Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building with Bentley Homes 101Apr 28, 2018 10:58 am Awee whoa $16k for concreting is a lot š³ we still havenāt done the front maybe next week or week after we canāt decide which design to pick but thatās another $3-4000 cash .. all the expenses inside The house was like $12000 only for fridge/couch and dining lol we still havenāt done the plumbing for the stupid fridge .. everything else we took with us from our old house .. we will upgrade in maybe 6 months š¤£š¤£ I said to my husband yep looks like we need to go bunnings and do some training on how to do some outdoor work cos bloody hell everyone we call to come and do small work here and there is charging us $200 plus .. council also wants to increase our rates .. everyone thinks we have a million dollar in our account š¤£š¤£ but yeah million dollar coming from the ANZ š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£ Re: Building with Bentley Homes 103Jun 07, 2018 11:19 am So we decided to go with APBI, they were the only ones who could work on such short notice. Good news is that there were very minor problems in their report so that reflects well on the quality of Bentley's building. On a separate note, we're spending over $1000 so far (and counting) to rent a generator for our site due to a delay in getting connected with Red Energy. $150 a day! Yes, it's in the contract, but you don't really think it could happen to you. Disappointed as it's a large amount of money that could have gone to the upgrades that we deprived ourselves of to keep our building costs down. Also wondering if Bentley is doing enough to follow up with Red Energy to get this problem sorted. After all, it's not coming out of their pocket! I called Red Energy to see if I could hurry things up on my end but they couldn't even give me any details as our names weren't listed on the account yet Re: Building with Bentley Homes 104Jun 07, 2018 11:44 am Omg š® that is so crappy š³ keep calling them And sending emails gosh I feel your pain š¤¦āāļø I think if there are others building next to them they can use their electricity.. with my next door neighbor sometimes when I drove past their traders were using our electricity. I mentioned it to our supervisor but these things they canāt control cos they are not always on site. Maybe ask them if they can use the neighbors electricity? I know it sounds silly but there are houses still getting build on my street and I see tradies just helping each other out š¤·āāļø Re: Building with Bentley Homes 105Jun 07, 2018 11:59 am Marlbling Omg š® that is so crappy š³ keep calling them And sending emails gosh I feel your pain š¤¦āāļø I think if there are others building next to them they can use their electricity.. with my next door neighbor sometimes when I drove past their traders were using our electricity. I mentioned it to our supervisor but these things they canāt control cos they are not always on site. Maybe ask them if they can use the neighbors electricity? I know it sounds silly but there are houses still getting build on my street and I see tradies just helping each other out š¤·āāļø Thanks Marlbling! Unfortunately we're probably the most "advanced" in our building stage (no established neighbors yet, they are all slab stage) so if we don't have an electricity connection, it is highly doubtful that our neighbours do. I guess we'll just have to keep nagging our builder to follow up! šøšøšø Re: Building with Bentley Homes 106Jun 07, 2018 12:07 pm [quote="catlover79"]So we decided to go with APBI, they were the only ones who could work on such short notice. Good news is that there were very minor problems in their report so that reflects well on the quality of Bentley's building. On a separate note, we're spending over $1000 so far (and counting) to rent a generator for our site due to a delay in getting connected with Red Energy. $150 a day! Yes, it's in the contract, but you don't really think it could happen to you. Disappointed as it's a large amount of money that could have gone to the upgrades that we deprived ourselves of to keep our building costs down. Also wondering if Bentley is doing enough to follow up with Red Energy to get this problem sorted. After all, it's not coming out of their pocket! I called Red Energy to see if I could hurry things up on my end but they couldn't even give me any details as our names weren't listed on the account yet /quote] Ouch! Generator hire is so expensive. Bentley tried to change us for generator hire and when I followed it up with Powercor, I was told that power couldnāt be connected due a āCompliance Issueā, which was essentially Bentleyās problem to fix. When I told Bentley that I had contacted Powercor and knew why the power couldnāt be connected, they dropped the generator fee. Weāve been for a month now and had one urgent issue - part of the heating duct had become disconnected and for the unit and half of the house was blowing out cold air - they contractor was around the following day to fix it which was good. Re: Building with Bentley Homes 107Jun 07, 2018 1:14 pm Mrs W - how did you follow this up? When I called Red Energy they couldn't give me any info at all because they said the account was not in our names. Re the heating ducts, if you're using Bentley's default brand Braemer, it did have mediocre reviews. We were going to use a better brand but Bentley wouldn't let the other company install the heating system until after handover so we just stuck with Braemer. They seem a bit inflexible with some things I reckon. Re: Building with Bentley Homes 108Jun 07, 2018 1:41 pm catlover79 Mrs W - how did you follow this up? When I called Red Energy they couldn't give me any info at all because they said the account was not in our names. Re the heating ducts, if you're using Bentley's default brand Braemer, it did have mediocre reviews. We were going to use a better brand but Bentley wouldn't let the other company install the heating system until after handover so we just stuck with Braemer. They seem a bit inflexible with some things I reckon. I just called Powercor direct - totally bypassed Red Energy. Not sure if you are Powercor or Citipower, but you can google it. Even though the account wasnāt in our name, I just explained to the lady who answered the phone that we were building a house and the builder is taking ages to connect the power and that they were going to charge us generator hire - is there anything holding the connection up? She was super helpful and pulled up all the details on the property. She said they had sent someone around to do it, but that the works didnāt comply so they couldnāt do it. Weāve got a sub board in our garage and the cables coming up out of the slab werenāt in the right place (in to the garage, rather than in the wall cavity), so we had to have our slab cut open and the cables had to be moved. If you call Powercor and they arenāt willing to help, call back and someone else will answer the phone The heater itself is fine - we just stuck with the one that Bentley supplied. The problem we had was that the ducts werenāt taped together properly and one fell off. The guy who came to fix it said that they had a guy whose work wasnāt up to standard and that he is no longer with the company. The heater heats up quickly and is pretty quiet. No complaints. Re: Building with Bentley Homes 109Jun 07, 2018 7:44 pm Mrs_W catlover79 Mrs W - how did you follow this up? When I called Red Energy they couldn't give me any info at all because they said the account was not in our names. Re the heating ducts, if you're using Bentley's default brand Braemer, it did have mediocre reviews. We were going to use a better brand but Bentley wouldn't let the other company install the heating system until after handover so we just stuck with Braemer. They seem a bit inflexible with some things I reckon. I just called Powercor direct - totally bypassed Red Energy. Not sure if you are Powercor or Citipower, but you can google it. Even though the account wasnāt in our name, I just explained to the lady who answered the phone that we were building a house and the builder is taking ages to connect the power and that they were going to charge us generator hire - is there anything holding the connection up? She was super helpful and pulled up all the details on the property. She said they had sent someone around to do it, but that the works didnāt comply so they couldnāt do it. Weāve got a sub board in our garage and the cables coming up out of the slab werenāt in the right place (in to the garage, rather than in the wall cavity), so we had to have our slab cut open and the cables had to be moved. If you call Powercor and they arenāt willing to help, call back and someone else will answer the phone The heater itself is fine - we just stuck with the one that Bentley supplied. The problem we had was that the ducts werenāt taped together properly and one fell off. The guy who came to fix it said that they had a guy whose work wasnāt up to standard and that he is no longer with the company. The heater heats up quickly and is pretty quiet. No complaints. How resourceful are you, Mrs. W! Thanks for the advice, will definitely be doing that tomorrow. How are you finding the stove (technika brand) as well? This another thing that got mediocre reviews and we wanted to change but in the end decided to just stick with it. Re: Building with Bentley Homes 110Jun 07, 2018 8:31 pm catlover79 Mrs_W catlover79 Mrs W - how did you follow this up? When I called Red Energy they couldn't give me any info at all because they said the account was not in our names. Re the heating ducts, if you're using Bentley's default brand Braemer, it did have mediocre reviews. We were going to use a better brand but Bentley wouldn't let the other company install the heating system until after handover so we just stuck with Braemer. They seem a bit inflexible with some things I reckon. I just called Powercor direct - totally bypassed Red Energy. Not sure if you are Powercor or Citipower, but you can google it. Even though the account wasnāt in our name, I just explained to the lady who answered the phone that we were building a house and the builder is taking ages to connect the power and that they were going to charge us generator hire - is there anything holding the connection up? She was super helpful and pulled up all the details on the property. She said they had sent someone around to do it, but that the works didnāt comply so they couldnāt do it. Weāve got a sub board in our garage and the cables coming up out of the slab werenāt in the right place (in to the garage, rather than in the wall cavity), so we had to have our slab cut open and the cables had to be moved. If you call Powercor and they arenāt willing to help, call back and someone else will answer the phone The heater itself is fine - we just stuck with the one that Bentley supplied. The problem we had was that the ducts werenāt taped together properly and one fell off. The guy who came to fix it said that they had a guy whose work wasnāt up to standard and that he is no longer with the company. The heater heats up quickly and is pretty quiet. No complaints. How resourceful are you, Mrs. W! Thanks for the advice, will definitely be doing that tomorrow. How are you finding the stove (technika brand) as well? This another thing that got mediocre reviews and we wanted to change but in the end decided to just stick with it. At $150/Day, you gotta be resourceful! The stove... I donāt love it. Itās ok - Iāve never had one so big before so thatās great but I put a Westinghouse cooker in my last house and that was definitely better quality than the Technika. I really donāt like the Technika dishwasher, hoping that it dies so I can justify buying a new one. Donāt forget to ābreak inā your oven as soon as it is installed - it stunk! Re: Building with Bentley Homes 111Jun 08, 2018 9:43 am Mrs_W - I don't know how you did it, but no matter who I call, they won't help me until my name is added to the account š Ausnet is our distributor and they need a "service number." So now I'm trying to get Bentley to add my name so I can follow it up myself. At this rate it'll be a couple more hundred dollars for sure!! Re: Building with Bentley Homes 112Jun 08, 2018 9:48 am catlover79 Mrs_W - I don't know how you did it, but no matter who I call, they won't help me until my name is added to the account Ausnet is our distributor and they need a "service number." So now I'm trying to get Bentley to add my name so I can follow it up myself. At this rate it'll be a couple more hundred dollars for sure!! Oh no! What a shame. Powercor did surprise me at how helpful they were. Iām pretty good at playing the damsel in distress card though Re: Building with Bentley Homes 113Jun 08, 2018 10:14 am Lucky you! I wish I had that talent! Could it be that Bentley told them, "Strictly don't give out information anymore" because they lost money when you found out the real reason the connection was delayed haha. Re the Technika appliances, we'll also see how long they last before dying, then change brands. You just hope the Braemer heating system lasts a bit longer because that would be a pain to replace or repair. Re: Building with Bentley Homes 114Jun 08, 2018 10:24 am catlover79 Lucky you! I wish I had that talent! Could it be that Bentley told them, "Strictly don't give out information anymore" because they lost money when you found out the real reason the connection was delayed haha. Re the Technika appliances, we'll also see how long they last before dying, then change brands. You just hope the Braemer heating system lasts a bit longer because that would be a pain to replace or repair. Haha! Maybe?!? But Iām a nuisance, Bentley will attests to that, and if I donāt like the answer Iām given, I call back hoping to speak to someone else and try again from a different angle. The heater unit would be a pain to replace, so hope that doesnāt cause us any trouble. Iām not sure what sort of warranty that comes with either. We will get that serviced every 2 years as recommended - Iāve had 2 heaters fail a CO2 test, so will not chance that. Weāve got a busy, and dirty, day ahead of us. Our turf has just been delivered. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Building with Bentley Homes 115Jun 08, 2018 11:10 am Mrs_W catlover79 Lucky you! I wish I had that talent! Could it be that Bentley told them, "Strictly don't give out information anymore" because they lost money when you found out the real reason the connection was delayed haha. Re the Technika appliances, we'll also see how long they last before dying, then change brands. You just hope the Braemer heating system lasts a bit longer because that would be a pain to replace or repair. Haha! Maybe?!? But Iām a nuisance, Bentley will attests to that, and if I donāt like the answer Iām given, I call back hoping to speak to someone else and try again from a different angle. The heater unit would be a pain to replace, so hope that doesnāt cause us any trouble. Iām not sure what sort of warranty that comes with either. We will get that serviced every 2 years as recommended - Iāve had 2 heaters fail a CO2 test, so will not chance that. Weāve got a busy, and dirty, day ahead of us. Our turf has just been delivered. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Oh wow, good luck with that It's going to be hard work but how rewarding is a beautiful lawn at the end of the day! Re: Building with Bentley Homes 116Jun 12, 2018 10:51 am Mrs_W: you can thank your lucky stars that you are with Powercor. Even after getting the "required" service number, I could not speak to anyone who could help me or was willing to give me useful information at Ausnet. They basically said, "Speak to your retailer," but Red Energy is telling me the delay is on Ausnet's part. Absolutely appalling service from them, never met a more uncaring bunch. Rude, curt and dismissive. Unfair that they are a monopoly because I would switch from them in a heartbeat if I could! Rant over, we are looking at a new time frame of getting our electricity connected on the 19th ššš Re: Building with Bentley Homes 117Jun 12, 2018 1:27 pm catlover79 Mrs_W: you can thank your lucky stars that you are with Powercor. Even after getting the "required" service number, I could not speak to anyone who could help me or was willing to give me useful information at Ausnet. They basically said, "Speak to your retailer," but Red Energy is telling me the delay is on Ausnet's part. Absolutely appalling service from them, never met a more uncaring bunch. Rude, curt and dismissive. Unfair that they are a monopoly because I would switch from them in a heartbeat if I could! Rant over, we are looking at a new time frame of getting our electricity connected on the 19th Thatās such a shame. Thereās no need to be rude. Would it kill them to be helpful? Keeping my fingers crossed for the 19th for youš¤ Re: Building with Bentley Homes 119Sep 05, 2018 2:02 am Hi guys, just an update - house is coming along great, very fast, I reckon in a month or two we'll be done. We wound up signing the variation form for the generator hire $2,700 for something beyond our control... Other than that, our build with Bentley has been very smooth. They have been good (if not a little inflexible with some things, imho). House is looking great even with minimal upgrades. Now we are encountering another problem. Our neighbour's foundation is much higher than ours...it's like they built on a mound and now runoff from their property is pooling beside our house. If I didn't notice it, Bentley would not even have mentioned it. They just put some small sandbag like material beside our house to protect it. Anyway, Bentley is saying we have to liaise with our neighbour as it is a civil matter. Fair enough (not much give where Bentley is concerned...it's like you sign the papers, they build it and wipe their hands off anything else...but anyway...). Our neighbour is a small builder called Mehar Homes who will sell the house on completion. They are being very defensive, saying they were approved to build with those specifications and won't do anything about it. They don't want to put in a retaining wall. Yet, when we bought our property, the entire landscape was FLAT. They were the ones who built their house at such a high elevation. I have started asking advice from the Disputes and Settlement Centre who said the person who changed the landscape has to pay for the retaining wall. Here are some pictures. What do you think? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ and pics of the landscape when we bought the property and nothing was built on it yet - totally flat! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Building with Bentley Homes 120Nov 07, 2018 9:17 am Hi Cat with the elevation thing I do feel your pain but I am in the other neighbors condition.. it is bizarre that at the beginning the land was flat but when our house went up it was higher than back and side Neighbour. We are really happy but not so much the neighbors.. well the back house told us off for not putting a retaining wall but the guy was like oh well what the hell whatās done is done and he got over it .. the other neighbors also got over it but I think it would be good if your fence is not up yet then ask them to put more sleepers from your side for protection.. also your fence is gonna be shi**tty so ask the neighbors to do the 1.8m or 2m from their side of fence otherwise they will look over your house .. I did the higher fence from my side just to give neighbors privacy so I think they were happy with this. Ask for references and speak to them. 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