Chelle66

We built with Homebuyers. No problems at all and everything went to plan. Things that were included for us were flooring, window treatments (but not in the bathrooms) and flyscreens. The interior wasn't painted, but that wasn't too much of a problem for us. The only complaint that we do have is that our drive and crossover has shifted and sunk due to it not being laid properly in the first place. However, they have promised us that it will be fixed. It's just a matter of when.

Japonica

That's true too...people who have no reason to complain won't bother to get online and say "things went okay."

ozhappy981

We are currently building with APG. We reached lock-up a week ago.

We've been really happy with them. Homebuyer's Centre, Dale Alcock, APG, and Webb Brown-Neaves are all part of the same company, the ABN Group (stands for Alcock Brown-Neaves).

They use the same tradies across the whole group, i.e. you get the same standard of workmanship whether you're building a Homebuyer's Centre house or a Webb Brown-Neaves house.

Our sales guy was fantastic. He let us change the internal layout completely. And we've added double-glazing, R6 ceiling batts, cavity wall insulation.

Our building supervisor is great as well .

Anyway: As you can tell from the above, we are very happy so far.

Japonica

Thanks for that...we'll have to check them out too. And I want to talk to our prospective builders, whoever we go with, about double glazing and insulation as well...

Dorothy

You'll find that the lower end or middle of the spectrum builders don't do that sort of thing routinely and you may end up paying a whole lot more than if you do it yourself after. Or look at smaller builders who will do special requests.

for the insulation, standard seems to be about R3 in the attic but the gov't has a rebate scheme now where you can upgrade and get money back for it. It may work out less expensive for you to do it that way.

Some people we know built a house in Mandurah and they sourced their own windows from China - It worked out cheaper in the end for them to source the windows and ship them here than to have the builder get them.

The only problem with doing it this way is that during the build most builders will not allow any other contractors but their own on site. When we were building my husband (licensed cabler) wanted to install the wiring for our security system before the ceiling and finishing were done so it was easier. Builders said no since he wasn't a Celebration contractor.

ozhappy981

If you want to upgrade batts afterwards from the standard R3 to a higher R value: Make sure that your builder does the ceiling joists at 450mm. The standard (in Perth) for ceiling joists is 600mm. This means you cannot later upgrade insulation from R3 - the ceilings will bow from the weight.

Yes, our builder also has a general rule that they will not allow other contractors (or us) on site during the build. However: As long as you agree everything before you sign the contract with the builder, you will not have a problem.

We sourced our own double-glazing - at a cost we agreed with our own contractor of course. And our contractor installed the windows and doors during the build. (APG told them when they wanted them on site.)

We also have another contractor doing a plumbed-in water tank installation. And we have yet another contractor doing a gas-boosted solar hot-water system.

These were all agreed with APG before we signed the contract with them. And we then had a letter as part of our contract which said that APG would liaise with all of them during the build.

So far this has not been a problem at all. APG and the windows/door contractor have worked together happily. And I hope it'll be the same with the water tank and the hot-water guys (not at that stage yet).

The key is - and I can't stress this enough - to agree this before you sign the contract and put it in writing. Once you've signed the contract, the builder will just trot out the standard phrase that they won't allow third-parties on site.

Japonica

Thanks!! Keep the tips and info coming...I'm printing this off to keep in our file of things to consider before we even consider signing anything.

Japonica

Thanks again Dorothy! China, hey? Hmm...

ozhappy981

No need to go as far as China ...

As I said above, we also sourced our own windows and doors. But our contractor is a lot closer - he is in Rockingham. They do jobs as far south as Albany and as far north as Geraldton. He and his partner had 27 years of UK double-glazing experience before they came to Perth. They use Koemmerling profiles (for a non-techie like me, that's the "plastic/metal" parts of the window).

Feel free to PM me if you want any detailed info. I did a thread on our house-build, but I am months behind with the updates

Japonica

PMing you...and I'll have to find the thread on your house build...

Japonica

How did it go with Affordable Living?

We met with Celebration (again), Homebuyers, and Content Living. Pluses and minuses on all sides. The Homebuyers guy was talking negative about Celebration which I thought was odd as they're all under the same group...

Dorothy

My own feeling is that I won't buy anything from someone who bad mouths a competitor. It was the sales guy from Dale Alcock who told us to try Celebration. We liked the Alcock house we saw but it was out of our price range so he said to try Celebration since they were the same company but the mid range single storey builder.

For the Alcock group you've got Zellers (Homebuyers), Sears or The Bay (Celebration) then Holt Renfrew (Dale Alcock). Then you get into the double storey houses. Content Living would be a Sears/Bay type builder

Have you had a look at Ross North? They're probably a little higher end, but the workmanship is reallly great. We watched the one across the street being built.

ianhutch1

Thats good to hear, we are really swaying towards Homebuyers now just waiting for some revised plans and costings for the changes we want and then I think we are going to go with them providing the changes don't cost too much.

ianhutch1

Affordable Living were good, the salesperson was very good but they houses they had just weren't suitable for us and quite a bit more expensive than what I was expecting so I think they are out of it.

Thats no good if a salesperson started badmouthing the competition that would definitely put me off, luckily nothing like that from our man.

surfy

Be careful of Dale Alcock. We have been researching builders and initially considered going with them but spoke to several of their clients who'd built with them in our area and their responses were far from flattering. We also had some issues with the Alcock Salesmen who was less than straightforward.

They advised me to read productreview.com.au and enter dale alcock or go to the WA Builders section. You will find the builder with most commentary written about is Dale Alcock and is certainly less than complimentary.