Home Sweet Home – I would recommend Wincrest bespoke for a Knockdown and Rebuild
When it came to selecting a knockdown and rebuild partner we were surprised by how few project home firms would work with us because we had >1m of fall on our land. Right from the beginning Wincrest Bespoke stood out for their willingness to work with us, to understand our needs and wants, and to build *our* dream home.
The design phase was excellent, and the management of regulatory compliance issues was all taken care of with no fuss. The standard inclusions are at a level you want, and ultimately selections are entirely up to you if you have a strong desire to work outside the standard offerings. For example, double glazed windows I didn’t appreciate until we moved in. There was none of the package selections nonsense other builders were offering, where even their super premium offerings were still 7 levels from the top, it is just good quality standard inclusions. And none of the basics like ceiling downlights or power points were shortchanged for the house – there was enough provisioned for every room. Partners like Amalfi tiles were excellent at design and advice (we love our bathrooms but we spent up on tiles!), and Southwest Electrical have been amazing in every interaction (design, install, instructions on use, reasonable price, etc.).
I have yet to meet the home builder who had an uninterrupted build – we got shut down for 2 weeks for COVID right at the start of our build which threw the schedule out, but Wincrest made sure we got the frames for our build before supply was disrupted and prices were impacted. We then had a triple El Nino weather event which gave rise to days lost to wet weather. Once we reached lock up however, the process was well managed and the build really accelerated towards handover.
I am really pleased with the work of the finishing trades – the plastering, tiling (and we have 3 in the family who can verify), painting and rendering are all completed to a very nice standard. I understand Wincrest Bespoke is now offering finishing touches including full flooring and landscaping, and I would encourage novices to bundle as much of this as possible with your builder for a seamless project. If not, at least coordinate with a landscaper very early on so you can get machinery to the back of your block before there is a house in the way.
A real testament to the build quality was the reports from my independent assessor, and I quote: “BUILDING SUMMARY: Overall, this property was observed to be in excellent condition”. Within the report were pages of photographed defects, however 95% were marks on the painted walls which were fully corrected as soon as they were pointed out (maybe you will be smarter than me and not select white walls for a building site). Wincrest Bespoke has been good in correcting the remainder.
I think home builders probably need to have a 30% to 50% contingency in their budgets, especially in the Bespoke space where you can really get excited with finishing touches. I want to caution borrowers that occupation certificate may come months after practical completion, and final release of funds could be linked to you being issued an occupation certificate, so you need to provision sufficient contingency to pay the last construction payment and get your keys. You’ll be glad to receive that payment when you get your OC for furniture to fill your new house!
I want to thank the Wincrest Bespoke team, with a shout to one person in particular who will know, for the home they have created for my family.