Building with Dennis Family Homes (Melb)

Hi everyone,

Would love to connect with others building with Dennis Family Homes. This is our first time building, and after securing a 14m x 32m plot of land in Lollipop Hill, due to settle mid-2018, have decided to build the Pearl 26.

Has anyone built/ selected the Pearl floorplan range? What did your dwarf wall for the study nook look like?

Has anyone been to the Colour Room? What was it like and what was the upgrade costs like for things like shaker style cabinets? 40mm Caesarstone edges? Tiles? Gold tapware?

Managed to obtain the full general upgrade costing sheets from them, as trying to establish rough budgeting figures but very hard to forecast some of it prior to going to the Colour Room.
Have any of you received any freebies?

Look forward to hearing other people's experiences & advice

G'day SweetnSassy7.
Sorry, I'm in a rush here.
I've done my colour selection, but cannot help you on pricing for those, sorry.
It's awesome going to that session and they do have a good selection of upgrades on show.
We were able to get some of the upgrade pricing from our sales rep when we were signing up, but he did encourage us to wait til the colour appointment.

As far as freebies go, we waited and shopped around when some of the bigger builders had the "This much extra for only this much" promotion and did well with that, but no other 'freebies' so to speak as we progressed.

There's a few of us building with them soon and we are currently discussing our progress in an existing DFH discussion, which also has people who have recently completed their builds and you can read back to ones which were completed a lot further back.

You can find that discussion over at this link... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=82405&start=560 if you are interested at all.

Few, think that's it. In a rush here.
Good luck an hope to see you in the forum.

This week has been a real up & down week, thankfully ending on a high today with good progress made..

We had originally chosen DFHs due to friends of ours raving about their DFHs build some years back (in the same area) claiming they were transparent with costs/ pricing, were excellent at working with families on a budget, and provided excellent quality without all the "extras". Having been in their home multiple times we couldn't fault the standard at all. So we decided to try them first & were stoked when we learnt it was within our means.

DFH were brilliant from get go - we told them we were on a tight budget & they recommended a minimum plot size of 12.5 x 32m for a maximum price they thought was realistic. We asked for the latest land plots available & pricing & was disappointed to see the cheapest for that size was $1000 more than their recommended max price. We went away to mull everything over. Next day we returned to have DFHs call the estate land sales to query if the plot was still available. Unfortunately it had sold 5 mins prior. We left feeling disappointed as the next release was approx a month away.
We then received a call from DFHs the next morning to advise that a customer had pulled out of a plot in the release prior & it was a bigger plot (14 x 32) for a lot cheaper!! We were stoked & went to put the deposit down with the land sales office immediately.
As per the usual we signed & paid the 10% deposit a week later. That was all good.

From there we dealt with DFHs on floor plan options. None of their aspirations range floor plans were 100% perfect.. they all needed amending in some way or form. Cost wise it wasn't too bad. We ended up settling on the Pearl 26. Then two weeks ago hubby recommended popping into other display homes in the area to get colour ideas... so naturally we collected all the various floor plan books/ brochures. I love looking at floor plans but I should have known I'd find something I liked...



We had queried before if there were any Onyx/ Pearl designs being built out our way that we could look at in person & told not really. Asked again today to be told there was one way down south.. obtained the address and realised it wasnt too far from the Caesarstone Showroom we planned on popping into.

The caesarstone showroom was awesome & you can obtain small samples for free (you can do this on their website too) or pay $5 cash to get bigger block samples. They have just released some new white colour selections (that appear to be in their standard range) which was a huge relief as originally their stones have a cream base. Here are a few pics from the showroom..




From there we went to view the Pearl 24 home. It was near completion and unfortunately the blinds were down in the bedrooms & bathrooms, but I was so pleased to be able to see the kitchen, laundry, linen cupboard, pantry, study nook, family room etc. Ours is slightly longer in the family room but it gave us such a good indication of the house width from the road & room sizes. Here are a few pics...

Pearl 24:







The meals area has the study nook behind it - we have opted to put a 20mm bulkhead at the top so we can put in white shutter blinds or a frame when we have handover. This creates a bit of privacy as you can see straight into the bedroom behind it.









I have to admit I was very surprised & impressed at how clean & tidy the build site was. But it was awesome seeing some standard lighting and downlights as we have been debating majorly the past week over whether to standard throughout or part downlights in the living areas & entry hallway. Today we opted for standard lighting throughout with 3 pendant lights above the kitchen bench, 1 long light above each bathroom mirror & 2 pendant lights on each side of our bed in the main.

This post is SUPER long (sorry!!) but thought it may be good for those building the pearl as I haven't come across any photos of it online other than the floor plan.

Till next time...

Looks good. Must really have you all fired up to get your own place happening.

We have been to a couple of DFH sites and they were very tidy each time we went by over a couple of months. Hope our crew are just as clean on our build.

Hi there, anyone here chose to go with a site surveyor which is not Dennis family recommended ? If so how was it and what is the average price? Thanks in advance

Following as we are looking to build early next year just outside ballarat. We were looking at the davenport 343 but price seems to be blowing out so we are currently getting a quote on the kimberly 30 with some alterations. We have paid our $1000 deposit to lock in the recent promo.

Looking forward to sharing our experience.

Really like the Kimberly 30.
We were seriously looking at the Kimberly 30, but decided on the Devenport 363 in the end. Slab went down last week.
Good luck and I'll keep an eye out for any updates you share.

In the same boat as you Cleef85, we did out initial $1000 and some changes to the Kimberly just waiting to be taken through one, apparently there are several being built in Bannockburn (just outside of Geelong) we are at 50k extras on the Kimberly 28 now I'm starting to think we should have gone the Devenport

One of the reasons we changed from the Kimberly to the Devonport, was because the Devonport had inclusions that we were paying to upgrade/change with the Kimberly, so combined with the promo at the time, it worked out better for us.
Nothing wrong with the Kimberly. It's a bloody nice home.


SweetnSassy7, what is your progress at the moment?

Yeh Im thinking of asking for a quote on the Devenport just to compare. Sooo much to consider with upgrades etc Inspiration seems to have the better deal in Promotions but we shall see. Our land titles next month hopefully so we have a little bit of time to sort things out.

I do love the Kimberly just want to make sure we get all we want and need for our money haha

How is it all going for you rattle or are they still on break?

Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to compare. I'm sure the rep would be happy to do it. We did it at his desk and decided to go the way we went.
Please don't take my comments as convincing you or anyone else to change. Just sharing our experience with a similar situation.

As far as our progress goes, you can see my discussion link in my signature. I don't want to go too off topic here in someone else's discussion.

Arghhhh we ar at 103k! About 20k is a septic, power and water run in but there is also 27k of slab upgrades this is on top of the base price. We are questioning this!

We have added to the house but not much just moved the pantry on the wall of the meals area like the davenport and lined the laundry up with everything else!

The promo and inclusions are really bugging me because there is a huge difference.
Our quote for the davenport 343 premium was 350k!

.

Been pretty quiet on our end at the moment with Christmas and NY. Just trying to work out colours and designs we are keen on for interiors and exteriors.
Does anyone have rough ideas of pricing for timber floors instead of laminate?
Or adding painted wooden frames around exterior windows (like a Border frame)?

What colours has everyone gone with??

Went and viewed Austral Bricks in Deer Park yesterday & have fallen in love with the Indulgence Range - thankfully not too expensive! Will be heading to PGH Bricks on Saturday as they stock the standard included bricks.

Is Haynes the paint range we need to select from for exterior paintwork?

Hey everyone

Gosh so much has happened since I last posted. DFHs is clamping down majorly on changes/amendments with the Aspirations series so after the cost was increasing steadily, we made the decision to switch to the Inspirations Essence - Hastings 273 home. So glad we did as it has a lot more quality inclusions, such as sturdier shelving in the linen cupboards, wardrobes etc.

This is the Hastings 273 Floor Plan:



Unfortunately there wasn’t a Hastings 273 on display in VIC but we managed to view one down South Melbourne. I couldn’t get over how spacious and big it was! Here’s some pics for your perusal..
























I don’t want to make this post super long so will post a few separate posts of other aspects shortly

How is everyone else’s builds going?

So from selecting a new floor plan, we started viewing as many DFHs displays as we could for colour ideas, & had the pleasure of visiting the Malvern Colour Room with our sales consultant (our actual colour appt isn’t for another 1-2 mths)

I have to admit whilst there was a reasonable base selection offered, I am disappointed in some aspects. When we signed up with DFHs in Sept 2017 we had queried whether we could get certain items, & our sales consultant had only been with the company a month but appeared to know his stuff, told us that whatever wasn’t in the colour room could likely be sourced. Upon visiting the colour room months later & chatting with him at our last appointment, suddenly this is not the case. We had our hearts set on Westinghouse appliances, & now we are being told we can only have Technika or upgrade to Smeg for $3k (not a fan of either brand given past experiences). Other items include gold tapware/ cabinet handles, a modern round vanity basin that has vertical sides like shown in this photo..

Our sales consultant has been promoted to Area Manager & after calling him up on a change in information at our last appointment, was told “I’ve been here a lot longer now & have expanded my knowledge of what we can & cannot do.” Well that’s all well & good but why didn’t he find out from the colour room or someone higher up the correct information when initially queried, instead of passing on incorrect information which we now have to just accept. And when we queried the credit we would obtain back on the Technika appliances if we supplied our own Westinghouse ones (installing after handover) we got told virtually nothing. So not awfully impressed about that but not a lot we can do about it.

Whilst Inspirations Premium Range offers a great selection at one price, the $17-20k price hike compared with the Inspirations Essence Range is more cost effective if you are on a budget. We compared our upgrade selections for both ranges to see whether it paid upgrading to Premium and we were still $5k better off with Essence, upgrading certain items we preferred, such as Kitchen Island Bench style. If you do opt for the Premium Range just be aware that depending on your preferences, you can expect to pay additional for:

- Upgrade pricing for bricks, carpet, laminate/ timber floors (bamboo, etc.)
- In-built Study Desk (as most display homes have)
- Additional sliding or hinged doors on WIRs/ ensuite
- Shower Niche
- Electrical Items (Data Cables/ Extra PowerPoints on top of standard)
- Colour on Concrete (our estate listed this as compulsory)
- Feature Painted Walls/ Wallpaper
- Hardwired Doorbell
- Insinkerator
- Cat 3+ Caesarstone Selections
- Pull out Bin
- Different Laminate/ Laminex Finishes

Coming back to the Colour Room, there are no prices displayed & some upgrades (eg Bricks) have differing prices depending on whether you are building Aspirations/Essence or Premium Range. The sales consultants tend to have a shrewd idea of prices but I have found the DFHs Facebook closed group (“Dennis Family Homes New Build Discussion Group”) to be a wealth of information regarding upgrade prices, variation ideas and more! Definitely recommend you join the group if you haven’t already!

Here are a bunch of photos of the Malvern Colour Room:

Flooring Options:

Carpet, Floor & Wall Tiles:

Tapware:

Basins:

Cabinet Options:

Cabinet Handles Range:

Laundry Cabinets:

Caesarstone Range:


This isn’t everything shown in the colour room.. they have appliance options, some front door & handles/ lock selections, Haymes paint samples, Laminex Paint Samples, Garage Door options etc. You can certainly spend hours here! Lol
Viewing the colour room prior to your colour appt isn’t the norm and it is something our area manager has just started doing on the weekend in the past few weeks as he has clicked this is something customers want. Hopefully they do this as a proper service to all customers, not just in the Melbourne West area.

Will wrap up on the Colour Room post and go onto Colour Selections/ Upgrade Variations in my next one

Upgrades/ Variations

When we first sought out various builders’ information to ascertain who we would build with, we found some companies (Simmonds, Homebuyers etc) handed out freely printouts of their upgrade options including prices. Unfortunately DFHs don’t offer this, even after you have signed up, & it is something I hope they consider changing down the track as it really is beneficial for customers to ascertain what is available, & what is within their budget means or not. We were very lucky as our sales consultant gave us an Optional Upgrades Aspirations Price List (says for Internal Use only & forbids replicating/ copying it) and when we changed from an Aspirations floor plan to an Inspirations Essence home, it was good to see their pricing is the same for basic upgrades irrespective of range (eg for double power points, hinged/ sliding doors, data cables, etc.)

Something else we learnt when frequenting DFH’s Display Homes is that you can request a “Display Home Colour Schedule” that lists all the various upgrades and specs done on that particular home. So if you fall in love with one particular home, or even a room in the house, you can glean all the products or upgrades done so you can replicate it.

We then ventured over to the South Eastern side of Melbourne and was thrilled when we found they also provided Display Home Optional Extras Pricing sheets!! These sheets break down the applicable upgrade cost for Essence customers and Premium Customers! From these we were able to get a rough idea of how much certain upgrades were for things we loved in particular displays (eg Cat 6 Calacatta Nuvo Caesarstone upgrade pricing). At our last appt with our sales consultant, I requested the printout for the Eden Tarneit Display home and they were able to access it (this was at another display village) so if you do see a DFH you love, do ask for these!!

Being on the DFHs New Build Discussion Facebook Group has been so influential (& beneficial) in hearing about & determining which upgrades/ Variations to consider, especially for first time builders. Here is a list of things which are good variations/ upgrades to consider (note pricing may very well change):

- Continuous Hot Water System $200
(Note: If you have recycled water in your estate you can get the recycled water charge of $2648 credited back - this is for removing the solar panel etc)
- Bulkhead to Study Nook - this can provide you with the ability to put a decorative screen or blinds in the gap, as seen in various DFHs display homes.
- Front Door Translucent Glazing (& side panel) $144
- Adding a window to your pantry
- Adding a window backsplash (approx $500)
- Ensuite Sliding Door $400
- WIR Hinged Door $200
- Set of 3 Pot Drawers $312
- Butlers Fitout (price varies depending on floor plan chosen - generally between $2-5k including Cabinetry, Sink & tapware, Coloured Laminate Shelving)
- Shower Niche 400 x 600mm $250
- Pendant/ Ceiling Light Point $80ea
- Data Cable/ Point $126ea
- Double Power Point $65ea
- Front Pillar Exterior Light Point $85ea
- Spotlight $120
- Downlights in Base of Overhead Kitchen Cabinets
- Carpet Underlay Upgrade (approx $500)
- 600mm wide WIR Built-in Shelves & Drawer Unit $650
- Insinkerator
- Laminated Built-In Study Bench $600 (like in the Display Homes)
- Hard-wired Doorbell $278
- Feature Painted Wall $198ea
- Pull out Large Twin Bin $140
- Shaker Kitchen Cupboards - approx $4000
- Pull out Laundry Basket (in Cabinetry) $210
- Brick infills above all windows & entry doors
- Raised ceiling height to 2580mm
- Mirror Sliding Robe Doors $190 per robe
- Upgrade to 900mm appliances $1200
- Glass Splashback $990
- Cold Water Point in Fridge Space $118
- Additional TV Point $94
- Tiled Shower Base
- Upgrade External Wall Insulation - approx $700
- Internal Wall Insulation - approx $500

If you have any other upgrade or variation prices, please feel free to comment

Bricks

What bricks has everyone selected? Would love to see photos of them

We went to Austral Bricks in Deer Park awhile back and hubby & I both fell in love with the Indulgence Range, namely Biscotti & Truffle. For Essence Homes this is a Cat 6 Series, costing $3380.

Indulgence Range:

From left to right: Praline, Biscotti, Truffle

Biscotti is a Brick used on a fair few DFH’s displays & it has been really helpful obtaining the colour schedules to work out what colours/ materials for roofing, garage/ front door, guttering, render paint etc complements it. We also obtained a list of local houses from Austral where these particular bricks have been delivered to.

I am particularly keen on the Biscotti one, although I did really want to go with a purpley/brown render originally. So have yet to determine what render colour we go with. Here are some photos of the Biscotti Brick:







Truffle Brick:






We have also seen these bricks used on colour suggestion boards in other builders’ display receptions which has also been really helpful in seeing what colours they have teamed together for various elements. Here are a couple we have seen:





Austral have been such a pleasure to deal with - they are so helpful (without being a nuisance), providing us with an informative brochure showing all their brick ranges, grouting options and styles and also free brick samples. The samples are great for taking to the paint shop to work out your render colours

Well, that’s it for now Hope everyone elses’ builds are going well!