Daedalus , Vermont mine itself will not fire up until next year as construction has only started.
They are still advertising for men .

The demand will only increase I'm sure and even more when the other two mines kick off .

They are trying to get me back out there , but I've just taken on a number or projects at Collinsville and Bowen then down to Hamilton island , Proserpine followed by a few months in Mackay , actually Hay Point area on a new power station upgrade.

Not enough time in the day!

I feel Bowen is a hot contender with new mines towards Collinsville,Abbot Point Expansion, and now Chalco refinery

Is Bowen QLD The Next Hot Spot?

Stay away from Dixon homes in West Brisbane by the sounds.
But I can assure you Dixon homes in the Whitsundays area  12hrs North  is a  different kettle of fish.
As you know you pay peanuts you get monkeys  and  clearly Dixon homes must  be going in to cheap  if they cannot get quality trades.
As for taking advice from employees it's a well known fact staff always think they could run the show better then the boss…lol
If they could run some thing better they would be working for themselves but instead they do their 9-10hr days and go home and not think about tomorrow. Running a building company today is hard  and keeping good guys is just as hard.
The grass is always greener with a better offer down the  road and before you know it your paying $60 an hour to men and trying to make a profit with rising material costs.

Just yesterday I quoted a repair to gate entering out onto a pool, simple latch and hinge replacement.
The quote ended up at near $300 and I was making $30 out of it after I paid my staff,fuel and a few bits.
I went over the figures many times and was disgusted that's what I had to charge to virtually break even.

Just out of interest what is it costing you per sq  m2 down your way?

jtw what area are you located in to be using dixon with such problems?

As you know it comes down to the builder himself not just the name behind it.
Painting all the Dixon  builders with the same brush is unfair I feel as  they are spread all over the country.

What would you like to know ?

Yes exactly
Just today (Sunday) I drove 2hrs to put 2 screws in a door stop to shut up a complaining client because his painters removed them after I had finished the job. He now demands me to fix the wall that the handle hit.
This means a plaster repatch and a total wall paint at my cost …come on what BS.  ( Next I will be on Current Affair)

I have lost count on how many investors have ripped me off for thousands simply refusing to pay because they can.
When  entering the premises to remove the materials/work , Im charged with tresspassing .
I then fill the paper work out for small claims have to reduce the price down a few thousand to get it heard and spend months being messed around.
Mean while I have had to pay staff and suppliers while my own over draft is ticking over.
Court date arrives more time off work , more stress and the investor ends up paying me $20 per week for the next ten years.
The only quick way out is to take 1/10 of what's actually owed and cut my losses.

Now who really is getting the raw end of the stick,?
Many people have no clue about what's really happening to builders!.

mez you can use a roller but not your general roller, there a many types on the market that perform differently.
A pad is a better option as suggested.
I found this link for ya that might help.

Floor Sanded Ready For Coating any tips?

Interesting jtw

We have done work for approx 35 Dixon home clients just this year, 20+ GJ Gardners, a list for Cavalier Homes and many more

Of all the home builders we deal with Dixon homes has the thumbs up!
Sadly I'm yet to hear any positives about GJ Gardners but most are petty anyway.

What makes me laugh many of the clients of these building groups are bitching about petty issues and make out  their house is about to fall down.
Complaining their letter box is red not heritage red, their fence palings have some twists, a light switch was not fitted in the position they wanted after changing their minds 20 times.
Tiles are not the exact colour of what they selected 6 months ago, different tap fittings used due to discontinued. blah blah

People bitch about delays …now come on you cannot expect trades to work in the rain, mud,strong winds, the job takes twice the time and does more damage then good.

You ever painted a house to have the rain wash it off,  ever rendered a wall to watch it slide to the ground after a heavy down fall, ever pour a concrete slab in the rain,tried digging trenches and having them fill of water. try preparing turf base while the fencer runs a machine around digging holes.
Now come on I bet the client is not going to pay double because the trades have to do double the work.

You have many trades all trying to work at once and timing them all at the right moments is not an easy task and you can end up with delays but clients have no clue how difficutl things can be. 
On top of this what was quoted to client 12 months ago has increased by 35% like steel and timber 15% these are things builders cannot control.
The client is not willing to pay the extra and expect it to come out of the builders pockets so the builder has to wait in line for a cheaper labour option at times to attempt to recover his loss.

On top of these problems simply  the client does not understand the contracts and expects some thing that was not quoted.
I have been on jobs where a client has ordered a product such as paint color then changed their minds after delivery and expect transport to pick it up for nothing and suppliers to refund them fully.
Mean while four trade painters stand around at their cost with more delays to fit out, sparky and plumbers.

There are two sides to the story and myself could not be bothered building houses for general public clients as they are more headache then they are worth.
Most have no clue to  construction but yet want to tell you how to your job..lol

shab I would not take to much notice of that BS and I'm actually disgusted how it was done.

I know many Dixon home clients in my area and know the builder himself and there have been no complaints.
There will always be some minor complaints when building some ones dream home but that's just life.

It was a small handful of people who had some nasty luck but they failed to state the thousands who are happy with Dixon homes.

Linar you could possibly do a vendor finance set up to help encourage people, but some times this could be more trouble then it's worth for different situations.