Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 21Aug 05, 2020 5:51 pm Update on the frame saga. The SS said for one of the contentious issue he has fixed by doing a brace box or something. The remaining defects, some of them were fixed and some weren't and his explanation was these would have been fixed during pre-plaster by one of his carpenter and these issues shouldn't fall under frame stage. I call this bull! Anyways he has said these will be fixed before pre-plaster and I have also mentioned there will be another inspection at that stage as well. Can't get away not fixing. On another note, I had asked for a minor change to location of some external switches used for pool equipment by a few metres and TA wants to charge me $700 variation cost. If it was a major change then fair enough for administrative charges but this is ridiculous for moving location of switches. Not as smooth going as before we signed up. Guess it's the same with all builders. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 22Aug 05, 2020 5:58 pm BigDaddy Update on the frame saga. The SS said for one of the contentious issue he has fixed by doing a brace box or something. The remaining defects, some of them were fixed and some weren't and his explanation was these would have been fixed during pre-plaster by one of his carpenter and these issues shouldn't fall under frame stage. I call this bull! Anyways he has said these will be fixed before pre-plaster and I have also mentioned there will be another inspection at that stage as well. Can't get away not fixing. On another note, I had asked for a minor change to location of some external switches used for pool equipment by a few metres and TA wants to charge me $700 variation cost. If it was a major change then fair enough for administrative charges but this is ridiculous for moving location of switches. Not as smooth going as before we signed up. Guess it's the same with all builders. wow that's a steep price tag for what seems like a small matter. i'm hoping to avoid any and all variations by being as detailed as possible leading up to contracts Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 23Aug 05, 2020 8:58 pm BigDaddy Update on the frame saga. The SS said for one of the contentious issue he has fixed by doing a brace box or something. The remaining defects, some of them were fixed and some weren't and his explanation was these would have been fixed during pre-plaster by one of his carpenter and these issues shouldn't fall under frame stage. I call this bull! Anyways he has said these will be fixed before pre-plaster and I have also mentioned there will be another inspection at that stage as well. Can't get away not fixing. On another note, I had asked for a minor change to location of some external switches used for pool equipment by a few metres and TA wants to charge me $700 variation cost. If it was a major change then fair enough for administrative charges but this is ridiculous for moving location of switches. Not as smooth going as before we signed up. Guess it's the same with all builders. Ok- just playing devils advocate for a minute here. We are up to BV5 at the moment...and gave only been charged for 1 of those. Anything that is "moved" requires another plan....hence the cost. TA were very specific with our pool switches and gas line for spa as they are positioned around other services etc. So well before contract everyone knew where the switches were located, and how many. Not sure if you went through Clipsal out at Notting Hill? I have heard that their electrical "service has changed". If TA face a charge for an amended electrical plan then I see why they'd charge the client. Do you have to move those switches? https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 24Aug 05, 2020 9:45 pm Blacktea2sugars BigDaddy Update on the frame saga. The SS said for one of the contentious issue he has fixed by doing a brace box or something. The remaining defects, some of them were fixed and some weren't and his explanation was these would have been fixed during pre-plaster by one of his carpenter and these issues shouldn't fall under frame stage. I call this bull! Anyways he has said these will be fixed before pre-plaster and I have also mentioned there will be another inspection at that stage as well. Can't get away not fixing. On another note, I had asked for a minor change to location of some external switches used for pool equipment by a few metres and TA wants to charge me $700 variation cost. If it was a major change then fair enough for administrative charges but this is ridiculous for moving location of switches. Not as smooth going as before we signed up. Guess it's the same with all builders. Ok- just playing devils advocate for a minute here. We are up to BV5 at the moment...and gave only been charged for 1 of those. Anything that is "moved" requires another plan....hence the cost. TA were very specific with our pool switches and gas line for spa as they are positioned around other services etc. So well before contract everyone knew where the switches were located, and how many. Not sure if you went through Clipsal out at Notting Hill? I have heard that their electrical "service has changed". If TA face a charge for an amended electrical plan then I see why they'd charge the client. Do you have to move those switches? the new electrical process is with the actual electrician down in cranbourne. I was quite impressed with it. However, I think you may be right as with external changes there may be further implications with the actual building permit. I am aware that once you have utilised your included electrical consultations (I think there are 2 of them), the electrician charges an hourly rate ($100-150) for any modifications to plans. Best way to progress would be to ask TA. I know I have challenged their pricing on a couple of items and they have been as transparent as possible in explaining. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 25Aug 06, 2020 12:31 am sifntdaz Blacktea2sugars BigDaddy Update on the frame saga. The SS said for one of the contentious issue he has fixed by doing a brace box or something. The remaining defects, some of them were fixed and some weren't and his explanation was these would have been fixed during pre-plaster by one of his carpenter and these issues shouldn't fall under frame stage. I call this bull! Anyways he has said these will be fixed before pre-plaster and I have also mentioned there will be another inspection at that stage as well. Can't get away not fixing. On another note, I had asked for a minor change to location of some external switches used for pool equipment by a few metres and TA wants to charge me $700 variation cost. If it was a major change then fair enough for administrative charges but this is ridiculous for moving location of switches. Not as smooth going as before we signed up. Guess it's the same with all builders. Ok- just playing devils advocate for a minute here. We are up to BV5 at the moment...and gave only been charged for 1 of those. Anything that is "moved" requires another plan....hence the cost. TA were very specific with our pool switches and gas line for spa as they are positioned around other services etc. So well before contract everyone knew where the switches were located, and how many. Not sure if you went through Clipsal out at Notting Hill? I have heard that their electrical "service has changed". If TA face a charge for an amended electrical plan then I see why they'd charge the client. Do you have to move those switches? the new electrical process is with the actual electrician down in cranbourne. I was quite impressed with it. However, I think you may be right as with external changes there may be further implications with the actual building permit. I am aware that once you have utilised your included electrical consultations (I think there are 2 of them), the electrician charges an hourly rate ($100-150) for any modifications to plans. Best way to progress would be to ask TA. I know I have challenged their pricing on a couple of items and they have been as transparent as possible in explaining. Not sure if moving couple of switches need a new building permit. Worst case is I get another set of switches, shouldn't cost more than $200. Best case is I would just need extension cords for the heat pump and other accessories. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 26Aug 06, 2020 10:32 am Blacktea2sugars BigDaddy Update on the frame saga. The SS said for one of the contentious issue he has fixed by doing a brace box or something. The remaining defects, some of them were fixed and some weren't and his explanation was these would have been fixed during pre-plaster by one of his carpenter and these issues shouldn't fall under frame stage. I call this bull! Anyways he has said these will be fixed before pre-plaster and I have also mentioned there will be another inspection at that stage as well. Can't get away not fixing. On another note, I had asked for a minor change to location of some external switches used for pool equipment by a few metres and TA wants to charge me $700 variation cost. If it was a major change then fair enough for administrative charges but this is ridiculous for moving location of switches. Not as smooth going as before we signed up. Guess it's the same with all builders. Ok- just playing devils advocate for a minute here. We are up to BV5 at the moment...and gave only been charged for 1 of those. Anything that is "moved" requires another plan....hence the cost. TA were very specific with our pool switches and gas line for spa as they are positioned around other services etc. So well before contract everyone knew where the switches were located, and how many. Not sure if you went through Clipsal out at Notting Hill? I have heard that their electrical "service has changed". If TA face a charge for an amended electrical plan then I see why they'd charge the client. Do you have to move those switches? The BV's were the changes all from your end or from TA? I am on BV3 but the changes are all from their end. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 27Aug 06, 2020 11:06 am 4 from them 1 from us. Our one was a "move this" so I do get it Did you get the email from SS this morning? https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 28Aug 06, 2020 1:22 pm Blacktea2sugars 4 from them 1 from us. Our one was a "move this" so I do get it Did you get the email from SS this morning? Yes I got. Generic email regarding impact due to stage 4 and site visits not possible. Lucky for me I live 5 minutes by walk from the site. So I can see what's going on. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 30Aug 14, 2020 2:46 pm Build progress is hampered due to stage 4 restrictions. Also no private inspections can happen during this stage 4. Catch 22 situation, whether to progress further without private inspection or wait for stage restrictions to be lifted come Sep 13th. What if stage 4 continues past September 13th? Looks like the only loser are home owners in this stage. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 31Aug 17, 2020 9:09 pm BigDaddy Hi All, Like others in this forum, I have learnt a lot from this forum and thought I would also document our house build journey. So welcome to our build. Our journey began last year Nov/Dec when we bought around 600sqm land with house which we intended to demolish and build our house. Choosing Thomas Archer Homes was kinda destiny. To cut to the chase, I had seen the owner of TA's house facade few years earlier on one of our many walks in the neighbourhood and was visually stunned with the facade. I told my wife that I really liked the facade and wished one day we will have something similar. Fast forward few years and when I started to look at builders, the choices were Carter Grange, Hallbury and Thomas Archer. When I came to know the house that I had initially liked was from TA, I was biased towards TA but I did engage CG and Hallbury and got initial Pre-sales quotation. Speaking to few members of this forum and my initial bias towards TA was enough to convince us to sign up with TA for our build. Design of the house: Our block faces east and we wanted to maximise our northern side and also had few other requirements. We looked at TA's Hive design and customised it to suit our requirements. To TA's credit they didn't charge any fee for the changes. Original Hive Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our Customised Hive Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The facade which won me over. Our house facade is exact replica except for the timber colour which is Licquorice if I am not mistaken. The concrete is a smooth finish render (upgrade) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is our staircase Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our Inclusions/Upgrades 1. 2.74m ceiling to ground and first floor 2. Straight run staircase with glass balustrade to staircase and void area 3. Recessed corner stacker door 4. R3.1 sound screen insulation between bedrooms 5. Velux fixed skylight to ensuite 6. Square set cornice to ground floor and cove cornice to upstairs except for bathrooms which are square set 7. Additional frameless shower to powder room 8. Bosch ovens, fully integrated dishwasher, 80cm Flex induction and Schweigen undercount range hood 9. Evolution 200 insinkerator 10. Supernatural range (Primordia) kitchen island bench 11. Daikin reverse cycle ducted air conditioning 12. fully tiled bathrooms. Master bathroom tile is Marmi classic Pulpis grey. Powder room feature wall is terrazzo. 13. In-wall cistern toilet suite 14. Timber flooring glued from Made by Storey (Truffle) for ground floor except Bed 5 15. Jetmaster 6X fireplace with custom joinery (will be doing marble to fireplace post hand over) 16. Joinery to study 17. All black hardware some of our colours/products Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Few tips for others:- tip1:- I had asked for 4 months settlement so that I could finalise and get the plans ready as much early as possible tip2:- Get abolishment of utilities done if property is vacant before the settlement and also to install underground electrical pit irrespective of if current owners live there or not. tip3:- Get quite a few demolishers quote since they vary quite a bit. we found Dig Dig demolition to be best bang for buck. Timelines so far: Nov 19 - Bought property in auction Jan 20 - Signed Thomas Archer Mar - style appointment. Signed In the swim for concrete pool build Mid March - Receive Tender End March - Settle on house May - Demo complete. Contract signed with TA Early June - construction of swimming pool was supposed to start but had to postpone to summer months due to water and silty soil around 1mtr depth during digging Mid June - Site started nice choice !! Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 32Aug 18, 2020 4:32 pm BigDaddy Hi All, Like others in this forum, I have learnt a lot from this forum and thought I would also document our house build journey. So welcome to our build. Our journey began last year Nov/Dec when we bought around 600sqm land with house which we intended to demolish and build our house. Choosing Thomas Archer Homes was kinda destiny. To cut to the chase, I had seen the owner of TA's house facade few years earlier on one of our many walks in the neighbourhood and was visually stunned with the facade. I told my wife that I really liked the facade and wished one day we will have something similar. Fast forward few years and when I started to look at builders, the choices were Carter Grange, Hallbury and Thomas Archer. When I came to know the house that I had initially liked was from TA, I was biased towards TA but I did engage CG and Hallbury and got initial Pre-sales quotation. Speaking to few members of this forum and my initial bias towards TA was enough to convince us to sign up with TA for our build. Design of the house: Our block faces east and we wanted to maximise our northern side and also had few other requirements. We looked at TA's Hive design and customised it to suit our requirements. To TA's credit they didn't charge any fee for the changes. Original Hive Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our Customised Hive Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The facade which won me over. Our house facade is exact replica except for the timber colour which is Licquorice if I am not mistaken. The concrete is a smooth finish render (upgrade) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is our staircase Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our Inclusions/Upgrades 1. 2.74m ceiling to ground and first floor 2. Straight run staircase with glass balustrade to staircase and void area 3. Recessed corner stacker door 4. R3.1 sound screen insulation between bedrooms 5. Velux fixed skylight to ensuite 6. Square set cornice to ground floor and cove cornice to upstairs except for bathrooms which are square set 7. Additional frameless shower to powder room 8. Bosch ovens, fully integrated dishwasher, 80cm Flex induction and Schweigen undercount range hood 9. Evolution 200 insinkerator 10. Supernatural range (Primordia) kitchen island bench 11. Daikin reverse cycle ducted air conditioning 12. fully tiled bathrooms. Master bathroom tile is Marmi classic Pulpis grey. Powder room feature wall is terrazzo. 13. In-wall cistern toilet suite 14. Timber flooring glued from Made by Storey (Truffle) for ground floor except Bed 5 15. Jetmaster 6X fireplace with custom joinery (will be doing marble to fireplace post hand over) 16. Joinery to study 17. All black hardware some of our colours/products Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Few tips for others:- tip1:- I had asked for 4 months settlement so that I could finalise and get the plans ready as much early as possible tip2:- Get abolishment of utilities done if property is vacant before the settlement and also to install underground electrical pit irrespective of if current owners live there or not. tip3:- Get quite a few demolishers quote since they vary quite a bit. we found Dig Dig demolition to be best bang for buck. Timelines so far: Nov 19 - Bought property in auction Jan 20 - Signed Thomas Archer Mar - style appointment. Signed In the swim for concrete pool build Mid March - Receive Tender End March - Settle on house May - Demo complete. Contract signed with TA Early June - construction of swimming pool was supposed to start but had to postpone to summer months due to water and silty soil around 1mtr depth during digging Mid June - Site started Thanks for sharing , love the C4 facade , sure will be another amazing house ! Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 33Aug 22, 2020 11:03 am Quick Tip for others building with TA. Make sure once the roof is built, the builder also installs temporary downpipes. It is listed on the first page of the plan. I realised this now too late and will be bombarded with lots of rain this week causing water to pool along the slab causing slab heave or other foundation issues down the track. I have written to my SS advising him to install the temporary downpipes. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 34Sep 09, 2020 1:33 pm Today had our Pre-plaster Inspection done. One major issue he noted and also was highlighted by TA's own internal review. To explain in detail, for our house the focal point is our floor to ceiling windows in living room (elevation C), dining and the corner stacker door (elevation D) which would over look our pool. All of these should be flush to ceiling and to floor. It seems these windows and stacker doors don't align. This is a major issue and looks like it will be interesting few days. I am waiting for the report from inspector and will follow up with TA later. Initial discussion that I had with our SS, he is saying floor is uneven and can't help, etc etc...whereas they should have custom built the windows/stacker to account for this. They have charged us big bucks for these windows/stackers. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 35Sep 09, 2020 3:55 pm wow not good at all! i just showed this post to my husband now he's nervous for us (we've got 2.7m high windows/stacker doors also!)! hopefully they can find a solution to this - what will it do aesthetically if they can't fix this? how did the slab pass inspection if its not even? is it the bottom or top section that's not aligning? did they send you any pictures? would be interested to see what it looks like currently. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 36Sep 09, 2020 5:15 pm BigDaddy Today had our Pre-plaster Inspection done. One major issue he noted and also was highlighted by TA's own internal review. To explain in detail, for our house the focal point is our floor to ceiling windows in living room (elevation C), dining and the corner stacker door (elevation D) which would over look our pool. All of these should be flush to ceiling and to floor. It seems these windows and stacker doors don't align. This is a major issue and looks like it will be interesting few days. I am waiting for the report from inspector and will follow up with TA later. Initial discussion that I had with our SS, he is saying floor is uneven and can't help, etc etc...whereas they should have custom built the windows/stacker to account for this. They have charged us big bucks for these windows/stackers. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Isn't everything laser levelled? You've got squareset yeah? Assuming the discrepancy is at the top, how far out is it? https://thomasarcherbuild.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - Thomas Archer Homes - Custom Nouveau 41 Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 37Sep 09, 2020 5:26 pm lilaandco wow not good at all! i just showed this post to my husband now he's nervous for us (we've got 2.7m high windows/stacker doors also!)! hopefully they can find a solution to this - what will it do aesthetically if they can't fix this? how did the slab pass inspection if its not even? is it the bottom or top section that's not aligning? did they send you any pictures? would be interested to see what it looks like currently. I am waiting for the photos from inspector. I am thinking when we look around standing in the kitchen we will find the stacker not reaching the ceiling and the windows would (assuming the windows themselves have no issues). Aesthetically this is a no go for us. We don’t have any other stand out feature apart from this and overlooking the pool. If the floor was not even then they should have measured the distance and given the order. I believe they have gone with standard size and didn’t account for slab variance. The thing is it is right there in all of the contract drawings everywhere. I am hoping they admit their mistake and correct it instead of giving me half assed explanation. Just unnecessary stress. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 38Sep 09, 2020 5:27 pm Blacktea2sugars BigDaddy Today had our Pre-plaster Inspection done. One major issue he noted and also was highlighted by TA's own internal review. To explain in detail, for our house the focal point is our floor to ceiling windows in living room (elevation C), dining and the corner stacker door (elevation D) which would over look our pool. All of these should be flush to ceiling and to floor. It seems these windows and stacker doors don't align. This is a major issue and looks like it will be interesting few days. I am waiting for the report from inspector and will follow up with TA later. Initial discussion that I had with our SS, he is saying floor is uneven and can't help, etc etc...whereas they should have custom built the windows/stacker to account for this. They have charged us big bucks for these windows/stackers. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Isn't everything laser levelled? You've got squareset yeah? Assuming the discrepancy is at the top, how far out is it? Yes, bottom floor is laser levelled and square set. Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 39Sep 09, 2020 7:58 pm that's no good, i can imagine there would have been quite a bit of cost involved in achieving the effect you are after, e.g. reducing the ceiling height / having the void between first and ground floor slightly larger at 600 as well as the increased costs around windows / doors. I changed my windows / doors to 2400 WHH and even that was costly, so can only imagine 2700 WHH would be more. I did post about this the other day in terms of any feedback on the contract spec document, however I would think TA would revert back to the contract specification document where they could around the measurement allowances +/- 10mm etc in terms of what could be done to rectify. the only ideas I could come up with if there is a gap between frames and ceiling is potentially pack out the bottom of the frame a little, given I assume there will be some sort of floor covering over the slab (e.g. timber boards) that would help hide the frame being lifted a little. alternatively, may be they could thicken out the plaster in the ceiling so that it lines up with the window / door frames? I guess it depends on the size of the gap. good luck Re: Thomas Archer Hive 46 (customised) Build 2020-21 40Sep 09, 2020 8:29 pm sifntdaz that's no good, i can imagine there would have been quite a bit of cost involved in achieving the effect you are after, e.g. reducing the ceiling height / having the void between first and ground floor slightly larger at 600 as well as the increased costs around windows / doors. I changed my windows / doors to 2400 WHH and even that was costly, so can only imagine 2700 WHH would be more. I did post about this the other day in terms of any feedback on the contract spec document, however I would think TA would revert back to the contract specification document where they could around the measurement allowances +/- 10mm etc in terms of what could be done to rectify. the only ideas I could come up with if there is a gap between frames and ceiling is potentially pack out the bottom of the frame a little, given I assume there will be some sort of floor covering over the slab (e.g. timber boards) that would help hide the frame being lifted a little. alternatively, may be they could thicken out the plaster in the ceiling so that it lines up with the window / door frames? I guess it depends on the size of the gap. good luck It’s difficult to gauge the problem without having a look. But Looking at TA’s own internal review which highlighted all the windows and stacker to be not flush, I am not sure if it’s only stacker. Also, stacker’s supposed to be rebated, so no, they can’t lift the stacker. If they hide from the top then it doesn’t look nice. I have paid money to have floor to ceiling and hoping TA admit their mistake and fix it. Waiting for tomorrow to get the inspection report. We spent close to 2 years in a process with TA. It was horrible..... we got to tender, and the first cut was 50% over our budget which "they care such about meeting ". We… 18 27322 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17628 Hi We have finally decided to complete a KDR on our corner plot in NE Melbourne suburbs. Given its a corner plot approx. 400 sqm just a standard design may not fit the… 0 8578 |