Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Porter Davis homes 503Nov 11, 2010 4:59 pm Porter Davis Homes Questions? Call 1800PORTER Mon - Fri 9am-8pm Sat - Sun 10am-4pm info@porterdavis.com.au http://blog.porterdavis.com.au/ http://www.porterdavishomes.com.au Re: Porter Davis homes 508Nov 13, 2010 10:23 am Block bought 1st RBC X! 2nd Ventrua,Keeper! Pstart 18/7/11 Ethwks jan 2012 Slab Bricks- finished 7/6 Roof Trusses 15/6-cbond 21/7 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=41185 Re: Porter Davis homes 514Nov 14, 2010 11:15 am Block bought 1st RBC X! 2nd Ventrua,Keeper! Pstart 18/7/11 Ethwks jan 2012 Slab Bricks- finished 7/6 Roof Trusses 15/6-cbond 21/7 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=41185 Re: Porter Davis homes 518Nov 15, 2010 12:24 pm Chorlton Just thought I'd "bump" this post up in case anyone who can possibly answer missed it.... Chorlton STEP DOWN HEIGHT FROM LIVING AREA TO GARAGE We have just received our tender documents and under the category "Excavation" it specifies "74mm step down to Garage". When I asked about this I was told that this is the height difference between the floor of the Main Residence and the floor of the Garage. As our block is on a slope (falling front to rear) the finished height of the garage floor is approx 1.2m below the existing road level, at the front of our home. Although we will have a grate installed at the end of the driveway (directly in front of the garage) to collect rain water which runs down the driveway, our concern is that under heavy rain conditions there could be a high probability of water passing the grate and entering the garage. In addition, and more worrying as we only have 74mm difference between Garage floor level and the inside of the home then there could be a risk of flooding the whole home should the Garage flood under extreme weather conditions. For everyone else who is also building on a block which falls front to rear (and therefore has a Home which is "cut" into the block at the front) has this been a concern to you? Finally, can anyone offer any advice as to whether a step of 74mm is sufficient? I was always under the impression that the difference in height between Garage and Main Home was around 120-150mm. Any advice most welcome...... Thanks........... Hi Chorlton, 74mm is one brick course and is seems to be the standard stepdown used for garages with a down slope in front, while ours isn't as significant as yours approx 400-500mm from the crossover to garage level, we have an ag drain in underneath the current batter which will become a small retaining wall in front of the house section, we're adding a 100mm channel grate drain across the length of our roller door and the builder allowed for a larger storm water pipe under the garage to connect both that drain and the normal downpipe. That said, i've been advised that this meets all the relevent requirements and should be sufficient. However in those *extreme* weather conditions we seem to be seeing more of lately, we do still expect some water may get in, hence the 74mm , also worth noting is that the slab should fall away from the centre hence if water should get in you would expect it to flow towards the outside edge of the slab hence towards the rear door, the plaster and skirtings go to to the floor so potentially they may be at risk from water damage but to be honest, unless your in a low ****** area and experiencing a flash flood, in which case it may exceed 150mm anyway so at that point even your front door won't have enough clearence. So all that aside technically if you want it and are willing to pay for it despite it being in excess of the engineering requirements, chances are they'll do it, but then your talking a custom slab design, more concrete, deeper excavation and maybe changing slab type or additional peiring etc it could get quite expensive. Our solution is fairly simple, accept that for 99.9% of the time as per standard will be sufficient, for the rest of the time chances are there isn't much you can do except deal with it when it happens, by all means ask them to give an estimate of the cost of works for an increased step down, storm water upgrades etc, but they could be rather expensive. Our Build - Places Fairhaven 23+ - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=28045 Our Landscaping - Belial's Backyard - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=45375 Re: Porter Davis homes 519Nov 15, 2010 2:25 pm Team PD Hi Trav987 & building1, I have read through both your comments and understand that you are frustrated with the tender signing process and the lack of final pricing at Hopetoun. Firstly, I appreciate your feedback and honesty, we are always on the lookout for ways to improve our service to our clients. We are currently working on getting price guidelines for volume based products such as bricks, roof tiles, carpet, paint etc, to distribute to all consultants to help clients during their appointments. trav987, I am sorry to hear that your sales tender had errors and was missing items, do you know when you'll receive an updated one? Have you brought these issues up with anyone so far? I highly recommend bringing these issues up with your sales consultant trav987, and your Customer Care Administrator building1. I assure you, we respect our clients and I am sorry if you felt mistreated during your contract signing. I can only hope your building journey is an enjoyable one and not not overshadowed by this experience. I will be passing on your feedback to the relevant staff at PD to review it. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have, but always remember that your Sales consultant, or CSA are you best points of contact. Thanks for your feedback, Jess. Hi Jess. All the issues i'm having have been referred to my CSA and we're working through them... I am hoping for a positive outcome however I am disappointed that it had to go this far. Friends of mine are building with Simmonds and have found the whole experience blissful. Even to the point where their colour selection/tile appointments was fun. They keep saying we should change builders.. the problem is we like the PD plans Re: Porter Davis homes 520Nov 15, 2010 4:06 pm Belial Chorlton Just thought I'd "bump" this post up in case anyone who can possibly answer missed it.... Chorlton STEP DOWN HEIGHT FROM LIVING AREA TO GARAGE We have just received our tender documents and under the category "Excavation" it specifies "74mm step down to Garage". When I asked about this I was told that this is the height difference between the floor of the Main Residence and the floor of the Garage. As our block is on a slope (falling front to rear) the finished height of the garage floor is approx 1.2m below the existing road level, at the front of our home. Although we will have a grate installed at the end of the driveway (directly in front of the garage) to collect rain water which runs down the driveway, our concern is that under heavy rain conditions there could be a high probability of water passing the grate and entering the garage. In addition, and more worrying as we only have 74mm difference between Garage floor level and the inside of the home then there could be a risk of flooding the whole home should the Garage flood under extreme weather conditions. For everyone else who is also building on a block which falls front to rear (and therefore has a Home which is "cut" into the block at the front) has this been a concern to you? Finally, can anyone offer any advice as to whether a step of 74mm is sufficient? I was always under the impression that the difference in height between Garage and Main Home was around 120-150mm. Any advice most welcome...... Thanks........... Hi Chorlton, 74mm is one brick course and is seems to be the standard stepdown used for garages with a down slope in front, while ours isn't as significant as yours approx 400-500mm from the crossover to garage level, we have an ag drain in underneath the current batter which will become a small retaining wall in front of the house section, we're adding a 100mm channel grate drain across the length of our roller door and the builder allowed for a larger storm water pipe under the garage to connect both that drain and the normal downpipe. That said, i've been advised that this meets all the relevent requirements and should be sufficient. However in those *extreme* weather conditions we seem to be seeing more of lately, we do still expect some water may get in, hence the 74mm , also worth noting is that the slab should fall away from the centre hence if water should get in you would expect it to flow towards the outside edge of the slab hence towards the rear door, the plaster and skirtings go to to the floor so potentially they may be at risk from water damage but to be honest, unless your in a low ****** area and experiencing a flash flood, in which case it may exceed 150mm anyway so at that point even your front door won't have enough clearence. So all that aside technically if you want it and are willing to pay for it despite it being in excess of the engineering requirements, chances are they'll do it, but then your talking a custom slab design, more concrete, deeper excavation and maybe changing slab type or additional peiring etc it could get quite expensive. Our solution is fairly simple, accept that for 99.9% of the time as per standard will be sufficient, for the rest of the time chances are there isn't much you can do except deal with it when it happens, by all means ask them to give an estimate of the cost of works for an increased step down, storm water upgrades etc, but they could be rather expensive. Hi Belial, Thank you for such a detailed response. May I ask who advised you that the design meets all relevant requirements? I've asked PD directly and the response I received was pretty dismissive to say the least !!! As a side note, and to keep others up-to-date with our progress (for those interested), I would like to say that the help & support we've received from our Sales person has been first class!! I know that their main focus is to sell homes but ours has been extremly helpful and IMO genuine. However, I have to say that my dealings so far with PD Main Office have been less impressive !! I don't want to go into detail now as its off-topic but am happy to answer any questions which may be posted on here, as honestly as I can, for those interested. Cheers............. TIMING OF BUILD 25Feb - Site Start 25Mar - Base Stage Complete 31Mar - Frame Completed 11Apr - Roof Tiles 20Apr - Brickwork Started Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 12334 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74701 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 105533 |