Browse Forums Building A New House Re: JG King and other questions 6Aug 08, 2007 8:25 pm Can't say we had a lot to deal with JG King. They had a plan that they sales guy was keen to modify for our block but it would have meant one of the bedrooms would have been internal with no windows and I said no straight away. Not sure about a steel frame either. My sister had a steel frame house in QLD years ago and it used to crack a bit if there was a sudden weather change (expansion and contracting).
As for the bathroom/ensuite, we have used a common theme throughout, but the bathroom is very light with pale sand tones, whereas our ensuite is very dark with chocolate browns. I don't think it matters if they match or not. They are usually sufficiently apart from each other that no one would notice, and really in most cases no one will be seeing your ensuite. Pick colours that you like. Ray. Second Time 'Round Re: JG King and other questions 7Aug 08, 2007 8:30 pm When I used to sell cars we used to put 2 hubcaps on 1 side of the car and another style on the wheels on the other side.
Most people didn't even pick it up. The owner used to say...."you can only see one side of the car at a time" I used to be .... but I am no more! JG King 12Oct 25, 2007 12:32 pm Hi Tracey,
I am new here too, and am planning on posting very soon about my own experience and for some advice... We built a home with JG King last year. We would NOT build with them again. We have been in the house for 13 months now and we are still waiting on things to be fixed, I actually think they have forgotten about us and I have just about given up. The sales staff were great and all things went to plan, until the actual building began. Their 'quality' tradesmen turned out to be NO quality and unprofessional. The Building Supervisor, while always polite, was useless. We are disappointed. Sorry I have nothing positive to say. Sue Re: JG King and other questions 13Oct 25, 2007 5:27 pm Hi Steveo / Sue
Now in a situation where I have paid a deposit to both JGK and M'con. ! We paid JGK on 29September and they had not, as at 24October even ordered the soil report. Apparently, they were waiting for my decision on the siting of the house. (I was not aware that we had to site the house on the block BEFORE they do a soil report)...plus they did not tell me that. I sent a query to salesguy ...a week went by and no reply. I had to chase him up. We prefer JG King design but I am nervous as I can't find much feedback out there about them. I asked the sales guy for some addresses of where they have built, but he could not provide any - which in itself makes me wary. For someone who is supposed to be 5th largest builder you'd think there would be more feedback in public domain. Do you know if there are there any other forums where I could look? I have worked damn hard for my money and really want to ensure that I am going to get a good builder... Tracey JG King 14Oct 25, 2007 6:12 pm Hi Tracey,
Just thought I'd add a little more background... We built with JG King for3 different reasons: 1) Loved their plan 2) Friends had built with them - and wereVERY happy 3) Price Our brick work looks NOTHING like our friends. We were just stuffed around from when they first started. From the concreter to the carpet layer - every trade they used stuffed up somewhere. And the worst part of that was that the Building Supervisor let them!! Our friends are currently building again and , because of what they have seen here, they are NOT using JG King again. I blame, mostly, our Building Supervisor for not "supervising" at all, but I would be wary too if they can't provide some houses for you to look at; people to talk to... And "...a week went by and no reply." is pretty "standard" for them! Good luck! Re: JG King and other questions 15Oct 25, 2007 7:17 pm We are looking at JG King as well (our own design) and the sales guy has been great so far, excellent communication to date, very prompt with detailed replies. I have driven past a couple of their new houses as they were being built in craigieburn (I can find out the address and PM it to you TraceyE if you like) and from the outside the quality looks good (to the untrained eye) and there are always tradies around, place looks neat and has progressed pretty quickly so far. Surely they can tell you of a house they have built recently in your area ??!! I find that a little odd...
Anyhow, we haven't given them any money yet as we are still looking at another builder closely (small builder) but their price and service so far is looking hard to beat so your post sueau is making me a little nervous...questions for you (if you don't mind please) - how often were you able to get on site while they were building - do you think that if you had a better building supervisor things may have been better? - which area did you build in? Thanks, I think your contribution will be valuable..!! Ruth -Bought house in Melbourne inner burbs, knocked it down & now...we are owner builders! Completed OB project and moved in to our new home with our new baby in May 2009! JG King 16Oct 25, 2007 7:47 pm Hi rerob1,
In answer to your questions: We were able to get onsite virtually anytime, as they didn't put up any security fencing and we were also able to view inside, even after lock-up, as they kept forgetting to the lock the doors (even left the windows open on a few occasions) Yes, I think a different Building Supervisor would have given us 'different' results. As previously mentioned, 2 lots of friends built with them 4 years prior to us and were very happy - different Building Supervisor though. We built in Country Victoria. And to contradict myself a bit, our house IS nice, but the hassles we had and the 'after hand-over' service, 'maintenance period' (still going 13 months later) has been a nightmare. We don't believe that we got what we paid for and, as 1st time home builders, we are very disappointed in their uncaring attitude and unwillingness to fix problems, even though they promised us they would. I am in the middle of putting together a webpage with some photos and will post the link as soon as I am able. Re: JG King and other questions 17Oct 25, 2007 7:56 pm Sue, thanks for your prompt reply, we are also 1st time builders and are wary of the sorts of issues than can arise so will aim to be on site as often as possible (we only live 400 metres from where we are building)...
I heard they are fantastic in country vic and have a really good reputation out there in regional areas...then again I can't remember where I heard it so I may have read that on their website or heard it from the sales guy??!! I am sorry to hear that you are still having sagas with the maintenance stuff - I look forward to seeing your page when its up! Oh, by the way - which home did you build? Many thanks Ruth -Bought house in Melbourne inner burbs, knocked it down & now...we are owner builders! Completed OB project and moved in to our new home with our new baby in May 2009! JG King 18Oct 25, 2007 9:45 pm We built the McKinley 205 with modifications. All modifications and variations to the plan and contract were agreed to and signed off on before building started. We had to keep an eye on things and constantly remind the supervisor of the variations though because they kept missing them out.
With regards to them building in Country Victoria - they have been one of the biggest Builders in this area for a number of years, however the numbers are decreasing and other Builders are now building more. Again, I really put it down to the Supervisor. I know another couple who built with JG King a few years ago (different Building Supervisor) - very happy and decided to build with them again - unhappy this time (same Supervisor that we got). Having said that, I've spoken to the local Manager and all he could do was back up the Supervisor and make excuses. He made an appointment to come and see me and cancelled at the last minute and never got around to making another... Re: JG King and other questions 19Oct 27, 2007 4:10 pm Great posts, it apears that JG may actually be okay apart from a few challenging people
The rep we spoke to at the south melb office -so far- appears helpful, however I get the impression that the amount of work JG (and all others for that matter) have on at the moment makes the buyers job a lot difficult.. Not sure what it was like 15 years ago... This is our first home build and we have gone through a lot of detail and differnet approaches (such as architects, bulk builders etc - wife and I also have worked hard for our money so value and qulaity are important however is proving hard to find). I get the impression that some of the sales people out there (or as they seem to be calling themselves 'consultants' ) forget that this is more than likely the largest purhcase we will make... I hear a lot of, well you must give me a deposit before I talk to you, and when you do (as we did) the next step seems to want to get the next installment rather than tackle our concerns.. The fact that JG are happy to quote from a sketch drawing that we had made up using our computer and do it within two weeks seems like a very low risk option for us..giddyup..we are hoping that they meet our budget. Re: JG King and other questions 20Oct 27, 2007 7:52 pm The guy we spoke to at JG quoted our very basic sketch (I emailed it to him) within a couple of hours (its all based on your dimensions)! You will find that they have a very standard range of costs - they have a huge document which details just about every variation you can think of! Our guy emailed us the spreadsheet he used and it was good because if we wanted to change things on it we could and see how much more/less it would cost us! Make sure you ask them about their upgrade offers!! The 5 crowns special at the moment isn't the only special they have on Ruth -Bought house in Melbourne inner burbs, knocked it down & now...we are owner builders! Completed OB project and moved in to our new home with our new baby in May 2009! I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 10664 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 108135 1 9768 |