Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9581Feb 08, 2016 8:12 pm Martins Harmony - we are building single storey and like Gilly, we upgraded our AC but not quite as much. We split the house into 3 zones (bed 1 and bed 2), (bed 3 and 4) and (the rest of the house)... But we can only run two zones at a time. The temper zone that comes as standard only allowed all bedrooms or all living, not both together. We wanted to be able to cool bed 3 and 4 as well as living areas together but felt we didn't need the whole house at once. We'll either be in the living area or bed 1, not both and bed 2 is just for guests so rarely used. No teenagers at our house, but we have a baby who will be napping in bed 3 during the day whilst we're in the living areas. And maybe down the track, a second baby for bed 4! This system cost $2,600 to upgrade. It is a 16kw Hitachi Inverter. I believe inverter systems are potentially better? We have no idea what it'll be like (12 years living in England means I know nothing about AC... Central heating on the other hand...). We just took the advice of the guy. He was very helpful and by no means pushy (didn't try to push us to a big upgrade). Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9582Feb 08, 2016 8:41 pm Hi Everyone, I haven't posted for a while, as there was not much to tell about. We recently got upper roof (the roof above the double storey part of our house). If anyone remembers my saga with tiger tails, it is still going on. They initially asked for 18K and after a visit to their display village with the question: what the hell??? They were so "generous" to take out their margin out of it, making it 4K less. Still huge, so I never used their "generosity". I asked to see Ausgrid quote and they gave me a quote from a private company, which apparently was another middle man. They refused to show the original Ausgrid quote, saying "if you don't like it, you are welcome to get the quote yourself". Which I did and got it for a third of the original price. I organised Ausgrid to put tiger tails and isolate the power for scaffolding erection. Recently our SS told me that we will be removing scaffolding in 2-3weeks and the tiger tails can go too. I was so happy thinking it is over. I've organised Ausgrid to do the work next week. It takes a lot of paperwork and phone calls. This morning our SS calls me and tells he wants to push the scaffolding removal 1 week later due to a 1 day delay in some materials delivery. Needles to say I was very frustrated, but what could I do? I spoke to Ausgrid to push it 1 week later. At around 5pm today he calls me again and says, that after a visit to the site, he still wants to do next week and he will be erecting another set of scaffolding for the single storey section of the house, which will require another power isolation. I struggle to understand why they could not put all the scaffolding the last time and why he did not know about the second set of scaffolding before today. I also struggle to understand if this is malicious or negligence. Could it be retaliation for taking from them those so profitable tiger tails? I am so startled, just can't think clearly. I am going to speak to him tomorrow morning. I just don't know what to tell. Only rude stuff comes to my mind. The only innocent explanation I can think off is if this is our SS first build ever. He can't be that incompetent if he did it before. 2014 30/05 $3900 25/08 Contracts 02/10 DA submitted 2015 17/02 DA approved 02/04 Colors 10/04 Demo 09/07 Construction start 27/07 Fill 15/08 Slab 21/09 Frame 2016 08/01 Bricks Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9583Feb 09, 2016 10:34 am Rox82 – Your plans look great. Some parts of it remind me of our home especially your laundry and powder room location and size though our laundry is accessible from the kitchen. And the way you've tried to hide the dunny in the ensuite. We added a sliding door to the ensuite and our WIR. We’re doing our laundry cabinetry and built-ins after handover. Our flooring upstairs is the same as the timber staircase, spotted gum. It’s a solid timber flooring. The good thing about this is they can finish off the staircase (sand and polish) as Gennstairs for some reason don’t Arielbj – Thanks. Wow is that all for your stairs?? Ours was at least $10k!! jol0 Gorgeous stairs redwynne! Was spotted gum a significant upgrade? We don't want to spend more than a few k on the stairs. I note there's a category of wood listed on the general stairs site. I'm assuming this breaks them up into price ranges too? Spotted gum is quite expensive I believe? To be honest with you, I don’t know how much of an upgrade the spotted gum is but if Arielbj paid $2300 for theirs and we paid $10k for ours then I’d imagine it’s an expensive wood. We had in mind a hardwood and researched the different types. Buildersbob – Good luck to you both where bubs is concerned. Bleaky – I’d hope that they would finish our houses at some time. Where’s the incentive if they stop paying you $50 per day compensation!?!? They stopped paying us in early December. michelle1980 – We did our fridge space at 950 by 1860. We found that the height of 1820 wasn't enough but it was fixed during construction. MartinsHarmony – Your selections sounds nice. We have a stone splashback (we must be the only ones here) as I hate cleaning our current glass splashback that most times I just quickly wipe it and look the other way!! We, like GillyM, also upgraded to Samsung Inverter for about $4k-$5k but can’t comment on how good it is. Shire_Synergy – Congrats on the slab!! MGardz – Lucky you that you’re able to get away and hopefully de-stress. Have fun! braddy_ – We have only one appliance from M, the rest we've bought to install after handover. S-VE – Where are you off to in June? I'm glad to hear we weren't the only ones who spent all day doing colours. The time you spent doing all the choices was very similar to ours. Jumparoo – Welcome to the forum and good luck! LOL 9 month build they tell you!!?? Okay well speaking from experience, we signed in March 2014, was slabbed in November and now in February 2016 we are still waiting to get the keys. GillyM All the stresses of the build disappear pretty quickly when you get your keys! That quote reminds me of giving birth… all the pain of it quickly goes once you see your final product… a baby, and in this case, a house! Fisher75 – Wow, that’s just still screwed up. I don’t get how plastic party streamers that are coloured like tigers can cost so much Our update, we had our final inspection yesterday which took less than 2 hours. Started off a bit weird when the supervisor goes “what's holding you up from getting the keys?” Hubby and I just looked at each other quite confused. Shouldn't he know what's holding us up, after all he’s controlling the situation!! Anyways, we moved on and quickly looked at stuff. Some things we noticed weren't 100% but decided not to get them fixed (gap under at least 2 bedroom doors are out, one by up to 8mm, so the floors are uneven or the door frame is screwed up). And some things are still to be fixed. All in all, we’re happy and will hopefully get the keys soon. Not trying to get too excited until we know for sure. Man, it’s been tooooo long!! Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9584Feb 09, 2016 10:37 am Thanks so much for everyone's replies! So much for us to think about! I think I need to read over it all a few times and do some more research. It sounds like it could likely go a lot longer than expected which is definitely a concern. For those that have taken a lot longer than expected what were your main delays? Cheers Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9585Feb 09, 2016 10:45 am Jumparoo Thanks so much for everyone's replies! So much for us to think about! I think I need to read over it all a few times and do some more research. It sounds like it could likely go a lot longer than expected which is definitely a concern. For those that have taken a lot longer than expected what were your main delays? Cheers Our SS. He had about 25 jobs, didn't take notes during our meetings so who knows how he can remember what we discussed and some of the tradies that were used were sh!t. For example it took 7 weeks to complete the brick laying as there was a shortage. Someone we know is a brickie and he confirmed this. Mistakes slows things down. Ours is at least 4 months over contract. Ultimately it's up to the SS to build your home so if he's on the ball you'll be fine, if not you'll take up alcohol to dull the pain. FISHER75... you there?? Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9586Feb 09, 2016 11:00 am Great news Redwynne! Finally the light at the end of the tunnel! I can't wait till I see the back of end of M. Can't believe your SS asked what was holding you up? Could explain why everything takes so long if he really has to ask that! Fisher- unbelievable! You can have my share of the liquor seeming I can't drink. You'll need it! Jumparoo- it does come down to if you are lucky enough to get a good SS. Both mine have been too busy to organise trades for my build hence why I still have a scaffold 20 days from contract being up. Fingers crossed you get a good one! No one at my site today. SS might make a visit today or tomorrow. Oooh lucky us! Can't wait to get that $50 a day! Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9587Feb 09, 2016 11:21 am Welcome jumparoo. Maybe just read my blog in detail. It does have help with info on pricing and the process with M and the issues that have meant we've dealt with this useless company for 18 month and only have a half built house. When I say half built I use that loosely. I'm hoping when I'm home from holidays it will actually be watertight. Our main issues are the fact everyone we have been allocated bar our PCC have been incompetent and slow and Ms processes are very archaic and inefficient. Also some of the more recent trades used on our build are have been very poor with their workmanship so m have had to go in and fix some things. M will give you the sales pitch and tell you everything should be ok but mostly it will not be especially if you get who we've got. Just be prepared to get your eagle eyes for detail out once you sign with M! https://mandgbuildatmulgoarise.wordpress.com/ Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9588Feb 09, 2016 12:39 pm Jumparoo Thanks so much for everyone's replies! So much for us to think about! I think I need to read over it all a few times and do some more research. It sounds like it could likely go a lot longer than expected which is definitely a concern. For those that have taken a lot longer than expected what were your main delays? Cheers Paperwork from M. 2014 30/05 $3900 25/08 Contracts 02/10 DA submitted 2015 17/02 DA approved 02/04 Colors 10/04 Demo 09/07 Construction start 27/07 Fill 15/08 Slab 21/09 Frame 2016 08/01 Bricks Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9589Feb 09, 2016 12:51 pm redwynne Fisher75 – Wow, that’s just still screwed up. I don’t get how plastic party streamers that are coloured like tigers can cost so much It is because there are so many middle man, so the price was triple of what I managed to get directly. Another thing, which puzzles me, is that we do have the tiger tails included as part of our 31K FIXED site costs, without any reservations about how many meters, the amount of money or the duration of the tiger tails to remain on the wires: "Masterton to provide striped electrical overhead wire protection (tiger tails). No Allowance to de-energise lines. If required then further charges will apply." When I asked why I had to pay for it, they said that they only provisioned 8 meters ($1200 - another rip off) of tiger tails, which they put on the Optus cable above the driveway. There is nothing in the tender, which says that only 8 meters or $1200 allowed for the tiger tails. It is an item in our 31K fixed site costs with the total amount for all items. Perhaps I am so stressed, that it blurs my mind. This build is going to give me a heart attack one day. Need some vodka urgently. 2014 30/05 $3900 25/08 Contracts 02/10 DA submitted 2015 17/02 DA approved 02/04 Colors 10/04 Demo 09/07 Construction start 27/07 Fill 15/08 Slab 21/09 Frame 2016 08/01 Bricks Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9590Feb 09, 2016 1:01 pm redwynne Ultimately it's up to the SS to build your home so if he's on the ball you'll be fine, if not you'll take up alcohol to dull the pain. FISHER75... you there?? Yeah redwynne, lets drink up One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, Floor! 2014 30/05 $3900 25/08 Contracts 02/10 DA submitted 2015 17/02 DA approved 02/04 Colors 10/04 Demo 09/07 Construction start 27/07 Fill 15/08 Slab 21/09 Frame 2016 08/01 Bricks Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9591Feb 09, 2016 1:05 pm bleaky Fisher- unbelievable! You can have my share of the liquor seeming I can't drink. You'll need it! Thanks Bleaky 2014 30/05 $3900 25/08 Contracts 02/10 DA submitted 2015 17/02 DA approved 02/04 Colors 10/04 Demo 09/07 Construction start 27/07 Fill 15/08 Slab 21/09 Frame 2016 08/01 Bricks Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9592Feb 09, 2016 1:37 pm I could really use one though, not long now. This baby is going to beat M even though M had a good 3 mth head start! It's going to need a good year of solid drinking to blot out the pain of this build! Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9593Feb 09, 2016 1:48 pm bleaky I could really use one though, not long now. This baby is going to beat M even though M had a good 3 mth head start! It's going to need a good year of solid drinking to blot out the pain of this build! I think, those of us, who survive M build, should form an anonymous alcoholics club. We can have our meetings and events on this forum. 2014 30/05 $3900 25/08 Contracts 02/10 DA submitted 2015 17/02 DA approved 02/04 Colors 10/04 Demo 09/07 Construction start 27/07 Fill 15/08 Slab 21/09 Frame 2016 08/01 Bricks Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9594Feb 09, 2016 3:18 pm You'll all be pleased to know (for liver functioning purposes) that the alcoholic phase passes .... Less than a year after receiving keys, I am even able to embark on an extended break (until november) from alcohol in the interests of health & fitness (whether I will succeed is another story!). Have signed up for a new challenge (New York marathon on 6 November) .... Something to keep me busy & out of mischief now that I have all this free time NoT dealing with M. I'll have even more free time when I leave this forum Can no longer use M as my excuse to drink, goddammit! One thing is certain .... The M builds are generally much slower now than 2 or 3 years ago (at least the ones on this forum). Back then hardly anyone went over contract period, these days almost everyone is getting there. Hopefully it is a temporary glitch in the M cogs (for those of you just embarking on the journey) & M will get back into shape this year. Sooooo glad we got in before the demise. Our build was well & truly within contract time (by 2 months or more) but i still thought at the time it was painfully painfully slow. Saving grace for us was a relatively (especially in hindsight) good SS. We thought he was OK at the time. After reading all the stories on here, he now seems like a super fabulous SS. Returned calls ALWAYS within 5 minutes, and actioned every single issue we had. Lots of stupid issues, which he should have been on top of. But at least when pointed out, he did something about them! How hard can that be? Mgardz I had a look at your time line today .... I remember thinking last year that your build was zipping along relatively quickly ... But i can see the SS change was the start of the "slowdown." You were slabbed exactly a month before us (a year later) - 11 july, we were 11 Aug, and we got to lock up 11 feb or thereabouts, which i think you are almost at. So your build has been a month slower than ours was (no wonder you are p***d off) at the same stage. But you should still be in before contract end date! And definitely before baby Mgardz. June is a good month for babies (& night feeding... Especially if you are a tennis fan & like watching wimbledon!). My no. 2 is 9 june! Anyway, eyes on the prize everyone, eyes on the prize. My useless pearl of wisdom for a tuesday, of absolutely no help to bleaky/redwynne/fisher/arielbj/mgardz & everyone else playing the waiting game ..... 2013 1st tender 24/10 Dep. 18/11 2014 5% 25/02 CDC approval 5/5 Demo 26/5 Pool 3/7 Valid'n 10/7 Slab 11/8 Frame 19/9 Bricks 23/10 2015 Roof 3/12 Lock up 11/2 PCI 31/3 Final insp. & keys 30/4 Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9595Feb 09, 2016 3:21 pm Lol V yep, the wait would be half decent if at least there was consistent work but nope... https://mandgbuildatmulgoarise.wordpress.com/ Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9596Feb 09, 2016 3:43 pm Fisher75 bleaky I could really use one though, not long now. This baby is going to beat M even though M had a good 3 mth head start! It's going to need a good year of solid drinking to blot out the pain of this build! I think, those of us, who survive M build, should form an anonymous alcoholics club. We can have our meetings and events on this forum. Absolutely Fisher! I still think our colours folder should have included a year or twos worth of Dan murphys vouchers. Gipped! Thanks V. I know that this build will eventually end.... Not sure how seeming no one is ever there. Personally I'm hoping one of the neighbours builders takes pity on us and finishes it off. One can dream!! Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9597Feb 09, 2016 3:48 pm Hang in there, MGardz..... it truly WILL be worth it when you've moved in, sitting on your balcony enjoying the views with a drink or two, with a gorgeous little baby asleep in the nursery..... and it will be all yours and gorgeous! You WILL get there, and it WILL all be a distant memory. A few more months, and you'll have a gorgeous new home!!! Masterton Overture 17/12/14 - Handover ...... we got the keys !! blog - http://www.mcnamaraadventure.blogspot.com Re: Masterton Homes - The next thread 4.0 9599Feb 09, 2016 5:39 pm MGardz & BB in answer to your question , our demo is happening today apparently! A drive passed the house today revealed this: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ As I surmised earlier, no notification from the demo company that they were doing us today - but at least it's happening. Finally some action, yay! Villina Lane 11/14 $3900 08/15 Contract 11/15 DA Approval 02/16 Demolition 03/16 Peg out 06/16 Slab 06/16 Ground floor frame 07/16 1st floor frame & windows 09-12/16 Bricks blog 4 17109 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16431 Hi all I am looking to run a water line under my concrete footpath which is directly next to my home, was seeing if this is possible without cutting the entire section… 0 20587 |