What I've been up to............

[NOT 2 L8]

In March, 2006 we settled on a block in Madeley, a northern Perth suburb and set about finding a builder. We decided to go with Scott Park homes, one of the top 3 builders in Perth, after looking at numerous projects from a great number of builders. Quality, communications and gut feeling were some of the criteria. So far we have not been wrong. The only problems were the time it took to get going (April,2007) and one delay for bricks (3 weeks) and one for Gutters (1 Week). The brickwork took some time as the brickie worked without an assistant. He was also not prepared to share the job with others since he reckons he is not prepared to compromise his name. (????) We were quite happy to wait for him to finish as his work was certainly as good as I have seen.

The roof has just gone up so things will speed up from here on.

For those interested, there are some photos here

http://www.pbase.com/chrisv1/root

Just click on the Madeley thumbnail.

Since things were moving so slowly with the Madeley build we decided it was time for a wedge so, after some research, we decided to go to Cairns.

I found a block in the last subdivision in Kewarra Beach north of Cairns in the what is colloquially called the "Northern Beaches". Once settled we thought it may be worth a look so I jumped on the big bird and visited the place and was mightily impressed. In a frantic week I visited numerous display homes and found a small boutique builder that fitted the bill, chose and altered to suit, a house design and signed the building contract. Finance was approved in May and building started soon after. Since Cairns have had a very wet dry we had some delays but all is going ahead and the roof cladding will be going on this week.

Photos here

http://www.pbase.com/chrisv1/root

Click on Seabreeze thumbnail.

I will post updates as they happen.

If anyone is interested in dimensions, costs etc, I am happy to oblige.

Cheers Chrisv.

 

[chrispy]

Well done - both houses look great. I have property in Cairns and have never regretted it.

Chris

 

[JFisher]

Looks great Notool8...I can't believe how green Cairns is, I had nearly forgotton what that colour looks like in nature. Here green is a browny, yellowy dead sort of a green colour.

I agree with your criteria on builder selection, so often people pick on price, but communication and gut feeling are important when selecting a builder as they combine to indicate the professionalism, trustworthiness and experience of a builder. Sometimes the cheapest price doesn't mean the most honest builder or the smallest business margin; it can just as easily mean the least experienced builder who seriously missed something that he later tries to charge you for, or worse still, he was so cheap that he got heaps of jobs, missed a heap of things spread over heaps of houses and then goes bankrupt...all to common these days with new builders on the block. Experience is vital and with that experience comes word of mouth referrals and plenty of work. The fact you had to wait for a while to start is testament to his popularity, as you mentioned, and a small price to pay for having an experienced professional keeping an eye on your investment.

 

[Nards]

Some nice photos there!! Cute baby!!

Looks great Notool8...I can't believe how green Cairns
is, I had nearly forgotton what that colour looks like in nature. Here green is a browny, yellowy dead sort of a green colour.

Actually Cairns is looking a little dry and crispy (by Cairns standards...)..have actually had to water lawns a little..always seems so wasteful when so much rain is soon to come....bring on the wet!!

Cheers, Nadia

 

[Tizzy]

Looking good.
Madelay has sprung up so quickly hasn't it? When will they start with plastering? You seem to be at a similar stage to us and I've been told that the delay is because brickwork must dry out ( too much recent rain) before plastering starts.