Smith & Sons

Can not recommend Smith & Sons Randwick enough. Ben and his team did an amazing job with our extension. Ben was accommodating and on call whenever we needed someone or had any questions. He was professional, friendly and completed the job as asked in the expected time frame. We are so happy with their work!!

I have to give hi praise to Smith & Sons, the quality of work was superb, the time on projects (we’ve used them a a number of jobs now) was very reasonable. Quotations were competitive & where needed they were able to offer alternatives and variations to achieve the desired result. Yes, I would recommend them!

I have a court decision since last year against Smith and Sons Bowen Hills to return some of my monies and the builder refuses to pay. This is an example of a builder from Smith and Sons. Do not recommend!

Smith & Sons QLD Toowoomba East: My husband and I bought our house with the aim of extending for when we started a family. We brought the laundry inside, added a master suite, replaced the second bedroom, which required an update to the kitchen. Throughout the design process we felt listened to and Darryl was great using his experience to help… Read more

educate, and ensure we came out with the best floor plan possible. The flow of our 'new' home is fantastic.

Darryl has been fantastic throughout the entire process, helping with the design, liaising with other trades to help us get the best end product possible. During the build, Anthony dealt with all issues quickly and effectively. No question was ever too silly for either of them.

We have most appreciated the open, clear and consistent communication from all in the team. The build team, and trades used by S&S, were friendly and clean. They kept to a very tight timeline with both Christmas and the arrival of our first child and did what they could to keep things moving along. The attention to detail in the finished product is great and everyone who comes in loves our new space almost as much as we do.

Beware this misleading builder with Smith and Sons Franchise – BEWARE the franchisee that was Smith and Sons Croydon area and is now the Moonee Ponds franchise, We are in Croydon and we experienced misleading information and bad communications, sub standard craftmanship by [Name Removed] and the sub contractors he engaged. For an example of his integrity as a builder you just need to visit his web page, has… Read more

our extension listed twice in his "our Galleries: page, which is falsely claiming they designed and tailored the project for us. We only stumbled on these pages by chance and never authorised the use of the photos of our extension nor their description of our extension project. refer following links https://www.smithandsons.com.au/renovation-photos/internal-renovation-4341/?office_id=18625 and https://www.smithandsons.com.au/renovation-photos/explore-our-home-extension-solutions-4264/?office_id=18625 Which has photos of our extension. He has quite of few false claims in the Project description on each of the web page. Smith and Sons state: "A once cramped kitchen now transformed into a spacious open-plan treasure, seamlessly merging into an expansive new decking area. This modern living conception has been tailored for our clients, a lovely couple in their 60s, who approached us, eager to alter their home with a blend of modernity, relaxation, and the serene beauty of Croydon's surrounding."

FALSE it was a brand new extension, NOT a once cramped kitchen, He had nothing to do with our kitchen which by the way is a bit over 32 square metres, far off being cramped We were NOT a couple in our 60's

Smith and Sons state: "With the vision inspired by the peaceful landscape of Mt Dandenong's captivating views, our design concept was clear: Integrate the outdoors with the indoor space. This vision came to life with the introduction of a robust steel-structured subfloor laid in rick Chestnut Hardwood. To elevate the experience, floor-to-ceiling electric windows usher in panoramic views, softening boundaries and connecting the homeowners to the mesmerising scenery beyond. Complementing to this charm, our custom-crafted box-style windows, lined in hardwood, creates a cosy nook within the living area for a lazy afternoon with a book or cup of coffee in hand, while the heat of the gas fireplace going creates a snug corner. Its strategic placement of the fireplace ensures a warm and inviting ambience.

FALSE: They state their "design concept", they were not engaged to do the design, we already had OUR design and construction drawings already drawn up, which includes our designed Box Style windows. They had absolutely no input into the design of this extension. FALSE There is no Floor to Ceiling electric windows......

Smith and Sons state: "Stepping outside, the decking space is a celebration of continuity. Crafted in spotted gum timber, it mirrors the indoor aesthetics with a ceiling also lined in the same exquisite timber. A notable highlight is the sleek glass panel railing. It's a nod to modern architectural sophistication while offering an unhindered look over the great outdoors." NOTE: The mentioning as a notable highlight is of the sleek glass panel railing, well in actuality all he did was engaged a sub contractor that installed basically pool fencing that is not sturdy and quite wobbly.

Overall not a pleasant experience and would never recommend Smith and Sons

Fantastic experience renovating two bathrooms – Smith & Sons completed two fantastic bathroom renovations at my property. This was a particularly hard job as it involved rectifying dodgy DIY bathroom work from a previous owner, despite this any issues were quickly and creatively dealt with. Even though the industry faces long lead-times, Smith & Sons ensured the timely completion of the… Read more

project, which was particularly important since we have kids on the way.

Their communication throughout the renovation was excellent every step of the way, I was kept informed throughout the entire process and any issues that came up were quickly dealt with. Their team of staff, in particular Jolly and Anthony, were knowledgeable, approachable, and well organised.

The team took the care to ensure that I was satisfied, including being mindful of noise since I work from home, taking care to clean up at the end of the day, and ordering jobs to minimise any disruption from the renovation. One of their sub-contractors even mentioned that Smith & Sons is one of the best builders they work with due to involving them in the earlier stages of the project.

I highly recommend Smith & Sons (Toowoomba East) for renovations and extensions.

Fantastic service from start to finish – Smith and Sons Kiama cannot to regarded highly enough . Led by Terry and his ever efficient wife Michelle ,Smith & Sons Kiama completed our extensive extension on time and within budget. Their team of very skilled guys ,Nick,Rhys worked hard and the result exceeded all expectations Nothing was too much trouble (a few amendments were suggested… Read more

along the way and adapted in the plan).Communication was proffessional, efficient and consistant We now have a beautiful home .We give Smith and Sons 10/10

Great builders in Toowoomba – Smith and Sons Toowoomba East recently replaced my old skylight with a double glazed Velux with solar powered blind. The old skylight just made the area so much hotter - not what you need in a Queensland summer! Smith and Sons immediately understood what needed to be done, sent a very reasonable quote and worked efficiently to get the job done. … Read more

The team were excellent, being prompt and very reliable with great attention to detail. I would have no hesitation in recommending Smith and Sons Toowoomba East.

Well Done Ben – Big thanks to Ben for handling our multiple issues. Arrived on time each day and was able to organise a solution as well as arranging other trades as required

RIP OFF follow up – Previously I posted a review about a quote I received from Smith and Sons regarding elevating my corridor brick wall by about 1 meter including plastering. I was quoted $ 2400 plus. Just to let you all know, the job was completed today for $ 650, and looks fantastic!

Ben is very rude and puts you down because you asked basic questions. What makes it worse is the high pricetag – Extremely rude and unprofessional, no reason to make a customer feel like garbage . Should be ashamed of yourself

Bully Builders – Unfortunately, my experience with the builder from Smith & Sons has been incredibly disappointing and frustrating. You see them saying yes to everything until the time a contract is signed and post that the real version comes out. They are deceptive as they show the work other smith and sons builders to secure the business but as soon things fall… Read more

out smith and sons washes their hands, They does not take ownership and leave us deal with builder which is a francise. The whole model is a scam. They use bulling and threatening tactics with help of breach treats to silence you .Their work is full of defects and rather than building your house their whole strategy is to abandon your work and try every tactic to blame you and make more money of you even if you try to work with them and get the work done. Their work has proven to be full of defects which they take no responsibility for. Communication with the headquarters was equally disappointing as we are met with threats and resistance. It's clear they prioritize their own interests over their customers' satisfaction and well-being. I would strongly advise anyone considering hiring them to stay far away. They are just unstoppable bullies and their behavior is utterly unacceptable

Extremely happy with our renovations – Excellent home renovations completed by Terry and his expert team at Smith & Sons Kiama. Timeline and costs were on point with unforeseen issues handled promptly and with courtesy. Terry was always available with our queries.and any changes were realistically dealt with.in a timely manner

Very Professional – From the outset they have been terrific to deal with. Always happy to accommodate. Very professional and great team of people to do business with.

Customer service – I rang Smiths and sons to make an inquiry, they were extremely helpful and went out of their way to help, and followed up questions. Great customer service.

No apparent oversight of build quality or financial solvency – Completely pointless company. Don't support clients, nor apparently their franchisees. Our S&S builder went into liquidation a few-days-work short of finishing our extension & renovation. Very few of the claims made in S & S web site spiel actually occurred. Months into the project, we contacted Smith & Sons asking to speak with the QLD manager… Read more

about our communication problems with the builder - expecting them to mediate, or at the very least advise us. We never received any follow-up from "the QLD manager", they referred the issue directly back to the person we needed their assistance with, the builder!

House renovation – We decided to go ahead with an outdoor kitchen build at a time where delays on materials and shortage of trades were possibly at its worse in Toowoomba. After approaching multiple builders, we made the decision to go ahead with Smith & Sons Toowoomba after they gave us a prompt detailed quote, plans and a time frame that worked for us. The build… Read more

started on time and finished on time which was a credit to the team dealing with wet weather and securing materials and appliances. All Smith & Sons trades that worked on the job were professional and obviously took pride in their work. The communication from both managing directors Sam and Darryl was fantastic by keeping us posted on each trade with progress and on when they would be arriving so no one would arrive unannounced. They both would always be available to talk to in person or by phone. At the end of the job certification was completed and any small defects that were identified by myself and Darryl were fixed up without any fuss. Our outdoor kitchen when completed exceeded our expectations of how the finish product would look and function. We strongly recommend the Toowoomba Smith and Son team for any job big or small. Darren & Karla

It was terrible – We had [Name Removed] (the organiser) to have our bathrooms done in 2 weeks, but it went on for 4 months. He hired a handyman who screwed up the tiles and then it had to be jackhammered again. He wasn’t keeping us in the loop for the timetables and didn’t message us when there were problems. He also had smart-[Word Removed] comments. It was the worst 4 months ever and I don’t recommend them Show details

Another Great Job – This is our third project by Smith and Sons Toowoomba. Previouly having our kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovated. Then our old garage demolished and rebuild including a roof over our front deck and recently a new roof. Each and everytime all staff have been professional from the lovely Kristy, the guys on the tools and both Darryl and Sam. … Read more

Any questions or concerns we had were addressed immediately where possible to the satifaction of the customer. We would have no hesitation in recommending Smith and Sons Toowoomba for any projects and we look forward to retaining Darryl, Sam and the team at Smith and Sons Toowoomba again for our next renovation.

Unfair, unsupportive, unstoppable – We were sold a terrible dream by Smith and Sons franchise holders [Name Removed] and [Name Removed]. The nightmare hasn’t ended nor the build been finished, no respect or any care from these people except for the bottom line. Smith and Sons is an advertising and Marketing company by admission of [Name Removed] (head NSW franchise) during a… Read more

dispute meeting in March. I think she wished those words hadn’t escaped her lips but they did. I did more research. If you like AMWAY, Anthony Robbins and Tupperware you will love this marketing machine. They admit on their own podcast business for builders that they basically interview potential customers to see if you fit the bill. I would be honoured if it meant anything but a broken heart for myself and my husband. We are 12 months over time now on a 14 week build. [Name Removed] is glib, dismissive and in denial about the issues with our build. Despite showing him the CDC package he refuses to pour an alfresco area that we PAID for. That’s just one of hundreds of issues we have. I don’t know if it’s a systemic issue with the industry or whether instead of reading codes and laws, its these two hiding behind a desperately bogged down fair trading and court system. I could go on for hours. Stay away from these guys. They’re bad bad news.

Smiths & Sons Toowoomba-Spot on – Despite difficulties with COVID we got a great design and excellent work on our bathroom. Only problem is it makes the rest of our house look bad by comparison. Would recommend!

the tree is rotten – We entered into a building contract for a substantial renovation and extension to our beautiful Edwardian Home with one of the then franchisees in greater Melbourne in 2016. Given the size of the work we had to move out and rent, which we are unfortunately still doing. A multitude of problems and issues began shortly after signing the contract… Read more

and works getting underway: -the builder did not obtain Contract Works Insurance which is a mandatory requirement for significant extension/renovation work, and as clearly stated in the contract. When the bank reminded him to provide this, he furnished his Home Warranty Insurance and Public Liability Insurance instead. When reminded again, he got annoyed with the bank, stating “I have never been asked for that kind of insurance before and I don’t know what it is for” -he demanded monies up front for items and work that had not started. These demands started shortly after commencing the works (I later discovered that franchisees are required to hand over the deposit from the building contract to the Smith & Sons master franchisee and HQ as their 'cut', which likely causes cash flow problems from the get go). In regard to his demands for monies up front, he claimed “it’s in the contract…I know contracts” when in fact it wasn’t in the contract (it was a standard Master Builders HIC-5 contract) at all and represented a clear breach of the Domestic Buildings and Contracts Act. He got very angry with the bank again. I informed the master franchisee at that time, [Name Removed] (who is not a builder but a landscaper) who appeared to have done nothing about the builder’s demands of money up front, which conveys the unfortunate impression that the Smithies exec condones these unlawful demands from their franchisees. -he front loaded the stage payments in the contract so that he made a larger profit for demolition phase, and was likely to lose money for the later stages, which in part explains why he later walked off the job before completing the works -during the demolition stage, his team hit the underground sewer and initially did nothing about it until the neighbours complained. He blamed the hit on ‘the bad map that you provided’. We had earlier provided the yarra valley map which clearly stated ‘this is a guide only..do not rely on the accuracy of this map’. He did not bother to map the sewer with the relevant equipment before drilling stump holes. When the neighbours noted problems (it was a shared sewer), his response to me was ‘well they got their mates to inspect the sewer’, which was his way of fobbing off the concerns. It appears he also fobbed off the son of an elderly neighbour who went to see him at his office. It took him and his team 25 days to fix the problem, and during this wait, council telephoned me and said “well if your builder can’t fix this, you need to do it”. Isn’t that what I was paying the builder to do? He also demanded I pay for these repairs when he should have made a claim on his public liability insurance. -he did not follow the engineering design plans, in particular did not follow the frame design as per plans and did not seek advice or permission from the engineer at any stage to do this. We have proof of this from the investigations from our remedial engineer. -he did not follow the roofing plans, and as a result, the roof was not able to be closed as he veered off the plan. He left a gaping hole in the roof for weeks. During this time there was a huge downpour and he insisted that I pay $60k for the full repairs from the water damage. This resulted in our first trip to the DBDRV and I asked him to make a claim on the Contract Works Insurance which he did and they paid most of it. At the time he blamed ‘bad plans’ for the roof problem but in fact our independent building consultant said that the builder didn’t follow the original plans, and if he did, the problem would not have arisen. This was yet another example of the builder blaming everyone else for problems when he was the cause of it all. This would suggest that he doesn't know how to read a plan. It was very strange that he did not know that a claim could be made on the Contract Works Insurance. -he blamed us for various delays, and would not accept responsibility for his disorganisation. I spoke to the experienced roof plumber who told the builder off for being disorganised and the builder would tell him it was the homeowners fault. The roof plumber said that bad builders tend to blame the homeowners for everything that goes wrong. -the builder ignored formal written directions to fix issued by the Relevant Building Surveyor in mid 2017 -by late 2017, the builder was demanding more monies up front and got very angry and annoyed when I challenged him, stating that I don’t know the law, and said that those who write the law don’t know what it’s really like out there. He also said he was running out of money for the house, said he had no overdraft, then a few months later said he had an overdraft. Make up your mind please! -he demanded money for the completion for the fixing stage when the stage was not complete. He kept saying that the fixing was complete so we made a big mistake and worked on getting the funds. I am so angry at myself for believing his words. We had to refinance, as he had severely underquoted the Provisional Sums and there were delays. Then he blamed us for the delays and tried to charge more for the painting which was fixed price anyway so he should not have charged more, claiming that he had to get a new painter as the old one abandoned him, getting tired of waiting because of his delays which he blamed on us. At this stage I finally put my foot down and said no and he had the biggest conniption ever in front of me and my wife. -he abandoned the works after further demands of more money were refused. Our lawyer sent him a letter advising him to return back to work and stop demanding money he was not entitled to. His email response to me was “You shouldn’t have spent money on a lawyer….you should have put the money on the house”. -We still had a contract and he tried to make a pathetic offer to mutually terminate the contract that would require me to waive my lawful entitlements. He said that he would return 'some' of the money back for the works that were not done if I agreed to a mutual termination. He refused to give the money back under any other circumstances. He said “well you should take my offer because VCAT will take forever”. Unfortunately on the latter he has been spot on. -during this time there was lots of correspondence to [Name Removed] as well as the Managing Director of Smith and Sons. [Name Removed] told me to stop copying in the MD on the emails, claiming that he would update the MD on an as needed basis. Maybe the MD didn't want to be distracted from his fishing and KFC? -the exec of Smith and Sons were unhelpful. When I pointed out all the legal and contractual breaches, [Name Removed] reply was “well the builder says he hasn’t broken any law”. I know that he thinks that, but we want to know what you think about it? I later discovered that franchisees of Smith & Sons sign a non disparagement agreement with the company, so neither party can make any negative comments in public or to customers about each other. Wish I had have known that before. -we lawfully terminated the contract in late 2018 after we furnished the builder with a list of damages and bad workmanship that he needed to address but he ignored this. -Our engineer and building consultant discovered faulty work, bad workmanship, eg. that the builder did not grade away any soil during the foundation work or at any stage of the build thereafter, thus breaching the AS2870-2011 standards. The house has undergone considerable movement (with one consultant saying our house was like a ship sitting in choppy waters with no anchor) such that the extension will need to be restumped correctly, part of the frame pulled down be redone correctly, and a lot of the extension will need to be pulled down to do this. The report from my building consultant is over 100 pages long because of all the defects. It took a long time to uncover all the bad and non compliant work because there was so much of it. When we found mistakes, we did more detective work, and found more and more mistakes and defects. -shortly after termination the builder decided to dump most of the plumbing items that we had bought from him to the property. We changed the locks of the property, and he still tried to leave some stuff lying around. With some legal help, we arranged to have the items transferred to a storage facility a few months later but not after some harassing to the builder as he wasn’t replying. Even so, he didn't return everything that we had paid him for and kept some for himself. He was snooping around our property in the months after termination and we found he was working for “New Home Inspections” (whom he continues to work for: would you trust a home inspection report from this guy?) so an email to their admin got things moving with the plumbing items but not before he fired off yet another angry email to me. -the builder did not obtain any compliance certificates from any of his tradespersons. Apparently these should still be issued for both complete and incomplete works; I had to chase them up myself. There were also many irregularities with his accounting and we also received 2 versions of a suppliers carpet quote which are identical except for the amount. The first one he sent was the higher quote which was the basis for the money he received. The second one he sent about 9 months later during his attempt to seek a mutual termination of contract, sending me tradies quotes on what was required to complete the works; needless to say the builder received monies based on the higher quote. When I contacted the carpet supplier they felt that the lower quote was more likely to be the accurate document. -we gave the builder an ‘opportunity to inspect’ the works sometime after termination. His experts came, and his building consultant,[Name Removed] , told me “My evidence is independent, I am not supposed to take sides, and I am sorry for what this builder has done to you” VCAT takes forever. We haven’t been able to get the works completed because we can’t get finance for the huge amount of money required. Hindsight is wonderful and painful. If only we knew then what I know now. I was very naive. I though the builder and the franchise would do the right thing. I though Smith & sons only selected the best but it appears their focus is only on marketing. Given the high demand for Extensions and Renovations in the melbourne metro area I wonder if Smith and Sons took a cavalier approach to prospective applicants to join their 'family'. [Name Removed] said “well we can’t do anything because the building contract does not include Smith and Sons, and is between you and the builder”. A few months after the builder walked off the job it appears he and Smith & Sons parted ways, but not after he had done the damage. Smith & Sons have washed themselves of the situation. I had also later discovered that at least 3 other home owners had taken him to VCAT. There has been a huge turnover of Smith and Sons Franchisees in Greater Melbourne since they expanded into Victoria in 2013, with over a dozen departures since 2014. 4 of those departures 'graduated' to become private building inspectors. In Victoria, you don't need an active building registration to be a building 'consultant' so if you can't build you can inspect instead. At the time of writing, there are only 4 franchisee owners servicing Greater Melbourne. Homeowners have made VCAT applications against several of the melbourne metro franchisees. My ex builder had 3 other sets of homeowners take him to VCAT. Some of those builders declared insolvency to avoid facing the music, and others still have their VCATs pending. One of the franchisees recently lost at VCAT, when they tried to blame a tiler for water leakage during a home renovation but the bad workmanship was due to the builder, not the tiler. Then VCAT directed the builder to pay the tiler's legal bills of 15k because of the frivolousness of the builder's claim. The builder implied this was unfair, telling the presiding VCAT member that the tiler's solicitor was able to twist the claim in the tiler's favour. I'm sure that went down like a treat. And if that wasn't the end of it, the homeowners of the same home with the water leakage are in VCAT proceedings against the same franchisee as well. There is another current franchisee who has a VCAT dispute from incomplete works from before he joined Smith and Sons. This particular franchisee also tries to blame everything on his tradies and has brought quite a few of them to VCAT and has lost all of those cases to date. On one occasion, the VCAT member stated: "The claim by [the builder] is simply an attempt to recoup monies withheld from [the builder] by the owner for alleged defects and delays. [the builder] is attempting to avoid any financial consequences of its dispute with the owner by claiming those costs from a subcontractor who ultimately was not involved in the project, as the sub-contract was terminated prior to [the cabinet maker] doing any work whatsoever." Where is the due diligence in selecting only the ‘best and brightest’? These are alarming figures. Given the lack of transparency in discovering disputes, whether they be at DBDRV or VCAT, there may be other disputes I am not aware of. How many bad apples are there or are we dealing with a rotting tree? Are there more to be revealed but currently under wraps? Disputes can take years to work through, and in the meantime the same dodgy builder can give grief to more unsuspecting homeowners. The common refrain from smith and sons is: “well what about all of our other good builders at S&S…your criticism is unfair and will affect them”. The master franchisee alliance is first with the builder, not with the customer and the impression conveyed is that their first reaction is to believe any crap fed to them by the builder and the penny drops way too late. In the meantime, S&S blocks and removes my critical but accurate posts from their social media pages. So if I had my time again? Don’t use a franchise because they seems to attract the wrong kind of builder, well at least in greater Melbourne, although I understand there have been problems in other states. Check that your builder has had their licence for at least 10 years and demand to see real and documented evidence of their last 5 extensions. If they don't or won't, walk away. Don't accept their excuses not to provide this information. Get your contract reviewed by a building lawyer not a general lawyer. Watch out for signs of impatience to sign a contract, eg. “well I’ve got lots of other offers out there at the moment”. Take your time, refine the contract, get lots of quotes and be patient whilst doing so. Wait a year if you have to. Go and watch “Glengarry Glen Ross”. If the exec and master franchisees did their due diligence in their selection of potential building franchisees I believe many of these issues would not have arisen. I feel sorry for the good builders who may be with Smith and Sons, but I have no way of knowing who they might be, and given the state of play in greater Melbourne, the odds are stacked against the homeowner. The only people who are trashing the Smith and Sons Renovations & Extensions brand are the people in charge of selecting the wrong kind of builder to join the 'Smithies family'.

Stop blaming the customers who have lost so much, and stop complaining that my post may compromise your 'investment' in Smith and Sons. It shows a callous disregard to the home owners who have suffered greatly at the hands of your hand picked builders.

Good luck

BUYER BEWARE – In my opinion, Smith and Sons (removed) has little to no respect for their clients. We were astounded to discover that this is a franchise after being told it was a family business. We are still in the process of negotiating with our "builder" to complete a 100 day build. We are now up to over 200 days with no end in sight on a small extension.… Read more

There is no hands on work done by the "Master builder" you have engaged with. Just a series of never ending subcontractors who come and go providing no consistency. The project manager bullies his way through meetings and nobody answers emails. Its like as clients we don't even exist. Even now we are still getting variations for items that were agreed upon in the contract. There has been extensive damage done to our existing house and mistakes made in the new section that are significant. The list of changed materials without consulting us is unbelievable. The only thing this franchisee cares about is milking his clients for every last cent. The entitlement is breathtaking. Please! Use a builder you can trust. We are devastated and wish we never contacted them.

Quality Builders – Went with these guys on a recommendation from our pool builder. Very good service. All the team and trades were professional and polite. A really easy build experience. Very happy with the deck.