Customer Story - Jan Scudamore
“I believe this is the way all homes should be built.”
My husband and I had always been owner-builders. We were in the civil engineering game and knew quite a few architects and builders. When my husband passed away, I decided to sell up my big home. Being an older lady, on my own at this time of life, many people I knew were moving into retirement villages. I didn’t want to go down that path.
One day as I was driving through Warwick past Westbuilt’s factory, I thought, I might just go and see if I can get some information. I was expecting them to say, here’s a brochure, and go away, but Jim was great. He took the time to listen to what I was after and treated me very well. He showed me through some of the houses and I basically designed my new home then and there! I left with a bag full of designs and knew that I would go with Westbuilt.
This was a totally different building experience for me, as it was the first time I was totally by myself. I had looked at buying a second-hand home, but I compared what I would have to do to get it up to spec and it was the same price as buying a new home with Westbuilt.
Westbuilt was absolutely amazing, magic really. They treated me with respect and dignity, and I appreciated that so, so much. I couldn’t fault them at all. The staff were wonderful and went out of their way for me.
My home was very different from what Westbuilt normally builds. We took one of their designs and made some dramatic modifications. It was an H-shaped design with five bedrooms. I reduced that to three bedrooms and joined the other two up to make a quilting area. Quilting is my indulgence, and I love having a spacious room dedicated to it.
We also added a verandah, an office, and a library and changed the kitchen around a bit. I chose corrugated iron for the outside of my home, put in ramps instead of stairs, and made the house higher off the ground than the standard one. Even with all the modifications, it was a very easy process.
The best thing was being able to communicate with the Westbuilt team. I’ve found in the past that when dealing directly with a builder, sometimes communications get missed as they’re often too busy building your home to be bothered with details. Liaising with Michael and Rick and other members of the team made a heck of a difference. They listened to me.
Things in the industry have changed a lot since my husband and I built our homes. I asked Westbuilt to deal with tradespeople; the plumbers, electricians, and shed people. Michael in particular did all the liaising with the tradies which was extremely helpful. They also dealt with the council which took all that headache away.
I liked that I could see the progress of my house through photographs and could go see it in person at the factory any time. I believe this is the way homes should be built. Being built offsite made a big difference as progress wasn’t hampered by the weather. And there was a big issue here with wet weather and they listened. The site became extremely boggy, but Westbuilt kept communicating with me and successfully got the modules in.
Now I’m living in my new home, the quality is really good and there are no major problems. People are very impressed with my home and most ask where I had it built, and I’m happy to tell them. People have never seen anything like it and I’m recommending Westbuilt to everyone.
They were an absolutely magic company to deal with. It’s clear they have a very strong ethic and appreciate building relationships with people. Throughout the process, they showed me respect and dignity.
