Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 3May 31, 2011 11:29 pm hubby, kids and me all waiting for the Amberlea Site Cut 27 September 2011 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46637 http://www.dscml.com/ Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 4Jun 01, 2011 8:16 am My Hamptons build (completed): viewtopic.php?f=31&t=63370 Moved in Wednesday 11th Dec 2013 Front landscaping completed June 2016 Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 6Jun 01, 2011 8:39 am Welcome mattnjaz! This is a great forum to get ideas and to share experiences, I hope you find this as helpful as I have. I am building in Narre Warren South, not with Simonds though. In regards to those comments from those sites, you really have to sift through the genuine concerns from the needless rantings. Such as, if people are complaining of warped ceilings and walls, thats a ligitimate concern! If they are complaining about the mess of the building site while construction is going on, well that cam be expected, after all, it is a building site. There may look like a lot of complaints, but think about the thousands that you don't see that are perfectly satisfied. I suggest you get to know and try to get along with your bulding supervisor, that really helps and any correspondent have in writing through email, just incase! Good luck with the build! __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ All new built homes look like display homes... until the furniture goes in. Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 7Jun 01, 2011 2:24 pm cinder Hi Matt & Jasmine, My experience is going to see a friend's house built by Simonds a couple of months after it was finished. Unfortunately it wasn't a great experience. It was the Villa Grand and I only got to see the ground floor, but I have seen it as a display home before so I know what it's meant to look like. This may be the case with every new home build, but he had a list of things to be rectified by them, of which very little had been addressed and it was by then passed the time the contract says that defects should be fixed by. A couple of the more glaring things I remember was the quality (or lack of) of the plastering. Most notably in the hallway, the plaster had visible lumps and was not smooth as it should have been, particularly obvious when light shines on the wall and you're looking from an angle. This will not be addressed by Simonds. The other was my friend noticed some insulation that was sitting on the floor after the walls had been plastered, and said 'shouldn't that be in the wall?' to which they replied no, it's leftover, but my friend insisted they check. So they knocked a hole in the wall and sure enough there was none, so it all had to be redone. Oh and the staircase was stained the wrong colour, again can't be fixed. Other little things like windows not being level, tradies trudging mud inside onto the new carpet and it not even coming out after being steam cleaned, downlights in wrong position, some minor changes they'd requested to ensuite vanity weren't done, front door wouldn't close properly as it scraped the floor. So I don't know. What he said to me was you need to check the contract 20 times to make sure it's right before signing, and you need to be on them all the time during the build to ensure mistakes get fixed. But the experience really put me off volume builders in general. Yes the houses are affordable, but in my opinion that's why. Cheap materials and ** labour. May not always be the case, and it depends on the individual builders/tradies. Hi Matt & Jasmine As others have already said.....welcome to the Forum! Hoping your construction will be a realatively smooth run. Our experience with Simonds has been pretty much idendical to the info posted above by cinder. Like her friend's house....we had a very long list of rectifications prior to handover.......plaster and paintworks being of major concern. Their trades in these areas are very lacklustre and unfortunately these are the trades from which you need an acceptable finish. Cinder....if you are also reading this post.......your friend must have Simonds rectify this problem ....... on what grounds will they not address it? It is their contract obligation to abide by the implied warranties of the Simonds New Home contract, in particular Clause 11.1....The Builder warrants that the work will be carried out in a proper and workmanlike manner .... and also Clause 1.4 ....The Builder warrants that the work will be carried out with due care and skill...... If these statutory warranties are not met then Section 8 of the Domestic Building Contracts Act is being breached. As joles also advised.....document everything, photograph everything and communicate with emails .......that way you have a written record of dealings....don't rely on what was covered in phonecalls........... hoping that you may not need such evidence ...... but speaking only of our experience, it was imperative to have everything covered. I would suggest that after any site meeting which might arise, as joles advised, email them but instead of asking them to confirm to you what was discussed............YOU confirm to them what was covered and agreed at the meeting........because if you ask them, they have been known not to keep their word or disagree that something was agreed upon. You have to be firm all the way and stand your ground. Become very familiar with your contract and conditions and also the Domestic Building Contracts Act ....... you can obtain details of this by googling "Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995" ....... once accessed, you will find a numbering system, which if clicked on will open to further detail. As edscl advised ...... closely cover your figure work in your tender/contract. We found a few discrepancies which needed attention. Try to have everything covered before contract and if possible eliminate as much as you can with post contract variations. In closing, don't be afraid to request a site inspection and if necessary involve management as necessary. The sooner issues are recognised and dealt with the better ...... if they continue to be ignored arrange a further management meeting. Wishing you all the best with your new home construction ............... I do hope you maybe a lucky one to have a fortunate experience. Which home are you building? SherWin Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 8Jun 01, 2011 6:52 pm Wow! Thanks for all the feedback so far guys. I've been massively busy these past 2 days so haven't had a chance to check our post and my gmail is not notifying me of new posts for some reason. Just wanted to say I'm really appreciative of all your words of advice. The best thing for me and jas is the fact that while we have our land contract signed, our land doesn't go to title until at least november so we have plenty of time to make sure we get this right. we are meeting with simonds on the weekend to do the walk through and will have a better idea of where we are at from there. I certainly won't be in any hurry to sign any building contract until we get any concerns addressed. we will certainly take all of your feedback on board. we understand the importance of a decent competent, experienced site supervisor and that will be the most important aspect of the whole process from what i can tell. what also works in our favour is that our house is being built maybe 2 min drive / 5 min walk from where jas mum lives so we can visit almost every day if need be - understanding not to get in anyone's way of course. we also understand we will need an independent building inspector at various stages of construction. is anyone able to recommend anyone in the eastern melbourne suburban area? how much does a building inspector cost? we think we will stick with simonds as our builder primarily due to the fact that our land is very small and we struggled to find a suitable house design. we love the design we just hope it gets built properly. i'm confident as long as we can find the right supervisor, tradies everything will work out ok. can we choose our own supervisor / tradies? i'm sure i have a million more questions i will need to ask and research answers for but i guess that is a start. thanks again for your time and all your help and advice so far. we really appreciate it. cheers. oh yeah and we are building the parkside fusion Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 9Jun 01, 2011 7:12 pm humble Read the last posts in this thread, it has a full list of things you might forget, most of them cost money, and most are not included! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=5823 hey mate i'm not sure which post you are referring to in this thread? sat may 28 2011 9am? Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 10Jun 01, 2011 7:20 pm in case you are wondering, below is apparently what our house includes as standard. this will all need to be confirmed on the weekend of course. if you could asterisk anything below we need to be made particularly aware of would be fantastic. thanks again. Kitchen o Electric underbench oven (600mm) o Gas cooktop (600mm) o CHOICE: 600mm slide-out rangehood (with laminated overhead cabinets) OR 600mm canopy rangehood o 250mm exhaust fan including self sealing air flow draft stopper over cooktop (specific to Atherton 1500, Auburn 1500 and Auburn 1600) o 1¾ bowl stainless steel sink including basket waste o Fully lined laminated base with laminate post formed bench top including overhead cupboards (as per working drawings) o Stainless steel appliances o Mixer tap (selection of styles) o Dishwasher space with single power point and plumbing connection · Bathroom and Ensuite o Fully lined laminated base cabinet with laminate post formed or square edge benchtop o Vitreous china above counter hand basins (white) (selection of styles) o Acrylic designer bath (white) set in a tiled podium (selection of styles) o Dual flush vitreous china close coupled toilet suite (white) including skirted pan and enclosed trap o Polished edge mirrors (above vanity benchtop) o Showers - laminated glass pivot doors and colour matched frames with polymarble base o Pin lever mixer tapware (selection of styles) o Shower rose and 220mm wall bath outlet o 250mm exhaust fans including self sealing air flow draft stoppers to bathroom and ensuite · Laundry o Feature acrylic 45lt trough and cabinet (white) with tapware o Wall mounted washing machine taps · Ceramic Tiling (From Builders Standard Range) o Wall tiles to kitchen, bathroom, ensuite and laundry o Floor tiles to bathroom, ensuite, WC and laundry o 150mm high skirting tiles to bathroom, ensuite, powder room, WC and laundry (as per working drawings) · Windows and External Doors o Sliding aluminium windows including window locks o Solidcarve entry door o Push plate external door furniture including lever handle, deadlock, trim plate with logo and key in knob entry set to garage access door · Garage o Colorbond roller door to front o Weatherproof hinged flush panel access door · Insulation o R3.5 Glasswool batts to ceiling of roof space only (excludes garage) o R2.0 Glasswool wall batts including sisalation to external brick veneer walls (excluding garage) and wall between garage and house · Ceilings o 2440mm (overall plates) standard ceiling height · Stairs - 2 Storey o MDF treads and MDF rises paint finish (plan specific) o Balusters and handrail (house specific) · Solar Hot Water Service o 160lt Lo Line Gas Boosted with 20lt Continuous Flow Booster, 1 No. Solar Collector and the necessary electrical and plumbing connections. Note: Panel and storage tank positioned at the Builder's discretion. Additional solar panel maybe required at clients’ expense subject to orientation of dwelling · Roofing o Concrete colour on roof tile. Selection from Builders range o Zincalume Cliplock roofing to all flat roof construction (house specific) o Colorbond fascia and gutter · Fixing o 42mm MDF square dressed or pencil round architraves and 67mm MDF square dressed or pencil round skirtings o Flush panel doors o Lever passage sets and pull handles (selection of styles) o Hinged opening doors to wardrobes (as shown on plans) · Plaster o Cornice - 75mm cove · Paint - 2 Coat Application o Low sheen acrylic to external timber work o Low sheen acrylic to internal walls o Flat acrylic to ceilings (white optional) o Gloss finish to internal woodwork o Gloss finish to front entry and internal doors Note: Walls, woodwork and ceiling to be one colour throughout (white ceilings optional) · Foundations o Class 'M' concrete slab · Heating (Natural gas only) o Gas ducted heating unit in roof space o Gas wall heater (specific to Atherton 1500, Auburn 1500 and Auburn 1600) · Electrical o Double power points and batten light points as per standard electric layout o Safety switches (earth leakage detector) o Smoke detectors o Telephone point to kitchen o 1 No. TV point o 1 No. external light point outside laundry · Connection Costs o Connection of services - water, gas, electricity, sewer, telephone conduit and stormwater based on 650m2 blocks with 300mm fall and 5m setback. Does not include electricity and telephone consumer account opening fees o 2 No. external taps Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 11Jun 01, 2011 8:07 pm very nice plan. It will be a lovely home when it is completed. is your block not very deep? hubby, kids and me all waiting for the Amberlea Site Cut 27 September 2011 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46637 http://www.dscml.com/ Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 12Jun 01, 2011 8:23 pm yes not very deep. i believe it is what is referred to as a "cottage block" but we like the location so we decided to compromise on block size (depth) and build up hence double storey is our only option really... Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 13Jun 01, 2011 9:04 pm In regards to the post about things you might forget, the last updated post is here: viewtopic.php?p=705220#p705220 Print it off, it has some good things in it that you may wish to understand before agreeing to move forward (with any builder) Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 14Jun 01, 2011 9:07 pm My advise will be " not to build with them" you have plenty of other builders in the market -- they have 95% unhappy and 5% happy customers and thats the reason you hear a lot of negativity Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 15Jun 01, 2011 9:38 pm humble - thank you so much. that list certainly is extensive. lots in there i probably wouldn't have thought of.
abraham - thanks for your advice and i agree with your logic but no other builder seems to be any different on the internet. they all have negative feedback. it goes by the old saying that 10 people will give you a bad story for every 1 good story. people love to pass on bad news. even if it didn't happen to them but it happened to their friend's friend. how often do you hear good news stories on the news? maybe one little tidbit at the end of some panda bear that made friends with a monkey? the rest is war, famine, death, aids, carbon tax.... we found a nice reputable family builder and we were going to build with them but they don't do double storey and everyone else we can't afford. when we showed them the simonds plans they advised us to go ahead but be very careful. we have no choice but to go to a volume builder we just have to make sure they do a good job. i spoke about our concerns re volume builders with our lawyer / conveyancer (who is very good btw if you need these services in the eastern melbourne metro area) she put it in perspective. why would this company intentionally set out to build ** houses if they want to be building houses in 10-20 years time. it doesn't make very good business sense. you're destroying your brand your name. i think if we are smart about it we will be ok. she mentioned something about a 25 year guarantee. apparently your house comes with a 10 year guarantee of workmanship but you can ask to extend to 25 years. does anyone know anything about that? Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 16Jun 01, 2011 9:48 pm There are many people who have been happy with the build by Simonds. I am following one link http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=45132 on here and a blog http://waitingforlife2begin.blogspot.com/ I am in the s.e. Melbourne suburbs and we have different tradies to what other regions have and also there is currently lots tradies seeking work in our area as one of the estates in Cranbourne can't proceed yet as the estate has problems with the business side of things. Just when you start your build have an independent inspector at all steps from contract onwards , we are using New Home Inspections, and just like you said be on site often. You sound pretty level headed and know what you are in for. Simonds can produce some lovely homes. But like every other builder there can be some homes that are not finished to perfection, and these homes are the homes that we hear about. Don't let people on here get you down about the house you would like to build. Make it a fun adventure for you and your partner, and start a blog to document everything. our is http://www.dscml.com/ Also be aware that the base cost of the house you need to add between $50k to $80k on top of that again. When you are ready to start your build, start a new thread so we can all follow your build, can't wait to see. hubby, kids and me all waiting for the Amberlea Site Cut 27 September 2011 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46637 http://www.dscml.com/ Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 19Jun 01, 2011 10:09 pm edscl Also be aware that the base cost of the house you need to add between $50k to $80k on top of that again. we have money set aside on top but what does your estimate of 50k - 80k include? everything? like flooring / blinds / furnishing / landscaping / driveway / pavings etc? the good thing about having a small and level block and a reasonably compact house is we may be able to save on that aspect we thinks... Re: Building First Home with Simonds - Narre Warren, VIC 20Jun 01, 2011 10:15 pm mattnjaz edscl Also be aware that the base cost of the house you need to add between $50k to $80k on top of that again. we have money set aside on top but what does your estimate of 50k - 80k include? everything? like flooring / blinds / furnishing / landscaping / driveway / pavings etc? the good thing about having a small and level block and a reasonably compact house is we may be able to save on that aspect we thinks... With the base price you get nothing other than standard inclusion. The 50-80 include the upgrades - things what u hav mentioned plus colours(bricks etc), electrical I have posted this before: We hired Darbecca to do every stage inspection, and I strongly recommend them to anyone that asks me. They were amazing. Thorough reports… 2 4561 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 28047 Can anyone give me any onfo on New Homes WA? Good or bad, hopefully good just need to know if my choice was good or not? Thanks ❤️ 0 8972 |