common questions
Use our FAQ to find answers to the most common questions we get asked.
We predominantly build in the following municipalities and suburbs around the inner South East of Melbourne:
Stonnington – Armadale, Glen Iris, Hawksburn, Kooyong, Malvern, Malvern East, Prahran, South Yarra, Toorak and Windsor.
Boroondara – Ashburton, Balwyn, Balwyn North, Camberwell, Canterbury, Deepdene, Glen Iris, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Kew, Kew East, Mont Albert and Surrey Hills.
Port Phillip – Albert Park, Balaclava, Elwood, Middle Park, Port Melbourne, Ripponlea, South Melbourne, St Kilda, St Kilda East, St Kilda West and Windsor
Glen Eira – Bentleigh, Bentleigh East, Carnegie, Caulfield, Elsternwick, Glen Huntly, McKinnon, Murrumbeena, and Ormond.
Bayside – Brighton, Brighton East, Hampton, Hampton East, Highett, Black Rock, Sandringham, Beaumaris and Cheltenham
Yarra – Abbotsford, Burnley, Carlton North, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Cremorne, Fitzroy, Fitzroy North, Princes Hill and Richmond.
Monash – Ashwood, Clayton, Chadstone Glen Waverley, Hughesdale, Huntingdale, Mount Waverley, Mulgrave, Notting Hill, Oakleigh, Oakleigh
East, and Wheelers Hill.
Whitehorse – Blackburn, Blackburn North, Blackburn South, Box Hill, Box Hill North, Box Hill South, Burwood, Burwood East, Forest Hill, Mitcham, Mont Albert, Mont Albert North, Nunawading, Surrey Hills, Vermont and Vermont South
We specialise in custom designed and built extensions and renovations and luxury custom new homes. Whether you are looking to knockdown your old home and rebuild, or want to renovate and extend your current home, every aspect of your project will be professionally managed by Sherbrooke.
Unlike large scale builders, we work with you step by step to tailor design a unique and functional home to suit your needs. We design and prepare plans based on your specific requirements and your site, whereas volume builders provide a range of standard designs that don’t allow for flexibility.
Sherbrooke Design and Construction offers a full design and architectural drafting service. The Design Team at Sherbrooke will take you through a seamless process that will develop your ideas into a concept. We will take care of all town planning (if required) and also coordinate full documentation for building approval which includes fully detailed structural drawings and engineering detail.
Some builders will only build from their own plans and are limited to what services they provide. This may mean you will have to pay for plans to be redrawn and even engage other companies separately to provide services such as town planning, soil reports and permits.
We offer both design and/or building services. Our design and architectural drafting process is tailored to help customers explore ideas so that they can see what is achievable for their budget. We can coordinate the whole project from start to finish and if you already have your own plans, we can work from these as well. Please contact our office for more information about our ‘build from your plans’ service.
Your individual Project Supervisor will oversee the day to day running of your project and a dedicated Contracts Administrator (CA) will form part of the Construction team at your fortnightly meetings. Your CA will be your point of contact in the office for selections etc., and will help guide you through the process. You will have access to a dedicated customer portal so you are constantly up to date with your project no matter where you are.
Variations are a normal part of Sherbrooke’s building process and once works begin, it is not uncommon for homeowners to want to go an extra step – a better quality tile or new appliances and so on.
Our team will help with any design changes and selection of colours, fixtures, tiles etc., and ensure you’re happy with not only the progress but also how the design and selections are working in reality.
There are no hidden fees for variations and any charges are clearly explained in the contract.
The length of time to complete your project will depend on the size of the project and the scope of works. A simple extension will take less time than building a large home but as an approximate guide we generally say between 6 and 12 months, pending the variables which will be discussed with you for your individual project. We will provide you with an approximate project completion time-frame with your Concept Budget and a guaranteed time-frame at contract.
The law requires a builder to meet certain obligations when they do building work. These are called warranties and consumer guarantees and apply for up to 10 years from completion of the work. All builders must also provide a regulation 3-month post-completion maintenance inspection as part of their warranty once your project is complete.
Sherbrooke provides all these warranties and guarantees but also goes beyond with our Sherbrooke For Life Membership Program by providing;
– A dedicated maintenance team that manages the contractual warranties.
– An extended warranty inspection service, giving customers a complimentary 6 week and 12-month warranty inspections.
– Your client portal that will remain open where you can simply log in and easily place any maintenance requests.
We guarantee that we will always return to your project long after the project is completed.
Customers must abide by the access agreement which forms part of the build contract. Sherbrooke Design and Construction prearranges fortnightly site meetings for you, your Project Manager and Contracts Administrator through the course of your project so you can ask questions and see what is happening on-site. Access out of these times must be prearranged and all access must be accompanied by your Project Manager for Occupational Health and Safety reasons.
Generally, no, unless in a circumstance where the works can be sectioned off with separate safe access for both you (and your family) as well as the build team. In most extension/renovation projects, all services are cut off to the property while construction takes place, meaning living in the home during construction is not possible.
Construction on your project will typically start within 4-6 weeks of signing contract pending site access and statutory permits.
For a renovation or extension, you will need to contact your insurance provider to confirm if your policy covers the existing building whilst under construction, as any damage caused to the existing structure is your responsibility. The builder’s policy does not cover the existing structure unless there is damage caused by the builder’s negligence.
However, as this type of cover is not offered by many home/contents insurance companies, Sherbrooke Design and Construction can apply to our own insurance company for an existing structure insurance policy on your behalf, should you require this type of cover.
Personal items or any contents are not covered under the builder’s insurance policy and it is recommended that you contact your home insurer in relation to contents insurance for the duration of the build.
Yes!
We have past extension and knockdown rebuilds featured on our projects page. You can also keep up to date with our latest projects on Facebook and Instagram, as well as watch our video walkthrough’s on YouTube.