Fairhaven Homes

Sorry it has taken me a little while to get back, the moving process has been tedious.

In regard to getting a report from Fairhaven, I do recall them providing a response to Darbecca's fixing report (I think that is the one). I have requested one from the final report but still have not received it.

We still have a leaking toilet in the ensuite, which is not even usable at the moment (water has been turned off).

Whoever did our carpet laying did a very SLACK job! there are heaps of lumps and we can feel sharp metal at the entrance of the hall, master and bedroom 4.

Things I completely forgot:
- Sort out NBN before moving... as the block has been subdivided NBN co has to come out and do something. I have no idea how long that will take.
- It has taken me 2 weeks to get Council bins... my fault, I've just been so overwhelmed. As soon as you get the cert. of occupancy contact your Council. 2 weeks without bins is not nice!
- Mail redirection... get this done ASAP, don't be slack like me.

Other notes:
- House stayed relatively coolish today despite the warm weather, I'm guessing the double glazed windows and upgraded insulation helps (despite the black roof). The evap. cooler did not too bad today. Definitely not icy cold but cooler.
- Toilets and bath seem very high... maybe I'm just too damn short.

TurtleGaz - I upgraded my bricks to cat 7 for $1400 on 191 sqm house, cat 9 was $2400. I also paid $400 for off white mortar. I do not recommend Selkirk bricks with painted brick faces.

EmmaK8 - I went with Darbecca for 5 stages (pre pour, slab, frame, fixing/waterproofing, final). I ended up having 2 pre pour inspections as the first was cancelled due to issues needing to be rectified. All up it was around $4000.

Did others have heaps of builders rumble left on the lot?
I'm not even sure where to start with landscaping let alone removing all the rubbish!

Sorry if I have missed anyone's questions, I'm a little scattered at the moment.

Take a deep breath and try to enjoy this special time in your beautiful new house Chloe.

Fingers crossed Fairhaven fix everything for you in a timely manner 😀

Drive around new estates and take photos of gardens you like and hopefully you find one that you love and can copy. That's what we will be doing.

We finally have a site supervisor his name is Mitchell (haven't met him yet), and Kitsa has gone from our CSO to our Admin / Construction Coordinator. We are so happy be able to have her with us throughout the building process. She has been so nice to us and is very helpful and efficient.

We have a fence, toilet, bin & power and the house is pegged out and land excavated. Slab pour booked for March 15. Fingers crossed things go smoothly but we have resigned ourselves to the fact everything won't so will TRY to just go with the flow.

Did those of you who had pre Slab and slab Inspections actually go and watch the slab being poured as recommended?

Fingers crossed things go as planned! I didn't go as I had been told about 5 different days before my slab was finally poured and there is noway work would have been that flexible. I did have a family attend with the building inspector.


Thanks
I have ideas of what I'd like, I'm mostly unsure about how to implement the ideas. A level ground would probably be a good start!



It looks worse in person (the box is from transporting potted plants).

Still without an ensuite toilet. I called my site supervisor and he is following up with Fairhaven. I hope to get it fixed soon, I liked having the main WC all to myself!

Thanks GEOnTREY! We've been given a site supervisor now, Mitchell. Is this the same as your supervisor? The slab is due early next week

Thanks CalicoCat

Hi Emma
Yes Mitchell is our SS.

We spoke to him for the first time today. He told us the screw piles are going in tomorrow and our slab pour is booked for next Friday. You must be a step ahead of us.

Did you decide to engage an independent inspector?

What is your site supervisors name? We have Mitchell.

They sure did leave a lot of dirt up against your fence, that's not fair!

My site supervisors is Lincoln, he is fairly new to Fairhaven.

The mound of dirt will probably come in handy as the backyard is very uneven since the build. The amount of rubbish is a bit overwhelming though.

Yesterday we had our windows and doors serviced by A&L. It appears that we will need to get the glass from the ensuite window replaced as it is supposed to be safety glass and the sliding doors to the alfresco replaced. I will find out more in time, hopefully.

After a number of calls, emails and text messages, we are finally getting a plumber out to check our ensuite toilet. We haven't been able to use the toilet and now a foul smell is coming from it. They are coming out tomorrow, 3 weeks after I reported the issue in the first place.

Advise to those starting their build. Be there as much as possible, take photos. If something seems off, take photos. Also, don't expect follow up after final payment. I have had no issues that were highlighted at handover resolved, including items from the final Darbecca report. It seems to be a situation were you have to put in a lot of energy and effort to get things resolved. Overall, I will not be building with Fairhaven again.

I’m so sorry to hear your build has ended up being such a headache! Thanks for the update, and I hope you stick with it in getting everything resolved...maybe you could schedule emails to bombard them daily til they fix it all 😜

We will def take your advice...we are waiting on our slab pour, but have been there almost every day, and will continue to do that. It won’t guarantee any better outcome, but it can’t hurt!

Thanks for the Info CaliCat. Hope you settle in with your home.

TurtleGaz

CalicoCat anything get fixed yet?

Would you suggest we don't pay the final payment until everything has been fixed. Or doesn't it work that way.

Are you getting more settled in? 🙂

Well finally our slab is getting poured tomorrow!
It was boxed up today and our inspector only found 2 issues that were fixed on the spot so that's great.
🤞 it actually happens.

Hi, I am looking for a landscaper who can put a deck as well, would mind to share their contact details if you are happy with their work?
Thanks Shammi

PLEASE HELP

To those who have already built or at least have a frame could you please tell me if you had to organise your own power to your site? As in ring a power company yourself to get the power turned on?

We have never been told we had to arrange this but are now being told we will have to pay for generator hire as there is no power.

There is definitely power to our stage of the estate.

We thought Fairhaven connected to Red Energy for the build?

No you shouldn't have to. You would have signed something at contract time authorizing Fairhaven to use red energy during built (Fairhaven pays for power usage during built).
I would ring Red energy and confirm if your address has power.

Howz the build going anyway?

Hi Ben
Thanks for the info.

We have a slab and the frame 'expected around' April 10 but we are not holding our breath.

It's all going so slowly with no communication. Did your site supervisor keep you updated?

So many houses with frames, trusses, windows even some with bricks and plaster that started the same time as us. But we and the other people in our street building with Fairhaven still only have slabs. It's very frustrating!

Are you all settled in now? How are you finding the bathroom ventilation? Should I start researching opening skylights?

geontrey

Yeah all settled in. Still getting used to the commute. Had our 90 days inspection- no major issues just some paint touch ups.

Bathroom ventilation is not a issue as we are used to it. Also both of us work so dont spend lot of time in the bathroom.

Good luck with the next stages

Our carpets are the same, can feel the sharp metal when changing rooms and heaps of lumps which are caused when concrete installers don't do their job properly or when standing timber supports create those post concrete installation or when they make a hole in the slab in the wrong place for installing cistern etc.
Carpet installers know that concrete is not exactly level and will feel lumpy when walking but they just come in, install and forget about it. When asked from the builder, they will remind you of the building specifications document you signed in addition to the contract that gives them bit of leeway around it.

Builders rubbish was left behind in our case. Some of it but not most of it. Called their service and maintenance department post handover to sort out collection of that pile which they did arrange.

Whom will you build with in future? I believe they all are the same.

Hi All,

I have been browsing this forum and this topic in particular for the past year. I signed up with Fairhaven to build the tathra 350 early last year and the house was handed over a few weeks ago. Construction started July/August last year.

My SS was quite easygoing and accommodating, fixing issues that came up during the build. I also had independent inspections along the way and he rectified most of the issues that were picked up as well. My advise for those currently building with them is to visit the site as much as possible to identify any problems and let the SS know (during the stage, I had an opening to the WIR blocked off and one of my door in the wrong position). All in all, it was a good build but the cleanliness of the house can be improved during handover and there are still some outstanding issues.

I was happy with the build last week when the house was handed over but I just realised that the air-con condenser unit is covering the termite refill point (see attached photo). For obvious reasons, I am worried about this but the SS said that its fine this way. Do anyone who have build with them have this problem as well? I also just hand landscaping done and have a concrete path around the house and I am wondering if I will need to have the termite barrier thing applied again. It will be great if someone that did concrete path after handover can let me know. Thanks.