First home build SA Hickinbotham- keys 26/2

they refused to do a fixed price and said they only do pc which is fixed on completion, but at selections the consultant told us we were generously over quoted for the work they need to do... and our sales consultant said she did include the concrete for the crossover from the pavers to the road. so we expected it to at least break even to make up for things changing in price but for a 25% difference in price for an already over quoted price is crazy. but that's okay we will pay in the difference and have the paper trail questioning it all and depending on their answer we will let the ombudsman ask for invoices and have them explain to them why there is such a huge difference and why they did not take due care with out account. cause as we see it this means it was at least under quoted by 25% which for us would have made a huge difference if we could add this to our bank loan which we cant now! and this might also have influenced where we go to build our house, I have never heard of any one having this big a difference on a paving pc quote amount before. all we can think is someone messed up big time or the contractor charged for work not done, either way we want it sorted out

I've had friends two us that we need 20 000 for contingency - definitely hope not!

yes the thing is , everything has been on the mark, over quoted by a couple of hundred $$ but this is why it is so strange as they are really good with the over price of things to not have people pay in but this was such a shock and a huge under price quote according to the new figures we figured something must be wrong. cause how can everything be over quoted and allright and all of a sudden such a huge jump in under quote of paving... after they said it was generously over quoted

agree sounds bad to be told overquoted then having it turned out to be underquoted by such a margin. hoping you get some satisfactory answers about it all and issue sorted quickly with minimal extra hassle.

Me too but worst case is we end up going to ombudsman:) nut wont leave it unless we get a good answer

floor selected


floor installed

but irritated lol about the flooring, after everyone trying to make us except the floors and insisting its the same colour which it is not we did some more investigation! glad we did look into it more as we are now going to push more for the flooring we selected. our selections consultant said yesterday that titanium for them is vintage grey for the supplier... what a lie ! we actually found a supplier that stock both the colours and both the flooring , not only were we quoted on Titanium flooring which retail for $10 a sqm more than the vintage grey but also in quality its and issue, the vintage grey only has an 5mm wear layer where the Titanium has 0.55mm wear layer... so we got quoted on the superior product and then they in stall a lesser and cheaper product giving them a higher commission and markup than from original floors selected.... although the floor specs is on par , there is the slight differences in price, and then the wear layer and then the huge difference the colour. think we will stand on it to be corrected. or go to the ombudsman with all our proof and then insist for a full refund as we did not get what we paid for nor what we were quoted for, mmm makes me wonder on how many other things this has happened on. but my biggest concern is that our consultant and our supervisor was so quick to take the contractors word for it that it is the same colour and did not even try to investigate it all. we found it to be around 2k difference in price for our flooring! they charged us $9126 for it where the floors installed come to $7126 what a huge difference in the price (that includeds gst and a 20% mark up) if they did this with every floor they install how much have they robbed people for. at least the ombudsman can see the invoices but not only that they can also see and review the information we got, cause they might try to say it costs the same (which it doesn't ) but even still the huge colour difference

So regarding our paving we have 80 sqm (went and measured it) and got the total divided to it and ended up with $124.68 oer meter!

Hickies only said we cant see invoice due to commercial confidentiality... but that we incured additional works and costs over what was estimated..

Well we asked fir them to specify what works was done and what additional works was done that incured these extra charges! Since there should not be any due to the contractor billing us directly for the soil removed and for the concrete bit from pavers to the road... if the answer is not satisfactory we will inform them that we will go to the ombudsman as we feel the charge is excessive
We also want to make sure that contractors did not charges us for work and then bill it to account too and we end up double paying

did they use gold tinged pavers?

Thats whatcee are questioning since we cant see invoices its a bit tricky... but st this time we feel after handover to go to ombudsman about this since they can see things we cant...

Management has asked for photos of floors that was installed and photos of the planks we selected at selections... would think they would have samples of the vinyl planks they had at selections.... or at least photos...

a fair bit different with the floors.
that seems a ridic price for the pavers - hope you can get them done for a better price

Yes we will be definitely take it to ombudsman since they dont want to show us any invoices or give any info. Same with flooring we lifted our concern and will again at pci infor about our dissatisfaction with it. And if nothing done we will take it to ombudsman also.

Ss said today that tomorrow they finish paving
Tomorrow abd thursday they finish painting
And friday is garagedoor

So then just appliances when move in and flyscreens to go

He is doing final checks tomorrow/Thursday

Yay. That sounds positive for finishing

Yes getting excited again!

so we called ss last night, he recons house will be finished on Monday at pci. and appliances (cooktop/hotwatersystem/ac) will be installed when we are ready to move in.

he also said paving will be completed today,
painting will be completed today/tomorrow,
garagedoor goes on Friday,
and he will do final inspection either today / tomorrow.
that leaves just the flyscreens in between

then the flooring/ invoice issue we will sort out through the ombudsman, since the management is not getting back to us regarding the flooring at all. and they cant justify why we are being charged around $124.68 sq. for paving! we cant see invoices so only way to sort it is through the alternative avenue. (not to bad over all but the paving is still an issue, if the actual work was done that we are charged for and actual things used then we don't mind paying but we do not want to pay for things not done, according to contractor he was allowed to pave up to 94sqm. we have the idea that we got charged for the whole 94 sqm and not just the 77.8 sqm installed, which can either be the contractor billed whole amount, or hickies charged us the whole amount although they only pay for 77.8. any way only way we will know is going to ombudsman that can ask for the proof/incvoices.)

we had a couple of things we noticed through out as we went past that needs attention. hoping ss sees it and attends to it before Monday.

what we saw that needs attention is the cleaning of the bricks/house outside, and inside
windows need cleaning
alfresco slab/garage slab needs cleaning
scotia on pole on front porch
the slide doors/windows to be adjusted to close flush
to make sure after they are flush they lock/close/open
the door to alfresco had a bow, looks a bit better with security door on, but still need to be lifted/supported in the middle a bit plus the gap above the same door needs to be filled.

not much to go, will go by later today and see how things are going! we send in the final invoice as was advice by our broker we cant keep it back since the house is liveable. but was adviced if the issues is not sorted re the paving charges and floor colour to go to ombudsman and to just keep all the proof that we did lift the issue with them before payment, we also have to lift the flooring issue again at pci, and make sure it is noted down so that they do know we are not accepting it.

a couple of hours after sending in the invoice we got an email advising of the amount we need insurance for and to send the insurance COC (certificate of currency) to Homestart. which we did last night. so awaiting further information from homestart regarding final payment etc.

So found painter at house.. was doing alfresco/cornises above roller garage door and above kitchen cabinets.

He forgot about the touchups he needs to do putsede and the 2nd coat paint! 😡 he said going back Friday! Plus he took it on himself to only stain the bottom bit of door frame! And not even the same colour as door/frame! Its a dark red brick colour!!!🤬 told him on his return to paint it same colour as rest of frame...

Pavers did not finish like they said they would.they still need to cut pavers to fit round drains and set the sides in concrete and brush with sand in gaps.

Have a few things that need touch up before hand over! Mainly painting wise, found corner bits not completely covered / a smudge in wir/ and the study door frame paint painted over fram on paint (looks sloppy) and lots of marks on paint.
Hall has a big patch of paint a different colour than the other paint.
And in toilet 2 small holes on wall looks like roll holder was put on wrong side and then removed.
Alfresco door need to be sealed at top between door and frame and drop lifted
Scotia on porch pole install and paint and the doors/windows be made flush...

Ss has inspection tomorrow hope hd looks at faults and have it fixed before pci! Bank slso checking and dighning off on work done tomorrow

So regarding our flooring!!! They still insit the supplier said its correct and what hickies call titanium they call vintage grey a d that the colour difference is deu to happen as there is slight colour difference from batch to batch... we think not grey/lightgre/dark grey in colour difference we understand but from greys to lightbyelow browns is unexceptable all our colour decisions at selections and custom made furniture was based around what we selected. We are now taking this to the ombudsman and have informed hickies accordingly that we will now proceed with it.

have you looked up the manufacturers website to see what ranges they have - specifically do they make a titanium and a vintage grey?
assume you have no idea of who supplier was? was only thinking to see what their ranges are called

We saw the titanium its an actual colour and we saw the vintage grey which is also an actual colour and the are different:( but our consultant said she cant do anything else about it and we will need to do a formal complaint through customer service department but that off the record the ombudsman will get results and faster too..

But on the good side bank has indpected property and adviced they understand we will takd things up with ombudsman and to keep all info about the discussions we had with hickies. The bank signed off the property as it is fit for living although floor clout is incorrect and an issue with pave invoice (but bith hoing yo ombudsman)

Said we should be able to get our keys tomorrow/monday at the latest and to book in key collection. Ss said we can get at pci we just need to inform him so guess he fors checks today to get things rounded off and fixed tomorrow for us to get keys monday...

We just need to call tomorrow to see if $$ was received if not call at pci monday to confirm its receipt

Just depending if homestart pays it iver today/tomorrow!