Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 13, 2015 10:07 pm Hi Everyone We recently bought a small block of land and are considering a few builders in Perth. I've spent some time reading through here about peoples experiences with various builders. We recently ruled out Ben Trager due to their building method conflicting with our site's design guidelines. Amano homes are on our shortlist, but I notice there haven't really been any posts at all about their builds (unless I haven't looked in the right places!). I'd really appreciate any feedback people may offer about their experience with Amano, or any other suggestions for suitable builders for a double storey on a narrow lot Thanks Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 2Jan 14, 2015 1:53 pm I noticed the same when we looked at Amano, there was literally nothing I could find about them, not sure if that was good or bad. Can I ask what your site guidelines are that rule out BTH for interest sake? If it's because you require brick construction upstairs, there is also Broadway Homes, Switch Homes, In-Vogue, the APG Breakthrough range I think is brick? that's all I can think of at the moment in the cheaper builders. Our build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70984 Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 3Jan 14, 2015 11:15 pm Thanks for the reply Archetto. We ruled out BTH because they don't do flat/skillion roof, which we need due to a building height restriction. It seems strange that no-one has shared any experience of building with them on here - trying not to let that put me off them! You're right, APG do have a few nice designs in their breakthrough range. Well ... I guess I'll keep looking and eventually be brave and decide on a builder! Your build looks great BTW - very nice view Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 4Jan 15, 2015 1:10 pm Good luck! It does your head in looking at design after design when you need to design it around your block, all the ones you want don't suit Thanks Our build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70984 Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 5Jan 26, 2015 12:02 am We had the same issue '2bytheseaside' but after ruling out other 'cheaper' builders that build brick upstairs and to a high spec we decided to get costings with Amano. It does worry me a bit that there are no reviews, good or bad! :/ Where abouts is your block? Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 6Jan 26, 2015 8:45 am Hi 2byTheSea I think you will find most of all the large project Builders are all going light weight/frame construction For better or worse. Skillion roofs, light weight and material durability can be a big problem coastal over time. LOL, if you cant find reviews good or bad..chances are they are not building enough homes or their clients havent discovered the internet and forums. FYI V_K2 Brickupstairs doesnt mean a thing unless you have it engineered and built to AS3700 and you will find only afew builders have brickwork properly engineered and built... check the specified building permit/drawings if you dont believe me....just as there are no references to AS standards for light weight. Australia is miles behind the Euro Standards. Finally,Do your own research and always ask for data/code comparisions..the fact that some Salesman/builder says they are of some "Quality or/& building dynasty", etc,etc , this means S*A in the commission and the civil courts. HTH Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 7Jan 26, 2015 12:03 pm Thanks StructuralBIMGuy, sounds like you know your stuff!... are they able to build to AS3700 if you request it? Also what are your thoughts on Floortech? Worried about it not being as 'sound proof' but the display homes we have jumped around in seem to be fine lol Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 9Jan 26, 2015 12:12 pm No worries V-K2 At least someone replied to my post and has also considered Amano! Thanks for your input about building methods StructuralBIMGuy - yes, we're also concerned about the coastal wear and tear, etc and would be keen to have brick upstairs. Also looking at having the Floortek system ... any thoughts on this. From what we can tell V-K2 the noise transfer from upstairs isn't too much of an issue. Could you please let me know whether you decide to go ahead with Amano V-K? ... which other builders are you considering? Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 10Jan 26, 2015 7:08 pm Thanks..I find working & problem solving on site most satisfying and working on my own projects rewarding It can (Masonry design) be costly and most builders dont want to pay the extra to design strictly to AS3700. So its easier to stipulate rules of thumb values for max. wall heights and lengths when dealing with out of plane bending,tension cracking, eccentric loading,cement mix, etc,etc A lot of builders now use plasterboard over brickwork to hide the cracking.... my thoughts are, lets hope its not an accident waiting to happen. Sound proofing isnt a big deal...I personally am not a big fan of 3c concrete slabs with eccessive dead loads so I dont mind 1c concrete slab on light weight Steel trusses Interesting enough I prefer to design and use them on renos and reverse living plans... floortech dont do renos. Builders charge you the same price and sprook the pros and cons for each method Pros...The savings are in using permanent structural formwork ie Corri & trusses, ease of fabrication and errection. Flexibility in runing services, & overall speed of construction, etc. Cons...Slab Cracking, fireproofing, durability, Slab drop downs and balconies, and the prices should be cheaper overall and that is the biggest CON! HTH Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 11Jan 26, 2015 7:15 pm Hi 2bythesea For coastal, yes definitely face brickwork externally with M4 rolled mortar joints (LOL no soap/aeration) and NO acrylics render ..unless you like painting/recoating every 6-10 years.HTH Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 12Feb 02, 2015 10:44 pm Hi We had similar issues when choosing a builder, we are building with Gold Style Homes - and could find nothing online. GS are a small (owner managed) builder that build a lot of small lot homes. A friend of mine judges the MBA awards and suggested we talk with them. From the first contact they have been exceptionally professional, ie - they respond to Comms quickly, they listened to our wants/needs and their quality is excellent (hence numerous awards). Price wise, they are mid range, less than $400k for high spec 300sqm, 2 storey home. If you can't find much on the Internet, generally lower number of builds/year and happy customers? My tip would be to get it down to 3-4 builders then measure them on Comms, design, quality and price. If they take a week to respond to your questions at this stage, then post contract it will be worse. Good luck Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 13Apr 08, 2015 12:01 am Found these reviews today on Amano. Not very impressive. http://www.localbusinessguide.com.au/re ... 0z48b5v/2/ Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 14Apr 08, 2015 12:19 pm The above reviews do seem to report bad experiences with Amano Homes, but I'm aware that often those with unusually bad experiences are driven to write reviews and other (happy) clients may never write anything and just get on enjoying their new home! I'd love to hear from anyone who has actually finished a build with Amano Homes, or is underway and can comment on the admin and construction experiences they've had. Hopefully someone replies Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 15Apr 08, 2015 12:43 pm Have you chosen a builder yet? I've been happy with Bellagio Homes as my builder, albeit I'm impatient to finish They certainly do narrow lot homes and specialise in double storey/custom homes. Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 16Apr 08, 2015 2:37 pm Thanks for the suggestion DukeCaddy. So good to hear that you're happy with Bellagio so far. You're home is looking great and hopefully not long to go now! I think Bellagio will be out of our price range unfortunately ... but I'll check them out again. Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 17Apr 08, 2015 3:05 pm Bellagio are in the Webb & Browne-Neave kind of market, so may not be as expensive as you think. They're certainly not Oswald/Zorzi type builders!!!! Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 18May 06, 2015 11:34 am I hope this does not come too late for you but if you haven't found a builder yet, DO NOT build with Amano. I found Amano online as their prices seemed reasonable and within my budget. I spent almost 6 months with the sales rep trying to finalise the house plan because they apparently had no idea of the regulations required by the council for the area I am building in, so changes kept having to be made to meet council approval, for example, set back requirements, roof colours etc. I was due to go in and sign pre-start after FINALLY getting council approval, after three knock backs, but the business day before I was sent an email by the sales rep saying that there had "been some changes that I should be aware of before going to pre-start" to the original price I had signed off on and agreed on. When I questioned him, he said that he had no idea why this was and that he was sorry I was in this situation. They had increased the build price by $30,000 and obviously they had no intention on telling me until I got to pre start, assuming so that I would feel pressured and sign it. Needless to say I did not do pre start with them, as this was unaffordable, despite the sales rep being fully aware of my budget restrictions. When I met with Amano, it was only then that I was informed that the sales guy who signed me up and had warned me of the price increase no longer worked for Amano. That in itself seems pretty suspicious to me. I was also told that this guy was a temporary staff member to fill in. I had their increased costings assessed by two independent builders who both confirmed what I suspected; that they were overcharging me and trying to play me for a fool as a first time builder. They had included things that were already in existence, for example, a water meter for $1200 which was already on site; crediting me $50 for reducing the house by a square meter when they had previously charged me $1500 to increase the size, what a joke. Originally, they did a preliminary site inspection and based my quote on this. For some reason this also increased by thousands, and included costs to re-instated the footpath. I'm not a builder or anything but it's a no brainer if it’s your job to go and see a building site and clearly see that a footpath is there that will need to be addressed in the price- why not be honest and just include it in the first place? Site costs were also increased due to the “difficult access” of the block...this is a cleared, flat block we are talking about with street access. How difficult can that be? And again, why would they not clearly see any difficulty in accessing it in the first place and price it accordingly to begin with? When I met with the manager of Amano on what should have been the pre-start meeting but instead was a meeting about the increased costs, she said to me, oh it would be a shame to not go ahead with the build because you’ve come so far and all the hard work is done now. Excuse me but if this is how a company has behaved before we have even signed a building contract, can you imagine what would happen afterwards and what they would try and sting me for once I was locked in?? I paid a $6500 deposit which I probably won’t see again. Now they are demanding an additional $2500 from me for works carried out and are threatening to send out a debt collector. Initially I was told that the house would be completed in April 2015, and the block is still empty. It has been over a year since I first approached Amano to build my home. Amano has wasted a year of my time, and the equivalent in mortgage repayments, not to mention my deposit. I would have gone ahead with the build, had they not changed the original price they quoted me, done their job properly to begin with and acted with honestly and integrity. Beware of Amano. Build with someone who has been personally recommended to you, not just someone who shows up on a Google search. Choose a builder who has experience in building in your suburb and dealing with your local council otherwise this will cost you much in time wasted. Bottom line, don’t build with Amano. Re: Anyone built / building with Amano Homes? 19May 06, 2015 12:51 pm I honestly dont understand why clients are so trusting of new home salespeople... LOL, I wouldnt trust them to inspect anything and it doesnt matter who they work for! There is a reason why project builders, land developers, real estate agents, etc, prefer to employ car salesman over building professionals and its not for their building expertise, unfortunately, clients are suckered everyday into handing over deposits.... and then comes the bad news Caveat emptor! Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs I haven’t. But have a Lowe Design home. Not only did I find Matt Lowe patronising and a bully, but the home is NOT TO CODE. 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