Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 08, 2016 9:45 pm Hi everyone
I've been stalking these forums for a while now, and have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone else's build threads. I thought it was about time to start my own now that things are heating up, and it will be a great way to record the build process too. We decided on Homestead as our builder after we fell in love with their Rio Grande display home in Blakes Crossing, and we felt the quality of their builds and standard inclusions are fantastic. The only problem we had was that the house is 19m wide and we needed to find a block with at least 21m frontage (no easy task!). We ended up purchasing an odd shaped 560m2 block in Blakeview Grove - it has a 24m frontage but narrows to 10m at the back. Homestead were great in the design stage and allowed us to change the floor plan several times to suit our needs. The admin process however has been anything but smooth sailing for us up to this point with countless delays and holdups from both our side and the builders. Our timeline so far; 13/06/2014 - land settlement 26/11/2015 - signed with Homestead and paid initial deposit 08/04/2016 - signed HIA contract and paid remaining deposit (they forgot about our file - for four months!) 19/04/2016 - received engineers and footings report 20/04/2016 - plans submitted to encumbrance manager 03/05/2016 - encumbrance approval 03/06/2016 - tile selections 11/06/2016 - council received development application 06/07/2016 - development consent granted 28/07/2016 - remaining selections with Homestead 20/09/2016 - unconditional finance approval 22/09/2016 - development approval granted 10/10/2016 - everything falls apart 14/10/2016 - request to terminate contract submitted Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 2Oct 08, 2016 9:54 pm I love pictures so you will be getting lots of them!! We have a two metre fall from back to front on our block so we are building split level - 3 levels in fact! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our floor plan - the roof line will stay the same across the house so we will have different ceiling heights inside. The green section has 3.1m ceilings, the orange section 2.7m and the yellow section 2.4m. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Elevations Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Site plan Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 3Oct 08, 2016 10:12 pm I loved the selections process, I could have spent all day there!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bricks - Austral Nougat with natural mortar Roof - Striata Ebony tile Gutters and fascias - Nightsky Windows and sliding doors - Satin Black Render - Woodland Grey and Pearl Grey Rollerdoor - Tuscan Glideline in Classic Cream Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 4Oct 08, 2016 10:20 pm Internal selections Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen benchtops - Essastone Crystallite Cupboards - Snowdrift (velour finish) Splash back - black tile in herringbone pattern Butlers pantry - cupboards same as kitchen, bench top in Snowdrift Gloss Wall colour - Grey Pebble Half Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bathroom tiles - can't remember names but grey for floor and bath hobs, and white for walls (vertical) to ceiling in both bathrooms. Bathroom and laundry cupboards - Asphalt (velour) doors and Snowdrift Gloss benchtops We also have two niches in the ensuite shower and one niche in the main shower but Beaumonts didn't have samples of the feature tile we chose for those. Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 6Oct 08, 2016 10:53 pm More pics Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We're having engineered hardwood floors through the whole house except bedrooms 2,3 and 4 which will have carpet. The floorboards are Timbermax Ironbark. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Carpets for bedrooms. Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 7Oct 08, 2016 11:25 pm Looks like it will be an amazing house. Watching this one Good luck with it all Building a Fairmont Custom in Seaford Meadows Our Build Thread Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 10Oct 10, 2016 8:18 pm So I've gone from excited to horrified in the space of a few days! If anyone has had similar experience or has advice on my situation it would be greatly appreciated! All over the news in the last two weeks has been stories of Huxley Homes in NSW and Ashford in Vic having major delays and defective work, some builds taking over 100 weeks! Now it looks as though Huxley isn't going to get their license renewed due to outstanding cases with Fair Trading. Homestead are owned by the same company, which is all owned by the senator Bob Day. We have now found out that he has had a caveat put on his home because the company owed more than $300K to a concreter, and the bank is chasing him too. It's starting to affect SA now, and the state manager admitted to me today that they are having trouble getting good suppliers and trades due to the issues. Our main concern is that we are going to get part way through this build and the company will go under, leaving us in a mess. We are also worried that if they do go ahead with the build we will get substandard tradies cause no one else will work for them I don't know if we can break our contract or not without incurring substantial costs, but we are considering pulling the pin and starting from scratch with another builder. Are we overreacting? Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 11Oct 10, 2016 9:17 pm What would you lose if you got out now? Deposit paid? Surely all you could lose would be any deposit paid, or invoices for work which has already been done (which might include some amount for soil tests or engineering). It's quite a risk to have hanging over you for the whole build. It might be worse having a half built house, or trying to fight for a half built house to get finished. I think if it was us, we would be cutting our losses. But based on the very limited information I know about your builder, it is very hard to really recommend a course of action I guess weigh up what the pros and cons are, and try to make the best decision for the safety of your investment and your sanity Building a Fairmont Custom in Seaford Meadows Our Build Thread Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 12Oct 14, 2016 6:35 pm TheGirlie So I've gone from excited to horrified in the space of a few days! If anyone has had similar experience or has advice on my situation it would be greatly appreciated! All over the news in the last two weeks has been stories of Huxley Homes in NSW and Ashford in Vic having major delays and defective work, some builds taking over 100 weeks! Now it looks as though Huxley isn't going to get their license renewed due to outstanding cases with Fair Trading. Homestead are owned by the same company, which is all owned by the senator Bob Day. We have now found out that he has had a caveat put on his home because the company owed more than $300K to a concreter, and the bank is chasing him too. It's starting to affect SA now, and the state manager admitted to me today that they are having trouble getting good suppliers and trades due to the issues. Our main concern is that we are going to get part way through this build and the company will go under, leaving us in a mess. We are also worried that if they do go ahead with the build we will get substandard tradies cause no one else will work for them I don't know if we can break our contract or not without incurring substantial costs, but we are considering pulling the pin and starting from scratch with another builder. Are we overreacting? We are in the same position but with Newstart the qld one, Contract signed and colour selection done but feeling like we should cut our losses now, I have a feeling the companies are about to go down, don't see Huxley recovering from this at all and thinking it might take the rest of them with them.. So hard to know what to do isn't it Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 13Oct 14, 2016 6:52 pm Ladybugs2 TheGirlie So I've gone from excited to horrified in the space of a few days! If anyone has had similar experience or has advice on my situation it would be greatly appreciated! All over the news in the last two weeks has been stories of Huxley Homes in NSW and Ashford in Vic having major delays and defective work, some builds taking over 100 weeks! Now it looks as though Huxley isn't going to get their license renewed due to outstanding cases with Fair Trading. Homestead are owned by the same company, which is all owned by the senator Bob Day. We have now found out that he has had a caveat put on his home because the company owed more than $300K to a concreter, and the bank is chasing him too. It's starting to affect SA now, and the state manager admitted to me today that they are having trouble getting good suppliers and trades due to the issues. Our main concern is that we are going to get part way through this build and the company will go under, leaving us in a mess. We are also worried that if they do go ahead with the build we will get substandard tradies cause no one else will work for them I don't know if we can break our contract or not without incurring substantial costs, but we are considering pulling the pin and starting from scratch with another builder. Are we overreacting? We are in the same position but with Newstart the qld one, Contract signed and colour selection done but feeling like we should cut our losses now, I have a feeling the companies are about to go down, don't see Huxley recovering from this at all and thinking it might take the rest of them with them.. So hard to know what to do isn't it For me, I don't think it's worth the gamble, I couldn't live with the stress and uncertainty. Hope it works out for you Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 14Oct 14, 2016 8:24 pm Thanks everyone. It's been great to vent on here to people who understand! We sent our request to terminate the contract to homestead yesterday. For our peace of mind it was the right thing to do. Two separate people from homestead have now told us that the Vic and NSW companies are as good as dead, and there's a high chance people in other states could be left with half finished builds. So we're starting from scratch! This weekend will be spent going to displays and getting quotes from other builders, hopefully because we know exactly what we want and have a lot of things already done the process can be sped up a bit Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 16Oct 14, 2016 8:35 pm Yes thanks guys I have made the decision to not go ahead. I have read and seen too much to give it the benefit of the doubt and even if we lost our $6000 it's better then the stress of building with them, Wow the thought of starting all over again is a bit scary though lol We have our plan and what we want like you TheGirlie but no idea who to go through now as Newstart sounded great ? Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 17Oct 14, 2016 8:38 pm Good luck to you guys, it's a daunting thought to be starting again but it's for the best I'm sure Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 18Oct 14, 2016 8:42 pm Ladybugs2 Yes thanks guys I have made the decision to not go ahead. I have read and seen too much to give it the benefit of the doubt and even if we lost our $6000 it's better then the stress of building with them, Wow the thought of starting all over again is a bit scary though lol We have our plan and what we want like you TheGirlie but no idea who to go through now as Newstart sounded great It's quite overwhelming isn't it!! I think we've narrowed it down to two after lots of talking and research over the last couple of days, we spoke to a lot of builders before deciding on homestead so we had a fair idea of who we liked. Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 19Oct 14, 2016 9:22 pm I think it's the right thing to do hon. If it makes you feel any better, we spent over 2 years with a builder dragging a house to site only to be so frustrated with the process we terminated our contract. We'd lost all faith in them and just couldn't be patient and loyal to them any longer. Now only a few short weeks with another builder (the right builder) we are pretty much at the same place it took the other company 2 years to get to but this time with a perfect floorplan and someone who can actually build what we want 😊😊. The process has been how it should have been right from the beginning!! Even though this is stressful for you, it may work out to be a blessing in disguise. Fingers crossed. Re: Our Modified Rio Grande in Blakeview Grove (SA) 20Oct 14, 2016 9:31 pm Thank you so much, you are so right! And omg wow 2 yrs that is crazy! Who did you end up going through? I am looking at plantation and DR homes arm but once again not sure. Hi everyone, Looking for some advise. We are about to build an above ground pool in our backyard. There is a private sewer line running under the pool at 1.6m… 0 11689 Much a do about nothing. You can see the fall heading to the actual drains. Stormwater ingress will be minimal and it's far better to have the top sitting flush rather… 12 6168 |