Allcastle Homes Grandworth 40 MKIII

This is WEEK 1 of the build. Was advised by Allcastle that our build start date is 30 May. Hoping the rain clears up for it to start ASAP.

WEEK 2 (Wednesday) - Went past at 8.30am and still no sign of anything happening onsite. I'm really hoping something will happen soon.

Was there much water from the rain on the weekend on-site? We got quite a bit, but they still did the Termite Control yesterday...I am sure they would have had to drain some away to do the work...

Hi Wazza, we had the usual amount of rain on the weekend. Not that I'm a builder, but I would assume the first thing they would have to do is bring in fill for our site before piering. I've just sent another message because I was told last Friday someone would contact me, but no-one has yet. Out of interest, there is another site a couple of blocks away from me - building is with TREVELLE HOMES - they demolished a couple of weeks after us. So far, they have had fill, piering and slab down now. We have nothing since demolition since Mid March.

I did find it very frustrating watching other houses start after us, pass us and finished well before us...I think AllCastle are becoming one of the slowest builders around...The quality is good, which would be expecting given the time they take...

Hopefully something will happen soon, we got 2 days notice for the piering so maybe by the end of next week....

WEEK 3 (Wednesday). Went past at 8.30am STILL NOTHING HAPPENING. Emailed Allcastle yesterday and followed up with a phone call today to find out what is happening - no communication from them as yet.

3.30pm - Just received a phone call from Allcastle advising someone will start tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
**UPDATE *** Just drove home from work past the site and have found they have brought in the fill and started levelling. YAY. I'm so excited now. I hope the work will continue at a steady pace now. I finally have a bit of relief knowing that it has commenced.

WEEK 4 - Fill going in and excavation started on the site last week. We did get rain yesterday, so this might delay more work at the moment.

WEEK 5 - Piering is scheduled this Thursday. The weather forecast is for sunny for at least the next week, so here's hoping the piering goes according to schedule.

Exciting at least they are starting


Simonds homes precinct.

Piering took place yesterday (Thursday) as scheduled. Piers filled with concrete and now waiting to dry. Allcastle were spot on with the estimation of the piering we required. We built up, so we required around 85 metres of it. We have 4 truckloads of fill to take away (owner's responsibility for cost), so this is estimated at $620.00 per load. Allcastle confirmed that we will only be charged for 3 loads now.

WEEK 6 - Overburden of piering was taken away. Only 3 truckloads were taken away. It's raining today (Thursday) so not sure when the next stage will start.

WEEK 7 - Work is going on there today. They are now preparing the site for the concrete slab. I understand the concrete will be poured next week. Hopefully the weather will be ok for that.

WEEK 9 - Concrete slab still not poured. It did rain last Wednesday so not sure if that has affected it. Hopefully it will be done this week. There is no forecast for rain this week.

Not wanting to concern you, but our slab was completed by the end of Week 4. At the end of week 9 the Bricks had been delivered and where placed out waiting for the Bricklayers to start in Week 10.

I would be very annoyed with them at the moment, you are already 5 weeks behind our build and we took until week 44 to complete...

I'm extremely annoyed. I know we have had rain, but this is getting ridiculous. I would have thought someone would have been there today. No-one has come today as of about an hour ago, so I don't assume anything will happen today. If no-one turns up tomorrow morning, I'm going to ring them. There is a site a few blocks away from me. They're building with Trevelle Homes. They demolished after us. They are building TWO homes on the site. So far they have slab, timber structure and bricks were delivered last week for both houses on their site.

I assume everything is ready for the pouring of the slab?

Pouring the slab is almost a full day's work, so if they are not there first thing in the morning, it will not happen that day.

I would call now and asked for a date it will be poured, if is this week they will know when it is booked in. I am just concerned as they are very forthcoming at letting you know when things are happening, if they have not given you an update for a while I would be concerned it may not be schedule this week either, hence why they are not telling you anything...

At the end of the build they give you a survey to complete, and one of the main point I put down was that they only communicate when things are happening, when there is a hold up for some reason they just go quite and avoid any contact. I said customers understand issues do occur, but it is made worse when there is no communication regarding the delay, which just leaves us getting angry as we don't now what is happening. Obviously they ignore that as they are still doing it...

Yeah thanks Wazza. I sent an email yesterday and was told it didn't happen due to the weather. Well, it's been sunny now for at least 4 days and the site is very dry. Still no-one there today. I'm not happy, especially when I see work going on at other sites in our area. I also agree with you regarding communication. They should be communicating, either via email or the site supervisor could give someone a call, to let us know what's going on. We just have no idea of timelines, etc., People do understand when something is delayed for certain reasons, however, leaving people in the dark is not the answer and just frustrates people.

Have they given you a date?

You are 5 weeks behind where we was at this stage, and there has not been 5 weeks worth of rain. At most with those extra drying out days, they could claim 2 weeks...

You are right, the ground is dry, I can vouch for that as I was struggling to dig it yesterday as it was that hard....

No, no date as yet. I have sent an email today asking for a date and also indicating of my frustration. I know we had extra work because we brought it fill, but it didn't help that they didn't commence work until the end of Week 3 of the so-called build.