Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 2Sep 02, 2014 12:22 pm Hi chrisprw, I am not building with Fairmont, but there are currently 4 Fairmont builds on my street. 2 started the week before us, and one has just had the frame up and the other just had windows in and plumbing installed last week. We as a comparison, have hit our final stage and have just had tiles finished. We know the lady who owns the one that just had the plumbing rough in done, and she has been told a similar thing, no brickies - even though her bricks were delivered way back when her slab was poured in the middle of June. Her frame has been up for about 4 weeks or so. Slab down for nearly 12. The other one was also poured in mid June and the frame only went up last week? We don't know those people, but I can imagine they'd be a little upset at the moment, as it sounds like you might be getting too. I hope for everyone they sort something out soon Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 3Sep 02, 2014 2:07 pm Hi chrisprw.. I am so glad you started this thread as I was just about to start a new active one too. We are in the EXACT position as you. Frame up, roof went on 4 weeks ago and we have had no action at all since. My partner spoke to SS yesterday who was hopeless and no help at all. He said there are delays due to "weather and other job priorities"- (the weather here has been pretty sunny the past month.) Interesting to hear there is a shortage of bricklayers. We were told there "should" be someone there this week. Quick background on our place: Signed contract with Fairmont Homes in July 2013, Slab down May 2014. Frame up June/July 2014, roof up 1/8/14. Building a modified "Mawson". All our windows and internal wiring has been done, just waiting on bricks or gyprock next. Bricks were delivered when slab was poured. Estimated completion date 17/11/14, however I predict this will go over. Do you know (or anyone else) what the go is if Fairmont go past their completion date? Our salesman mentioned back in the day that they must pay compensation? Feeling very stressed and anxious about the build at the moment. Feels like we have been waiting forever! It's nice to hear others are in the same boat. Fingers crossed they get moving for the both of us! Fairmont Homes Contract signed: July 2013 Slab: May 2014 Frame: July 2014 Roof: 1/8/14 1st fix electrical: 24/9/14 Gyprock: 29/9/14 Brickwork completed: 6/10/14 Handover: 14/12/14 Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 4Sep 25, 2014 10:11 pm Glad I found this thread. Its shocking to know that Fairmont has such a reputation while they keep advertising on TV everyday . I am in the same boat as everyone - slab since over 6 weeks, metal re-enforcement frame over since over 4 weeks ago and then NOTHING!!!! Its so sad to see other projects that started after us going up with the speed of light.
Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 5Sep 26, 2014 12:01 am Fairmont build here as well (Northern Suburbs) Friday will mark the two weeks of no action since my roof was installed. My next door neighbour (different builder) has a single brickie who took 5.5 weeks to finish the job, while they had insulation, electrical and gyprocking completed before the brickie was. Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 6Sep 26, 2014 9:24 am Hi guys Since my first post where it took almost 5 weeks between frames to have a brickie on site, once you get over that period, action starts picking up again quite quickly. The 1st fix electrical, insulation and gyprock will go up in no time. The bricklaying seems to be taking sometime, but can't fault on the quality. I don't have a building background, but everything seems straight, lines up and looks good which is great. The common answer from the site supervisor with regards to the time between frames and bricks was due to not enough trades for the volume of work on at the moment, which is obviously frustrating. Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 7Sep 26, 2014 9:42 am Well they signed alot of people in Nov/Dec last year, so they are all probably around the same stage. Glad to hear it will pick up again. My estimated completion date is 10th of Feb 2015, so 136 days still to wait anyway Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 8Sep 26, 2014 10:33 am Yes I imagine they would have had a lot of people sign on in nov/dec 2013 due to the building grants ending! Iyeayo- I couldn't agree more. Why they are still flooding the TV & radio with advertising when they are struggling to complete the current builds they have going on is beyond me -especially as they have admitted to struggling with some trades! I agree with chrisprw though- we are in a similar boat with our respective houses being completed around the same time and once you get past the wait after the roof goes on it all seems to come together in a pretty timely manner. I waited 5.5 weeks for bricks but they have finally started (one brickie completing the whole job also) we also had first fix electrical done a few days ago, and gyprock was delivered then too. Definitely feel for you, have been there but rest assured when it starts up again they will make good progress. It is SO annoying when you see other builds being completed that started after yours. However the quality of work done so far is great *touch wood it continues* Off topic- is anyone getting internal insulation done (extra cost obviously) we can't decide and we got a call the other day offering it... Fairmont Homes Contract signed: July 2013 Slab: May 2014 Frame: July 2014 Roof: 1/8/14 1st fix electrical: 24/9/14 Gyprock: 29/9/14 Brickwork completed: 6/10/14 Handover: 14/12/14 Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 9Sep 26, 2014 11:56 am I was contemplating internal insulation, but since this is mainly an investment, I decided against it. A good idea however would have been internal insulation on the internal wall that is shared with the main living areas. As I'm building a Portobello design, this is bed 3 in my case. It would have been good to insulate that wall as I imagine this would dampen some sound coming from the main living space into that room. Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 10Sep 26, 2014 11:58 am Erin101 Yes I imagine they would have had a lot of people sign on in nov/dec 2013 due to the building grants ending! I agree with chrisprw though- we are in a similar boat with our respective houses being completed around the same time and once you get past the wait after the roof goes on it all seems to come together in a pretty timely manner. I waited 5.5 weeks for bricks but they have finally started (one brickie completing the whole job also) we also had first fix electrical done a few days ago, and gyprock was delivered then too. Well any builds won't start for at least 6 months, by time they get past their admin/selection stage, so the adds are to ensure they have plenty of business starting up just after christmas. Erin101 Off topic- is anyone getting internal insulation done (extra cost obviously) we can't decide and we got a call the other day offering it... Yes, I definitely got them to do internal, hopefully makes a tiny difference with noise and keeping warm\cold air in depending on the seasons. Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 11Sep 26, 2014 12:17 pm chrisprw I was contemplating internal insulation, but since this is mainly an investment, I decided against it. A good idea however would have been internal insulation on the internal wall that is shared with the main living areas. As I'm building a Portobello design, this is bed 3 in my case. It would have been good to insulate that wall as I imagine this would dampen some sound coming from the main living space into that room. Yeah, this house will eventually become our investment after a few years too which is why we are contemplating not bothering with internal insulation..if we did we would do something similar to your suggestion, or just insulate the main bedroom/ lounge room. I just don't think its worth it, we've added on enough cost wise! Fairmont Homes Contract signed: July 2013 Slab: May 2014 Frame: July 2014 Roof: 1/8/14 1st fix electrical: 24/9/14 Gyprock: 29/9/14 Brickwork completed: 6/10/14 Handover: 14/12/14 Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 12Sep 26, 2014 12:18 pm ST13 Erin101 Yes I imagine they would have had a lot of people sign on in nov/dec 2013 due to the building grants ending! I agree with chrisprw though- we are in a similar boat with our respective houses being completed around the same time and once you get past the wait after the roof goes on it all seems to come together in a pretty timely manner. I waited 5.5 weeks for bricks but they have finally started (one brickie completing the whole job also) we also had first fix electrical done a few days ago, and gyprock was delivered then too. Well any builds won't start for at least 6 months, by time they get past their admin/selection stage, so the adds are to ensure they have plenty of business starting up just after christmas. Erin101 Off topic- is anyone getting internal insulation done (extra cost obviously) we can't decide and we got a call the other day offering it... Yes, I definitely got them to do internal, hopefully makes a tiny difference with noise and keeping warm\cold air in depending on the seasons. Good point ST13- we are only contemplating it for noise reduction, but we have upgraded a lot already (have to watch costs!) and as this house will likely become a rental in 5 years we are unsure as to what to do Fairmont Homes Contract signed: July 2013 Slab: May 2014 Frame: July 2014 Roof: 1/8/14 1st fix electrical: 24/9/14 Gyprock: 29/9/14 Brickwork completed: 6/10/14 Handover: 14/12/14 Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 13Sep 26, 2014 6:00 pm Looking forward to following this thread. We moved into our house I think end of April this year. We signed contract approx. March 2013, had site start early August. There were lots of times when nothing was happening onsite and we contacted the builder to give them a prod. We are very happy with the end product but my goodness it was slow going getting there. I think the worst part was that they did not seem to care Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 14Sep 26, 2014 6:47 pm Oh yes FairmontSACustom....I definitely concur with the "them not caring" feeling. They don't have the best customer service at all. We loved our sales guy, and I've dealt with a very nice woman in the construction management department, and that's been about it. SS doesn't help us at all lol. Nonetheless just went past my site and insulation has been completed How long did it take for your house to be handed over to you, after the lockup stage, FairmontSACustom? Gee you had some patience...March 2013! I thought waiting since July 2013 was bad...seems that's not the case!! Fairmont Homes Contract signed: July 2013 Slab: May 2014 Frame: July 2014 Roof: 1/8/14 1st fix electrical: 24/9/14 Gyprock: 29/9/14 Brickwork completed: 6/10/14 Handover: 14/12/14 Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 15Sep 26, 2014 7:46 pm we too had a hold up with the brick layer. We had one guy start and then at the end of that week he had decided to retire so we then had to wait for another brickie. Once the bricks finally got finished though it progressed fairly quickly! However now we are being held up again by the painter. After receiving a letter from their office telling us handover would be delayed about 2 weeks i contacted the SS and he tells me they have lost some painters and even though they have put more on they are having to catch up. Its a little frustrating when you can see other houses going up around you. However those have really been our only complaints so far and we are happy with the quality of work they are doing. So fingers crossed no more delays and we get out keys soon! Will be interested to follow this thread Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 16Sep 26, 2014 7:57 pm That's great to hear Carmen1828 Seems like having one brickie do the job is the standard? You are also building with Fairmont I take it? Hoping your painter issue gets resolved quickly and you get to move in! Have they gone past your estimated completion date yet? Also when did your construction start? Sorry for all the questions!! I agree the quality thus far seems to be fantastic, not that I know much about building! Fairmont insist still that my house will be done before Christmas, but I am taking what they say with a grain of salt as it seems it's rare to have them finish on time (even though we have been waiting aaaages) Fairmont Homes Contract signed: July 2013 Slab: May 2014 Frame: July 2014 Roof: 1/8/14 1st fix electrical: 24/9/14 Gyprock: 29/9/14 Brickwork completed: 6/10/14 Handover: 14/12/14 Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 17Sep 26, 2014 8:10 pm We got lock up just before Christmas 2013. It was not looking likely to happen till the new year but days before they were due to break up a carpenter was sent to put external doors on. Supreme kitchens had all our cabinetry finished so I think they put the pressure on the builder to have it delivered before xmas. So it was approx. 4 months from PCI to moving in. From memory we got the external stuff done quickly but then 4 - 5 weeks went by without anything happening. Then the carpenter/kitchen turned up. Then it was a months break for xmas and then trades started trickling through again. It slowed up towards the end again and with all the public holidays I asked them to get a move on. With that we got a date for PCI and managed to swing a move in date for the week after. There are some great people in the office but some terrible ones too. I think it boils down to there being too many builds for the ss to adequately manage so there are long delays because they either don't have time to organise the trades or the trades are busy. In the past when they were busy they used 'cowboys' to get the job done. I think they are reluctant to go down that path again and stick to the tradies they know which with demands results in a great but slow build... You'll get there but still frustrating I know. Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 18Sep 26, 2014 8:19 pm FairmontSAcustom We got lock up just before Christmas 2013. It was not looking likely to happen till the new year but days before they were due to break up a carpenter was sent to put external doors on. Supreme kitchens had all our cabinetry finished so I think they put the pressure on the builder to have it delivered before xmas. So it was approx. 4 months from PCI to moving in. From memory we got the external stuff done quickly but then 4 - 5 weeks went by without anything happening. Then the carpenter/kitchen turned up. Then it was a months break for xmas and then trades started trickling through again. It slowed up towards the end again and with all the public holidays I asked them to get a move on. With that we got a date for PCI and managed to swing a move in date for the week after. There are some great people in the office but some terrible ones too. I think it boils down to there being too many builds for the ss to adequately manage so there are long delays because they either don't have time to organise the trades or the trades are busy. In the past when they were busy they used 'cowboys' to get the job done. I think they are reluctant to go down that path again and stick to the tradies they know which with demands results in a great but slow build... You'll get there but still frustrating I know. Oh the Christmas break wouldn't have helped:( Fairmont seem to do a whole heap, then stop for weeks, then start up again- I guess it's just the nature of the build. Our Practical Completion date was Nov 17th however they told me 2 weeks ago it will be an extra 10 working days on top of that as they are doing our flooring too (this was the first I heard of it as they knew they were doing our floors back in March when we selected them at Direct Interiors). Did you build a single storey or double? Our house is pretty standard to the plan so I'm really hoping no big issues arise/ trades are steady- although it sounds like they are lacking painters too at the moment. Yeah that makes sense using the trades they know, resulting in a great build as you said. It's just so so frustrating seeing other houses go up so quickly. Ahhh well, guess it will be done when it's done. I shall definitely hustle them along when needed Fairmont Homes Contract signed: July 2013 Slab: May 2014 Frame: July 2014 Roof: 1/8/14 1st fix electrical: 24/9/14 Gyprock: 29/9/14 Brickwork completed: 6/10/14 Handover: 14/12/14 Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 19Sep 26, 2014 8:24 pm Our PCI in original letter was mid Feb but there was a note to add approx. 6 weeks for xmas and because we were having flooring, this took us to end of march. Our build was single story but it was complicated. Hopefully it will be all smooth sailing for you and you will be in before xmas. I am pretty sure they prioritised builds to get it done before xmas which is one of the reasons ours stagnated Re: Fairmont Home builders - South Australia 20Sep 26, 2014 8:39 pm I hope you're right ! Even though it meant yours plateaued for a while at that stage. I hear very good things about the houses once their completed, its just the whole build stage with them that is frustrating. So it's good to hear from you that it was a happy ending! Fairmont Homes Contract signed: July 2013 Slab: May 2014 Frame: July 2014 Roof: 1/8/14 1st fix electrical: 24/9/14 Gyprock: 29/9/14 Brickwork completed: 6/10/14 Handover: 14/12/14 Adam Baines Grad Cert Bldg Surv / Grad Dip Bldg Surv / MSAAPA Accredited Building Professional APB20210035 Builders Lic 183023 Pest Control Lic 84868 Ph 0412202336 PO… 3 47869 Well these guys are not looking good... I sent them a written enquiry last week and they have not yet replied. If they cannot respond to a simple… 4 11219 Keen to hear from people in the area who have got KDRB done on whom they got the build from? Looking for recommendations. Thanks 0 21885 |