Any good builders?

[Smoke Pursuit]

Hey guys,

I am in the process of looking at building a new house, something thats 1 story but high quality finish on a 600 sqm block on the southside of brisbane. I have found the land and am in the negotiation stages with it however i need help on finding a suitable builder..

The agents have suggested either Hallmark or Perry Homes, but im not real sure on the quality of either, if anything i would stay away form Hallmark as I have heard less then good things about them...

If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated!

[silver_xe]

You need to decide if you want to go Private builder or not. We have just built near ipswich with a private builder and it cost us more but the service and quality have been really good and the build time has crapped all over the other homes being built around us. For private it seems you need to work on around $1000 per square metre. If you want the name and number of the builder we used pm me. He is a local ipswich builder who has been around for a long time and built around 800 homes with an excellent reputation.

[Sam_Boss260]

As silver_xe said, you need to decide if you are going with a company builder or a private one. We have used our private builder for renos, big and small and he now does new houses as well as renos'. He will be more expensive than the company spec homes, but in the end you will not end up with a spec home as his finish and quality is top notch.

PM if you want his details.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Hmm thats the thing Im scared of going with company builders due to the time / rough finish but scared to go with a private one that falls over and leaves me and the BSA with half a house to finish..

Its a tough call :(

[Sam_Boss260]

Just try and do your homework..... check with the BSA if the private guy has any bad record, and just talk to as many builders as you can and educate yourself.

[QLD-Bluey]

PM Sent

[WOTDAH]

You have got to remember that houses are built by tradesman not building companies. In most cases big building companies use the same trades as small private companies. So either way your house is as good as the trades that they use. My recommendation is regardless of who you go through get an independent building inspector. If you run into problems you are more likely to get it fixed with a big builder because they have a larger budget and are less likely to 'disappear'. We have not long finished building with a large building company and are going through the 3 month maintenance thing at the moment. I kicked up a bit of stink about trades coming in and out of my house so they offered to send my family and me away for a week while they fix things. I don't think you will get service like that from a small private builder.

[silver_xe]

Sorry but i disagree with your statement about big companies using the same tradesmen as private builders. I actually spoke to a lot of the tradesmen that were building our place and the reason they stick with the private builders is because they get better money, in saying that it is because they do a better job and put more pride into their work. The carpenters said they would never work for any of the bigger companies, and i can see why as everything they did was very good.

[b2tf]

Whilst not me, both my parents and my aunty have not long finished new homes. My parents went with a private builder, my aunty went with a company.

Guess which one is the better house, and guess which one of them now that it is all paid for cannot get the builder back to do warranty work?

[smacxr8]

Hey bfiipursuit, i am a builder on the sth side, although i have plenty of work at the moment, i'm happy to help you out with any questions you might have. It is a big decision choosing the right builder and as mentioned, the larger 'project' home company are always going to be cheaper as they work on turning the jobs over as quickly as possible to keep there profit margins right down, which the massive downside to that is the quality suffers, and of course it is really important to get a 1 on 1 friendly relationship going with your builder to make the building process more stress free. Send us a PM if you want to chat.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by b2tf

Whilst not me, both my parents and my aunty have not long finished new homes. My parents went with a private builder, my aunty went with a company.

Guess which one is the better house, and guess which one of them now that it is all paid for cannot get the builder back to do warranty work?

So whats the verdict?

I put a contract on the land today, so thats one less thing to have to stress about, now i just gotta pay for it :P

As for builders im going to start with going around all the display houses and seeing if theres anything out there that i actually like, then going thru the pricing process making sure i get what i want, with no hidden exclusions! :

[Falcon Coupe]

Originally Posted by silver_xe

Sorry but i disagree with your statement about big companies using the same tradesmen as private builders. I actually spoke to a lot of the tradesmen that were building our place and the reason they stick with the private builders is because they get better money, in saying that it is because they do a better job and put more pride into their work. The carpenters said they would never work for any of the bigger companies, and i can see why as everything they did was very good.

Being a sub contract Carpenter i must agree with this statement.
The bonus of a smaller volume builder is you meet and deal with the person building your house, not a supervisor for an CEO.

It seems some watch too much "a current affair", small builders make up a large number of projects in Australia, if concerned ask to speak to previous clients and check their work.

The builder i work for is happy to meet owners onsite and make changes for a reasonable cost, some of the larger companys ban owners from site (as they have a right to do OH&S reasons) but they will also have a minimum charge like $500.00 to move or add an power point for example.

[Falcon Coupe]

Originally Posted by bfiipursuit

So whats the verdict?

I put a contract on the land today, so thats one less thing to have to stress about, now i just gotta pay for it :P

As for builders im going to start with going around all the display houses and seeing if theres anything out there that i actually like, then going thru the pricing process making sure i get what i want, with no hidden exclusions! :

Did you get a soil test as part of buying the land ?

You will be quoted on an average foundation price, if the block requires the use of an floating slab for example, the costs will quickly escalate.

[Work Horse]

I did the landscape gardening around the new home of a director of a large commercial house building company. I thought it was strange they didn't use their own contractors. Apparently none of the trades used to build the house also did work for the building company :