Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 09, 2008 2:14 pm Hi Everyone,
I've been referred to this forum from a friend who is currently bulding. I've spent the last few days reading the advice and questions posted and its fanastic - a wealth of information. We're first time builders and we are very very scared of signing up with the wrong builder. We're fallen in love with the Brookvale 45 from Porter Davies and have sort of discussed pricing but nothing is set in stone yet. Its a huge investment and a dream coming true for us. For all of you who have built with Porter Davies (PD), I have read that the customer service is not great in all areas but the most important thing I would like to know is the end result - is it worth the stress and pain?? DOe the quailty override this and it is worth it in the end. Any advice would be appreciated : Re: Home built by Porter Davies 2Sep 09, 2008 2:47 pm Hi,
haing been through the process before I woud say that the method of building with any volume or larger, or any other, builder for that matter is to remain close to the "project", do you research and ask lots of questions along the way. It is a huge investment (albeit a commercial transaction by the builder) on our behalf so my approach is to ensure that you get value for your hard earned, and not compromise on what you want as long as it is affordable. I too have heard numerous stories, mostly bad, which is probably to be expected as these are probably more often voiced than the good ones. But, as always, for our next build I will remain close to what is happening and make sure that things are fixed when needed - using an external advisor is always going to give more piece of mind also. Good luck!! Just remember, the saleperson will not be there laying bricks, putting up plaster or the roofing - once the sale is done usually their job is done - therefore I have heard that the crucial thing to to get good site supervisor (request one if you can). Re: Home built by Porter Davies 3Sep 09, 2008 2:51 pm Hi and welcome! We're in the process of building a Brookvale ....54! atm, so I'll let you know when we're finished!!! I've always said, though, that that is my hope, that the end result will far otweigh the stress and anxiety of the admin process and (for us) the initial part of construction. You can have a look at my blog if you click the link below. All the best...and it IS a beautiful house!!! Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: Home built by Porter Davies 4Sep 09, 2008 4:27 pm Hello Bay
We have already signed the contract with PD and construction is due to start from next month. I know that you want advise from people who have already built with them, but just to let you know, we first signed up with M and pulled out just 2 days before signing the final contract, so now i have seen the customer service at admin stage (atleast) from two volume builders PD & M, and very honestly dealing with M was a nightmare. I have had no huge problems with PD. sales was good (which is always good anyways), CSC is good as well, returns calls and emails instantly. Believe me PD's cust service is zillion times better for me. However you will always have to take pain and stress if you want your dream house. I think that's the biggest reward for all ur frustrations. All the best Re: Home built by Porter Davies 5Sep 09, 2008 8:30 pm I'm building with PD Prestige and the quality on my place has been quite inconsistant. There are many things on it at the moment that either need to be fixed or there is currently debate over whether it's acceptable. Some things I've just come to accept as being as good as it's going to get.
It seems to me that they are a company that has grown beyond their control and they don't have the quality control or backup systems to keep their building honest. There is no system in place for determining whether something is good quality or bad or whether the way something is done is correct or not. One person might have there brickwork done one way and to a great standard and the house up the road might be done another way to a very poor standard. It seems to be a matter of sheer chance as to what the customer gets. The other thing is the time it takes to build. Some people have their house built in 16 weeks and others wait 25 weeks for the same size house. There is just no consistancy. If you are one of the unlucky ones it's kind of like bad luck. The problem with all this is that you could say these things about practically any volume builder. Re: Home built by Porter Davies 7Sep 09, 2008 9:39 pm we're also very keen to build with PD - i gather from the sales people that PD Prestige and PD Lifestyle are very competitive and are completely separate. are some of the complaints regarding PD focused more on Prestige, or they equally valid for PD Lifestyle? do they use the same pool of tradies, or are they different too? Re: Home built by Porter Davies 8Sep 09, 2008 10:04 pm No, it's all very separate - different admin, construction teams, different suppliers for things , different selection availabilities at Hopetoun, etc.
I think most people on here building with the Lifestyle division have had very few problems , and have been pretty happy overall - it's been those of us building with 'Prestige' who have had more problems. Having said that, we've been very happy with the quality of everything, from the materials used to the neatness of the job, and DH knows what he's looking at (I certainly don't claim to!) Interestingly, I've had a number of tradies comment on this - that PD use the best quality materials. A few have had less than kind things tto say about other volume builders... We just had a problem with delayed starts , turn over of staff (we've had 2 CSRs and 4 SSs) and an incompetent SS, who has since "parted ways with the company". Things are progressing nicely for us now, but some of it has been really quite stressful. They will take the full contract period, but that's fine - that's what it's there for - as long as they finish by that date! I'd rather a well built house that takes a little longer, than a house finished quickly that subsequently falls apart!!! Plus, we feel like we've been able to tackle issues as they've arisen, b/c we've had the time - they weren't on to the next thing before we could resolve something - so hopinhg for less issues at PCI! I think all the volume builders are the same, really - certainly none of them are perfect, you just have to choose the house that you love the most and go with that, I think! Even though we've had hassles, and I don't know that I'd go out & recommend PD at this stage, I LOVE my house, I wouldn't choose a different one, and it's what I'd choose again if I were back at the start. Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: Home built by Porter Davies 9Sep 09, 2008 10:16 pm thanks for sharing - we'd build with lifestyle, so maybe that might be good.
i looked on your blog - house is looking lovely -- what bricks did you use? and what morter/finish -- i can't believe i'm interested in bricks and morter colour etc!!! Re: Home built by Porter Davies 10Sep 09, 2008 10:21 pm Oh, you'll be excited by PIPES sticking out of the ground, and concrete slabs!!!!!!
Our bricks are Austral Hawthorn (which you can't have with Lifestyle, as they use Boral!!) - slimline ones to the front facade, and the mortar is flush off-white (which is an upgrade - you'll get very familiar with that term!!!!! ) Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: Home built by Porter Davies 11Sep 09, 2008 10:33 pm Now this is news to me.
The whole reason that i left M and came to PD was because of their Prestige range. My head is already so full with so many things just after contract and i am not ready for more surprises or better say shocks If i would have known this before that the Prestige range was a problem i would have never.......... anyways i can just hope now that everything goes well (atleast to a degree thats tolerable) Re: Home built by Porter Davies 12Sep 10, 2008 10:59 am But if you're already at contract stage, and haven't had any problems, why worry? I'm sure it will all be fine for you - just be on the ball! Like I said, at the end of the day, as long as they build me a great house (which they have so far! ) that's really the important thing and that's what will last way beyond problems with admin! Gee...I'm starting to sound rational like my DH!!!!!!!! Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: Home built by Porter Davies 13Sep 10, 2008 1:12 pm Hello Bay & welcome
We are also building a Lifestyle with PD. And our experience thus far has been good. Not perfect but good. We had a land settlement for Jan /Feb so we booked that as our build date. When the land looked like not settling on time our sales rep told us we didnt need to extend our build date cause there was no price increases for the next few months & if there was it would be $1000 max per month. March we fine, come April we were stung $8000 WHAT THAT!!!! & because it was a verbal statement we could do anything about it.. We jumped up & down & finally only paid $4000. We can now say we have a different sales rep & she has now moved on We are onto our second site supervisor only because our first one moved over to a different department. Our first meeting with new supervisor, he was a no show, can tell you I was NOT happy pulling my 2 week old baby out of bed, then him being a now show Other than that we are very pleased with the build thus far. Our bricky was brilliant, paint looks ok, tiles are great & the roof id BRILLIANT Colourbond, I love it.... So far so good, things we have noted have been fixed before we managed to bring it to their attention. One thing they did stuff up on was getting us to sign our final drawings. They arrived in the mail this week, our house is settling in less than 3 weeks nesspop Why am I covered in feathers Re: Home built by Porter Davies 14Sep 10, 2008 1:27 pm Hi Bay,
Its me, welcome to the forum..... Start: 15 May 08, Current: Handover inspection 19/09 after that, the house is ours!! Visit our blog: http://loveourgerbera.blogspot.com/ Re: Home built by Porter Davies 15Sep 10, 2008 1:29 pm we have had no probs what so ever with ours a few hickups but nothing major- if you are firm and set you own deadlines it's better
we are building access, but have done everything inside prestige/lifestyle (fittings etc) Re: Home built by Porter Davies 16Sep 16, 2008 9:26 am Hi Bay,
My partner and I are building with PD. We fell in love with the Heywood floor plan and haven’t looked back. Besides the floor plan and the PD promotion at the time, the customer service from our Sales Consultant (Pakenham Office) sealed the deal for us. They were very accommodating and patient with us. Unfortunately since signing tenders and contracts in the North office, it hasn’t been such a smooth ride. My partner and I have seen a drop in customer service, especially in communication and response times. I sure hope things improve during the build stages; otherwise it will be a very stressful 6 months for me. Good luck with who ever you decide to build with. Re: Home built by Porter Davies 17Sep 19, 2008 9:30 pm We're building PD Lifestyle. I'd keep away from Prestige, too many complaints. Lifestyle have a good range and you will get the same quality for a cheaper price. Do not rely on their Quality Inspections. Get your own independant inspection done, it's a must, trust me. Good luck.
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