out door gas point put in so in the future we can add one! What splashback did you choose? I wish I took a pic of mine I know it was called mud pack pearl on clear kind of like a shimmer brownish colour. Re: Taking forever DFH 14Aug 10, 2012 12:22 pm Oh my splash back is going to be full of excitment... its cream!! Such a risk taker I am.. lol. I fell in love with the ceaserstone colour wild rice which is quite a dark brown and my beutiful floor tiles are called Saturnia Marrone which are also quite dark so I wanted to lighten things up a bit with the cupboards, the splashback and the wall colour is fairly light... I seem to have a really bad shopping addiction for stuff for the house so I stayed safe with the colours with the intention of jazzing it up with other things. I have already been doing so much shopping for this house, running out of places to keep everything until we get in there, the boot of the car is doing a good job of it at the moment.. Your splashback sounds really nice, would be good to see some pics when its done... It feels so long away before we can see all of our choices come together.. Re: Taking forever DFH 15Aug 10, 2012 12:33 pm I know what you mean I am addicted to lighting at the moment I've bought a heap of pendants to go in the house some with crystals some chrome. Can't wait to put them up. I also have been to a few Tupperware parties I had no intention of buying and ended up with a whole bunch of stuff to organize the walk in pantry ( which I have never had and am looking forward to ) we need to get a lot of furniture to fill the rooms so I'm saving for that my husband has suggested we wait until we are much closer so they can just deliver all the stuff to the house instead of moving it all which makes sence. If it was up to me I'd have all the furniture ready to go lol so I'm glad he is my voice of reason. Re: Taking forever DFH 16Aug 10, 2012 12:43 pm Oh and i forgot to mention Cream sounds nice with the colours you picked! We went with the laminate floor boards it's called manhattan spotted gum. The carpet you picked also was our original pic I found the carpet choices pretty poor I'm not a fan of the non plush ones and that was the only one in cat 1 that seemed remotely what we were looking for! We ended up upgrading because the colour matched better! Our ceaserstone for the kitchen is osprey kind of an off white with fine stone speckles and I picked a different one for the ensuite called white shimmer has glitter speckles through it ( very Girly) and the free standing bath is black! Can't wait to see that installed Re: Taking forever DFH 17Aug 10, 2012 12:52 pm Oh we need a lot of new furniture too...after renting for a long time we moved in with my mother in law while we saved for the deposit and she was begging for some company so before we moved in we sold a lot of our furniture with the intention of buying new things... didnt think we would end up with 3 living areas though so probably might have been best to hang on to our old couches to fill some of the space... oh and your husband sounds like mine... dont buy any furniture until we get close and you can see what will work and then get it all delieverd at once... There are a lot of good online lighting shops so I think we might go to the actual stores see what we like and then try to find them online, much cheaper... I had wanted a beutiful pendant for the bedroom but my more sensible side is to have a ceiling fan but I have been looking at lights over the kitchen island bench... I like the look of the 3 over the bench but am really trying to find some that are slightly unusual as a bit of a wow to the room Re: Taking forever DFH 18Aug 10, 2012 1:00 pm our dream home Oh and i forgot to mention Cream sounds nice with the colours you picked! We went with the laminate floor boards it's called manhattan spotted gum. The carpet you picked also was our original pic I found the carpet choices pretty poor I'm not a fan of the non plush ones and that was the only one in cat 1 that seemed remotely what we were looking for! We ended up upgrading because the colour matched better! Our ceaserstone for the kitchen is osprey kind of an off white with fine stone speckles and I picked a different one for the ensuite called white shimmer has glitter speckles through it ( very Girly) and the free standing bath is black! Can't wait to see that installed We were going to do those floor boards too when we were considering doing the flooring after handover due to the builders margin they put on everything but then it became a matter of we just want to get in as soon as possible lets just get it done through the builder and there is no mucking around, turns out I am really super happy about the floor tiles lol... A Black bath tub in the ensuite is really going to give it a big wow factor... (I have never seen a black tub so please please post some pics so I can see and with the white shimmer will be pretty special... we did the wild rice in our ensuite also but changed to the latte benchtops for the powder room and main bathroom just so that the ensuite was different and the feture tile I chose for the ensuite shower is this beutiful sparkly tile I hope should look good just to make it a bit prettier in there. Re: Taking forever DFH 19Aug 10, 2012 1:03 pm I bought a pendant that goes over the kitchen bench it's three white cylinders that hang down with a bit of a pattern we made them put a batten point above the bench my bedroom pendant is white with crystals hanging off it and I wanted a chandelier in the ensuite but where they put the light point looks pretty close to the shower and for me to change t will be yet another variation so I will see once its built I bought some pretty thee ones I have no idea where I'm putting them But I'm sure they will go anywhere! I just want to get the main one for over the dining table I actually saw one at bunnings that I loved so I might get that and then just wait until we move to sort out the rest. Re: Taking forever DFH 20Aug 10, 2012 1:34 pm I had a look at your bench colour on the site that's really nice, the cream splashback will look great, I think that bench is displayed at the Greenvale displays not sure which house it's next door to the Hartley The fastest thing a builder will do is bank your cheque, those systems work perfectly with lightning speed, everything else is slow burn. Just the way it is. 1 8678 Can someone please offer some advice? Im DESPERATE. Because I'm completely and utterly exhausted. How long are variations taking with other companies at the moment? We… 0 18249 Thanks. I called VBA today and they said it was a Consumer Affairs issue, the old handball. Seems like the government organisations don't want to do their job at the moment. 2 7520 |