12 February 2010

Opinion on local builders and companies

| Zenith_81
Join the conversation
11

As the family grows my wife and I are running out of space in our three beddy on the south side.

Wanting to consider all our options I would love to hear the general vibe on the local building industry. Have people had good experiences with local builders? As we are not locals we lack a lot of access to word of mouth. I would also be interested in hearing people experiences with getting building approvals through the local authorities, i am interested in both building a house from scratch as well as extending/renovating the existing home.

thanks in advance 😉

Join the conversation

11
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

We used Kolak Homes for our home in Crace. A friend of ours recommended them as she was really happy with a build they did for her in Yarralumla.
We agreed and documented everthing up front, so we didnt get any surprises on the way through.
Some of the other builders tried to charge us extra for a custom design, which they did for no extra $$. Used an el cheapo builder on our first home, never again. Good quality and good price, will use them again.

Lizzie76, I am thinking about buidling with Innovative Buidling Projects. Have you built with them before?

Innovative Building Projects are fantastic. They are both a design and build company so can take you through the whole process. Young professional builders with a great attitude and great workmanship.

TP 3000 said :

But just something DO NOT expect to have a good front yard during the work. As from my trips around Macgregor West & Gungahlin Region, all constructions workers love to park as close to the front door as they can & even 10 feet of mud won’t stop them.

While im not sure if your having a dig at traides for this or just pointing it out, to our defense, if your going in for a days hard work on a site, the last thing you want to be doing is hauling all your tools and materials (few to none of which are lite) unnecessary distances.

Mark Porreca & Corey Karl built my house in Franklin last year. Did a great job. As listed above, their address is http://www.porreca.com.au

We used Paul Owen to do our extension about 10 years ago. He worked on site with his brother Craig.

Paul came early for initial meetings, was willing to use suppliers other than his usual, and completed the job on time with the minimum of fuss and bother. His referees from previous jobs gave excellent reports.

He ran a tight site. One of his subbies brought a dog one day. Paul told him not to bring it again, as there was a small child living at the site (our 2yoDD).

Any issues were sorted out straight away, and the job done to our satisfaction. I’d go to him again any time.

I know quite a few of the building companies around Canberra, the 2 that (I believe) have the workers with the best personality & professionalism are Di Iulio Constructions for the building & Cappello Plumbing & Gas for the plumbing.

But just something DO NOT expect to have a good front yard during the work. As from my trips around Macgregor West & Gungahlin Region, all constructions workers love to park as close to the front door as they can & even 10 feet of mud won’t stop them.

“Preferred builders” are just that. Excellent sub-contractors and quality/finish is unreal.

Highly recommended.

Like everywhere there is good and bad. Best thing to do is research some names of some good builders (no doubt a few good ones will be posted here), ask to see some references hopefully with addresses and do some drive bys to see for yourself.

I had my place in Dunlop built 10 years ago by a guy by the name of Mark Porecca, never had issue when he was building the place and in the years since never had any issue with the house either. So I would highly recommend him. He has a website http://www.porreca.com.au/

While this doesn’t give feedback on the quality of these professionals, actpla do have a list of licenced professionals in the ACT, available here, http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/hiring_licensing/find_professional/list

When you are considering who to go with just check against that, to at least make sure they are licenced.

Master Homes are currently doing some structural and reno work for me, and I’m extremely happy.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.