The Extension Factory NSW Pty Ltd - www.theextensionfactory.com.au

started well with the designer but I would not recommend this company to anybody. The actual builder, Matt, was good and this was the saving grace; but the project manager and company are not communicative.They are arrogant and treat owners with disdain. They do not respond to emails and calls when things go wrong. Project took 4 months longer than expected - this was due to juggling jobs and there were 89 days (over the 9 months) when no-one turned up - no call or excuse. Tilers very poor and left mess - measuring for tiles was incorrect and I had to correct this twice and go and collect extra tiles myself. Plumbing was ordinary - had to have this improved by a licensed plumber at own cost. Kitchen designers very poor service and took more than twice as long as they promised. The original design consultant promises much but it just doesn't happen.

So many things have gone wrong building with the extension factory I can only list in dot point as we have had so many issues but are more than happy for anybody to email us on [email protected]

Extension was to be completed 11 months ago we are still NOT FINISHED

Right from the beginning we have had issues starting with

The Extension factory did not check with local cancel where existing expection point needed to be moved cost us $2500 extra

Slab stage

Plumbing laid incorrectly

Frame stage

Window wrongly located in shower

Toilet plumbing bought to supervisor attention that it was wrong supervisor argued it was correct

Roof frame stage

Found our tv arial smashed in 6 pieces not notified even after i asked if anything had happened and why tv or foxtail not working

Water leak found by us

Roof colour bond

Had more waves than bells beach took 3 attempts to rectify

Bricks stage

1st thing noticed 2 different mortar colours and not one of those matching existing colour lost track of how many times it took to try and fix in the end ened up with 4 different colours from grey to orange

In grinding the Mortar back in an attempt to fix mortar the window frames were damaged in several places by the grinder

After acid wash found mortar thicknesses of up to 25 ml which is double the Australian standards

Brick levels were out of line wavy and just a mess

Most of the brick work at different stages was pulled down and rebricked STILL NOT HAPPY

Fixing stage

Too many things to recall workmanship shocking the tradsman obviously have no pride in there work to list a few things

Architraves you could see daylight between it and the wall

Bows in top of window frames

Windows and doors would not close others jammed but according to supervisor we were being picking and all these problems were within tolerances

Plaster stage

No fire proofing plaster installed behind hot plate you won't believe this but a ruff piece was screwd on top of the existing plaster work we thought it was a joke

Rang supervisor to notify him that there was a leak in the wall was told this was impossible even though we assured him that we were paddling in water seeping under skirting board it still took him 3 days to come out to investigate

After the carpet was laid there was another water leak in the same place we were assured this was impossible as it had already been fixed

Power points and light switches put in wrong locations

Wall hung bathroom vanity had a bow in it so draws would not open and close

Tiling was damaged by tradesman and replaced 4 times STILL NOT HAPPY with what we left with

Shower leaked across floor

Took 6 months of fighting to get toilet moved to a position that you could use it in as it was placed right up against shower screen ( this was the toilet plumbing that we brang to supervisors attention back at frame stage )

We then found bricks over hanging the slab by 70ml the Australian standards allowe for 15ml

we were then concerened about the apperence of the slab and asked our supervisor what the measurments are and he told us it was on the plans by the time we went in side to get the plans to show him he left

we had to organise the inspector to come out and have a look as our supervisor assured us that it was fine and within tolerance

Contrary to what the supervisor assured us our slab needed underpinning resulting in a excavator being our yard for 2 weeks and our bricks needing a steel lentil

And I forgot to add they ran the storm water above ground level which again the assured us was correct and charged us extra for

They also forgot to install and connect 1 down pipes and charged us for extra gas lines which was not needed or installed

We still had and have many issues that could not be resolved resulting in getting the building commission to come out they themselves said that they normally don't have so many issues to deal with at this point we had 28 unresolved issues the building commission ruled in our favour the extension factory assured us and the commission that they would resolved the issues in 4 weeks it has now been 8 weeks and we STILL have issues outstanding

There are many many more things that are just too hard to explain here again if anybody needs help in dealing with or needing advice I'd be more than happy to share our experience we have had to learn a lot

If you are going to build or are building with the extension factory make sure you get a copy of Australian building standards and tolerances and get EVERYTHING in writing

So what was meant to be a happy at the most 8mth experience has turned into a 19mth still not over nightmare.

Ongoing saga Please do yourselves a favour and DO NOT USE THIS Co. The Extention Factory promise much, in their phone on hold message - Clean site, professionalism etc. However they Deliver LITTLE! Our site is still filthy. Broken glass in garden beds still and rubbish uncleaned from under house. Leave old uneaten lunches coffee cups bottles chucked around everywhere. My young child even knows this behaviour is not right: 'There are bins they can put their stuff in'!! On their brochure they have how they can do period style - Federation... I doubt it! I doubt these men have even set foot in, let alone renovated another period style house (other than ours). Their complete lack of attention to detail/finishing and what is required astounds me. When we had a site meeting recently, operations mgr told us not to get so upset...Pfffft! I said to him (

I wanted to add an extension (another wing) on my townhouse on 13th April 2012, and I hired Extension Factory to do the job, at first I was skeptical but soon I was pleased with the decision as they worked with the utmost professionalism and skill during my time of hire. They finished the job in 18th of June 2012 with great results and I have no qualms about hiring them. The only thing that I can say they could improve on was that their pricing system did get slightly confusing, although after I talked to their manager, I had a clarification concerning their pricing system and came out satisfied.

Employed The Extension Factory Pty Ltd (Charmhaven - NSW Central Coast) to install Patio Roofing: 5m x 2.3m including 2 skylites (dismantle existing pergola and remove same). Estimated 2-3 days for completion (termed a small job). Was to start 19/07/12 - it is now 05/09/12. Finally the majority of the job has been completed but can't get them to return and seal around the downpipe where it passes through the roofing panel. When it rains the was pours through the hole to the pavers below. When you ring David he is always in a "meeting" and never returns your calls. Would NEVER recommend this company.

The Extension Factory should be Fairy or fiction book writers, not house builders!

Fact is far from the truth in our dealings with them.

Like and agree with what a previous reviewer wrote: We liked the draftsperson 'designer' etc. Nice website. Pretty pictures of house makeovers. They also showed us work they had done which looked nice from the street...However, YOU are spending upwards of ALOT of $$, so BEWARE...

In the first instance, they team you with the 'Designer' who is in actual fact a sneaky somewhat fibbing sales person with drafting experience, whose ploy is to reel you in! You need to go over your ideal plans with them through to drafting/costing stage, which takes a couple months overall, by which time THEY OWN YOUR DESIGN AND... You are THEN tired of the process AND ready to sign as they've gained your trust by telling you that yes, they can build it for a decent price and YES they will have it for you in 6 months...and you cannot be stuffed going through the whole process with another builder! Reality and Fact is they are no cheaper and they take as long if not longer... Delayed start, tell you each stage will be ready and then it's not - for weeks.... Blah blah blah!

JUST DON'T DO IT!

Our recommendation is to seek out an independant draftsperson, with a firm idea of what you want (An architect will cost alot more, but can go that way if you have unlimited budget and bigger plans/tricky site).

Look around for an independant builder too. There are a few around, unfortunately some of the smaller ones don't always advertise well on the internet, so you will have to cruise suburbs nearby to see any about on site and/or ask around. Word of mouth is good too!

Extension Factory make themselves out to be some huge superiour building co. From what we've seen they act more as an employment agency and have their own admin/drafting people, but for building, they mainly manage building contractors and not very well at that. Their project manager/site supervisor hardly ever there (on other sites/juggling jobs despite their assurances they were not going to do that!) Their bricky, a novice just out of apprenticeship and had to get a mate do the chimney. Luckily brickies mate had a couple more years experience and was competant, but he rocked up onto site without Ext Factory's knowledge of who he was etc and that he was actually building chimney as bricky had only advised would be having someone helping him!!

In the scheme of things each progressive stage has had at least one error or stuffup made. A wrong sized back window was ordered by proj mgr, who tried to blame manufacturer! Argued with me it was ok (it was NOT!! and had to be reordered!!). A 100 year old floor was accidentally ripped up as plan variations were not given until a week after such event occurred. Ongoing drama. Keep you updated. Just remember to be suspicious of any glowing reviews. Eyes open people. Project manage the project manager!

Guest hey

anonymous hey

I believe the extension factory

wrote their only good review!

Liked the sales/design consultant and meeting with the draughtsperson. Planning phases, council approvals all went well. Watch out for the value of all the fittings at so called builders std; pretty hard to get anything for the prices allowed - not even bottom range on special.

First few works of building was exiting, especially with the frames and room going up. There after it slows down very quickly. Workmanship was lacking when precision, quality and care was required. Overall finish left lots of room for improvement. For example took the chippie 3 goes to hang a door. That is he was called back to the job.

Make sure you get an experienced competent building supervisor, the one we had wasn't it. Eventally he was dismissed after several vomplaints from us and from other clients. Project management and coordination was very poor. The sparky was called back 5-6 times for a job that if organised properly and sequentially could have been done in 3. Cheeky building manager told off sparky for connecting power upstairs. Supposedly done as last thing to ensure the client pays.

Worst of it was we kept hounding the supervisor to clear the ecisting roof of debris and rubbish. No he knew best, down came some heavy rains and flooded the existing ceilings in 3 rooms. Fortunately we were on holidays. However it was an up hill battle to complete the repairs due to water damage. Fortunately this was covered by the contract, but took 5 months to clomplete. We had to vacate the house, so much for minimum distruptions. The kitchen was not installed while we were away as requested. We were without a kitchen for 2 weeks, some parts could not be used for about 4 weeks. We were lucky, another client had her kitchen removed and had to wait 2 months over Xmas for the new one. Not happy Jan.

6 months and a job promised to be around 8-10 weeks is nearing completion. Be prepared to give up many many weekends to fix up the sloppy workmanship especially if painting yourself (they encourage you to do this)

All round, stay clear give someone else a go.