Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 81Apr 12, 2015 9:15 pm let me know if you need more details as I can ask my husband. I think it's meant to be around $80 and good range. It still needs the a router to plug into but you can put a data point next to where the router is and a data point where you want to mount the Ubiquiti access point (AP). Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 82Apr 24, 2015 10:11 pm Hubby went and visited our block after all this rain and storms this week, and he was pretty impressed no big puddles a bit boggy down the back but otherwise ok. However he did find someone has been dumping concrete on our land, seriously is it really that difficult to dispose of things properly. Contract meeting with sekisui is booked for Sunday, which is a tad scary but even more exciting. Thoight of the week gas storage tanl hot water system or instantaneous. For a family of 5 maybe and I emphasise maybe down the track. I don't which is better for us. If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated. Also instantaneous is a 880 upgrade. Hmm Building a sekisui house in Holmesville NSW viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75060 Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 83Apr 24, 2015 11:41 pm Congrats on getting to the contract meeting stage . It can take so long. And I'm sure the weather was a good test to see how our blocks and build cope under wet weather. Bummer about the concrete. It's not difficult but can be expensive.... As for gas... Maybe do it afterwards if you want it. We were in the same boat. I prefer instant. But the storage version is included... So I figured I'd save the money for something else. Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 84May 03, 2015 6:02 pm How did the contract meeting go? It's been a week Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 85May 03, 2015 7:05 pm I have been slack, I have my youngest home because her child care was damaged in the storm and is yet to be reopened. Contract meeting went smoothly, a couple of small variations including increasing wc size, changing to a sliding door to the lounge, decided to keep the gas storage system but increase it to the bigger one, and hardwood finish on support pillars on the piers at the front of the house. We have since paid the further 3000 deposit and now just waiting for the final copy of the contracts with variations to come through. Oh I also mentioned about the 550 they wanted to charge to install our vanity and cabinet installed and he believe it's an oversight and I shouldn't be charged for it so I am classing that as a win. This week I am meeting with someone to discuss retaining wall options and discuss the best way to gain a useable yard. Also need to organise a bush fire report and landscaping plan. Still feel like there is so much to do, its just the boring stuff though lol. Our SC also suggested that because we are yet to ownership of the land the developer should remove what has been dumped on the land as technically they still own it. Building a sekisui house in Holmesville NSW viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75060 Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 86May 05, 2015 2:33 pm Hello, I am new to these forums but can see you are currently building with Sekisui house. We are in the process of building with them (well trying too anyway). We started the administration process in terms of getting plans drawn up and getting pricing and we are finding they constantly come back wrong and it takes 3-4 weeks for them to get back to us with updated pricing (which is still wrong).We started this process back in November 2014 and we are starting to get concerned about if this will continue throughout the entire building process? I'm hoping you can help and advise how they have been for you once you started building, have there been many delays (besides the weather of course ). We are trying to decide if we persevere with Sekisui House or if we cut our losses and go with another builder. Any info would be helpful. thanks! Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 87May 05, 2015 2:45 pm Hi welcome ally, The administration process is by far quite frustrating and drawn, we also put our first deposit down in november and only have just signed contracts which where 99% correct however what wasn't correct we have put through as variations. I have heard many positives from other who have built with sekisui, however won't know for myself for a little while as our land is holding us up. Ally where abouts are you looking to build? Which design are you looking at? I think that every builder has its positives and negatives. Building a sekisui house in Holmesville NSW viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75060 Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 88May 05, 2015 3:03 pm thanks! I'm glad we aren't the only ones who are experiencing this frustration. In saying that we were looking at doing a knock down rebuild but have since changed our mind and bought a block of land. We thought the issues with the admin process were due to the knock down rebuild process and the fact our existing house is on a sloping block however since changing our minds and buying a block of land we are finding the admin process isn't any better which is why we were getting concerned! We bought a block of land in Harrington Grove and it is due to be registered this month (we aren't doing a house and land package so im not sure if that will add further issues with the admin process). We are building the Acacia (formerly known as the ARON). We do absolutely love the house design but just aren't sure if all of the admin issues are worth it and given how many things come back wrong or they haven't listened to what we wanted we just are not sure what to do at the moment. We have found an equally nice house with Rawson Homes too so I guess its just making that final decision whether to cut and run or stick with it. Did you get a house and land package with Sekisui? Which design have you gone with? Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 89May 05, 2015 3:15 pm Hi Allyd86 The admin process is definitely the worst! Once you are in build it's definitely a lot less frustrating. Feel free to pop by my thread as I'm almost there. vivmak also has a thread and I think they are building a modified Aron too (but just finished admin). Clintdb's build is also in progress at this stage. If you are almost there I'd say stick with it. But I have also heard great things about Rawson too. All the best with your decision! Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 90May 05, 2015 4:42 pm The period getting from tender to contract signing was as much (probably more so) delayed by us as it was by Sekisui. I can't really fault them too much for putting the designs back in to get re-drafted, priced etc - it's a process that needs to be done properly. And I must say that mistakes were minimal and typically fixed up quite quickly - but I think this had a lot to do with the great design/salesperson that we had the fortune to end up with. The period from Contract signing to construction starting was way worse with errors coming back multiple times even after they had been noted each time. And of course the big issue of agreed contract amendments not coming back at all for 9 months so we couldn't "sign off" because the documentation wasn't complete each time they sent it to us. Again - it had a lot to do with the person we were then dealing with in the office - but unlike the great salesperson, this one was..... let's just say "not great". The problem is that any volume builder has a number of staff - and just like people all over the world, some of them aren't going to be as great at their jobs as you and I are at ours It's just unfortunate when our paths have to cross with one of those people and much time and money is wasted in the process. Seksui KDR in Sydney (2015-2016) Links --> | H1 thread | Final plans | Timing of works updated 9/3/16 | Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 91May 05, 2015 4:50 pm thanks clintdb. See that scares me if it is only going to get worse once we sign our contract which is what we are concerned about. We have already taken 6 months to get here and we know of changes that we want to make to the most recent plans but are still waiting on the pricing to go with them, so once we finally get that pricing its going to take another 3-4 weeks to get the updated plans and pricing with our minimal changes we want made. It seems like any change (minor or major), it takes them 3-4 weeks to do.I understand they have a large volume of work to get through but it is very frustrating when you are waiting to get to contract signing so you can start construction. If you had your time over, would you go with Sekisui or another builder? Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 92May 05, 2015 6:17 pm We're also building with Sekisui. We've had a very long admin period though like Clintdb said half of it was our fault too. I kept adding bits or changing my mind. That said their drafting and estimating sector do feel slow. I wonder sometimes if there's only 5 drafters and 2 estimators for the entire company Australia wide. I don't agree with how they need to fully draft something before they'll price it, it seems backward, particularly if you're just curious and want to know what a particular thing costs and if you can afford it. Our house has also been in Council since December/January. We certainly did not anticipate it to take this long. Sekisui overlooked some things which made the process longer. God I hope the rest of process goes smoothly. Regarding Rawson, we also found a plan we didn't mind but the sales person we encountered came across... Let's just say very uninviting. We liked the Sekisui plan a lot better so walked away from Rawson. That said I'm sure they're fine if you get a different sales person to who we got Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 93May 05, 2015 6:34 pm allyd86 thanks clintdb. See that scares me if it is only going to get worse once we sign our contract which is what we are concerned about. ......... If you had your time over, would you go with Sekisui or another builder? I agree with cat_dunc that they (and possibly all other builders) could improve their customer service by having "price estimates" that could be given without the need for a full set of documentation to be handed over. I have a feeling that they do it this way so that people just stop and say "that's enough time, let's just build it like it is". If they made it too easy for us then it could be years later and nothing would still be built! Also, customers might not like estimates that come in lower than the actual cost when it is designed properly. Would I do it again with Sekisui? Most likely. However, apart from the contract amendments that I had requested, I would be adding one more... That "person xyz" would not be involved in any way shape or form, otherwise we go elsewhere. That one person has cost us time, money (in terms of extra rental) and more time (in that we now have to move rental house about 3 months out from finishing). I don't know if Sekisui would agree to such a contract clause, but we would seriously not touch them (or any builder) that had this particular person involved with our job. The person who we are now dealing with in head office is absolutely fine. Reasonable to deal with, easy to get good answers off, and most importantly, when they don't think they have the answer, they go elsewhere to find out - not just make up something on the spot. The SS is also exceptionally good. So we have basically had 3 out of 4 key people being very good and one being absolutely useless. The managers also seem quite reasonable people. Edit: sorry for briefly taking over your thread for a rant! Seksui KDR in Sydney (2015-2016) Links --> | H1 thread | Final plans | Timing of works updated 9/3/16 | Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 94May 05, 2015 7:52 pm Lol not a problem clintdb happy to share any time, Sorry ally had just about finished a reply earlier and then lost it, We are building the lakewood with a few modifications, we are building a house and land package either, either way I don't think it would increase tbe processing time for building. A lady from work started the process with rawson but after numerous delays and problems they decided to change builders this was in newcastle. Love the look of the acacia it looks huge. Building a sekisui house in Holmesville NSW viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75060 Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 95May 05, 2015 9:14 pm Having been on this forum for a while now (we all get that way strangely enough ) it seems as if all builders do have issues. I'd prefer having paper work issues and then having a good build. Unfortunately building a house really tests your patience. And you just have to wait it out. There are only a few builds here that seem to be 'fast'. Everyone else just complains (nicely for the most part!) about rain delays or the lack of a tradie on their site. The only builder I've seen that seems to be 'faster' are the Simmonds builds. But I don't think they build in Sydney. EDIT: and I think everyone agrees that it's better to have a great build than rush the build... even though all my instincts are to push for things to be done quickly! Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 96May 05, 2015 9:25 pm Nicely put Yvonne. +1 Seksui KDR in Sydney (2015-2016) Links --> | H1 thread | Final plans | Timing of works updated 9/3/16 | Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 97May 05, 2015 9:27 pm Couldn't agree, I want the quality at the end of the build and although all I want to do is move out of our small rental the logical part of me wants things to be done right the first time. Building a sekisui house in Holmesville NSW viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75060 Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 98May 05, 2015 10:10 pm Hi Allyd86, In my opinion, taken time to have the correct design and adjusting all the little things fixed before signing up. It tooks us more than 6 months before we finally put our signatures down on the contract. We did not have any problems with our sales rep. It was simply the delay was due to our own account. Yes we were comparing prices from another builder Coral. Sekisui come out with better pricing for 5 bedrooms, study, 2 en suite and outdoor living with full bathroom attached. We have modified Aron 395. Be patient, take time to look throughly to changes you have requested, and check again and again where you can improve home design from different angles. This is a good time to do before you sign the contract. Otherwise like ( ). ... wants to change window to door after signing contact. ..of course you start paying variation for changes. Again be patient... Sorry, mim-feher I got carried away. Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 99May 05, 2015 10:31 pm Lol shazaw no need to apologise Building a sekisui house in Holmesville NSW viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75060 Re: Building a Sekisui house West Wallsend 100May 06, 2015 8:13 am Thanks all! You have all helped put the whole process back into perspective and remind us of why we chose that builder to start with. I think we will continue the journey with Sekisui, as yes we are almost to contract signing and on reflecting we have made changes and corrections along the way which have delayed the process a bit too. At the end of the day we do want a quality build so I guess its important to take the time now to ensure it is correct rather than rush it and it all be wrong. Patience is key! Thanks again and good luck to everyone with your build! https://form.jotform.com/240284569218058 Please spare a moment to fill out this survey form for a project. 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