Building with Rivergum Homes - SA

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has built with Rivergum Homes in SA in the last year or so or know anyone who has and what their experience has been? We are ready to sign with a builder and don't want to base our decision just on price but can't seem to find much in the forum about people's experience with this builder. If anyone could help with any feedback that would be great!

Thanks!

Hi CST,

there are some reviews on those product review websites for Rivergum but I agree that there isn't alot of information out there.

In my old job I had a connection with them (and developed some not so flattering opinions of them but that was 5+ years ago) so when we looked at building our own home I went and spoke to their consultants at a newly opened display village. I received a quote from them and was happy with their service during that process also here is SA (although we ended up signing with another builder). The only feedback I can provide is that they bad mouthed their competition which is a big no-no in our books.

Whoever you decide to build with in the end will probably have their ups and downs so buckle up and try to enjoy the ride!

YTD.

We had a look at Rivergum but found the rep VERY overwhelming with additional costs etc which I suppose is not always a bad thing but found some other builders we felt a bit more comfortable with which isn't really that helpful haha BUT..

We had some family friends though that built their beach house (more like a house) with them and had no issues and had a smooth sailing experience as far as I am aware

Where abouts are you building?

Thanks for the replies

YTD - yeah i've read the 'product review' sites but don't really trust those for a good perspective. We've had good service and a detailed quote also from the sales rep we have been dealing with...my concern was after we sign...charges for things which are 'allowance' only like soil removal, dealing with the supervisors, issues with the build, workmanship etc. Totally understand there will be ups and downs with any builders so we're prepared for that. We haven't seen any bad-mouthing thankfully...probably depends on the sales person so i'm glad we've got a good one! Were the not so flattering opinions you had of them in your previous job to do with admin or construction/workmanship? I guess it wasn't too bad though seeing as though you felt comfortable to approach them for a quote more recently?

Davelle...glad to hear your friends had no hiccups when building with them - thanks for letting us know We will be building in Gulfview Heights (the opposite end of the city to Mt Barker!). We're building a custom home, and the pricing starting point is based on one of their designs which fits closest to ours as far as m2 and design and then changes added/deleted. Are you building a custom home? Who did you end up signing with?

my friend has built with rivergum and completed around august 2012.
overall he was happy about the quality and price.
However, the house already start to crack, he can see cracks on the wall, on the skirtings...etc Hopefully rivergum will fix it up soon.

he had few troubles with rivergum but not a big deal, he lost few things which he suppose to have from the sales' promise / written in the contract but end up with something completely different. Luckily he fought hard and get something else for free in order to cover the lost.

Thanks frozenkuku,
This would probably be my worst fear, to build a new house and have it crack within a few years! Can i ask what suburb your friend built and if it is brick veneer or hebel (if you know)? We are leaning towards building with hebel (with acrylic render) for both lower and upper story. I hope you're friend doesn't have any issues getting the cracks fixed - a common theme in the number of reviews i have read where people have had cracking is that the builder doesn't take any responsibility for it, hope that's not the case with your friend - would like to hear how your friend goes!

we think nowadays cracking is normal after 5~10years, but cracking within 6 months is too crazy. In fact, we already saw the cracking lines on his house warming party (october 2012)

he built in lightsview, it is hebel, terrace block.

he told me the price quote is very accurate, he doesn't pay any variations on footings or others.

bare in mind that other competitors always say rivergum will end up big variations on footings, this doesn't happen to my friend.

besides cracking, the worst things you can have are "content is not the same as the contract", i don't know if you think it is a big problem or not but for us it certainly is.

for example, he already had 2-pac paint, rivergum told him they are discontiuned, and if he still wants 2-pac, he needs to pay extra. If he downgrades to laminate, he can have some upgrades for free. He was happy to get the credit back then upgrade his timber floor and other extras....

he had air con outlet in very stupid location without discussing with him.
he had 1/2 of the downlights originally promised, and downgraded to normal energy saving halogen from LED without informing him...

all those little things, not a big deal. This can happen to all builders, it's just the matter of how you deal with them.

in my opinion, rivergum is a good budget builder with the standard a bit higher than nowadays' "standard brand new home"

thanks for the info frozenkuku - good to know!



I guess it depends what kind of things they are...but we will try to have everything pretty detailed in the quote (ie. brands/specifics) so we can ensure we at least get the equivalent in quality/price. As you said, that can happen with any builder, but it's good to be reminded of things to look out for.

Does anyone know if cracking is more prone to hebel or brick veneer homes?? It obviously starts from the foundation/footings, but just wondering if it transfers to cracking of walls/cornices/skirting more prominently with hebel as opposed to brick?

that's the only thing you can do but may not end up what you expect
this happens to all builder

i give you example, if the contract says 2-pac paint, and then they tell you 2-pac is not available anymore, you can only choose laminate. it is a downgrade.
you assuming 2-pac costs $7000 and laminate costs $2000
you expect they give you $5000 credit back but they only give you $2000 credit

what do you feel about it???

it's always a must to write specs in the contract as detail as possible, but when you reach the downgrade process, you will find they always give you little credit back, not fair

Whoops forgot I hadn't replied to this thread!

Probably should of mentioned the people I know that built with them are builders by trade so have plenty of experience managing builds etc!

We actually ended up with someone completely different and just customized a plan to suit ourselves Promo was too good to give up with Stman so we're going with them

who did you go with?

Yes...good point, it is very disappointing! But i have heard this with most builders so we can only hope our upgrades are 'available' i guess!

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Thanks Davelle, i think it's a good thing that a builder by trade decided to build with them! We will be supervising quite closely also as i think this is the key to a successful build (ie. making sure things are done the way you want - before they are actually finished! Hope your build goes well!

I would never build with Rivergum Homes. Like everyone, my family and I went round to all the display homes to find a builder. We narrowed it down to three potential builders, Rivergum Homes was one of these. We decided on Rivergum Homes as the sales person was very friendly and approachable. I was not convinced with the quality of their work after looking at the display homes, but thought I would give them a chance to get our business.

I was up front with them that I was speaking with two other builders and wanted to investigate them further to determine their suitability. The first thing I did was sit down with the sales person and gave them a rough idea of what I wanted in my plan. I was then sent across to their head office to see a product developer to come up with a viable plan. This person was absolutely useless at developing a plan. All he did was copy down exactly what we wanted and provided no design input to make our vision come together.

While this was happening I sat down to obtain a quote with the sales person. We had a healthy budget and we wanted a high specification build. The sales person seemed ill equipped to quote for so many upgrades and inclusions and was guessing much of what we wanted. The result was a produced quote that we had no confidence in.
Obviously, we decided to go with one of the other builders, which was able to custom design a home for us to a high standard of inclusions.

We learnt early that Rivergum Homes is an entry level builder for those who are working on a modest budget and they are not able to function at the higher end of the marketplace.

The response from Rivergum was nothing short of shocking. I was treated with hostility and threatened legally that if my house plan resembled the one I vertically drew up for them that they would take me to court. Over the next two months I received emails and phone calls from Rivergum Homes with similar threats of legal action and that they regularly check council approval records.

Do not be fooled by the sales persons smile and do your due diligence before signing anything with Rivergum Homes.

This review is based on my opinion with Rivergum Homes, they are currently building next to my house.

They are making all different kind of troubles on my house/my street since day 1. For example, they did not use the dump skip, they dump all the wastes alone my wall. I had to report to lightsview to ask them to clean up.

They damaged my wall when they dug the footings, they did not tell me until lightsview's landscaper witnessed that and reported to me. Their footing collapsed before the concrete pour so they had to re-compact the dirts. These made serious damages to all the houses on the street. The contractors did not keep the site clean, make a huge mass on my veranda and my drive way. They promised they will clean them up but they did, I ended clean them myself. They blocked my drive way everyday and refused to move the car, I couldn't go home or go to work. They jumped onto my roof or my balcony without my permission, they never give notice or ask for permission. Reported to customer service countless times but it's all official answers and never bother to fix the problem. Tried to contact the customer service manager Danielle but never get any single reply from her. Last week they put the scaffold on my balcony without my permission and when I ask them to remove it they refuse to do so.

Yesterday, their painter used my wall as the paint test, graffiti on my wall. I am very angry with Rivergums, already report to lightsview and council about everything. Will call the police next time. I do not believe they will ever stop making troubles on me, they did it on purpose. Already got warned by few builders when they heard my next door will be built by Rivergums. Now I understood why they said that.

Regarding to the building construction quality, they had done few things done illegal and not up to the building standard, already reported to council and will get site inspected very soon. Good luck to those people who build with Rivergum Homes, I hope your house won't collapse one day.

As my title says, if you hate your neighbours, the best way to take revenge is to build with Rivergum Homes.

PM me if want to find it out more about what they have not compliance to the building standards