Latitude 37 Homes Questions & Answers

Has Latitude 37 got an answer for me. How could this happened. First day moving into my new house after the landscape was done I checked the water tank. I have seen dirty water in the toilet before. I found the leaves trap on top of the water tank broken at the rim and the mesh badly damaged, obviously done quite a long time ago. The plumber checked and there was no pump in the tank. The water pipe going into the tank was folded onto itself and taped together in quite a professional way. Obviously removed by a plumber needing a ladder to get up there to remove the pump.
Two days later on a hot 40 degrees day the new evap cooler failed to work.
The next day one of the new toilets blocked. Lat 37 blamed me for using too much toilet papers and blame the landscaper for putting dirt into the pipes!!
The week after, hoping to find something positive about my build I found the ceiling over the alfresco starting to sag and crack. I am trying hard to find something, anything built by latitude 37 that is done right first go.
Definitely not the gutters. Not the down pipes. Not the walls. Not the windows. Not the flyscreens. Not the doors. Not the slab.
Not the plaster ceiling. Not the floorboards. Not the sliding screens. Not the kitchen tap. Not the kitchen exhaust. Not the basin taps. Not the oven. Not the light switches. Not the evap cooling. Not the hot water system. Not the water tank.
Arrrh.....the carpets. They were put in fine. But only found out later that the carpet company refused to use the underlay that lat 37 charged me a lot to upgrade. Why. The quality of this expensive upgraded underlay was still too poor for the company to deal with.

Is this what Latitude meant by great homes happy clients.

It was my last site manager who ignited this whole mess by refusing to build a retaining wall that Latitude 37 had already taken money for. The same person buried my front porch under concrete. The same person covered my featured laminated timber beam with concrete on his own initiative. The same person who begged me to back signed stage inspections yet refused me entry into my own home. The same person repeatedly reported to his senior that the house was completed when it was not. The same person who offered to do private discounted work on my house but please keep this quiet he said. He offered to tile my shower with mosaic tiles from his home for a reduced cost. He offered to paved my alfresco for a reduced cost yet Lat37 refused to do the same because their previous work in this area failed badly. The same person who put on my site buildings materials that were not to be used on my project.
Yes. This same incompetent, untrustworthy site manager was now assigned to look after the maintenance services of my house. Is this for real?
It this how Lat 37 gets back at clients who complain about their bad builds?

Has Doug McLeod retired? Why does W Nick now own all the words of D McLeod

Why is there such a high turnover of managers, ceo, directors? Even the name was changed from Esperance to Lat 37. To run away from bad publicities?

hi Joe. On handover in August you said we just do the handover and you will personally take care of all the problems. In September you said you will take care of the gutters, Raven strip and general plumbings. Call me even after hours you said nicely. December is arriving I wonder when you are going to honour your words, personal promises as well as representing L37? Did you wash your hand over my job without the knowledge of your boss and thus personally ruining Lat37 reputation or were you instructed by your Latitude 37 management to stop honouring the contract?

I am afraid I have to write again to emphasise my problems with Latitude 37.
2 months since the handover my gutters are still leaking and have been leaking for 9 months and flyscreens not fixed. Plumbings around the basins are simply cowboy jobs, silicone glued together instead of using proper fittings. And Lat 37 accepted all that happily.
New problem is the part of slab where the heater and water tank standing on is sloping towards the wall. Instead of water running away from the house it runs toward the house. Is this the normal Latitude 37 practice? I was repeatedly reminded to make sure water runs away from the house when I do the landscaping or I run the risk of having my warranty voided. Yet you do not follow your own guidelines and goes against the contract.

Latitude 37 covered up their construction mistakes by burying my front porch in concrete. Now they mocked me by saying that I was gifted with the porch concreted when not planned for.
What about my retaining wall and widened driveway? These were planned for from day one, paid for as proven by a Latitude Email stating that the cost was included in the site cost and was drawn up in the working drawing.
You refused to build them. What about the missing feature timber beam and timber post that were in the plan and paid for? Etc etc.

No Doug. You may be happy to remove all lingering rubble. Instead they were left buried in the yards including at least two temporary fence bases and remnants of a brick wall. I have paid Latitude 37 to have these removed. Now I again have to pay someone else to remove them.
No Doug. Money was fully paid but Not everything in the contract has been provided.
Question is how serious is Latitude 37 prepared to treat their clients with respect and at least fulfill their contract obligations let alone all the readily given promises. Such as frosted windows, raven strips and happy client, great homes.
Doug had given his final response. Any responsible person from Latitude 37 with professional integrity please give me a response.
At last even my construction manager washed his hands over this build since I refused to remove my product review entries. Integrity cannot be bought Joe. Promises need to be kept

Dear Doug,
At the second last inspection on 20th May there were over 20 items to be fixed. At the final inspection 10 days ago many of these items were still not fixed. Now I am pressured to do a handover of the house tomorrow.
The site is still full of construction debris. Windows are still dirty. Carpets and floor boards dirty. As a matter of fact the house externally looks like crap.
Items that you charged me for in the contract were not done yet there is no arrangement for refund.
Is this the routine practice of Latitude 37?

I do not need to wait 18 months to ask these questions.
Why was I not given a project manager when the previous two were cut from my team. Was I not entitled to have a project manager during my project under the contract?
Why is my “new” house to be handed over to me in two days still has debris and soil all over the site, rubbish bins filled with sand and dirt, dirty stained brick walls, leaking gutters filled with leaves and twigs, windows impregnated with dirt along the edges, wobbly kitchen sink tap, dirty bedroom carpets, gaps between floor boards, chattering front door and water heater with ineffective insulation, unfinished brick wall. Many of these were pointed out repeatedly months before handover and every time Lat 37 would say we will fix them.
Discarded concrete masses and loose bricks were covered up with soil rather than removed from site.
What you wouldn’t fix up in eleven weeks I doubt you could fix up in two days.
This cannot be a newly finished house in a neat condition.
When I asked about the unfinished jobs I was simply told that the house is ready for handover, either I pay up or no handover.
Is this just my bad luck or other people so forgiving that with many hiccups in their build they still give you 5 stars and full of praises for your company.
May I invite you to be present at my handover.

Why is the turnover of managers in my lat 37 company so high. 4 out of 7 in my project left prematurely. Another friend using lat 37 also had 5 managers disappearing. Someone said the average life of a building manager in this kind of company is only 18 months.
The only way I can get to solve any disputes or complaints is through the immediate site manager. I could never get the general manager, the head of project managers, the billing lady and of course the the ceo to return any calls, replying to messages or emails. They are so well protected, leaving the site managers to face abuses. No wonder they do not last.
Today I asked the head of project managers M and the CEO, strangely also called Doug to talk to me and they did not return the call. The billing lady K volunteered to talk to me to shield the CEO from me. At the end she also did not call me. Another day without a project manager. Turn out that I was never to have another project manager ever again.

Hi,
I wonder why your have knockdown rebuild advertised as part of your service? Latitude 37 does not knockdown existing houses. The clients have to do the demolition and hand over an empty canvas to Lat 37.

Hi there
Does Latitude 37 still offer the pre-designed homes range as noted in the design booklet on your website?

On average, what is the cost per square with L37? Looking at your previous response, it starts around $10,500 square & the majority of your clients invest between $13k-$18k/square. Has there been a price change since then? We have recently been quoted $19k per square (minimal spec), $21k mid spec and $22.5k top spec taking into consideration of the complexity of design/site. We are finding it hard to understand as we can’t really compare apples to apples if the square price is assumed based on the complexity of our site. We have spent some time after the 2nd meeting, with a base price that we thought might be achievable and wanting to commit paying the $1k deposit only to receive an email from the sales consultant a few days later, saying policy has just changed and it’s now $5k (which isn’t an issue) but that the price has increased by $100k for a much smaller square than what was initially discussed. Can you please tell me how much per square is your min, mid and top spec?

Hi, I want to build a double storey unit behind an existing house in Ferntree Gully area. I have a working plan, soil report and engineering plan done. Do you do this kind of custom home? Thanks

do u build duplexes for which I have already got approved plans? How much per square for a complete pckg?

Hello, We are thinking about building and have a few questions
- What areas do you build in? just victoria?
- when I get the quote from your consultant, are site costs such as rock fixed? or can things change at contract
- How long is your structural guarantee? 7 years?
- do you offer a guaranteed site start/finish? We may have to relocate soon, what areas of Australia do you build in?
- What is the initial deposit to start building? is it refundable if i change my mind?
Thanks very much!!

On an average what is the Cost per square with L37?

Hi,

Has any one built on a narrow block?
What options do you get?

Thanks

Hi, Can I ask if you build in Heidelberg (3084)?

Hi there,

I had a look at your website and apparently you do not build in South Morang. Can you please confirm this? We have a block that is ready to commence building.

Kind regards,
Craig

do you build in greenvale?

Hi there, do you build houses in tarneit area?
Thanks