Mike 3G

We are looking at building a fairly basic 4X2 house in 2012 and are just going through the process of choosing a builder. I'd be interested to hear first hand opinions on the following building outfits.

J G King
Burbank
Urban Edge

Don't hold back

CrunchieFrog

i was just looking for some builder reviews last night and came across the following review site.

http://www.productreview.com.au/cate...hp?cat_id=1939

Just searched for the three you listed, a couple of them on there have a number of reviews. No idea of the quality or bias of the site, you'll have to make your own mind up on that!

CF

Trevski

People must be careful with what they say and who they name as in Australia they can get a call from the Builders that they name solicitors and it can lead to court action so if any one uses bad comments then you have been warned,i speak from experience

Buzzy--Bee

J G King build on a steel frame. That on its own is a big pull as the durability, straightness and quality of steel is considerably better than that of timber.

I like Burbank's designs but I'm not convinced of their build quality.

Have a look at http://forum.homeone.com.au This is a forum for people building with project builders.

BB

HelenTD

A couple of years ago I posted comments about our home builder on Product Review, and like most of the other posters, it wasn't complimentary. I noticed that my post had disappeared, so I posted again. A few days later, I got an email from Product Review, checking to see if I was actually a customer of this particular builder, as they had been contacted by that builder's lawyer. I confirmed that I was a genuine client and said that I had the documents to prove it. I suggested that Product Review should check whether favourable reviews were from genuine customers, as it could be the builder posing as a happy customer. Reviews are anonymous, so you cannot email or pm the other posters - if you could, you could form a group to help each other.

Visiting the site again, I noticed that a couple of people had posted favourable comments, which pushed the previous negative comment down the page and you have to go through and read all the comments. I suspect that the builders and/or their lawyers peruse this website and post some positive comments that are completely opposite to other posters' experiences. Sorry, call me cynical, but if someone posts with a username of Guest User and gives them a 5 star rating when everyone else (except for the adjacent post) doesn't even want to give them 1 star, I think that's suspicious. I found it very difficult to find a forum where victims of bad home builders could gather and share their experiences and any advice, and that's how I found Product Review. If anyone wants to set up such a website or knows of one, please let me know.

Over here in WA there is an agency which deals with building complaints. There are probably similar bodies in other states, and you should be able to ring them up and ask if there have been any complaints registered against particular builders. Their website contains some complaints, but not all, so do not depend on the website alone, at least in WA.

cresta57

I've lived in both steel framed & timber framed homes, both have unique qualities. For me I found that the walls rattled more in steel framed homes i.e the whole wall shook when you closed a door. Steel framed place creaked & groaned more as it heated & cooled. Timber framed I found quieter & better constructed. Same building company for both homes btw.

Buzzy--Bee

I think it depends on the steel frame. Our steel frame is stronger (because I built it!) and quieter than our last house which was a timber frame. It's Bluescope Lysaght which is supposed to be the best in the industry. JG King use the same system.

BB