Ben Trager Build - Annies Landing (Ellenbrook)

S-Jade · Feb 11, 2015 1:44 pm

Hi Everyone.

Just wanting to share my journey with Ben Trager homes as there are not many reviews and i feel at the moment they have been fantastic for my partner and I.

Went display house viewing - 5th of October 2014
We initially wanted to go with 101 residential (we didn't even know Ben Trager existed). When we went into the house the sales rep was very rude. He judged us because we were young. After looking at the house we thought we would chat to him see his thoughts and as soon as the words keystart came out of our mouths he didn't want to know us. Pretty much said we wouldn't be able to build a double storey with them and sent us out the door. We then walked over to Ben Trager and never looked back.

Conditional Finance Approval - Keystart 15th of October 2014
Met with Jadon from Ben Trager - 19th of October 2014
Signed land Contracts with LWP - 8th of November 2014
Decided on final house plans and paid our deposit - 1st of December 2014
Contracts signed with Ben Trager - 24th of January 2015
Formal finance approval from Keystart - 11th of Feb 2015
Pre start booked in for - 27th of Feb 2015
Land titles due end of Feb
Land titles were given 12th of March 2015
Settlement Date 30th of March 2015
Final Plans received, signed and returned to BT - 28th of April 2015
File sent to Construction :z:

6th of May 2015
Slab booked - First week of June
Re pegging 24th of May 2015
SLABBED!! 28th of May 2015
Bricks delivered 15th of June 2015
Brickwork commenced 23rd of June 2015
Brickwork complete 15th of July 2015
Roof beams delivered 18th of July 2015
Upper slab poured 19th of August 2015
Upper floor roof & wall framing complete 25th of August 2015
Roof complete 26th of August 2015
Upstairs render complete 15th of October 2015
Eaves and Gutters upstairs complete 22nd of October 2015
Scaffolding taken down 23rd of October 2015
Lower roof frame & Fascias complete 3rd of Nov 2015
Electrical's and Plumbing complete 19th of Nov 2015
Roof Sheeting delivered 19th of Nov 2015
Internal render complete 3rd Dec 2015
Internal insualtion complete 5th Dec 2015
Roof Complete 8th Dec 2015
Internal gyprock complete 8th Dec 2015
Cornacing Complete 9th Dec 2015
Door and window delivery 9th Dec 2015
Glass doors and windows installed 11th Dec 2015
White set complete 12th Dec 2015
Doors Hung 21st Dec 2015
Locked up 21st Dec 2015
Hobbs built, bath & laundry trough in 25th Jan 2016
Ceiling & upstairs painted 25th Jan 2016
Screed and waterproofing complete 23rd Jan 2016
Cabinetry carcasses installed 4th Feb 2016
Stone bench tops installed 11th Feb 2016
Tiling complete 18th Feb 2016
Garage grano complete 30th March 2016
All internal painting complete (door frames, front door etc) 30th March 2016
Bottom story eaves, facias and down pipes painted 30th March 2016
Oven, range hood and cooktop installed 30th March 2016
PCI2 - House finally complete 9th May 2016
If any one has any questions please feel free to ask.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me!

archetto · Feb 11, 2015 2:01 pm

We had the same experience as you, walked into a 101 display, dealt with a really rude rep who also started to bag out other builders in a last ditch attempt to get out business (who trains these people?!) we walked out and went to Ben Trager and now building out first home with them, my thread is in my signature if you want to follow

Look forward to watching your house start! Post up your plans

S-Jade · Feb 11, 2015 2:10 pm

Hi Archetto!

Nice to see someone else is building with Ben Trager!
Funny you say that because we went into another display home for 101 just to get colour ideas etc for when we have pre start and the sales rep wouldn't tell us the sizes of the rooms. Just kept bagging out Ben Trager and saying we need to sit down with him to discuss our options. We said no thank you and left.

He also wouldn't give another couple a floor plan he just kept suggesting they needed to sit down with him also.
How hard is it for him to give a floor plan?!?!
So i agree i don't know who trains them but they don't do a very good job.

Awesome i'll go check out your thread now, have a break from all of my paper work at work :lol:

I'll post up now

S-Jade · Feb 11, 2015 2:33 pm

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This isn't our final one but its pretty close!

Upstairs is the same shape - just a little smaller (due to budget)
There are double doors to the games room also
We are doing our alfresco after handover - as it is cheaper (it will run along the back of the house) 12x4m
The fridge recess is gone.
We have extended the WIP all the way down to the store room.
The PTY in the kitchen will be bench.
We are upgrading to double shower head and vanity in the ensuite.

ak11 · Feb 11, 2015 2:47 pm

Hi,

We are building with Ben Trager too. We signed up in November last year and are currently waiting on titles for our block!
We had a look at 101 as well, but found Ben Trager's standard inclusions could not be matched and the service we got from our sales rep was outstanding, and still is.

All the best with your build, I'm looking forward to following

ronfire · Feb 11, 2015 2:53 pm

Hi S-Jade, good to see someone else building with BTH. We r too feel free to take a look at my thread. Not sure if its in my signature, though! We r building in Banksia Grove.

Nice design and like the extended pantry! Ur alfresco is going to be pretty big!
All the best with everything.

S-Jade · Feb 11, 2015 3:40 pm

Hi ak11, Nice to see you have had the same experience as us! We might almost be at the same stage :z:

Where abouts are you building if you don't mind me asking?

Hi ronfire, Awesome i will check it out. Yes a big alfresco was a must as we want to have an outdoor kitchen (eventually). Yes almost a scullery but not quite wide enough. We ill be putting our fridge in there

archetto · Feb 11, 2015 4:08 pm

Plan looks great! We too put in a longer alfresco and look forward to entertaining in it!

Ahh yes we had the same problem with the floor plans! Wouldn't give us any to look at unless we sat down, we weren't interested in building with them and my partner mentioned he would prefer a concrete slab for the upper floor, the guy got quite aggresive and then started is bag out BTH, anyone who bags another company instantly loses me as a customer even if we were interested (just looking at colours and room sizes really, like you). It was really off putting, I get that the reps are commission based but that isn't how you get clients.

I like your front elevation too, are you putting freestanding robes in the minor bedrooms?

archetto · Feb 11, 2015 4:20 pm

Sorry another post lol.

If its not too late, put a store room under your stairs, such good space under there it would be a shame to waste it especially as I couldn't see a linen cupboard in your plans so you could use it for that.

ak11 · Feb 11, 2015 4:30 pm

S-Jade

Hi ak11, Nice to see you have had the same experience as us! We might almost be at the same stage :z:

Where abouts are you building if you don't mind me asking?

Hi ronfire, Awesome i will check it out. Yes a big alfresco was a must as we want to have an outdoor kitchen (eventually). Yes almost a scullery but not quite wide enough. We ill be putting our fridge in there

Our titles are delayed until May / June. Have you got yours yet? We are building in the Ocean Road Estate, Spearwood.

S-Jade · Feb 11, 2015 4:59 pm

archetto

Plan looks great! We too put in a longer alfresco and look forward to entertaining in it!

Ahh yes we had the same problem with the floor plans! Wouldn't give us any to look at unless we sat down, we weren't interested in building with them and my partner mentioned he would prefer a concrete slab for the upper floor, the guy got quite aggresive and then started is bag out BTH, anyone who bags another company instantly loses me as a customer even if we were interested (just looking at colours and room sizes really, like you). It was really off putting, I get that the reps are commission based but that isn't how you get clients.

I like your front elevation too, are you putting freestanding robes in the minor bedrooms?

Same with us as soon as we mentioned it had a concrete slab he got really defensive and i was like ok we are going now haha. No we took them out as i wanted to be in the room with a bed in there to see where was best to put a built in robe. We are just having carpet in to downstairs rooms for now but one bedroom at a time we are going to rip that up, put a bricked in robe in and finish off with bamboo

archetto

Sorry another post lol.

If its not too late, put a store room under your stairs, such good space under there it would be a shame to waste it especially as I couldn't see a linen cupboard in your plans so you could use it for that.

My boyfriend didn't want one, he said it would be too many doors and would prefer not to have one. Can this be put in at pre start? I would preferably want one so i might try to convince him :lol:

We will be putting in cupboards in the laundry as well as over head cupboards. Doing that after hand over.

ak11

S-Jade

Hi ak11, Nice to see you have had the same experience as us! We might almost be at the same stage :z:

Where abouts are you building if you don't mind me asking?

Hi ronfire, Awesome i will check it out. Yes a big alfresco was a must as we want to have an outdoor kitchen (eventually). Yes almost a scullery but not quite wide enough. We ill be putting our fridge in there

Our titles are delayed until May / June. Have you got yours yet? We are building in the Ocean Road Estate, Spearwood.

Ak11 thats not good news! whats holding it up? No not yet but hopefully soon!

archetto · Feb 11, 2015 5:04 pm

We put it in from the beginning so i'm not sure about prestart, i'd flick an email off to your rep and ask, it's somewhere you can put your vacuum and christmas tree etc so it's pretty handy to have!

Ahh yep I see, we are doing bamboo but not to the bedrooms upstairs.

How exciting is it, it's all I think about all day every day haha it's very consuming! Do you currently live out of home? This is my first time so every time I see something I like I buy it, boyfriend is not a fan

S-Jade · Feb 11, 2015 5:20 pm

Yes i definately agree with that one. I like to hide all of those types of things!

Bamboo is sooo expensive i couldn't believe it. We are doing the stairs, retreat and master bed/WIR as well as the games room down stairs. Then eventually do the other bedrooms.

Me too, i'm constantly online searching things and getting ideas. The boyfriend hate's hearing all of my suggestions. We even went looking at furnature shops just to get some ideas. Even though moving in is so long away its nice to get ideas!

No i still live at home thank god

so all new to me aswell.

archetto · Feb 11, 2015 5:53 pm

Haha my boyfriend is the same, they should start a club

I drag him furniture shopping but won't let me buy anything

luckily my boyfriend is laying the floor himself so we are saving cost there! I will send you a list of shops when I get home which have well priced bamboo. We are only doing the bottom floor minus the theatre.

S-Jade · Feb 11, 2015 5:57 pm

My boyfriend is also laying it! he used to do it when he was a teenager. We are just getting them to do the stairs. He say's its a hard job and would rather pay them :lol:

I would love if you could send me through a list. He used to work for Simply Bamboo i think it's called. They are a bit pricey so i'm iffy about using them for that reason.

What colour bamboo have you gone for. A photo would be great if you have one

archetto · Feb 11, 2015 6:01 pm

Haha same! Getting someone else to do the stairs at this stage

Umm we haven't decided fully yet, not the natural the one up from that I think, it's called Champagne or Caramel at some places from memory.

S-Jade · Feb 11, 2015 6:45 pm

Aah yes I think that's the colour that we are going for aswell

nice!

Going to pick our tiles this weekend. We've already been a month or so ago and love swan ceramics so going to go back there.

I sort of know what I want so hopefully i don't change my mind haha.

archetto · Feb 11, 2015 10:16 pm

Swan were really lovely to deal with, we didn't get our tiles from there but they give a good deal!

mrsmith · Feb 11, 2015 11:54 pm

Welcome to the BT homes club. Had a quick scan of comments above. I would strongly recommend the store under the stairs. The cheapest storage space you'll ever get.

And we love our bamboo floors. Not sure what's our our thread. It's been a while but go with the store room.

mrsmith · Feb 11, 2015 11:56 pm

Oh and I meant to mention we had exactly same experience with 101. Rude and pushy. And standard specs not even close to meeting what we ended up with.