Extension Factory

Very supportive and thorough in explaining all options. The team very able to provide me with guidance about suitable design features and assisted me to achieve both functional and comfortable. The work was completed within the schedule, and I was afforded input decisions along the way . Show details

Recently The Extension Factory completed an extension for me. It was a 1 bedroom, ensuite, kitchen living area and laundry. I chose the extension factory because they had done a great job for me in 2012 at my old residence. This job was equally well done. The site manager Aaron Hill was excellent. He was always polite, respectful and good… Read more ·  1

humoured. He visited when he said he would and most things were done smoothly. I would highly recommend this company and Aaron. I am extremely happy with the finished product. Yours Margaret Russell Skye

Fantastic extension – We are so happy with the major facelift done by The Extension Factory including 2 new bathrooms, kitchen family room, laundry & alfresco deck area! It’s fantastic! The supervisor went above & beyond & nothing was too much trouble. There was a bit of delay with kitchen cabinets that couldn’t be helped but well worth the wait. Everyone loves the… Read more ·  1

extension! We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Extension Factory to anyone considering extending & renovating their home.

Amazing Reno - Highly Recommend Extension Factory – Very professional & great to deal with. Results are amazing, my daughter’s home had a huge makeover that everyone who has visited has been amazed at the transformation! The outside looks like a completely different house with the old brickwork modernised with render & the new kitchen & bathrooms are stunning. All the trades workmanship is beautiful! Highly recommend Extension Factory Show details ·  1

Long ride but sound result and well worth it – An overall good result with the Extention factory. From the get go we shared the same vision with the design and preliminary drawings, great stuff. The building timeline however was a long ride, engulfed with tradie shortages which postponed the build. Ultimately the build was sound and exactly what we had expected. We would not hesitate in… Read more ·  1

recommending this company to others whilst initially ensuring you have an agreed timeline outlined to avoid any unexpected delays and heartache.

Stay Far Away!! – Have been waiting over 1 year for a maintenance issue with our bathrooms. Have received zero communication from anyone. Emails NEVER answered. Calls have the standard response of: 'someone will give you a call' Do yourself a MASSIVE favour and stay clear from this company unless you are an absolute sucker for punishment.

Believe the other bad reviews! In my opinion, the worst building company I've ever dealt with – It took them 29 months to complete a 12 month build that should have ended Oct 2019. Literally months between any work being done on site. Amateurish workmanship (in the opinion of our building surveyor) with no apparent quality control whatsoever e.g., * After demolishing the 80s extension they left the 3.6mx16m northern lath and plaster wall… Read more

exposed to the elements and had to be cajoled into coming and tarping it up only an hour before a predicted storm was to hit. They did so leaving the bottom 600mm exposed because they only bought cheap 3x9 metre blue-poly tarps with them. They then did no work for months. * They laid the slab 25mm too short meaning the engineered trusses didn't fit, so they butchered of the excess truss elements without engineering approval. * Labourers removed tarps protecting a section of uncovered roof on the existing house, then left it until a storm hit where we had water pouring down internal walls.

They lied to us when we pointed out obvious failings ( and I've got the emails/sms).

In my opinion there was also downright fraud at some points e.g., * The framers failed to put the required strapping under the footplates so they just nailed in cut-off straps to fake the work. * They cut 2 LVLs about 1.5 metres short and tried to support them on the end of non structural-stud wall without any engineering approval. * They took 3 attempts to put on the cladding that they recommended, (having to scrap whole sections each time) and claimed they had received alternate verbal instructions (contrary to the cladding warranty) from the cladding company but could not name who gave it to them.

Run a mile when the smooth talking salesman promises you a hassle free build.

If you *are* already building with them hire an excellent *independent* building surveyor and check everything. Note: Our build was 2018-2021 and it has taken me this long to be able to write this review without wanting to smash something because of the stress this put on my wife and our marriage. We finally paid completion of the work so we would never have to deal with their smarmy, lying faces again.

Avoid this company – We had our renovation done 5 years ago by EF (2nd story) & we had an absolutely shocking experience (over 3 years all up) & process still hasn’t been finalised. READ THE FINE PRINT, we were told by various tradesmen they needed to tender for the job without seeing the actual work involved. We were given the royal treatment during our initial… Read more

consultation, draft & plans all appeared good, then began the long road, one issue after the next we had 3 different site managers during the renovation with poor communication with us & tradesmen EF kept losing staff. We had our perfectly concreted entertainment area cut up & an ugly sewage pipe installed which is because of poor organisation & management, we refused to pay our final invoice as the amount we were seeking for compensation exceeded this figure, we were going to proceed via DBDRV / VCAT, when we attempted but couldn’t resolve our dispute with EF, but as my wife & I both work very busy demanding jobs & have 2 young children its extremely difficult & very time consuming. I’m now writing this review as we’ve just noticed what appears a leak coming from a 2nd story bathroom.

Something else! – Have waited almost two years before posting this review. Wanted to calm down. Point by Point. Salesman, silver tongued and disingenuous, never saw a design practitioner so changes had to be made on the run at our cost, contract was for 258 days, took over 800 days, supervisors all protecting there jobs, had meetings at our house with little… Read more

resolve, communication...poor or non existent, over ordering must have cost them a fortune, excess bolts, nails, timber for garage ordered twice, and in the finish I had to get rid of it and half their rubbish. Have photos of botches, some of which still exist. because at 80 I am not game to fix. Lets get to tradesmen, Concreter..great: Bricklayer..great: Plumber.. great: Electrician..great: Carpenter (14 of them) ..3 great..2 OK.. the rest absolutely hopeless: Insulation installers, won't go there. Plasterers.. which one would you choose? The one who destroyed your downstairs carpets with no compensation, or the one who left spatters all over the walls for the painter. Painter..of the three, one genuine the others, naaa. What more can I say, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, look up the Owners record and decide for yourself. Do not use ANZ Bank facility, will cost you.

Don't sign! – Initially we were impressed with the freelance architect which was the reason we signed with Extension Factory. This initial enthusiasm and trust was quickly replaced with disappointment after signing the contract. Initially we were told that building works would start in March then April. We packed up the house and started living in the top… Read more

section, only to wait for months before works finally began. When they did start, contractors worked for a day or two before the project was put on hold for weeks. We were told that they were unable to secure contractors. Added to this was literally no communication. We met the Project Manager once and never saw him again. The Building Supervisor, whilst he returned our calls was unable to provide details or keep us informed of the project. Weeks went by with little to no work being undertaken. It meant that other jobs we had organised had to be pushed back with Xmas looming. With never knowing when things were happening it was near impossible to coordinate other trades. Needless to say, they didn’t meet the deadline which resulted in the project being pushed back over the holiday period. The quality of work varied depending on the contractors employed. We felt let down on specific items that were supposed to be included. The anxiety, frustration and disappointment was disheartening.

An experience, but not a good one – You'll start your Extension Factory experience with the design team and you'll be feeling pretty good about things. Communication flows, people want to talk to you. Of course; they have dollar signs in their eyes. After perhaps a few drafts you'll have a plan you are happy with. On to contract signing! This is where Extension Factory's knowledge… Read more

really shines. They will modify every single penalty payable by the company to well below the regulatory recommended figure, whilst making sure the customer is on the hook for the maximum. (Late payments of $250 a week? Try $50.) Of course they'll hope you aren't paying attention whilst their designer sweet talks you through the signing. They'll mention Prime Costs, but not point out that they will only cover the lowest quality product available, so you'll just end up supplying the fittings yourself rather than pay 25% extra for the privilege.

Oh well, you've signed. Lets get permits! The drafting team were the best communicators during the whole process. (Shout out to [name removed], always prompt on the emails.) At this point you will want to quadruple check the work drawings on hand, as it turns out they aren't very accurate. You'll need to correct all the mistakes in the written copy that aren't reflected in the drawings, as they don't seem to do this themselves. (Why do the prime costs not match the schedule I received? Why are my sliding wardrobes written as hinged?) Worry not, they'll attempt to invoice you for anything you miss later in the project.

Your permit is here now! Time to build! .. Maybe. It'll take a month from moving out and making the house available to the slab being poured. You'll probably have some optimistic project duration like 8 months, so at this point you might be worried. Settle in, they'll take a full 12 months. You can use your $50 a week penalty payment on all the phone calls to your project manager trying to find out whats happening, because they wont be calling you.

Now remember those drafting inaccuracies? Time to have some fun! Does your kitchen have an island bench? They didn't make an allowance for trenching the utilities through the slab. You've got tiles throughout? Well they didn't make an allowance for levelling the slab. A new roller door in your garage? It doesn't fit!

Congratulations! You've moved in. At this point there are probably only 10 things remaining to be fixed. They will promptly send around their least qualified "finisher" to do the patch up work. He'll come back 4 or 5 times because, well, he's just not very good. You'll receive your final certificates and a nice letter from the team letting you know you could get up to THREE HUNDRED dollars for referring a friend. A final gentle reminder that you're really not worth that much to the Extension Factory.

Fabulous extension – Love our extension from the design to completions. Zac our superviser was attentive quick to respond and always available. We lived in the house whilst we renovated The trades were professional quiet and helpful. Although there was some hiccups along the way the job was completed on time and looks amazing. Would def recommend this company.

Building up – It has been a slow slow process. Lack of tradies being an issue. At the beginning once we had signed I felt like we had become a number as it was hard to contact anyone to answer questions. However once things began rolling the communication between Aaron our supervisor and ourselves improved. The tradies we have had have always been very… Read more

professional in their work and the way they conduct themselves. We are looking forward to this being completed in the next few months.

Don't sign don't take ANZ offer – If you sign with ANZ for the 12 months interest free you will only be eligible for $1 per week liquidation damages. They have a scale for liquidation damages that depends on your contract price. My price was $167,000 and I would have been only entitled to $50 per week for every week past completion date if I had not taken the !2 months interest… Read more

free offer. My renovation is 16 weeks past due. They have trouble getting tradies as they are all contracted. I do not recommend using them.

Please check out the extension factory experience on facebook for more information from me and others.

I would also like to add that now 9 months past due, the extension factory only just making the engineering adjustments requested to get the building certificate, I finally agreed to make the final payment so they would complete connecting the power to the areas they constructed. They offered me $250 in liquidated damages.

Please be aware of the following items in the contract: As per the contract, please refer Schedule 5 Item 16, Liquidated damages cease from whichever comes first:

§ Date of Possession of the Works (as per Clause 41.1),

§ Date Notice of Completion issued,

§ Date of Handover, or

§ Date of second last progress payment becoming due and payable (as assessed by Builder)

The Fit Off invoice was issued 29/11/17 due 5/12/17 and therefore Liquidated Damages cease from this date.

Happy Kids – Excellent company to deal with exactly what we wanted and completed ahead of time. We added 2 bedrooms and a living area for our kids to each have a room we are all extremely happy with the job done

second storey extion – we added new kitchen dinning room and lounge open living plan.and second storey with 2 bedrooms bath and retreat.we had few hick ups along the way. Other than that everything was pretty good, good job guys.

Happy with work – We added an extra bedroom and lounge room to our house. Very happy with the finished work. The project took 8 months which was very slow and frustrating. And they were always quick to ask for the next progress payment. All of the contractors were great and experienced though. The end result is great.  Show details

Wonderful job – I'd like to thank Extension Factory for making it possible for our house to add a second storey which consisted of 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a rumpus space. They were really professional, we had good communication from the start until the work was finalised. We were really pleased with their work, the project manager was always in touch, the… Read more

trades did a good job, and there was no interruption to our family life. We were amazed how quickly they did the job and no dirt could be seen in the lawn. We have recommended them to various friends who saw the second storey and are happy to recommend them to others.

Worst renovation experience EVER – It took our family a long time deliberating whether to sell our house or renovate. We finally made the big decision and signed up with Extension Factory in May 2015 to renovate our home of 17 years. Now here we are in May 2017 and our renovation is still incomplete. Our one year renovation has taken double the time and double the outlay in rent… Read more

expense, not to mention an enormous amount of stress, anxiety, frustration and financial pressure on our family.

We were enticed by a 12 month 'no repayments' finance deal - in return for minimal penalties for late completion (which our salesperson assured us would not happen!). As it turns out, the project took so long to start up, that the Extension Factory paid minimal interest expense in the first 12 months, whereas we have incurred a large rent expense for the second 12 months of the project running over time, and we have no clause to claim back a fair and reasonable portion of our rent.

The reasons for delays? Poor management (in fact no communication from senior management - they chose to ignore our emails asking for assistance), lack of proper project management, high turnover of project managers, faulty workmanship, failed surveyor inspections, trades not turning up for weeks at a time, only one trade working on site at a time, incomplete works, and many other excuses.

I would not recommend this company to ANYONE.

Our vision became a reality – With a large family we decided to renovate our home to add two bedrooms, a bathroom and versatile rumpus space. The Extension Factory cost estimate compared favourably with two other quotes from alternative builders. The designer was outstanding - listening to us, and working with us on a range of items throughout the house to make the extension… Read more

function with the rest of our home. We entered this project with our eyes open (a must!) - even though we had a very experienced project manager with whom we had a good working relationship, we needed to be on top of many aspects of the project which was always going to be a fairly major interruption to family life for a while. The EF trades completed good quality work with a couple of exceptions. We were frustrated at times by the lack of communication, and the perplexing fact that while there were often delays in getting various trades to complete their bits, there was no delay in invoicing us and asking us for money (in fact invoicing was often premature). Overall the EF delivered what they promised. We are really pleased with the result, and we are happy to recommend the team to others.

Exactly what we needed! – Ground floor bedroom, walk-in robe & ensuite extension. Alternative solution for our situation to a granny flat for my aging parents. Sales and design staff were friendly and helpful with our design. The project manager assigned to us (Aaron) was honest, helpful and very accessible. The works were delayed by days due to an unforeseen issue with… Read more

the doors, but they factored in weather and resourcing perfectly. Extremely happy with the workmanship and what we have achieved overall at the price point we agreed on. Definitely far easier than trying to deal with independent builders as I have in the past.

Life Changing - Couldn't be happier – As one of the biggest financial investments that we'd ever made apart from buying our property we wanted to work with a builder who really specialised not only in construction but extensions. Zac and the team were excellent and really went the extra mile. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone -really happy with the result.

Should have read the signs from the start – Our experience of the extension factory was that it was a complete con! Being novices in regard to building they took complete advantage of us. Now 10 years later I look at what they did with disgust nearly every day!

2nd floor extension – Overall the Extension Factory provided a great experience from the initial meeting with the design consultant through to the construction. All of the workmanship from each of the trades was excellent. Communication could of been better as to when each step was taking place, when tradies were on site and any expected delays. But overall very happy with the job.

Home Extension – We are delighted with the service provided by the Extension Factory and would happily recommend them. The future is much brighter with our new and improved space :)

Happy With The Result – We had three different companies provide quotes on our proposed extension/renovation. In the end, we decided to go with The Extension Factory as the design consultant that was assigned to us was very helpful and understood what we were trying to achieve, plus, was able to meet our budget. We had a "fixed price / fixed time period contract" which… Read more

was pretty accurate (finished slightly before time but with some minor additional sub floor work added in).

Once our contract was initiated, things were a bit slow due to council approvals coinciding with the Christmas period. During the build, we were concerned about the rate of progress at times, however, we were assured everything was on track. Generally, we were very pleased with the trades that worked on our extension/renovation, however, there were a few instances where certain aspects of the build didn't go to plan and we did need to work closely with the Project Manager and Supervisor to sort through the issues.

All in all, we are very pleased with what we have achieved with the help of the Extension Factory.

Impressive people - impressive process – We got 3 companies out to compare and my wife and I instantly chose The Extension Factory. The design consultant Wayne was impressive and gave us lots of design ideas we hadn’t thought of. Not pushy like the others. Project manager Bill was excellent and explained every day what was going on which we enjoyed. Our first floor extension and… Read more

entertainment area were completed on time and was beyond what we had hoped for and didn’t need to move out. Couldn’t be happier.

We should have done this ages ago! – We decided to use the extension factory for our extension and we have been extremely happy with the service provided. They have always listened to our concerns and addressed them in a timely manner. We have also ended up with a gorgeous extension, making the most of the views we can have, and we couldn't be happier.