Given Maddren just won 4 golds in the House of the year award last night I’d...

Has anyone had a house built by Sentinel on North Shore , or Auckland area recently Was it on time and within budget And of good standards ? Any major hassles

I’d be interested to hear more about your experience as we are considering their land and home package at Hobsonville Point?

Tony and Terena are passionate about there homes and staff, they welcome anyone to ask to speak to any clients who have built with them, They superseded expectations, have firm processes and customer service doesn’t falter from the first client meeting through to the hand over

We have had the same issue with gj west .we just got lie after lie

Hi, we are currently in a contract with GJWest and would like to know of your experience with them. We are in the planning stages but have already noticed some warning signs and limited customer service. Would appreciate any feedback, thanks Tim.

A late response to this post, but have been looking to see if anyone has built with GJ Gardner in Hamilton (builder R.G. de Leeuw Construction Ltd) recently. We are due to complete on our hosue soon and are quite angry at how the build has been managed. A different builder, but you are very correct that they did a great job on the sell, very attentive. The follow-up, it’s like we are just and annoying intrusion to their construction process, lack of communication and representations made during the sales process were not in the contract. Example: We had specific requirements for our site elevation and agreed (by email and verbal) on the draft proposal and drawings. Our expectation was that this would be represented in the contract, which was not. Somewhere between this approved draft and the final contract, the house was lowered by 40cm and an entire retaining wall removed. There was one elevation drawing in the contract and it was so similar to the original draft, we didn’t pick it up until the site had been prepared. Yes, we did sign the contract, but we thought there would be a reasonable expectation that what was agreed to in draft would be what was in the contract. Now, having had to compromise on the site being raised just 20cm, they are expecting us to pay an extra $3,600 for putting soil back on site and $11,000 to install the retaining wall we had previously agreed to. They have no compromise offer for us, “you signed the contract”. First, for ANY contract, go through it line by line compare it to any previous plans and specifications you have agreed on. Second, we strongly recommend, do not build with the GJ Gardner in Hamilton.

Still waiting on ours to be finished, would not recommend this company not organised and seem to have issue with every trade. Slab, issue, frames, issue, painter, issue brickie, issue roofer still issue. Build quality is ok if you keep your eye on them. It will likely be 52 weeks from start of build this was with us coming with a complete set of plans and council consent. The General manager Stuart doesn’t care as long as your signature is on the contract. also be careful they don’t sell you a package from investor homes and then up sell you on all the variations, This is is another company run by Stuart. They are over committed and under resourced. I hope this reaches you before you sign, stay AWAY.

I just finished building house with Sentinel and I do agree with Brent with all he said! Nothing but nightmare.

Hi Kate, Saying that Tony is very ‘passionate’ about his staff sounds a bit creepy to me. Judging by this blog, unfortunately it seems a lot of his other ‘clients’ don’t have the same view. PS I think you mean ‘their homes’ and ‘exceeded expectations’.

Hi Morris, If you haven’t already chosen a builder I’d love to have a chat with you. We build all over Auckland and are not franchised. Give me a call anytime for a chat. Emma – DW Homes 021 515 574

Hi Tim, have you signed the building contract as of yet or just paid a small deposit to do concept drawings?

Have to agree with you Murray. Definitely go through the drawing and contract line by line. Unfortunately, as I understand it, the draft plans are drawn up and then sent away to the company’s architect. The plans are all computerised and sometimes things you have changed can revert to the original plan. I fortunately noticed when we were signing that our house was positioned wrongly on the section, but there were other areas that slipped through. Watch particularly when it comes to windows and doors and any internal additions to the house. We added a pantry and it turned into an absolute nightmare because the architect changed the dimensions. Fortunately it was able to be corrected and we were mostly happy with the outcome. Electrician was a fly in the ointment when it came to placement isolation switches. To get what we wanted, we had to change the direction of a sliding door which was an additional cost of just under $400. This was despite many others in the subdivision having their isolation switches placed similarly to our original plan.

Hello Adam and Brent, Who are you dealing with at Sentinel and which area? I like their house plan and they are on our shortlist of builder as recommended to us. And so far they are very responsive compared to other builders we also approached. Would you mind giving me your email add so i can PM you? This will really help us choose.