Elevate founder Mikel Wellsmore left with unfinished home by Urban Trend Construction

A young couple fighting for their dream home asked the builder to put his Porsche up for collateral if the work wasn’t completed. See the shell of a home they are now left with.

A self-made, successful young couple, hoping to bring their dream house to life, have been left shattered and $1.3 million out of pocket.

A young self-made couple hoping to bring their dream house to life have been left out of pocket after forking up extra cash to keep things moving.

Mikel Wellsmore and his partner Laura’s home was supposed to be built by Urban Trend Construction, which has since gone into liquidation.

Instead the couple is living with their parents stuck with a giant bill for an unfinished, mouldy shell of a home which was supposed to replace the house they were living it.

Mikel Wellsmore started Elevate at the age of 19 with a friend. Photo: LinkedIn.

IT young gun Mikel started his company Elevate in 2011 as a 19-year-old, and in the 13 years since he’d earned enough to buy a house in Mackay with his partner of 15 years, Laura.

They decided to knock down to build their dream home and found an award-winning construction company to make it happen, doing the research and seeing glowing reviews.

“Everyone loved (Ken) and what he was doing,” Mikel said.

“Everything was perfect, everything looked good on the surface.”

The build started off strong, with between 60 – 70 per cent being completed within 12 months.

UTC installed a sink in a place outside of the design, also installing power points behind them, making the sink an expensive and useless mistake, Mikel said. Photo: Fergus Gregg

However, Mikel alleged that simple mistakes by the construction company led to expenses and compromises, such as not accounting for the sloping of pipes in the ceiling and losing 30 cm of clearance.

“We took it on the chin at the time and (Ken) said he’ll make it up to us somehow,” Laura said.

“Apparently he’s making it up to us by going bust and not finishing our house.”

Little did the couple know the next issue was festering in the basement already — mould.

Part of the basement has been sealed off, while a large portion remains open to the elements and a dumping ground for materials.

Where the water came from Mr Wellsmore doesn’t know but it leaked into the basement and soon black mould began to spread, eventually making its way into one of the bedrooms and kitchen.

The mould infested the basement, kitchen and even one of the bedrooms. It continues to grow in the basement and bedroom even now.

The builders removed the mould and contaminated parts of the basement wall, however the mould has reappeared in both the bedroom and basement.

The final straw came just weeks before Urban Trend had its license suspended and went into liquidation.

Mr Ogilvie reached out to Mr Wellsmore and asked for a $50,000 payment in order to start work on the pool.

The pool builders began work after Mr Wellsmore forked out $50k, only to stop weeks later when Urban Trend went into liquidation. Photo: Fergus Gregg

“They said there was an issue getting the pool builders on site,” Mr Wellsmore said.

“If we want the pool to progress and our whole house to progress we need to pay more money to them directly.

“We were between a rock and a hard place,” he said.

Mr Wellsmore, after almost two years of waiting, agreed but not before asking for collateral.

“I asked if he’d put his (Porsche) up for collateral,” he said.

Mr Ogilvie refused, as he didn’t entirely own his car.

Huge parts of the basement walls have since had to be removed due to mould.

Mr Wellsmore paid Urban Trend when Kathryn Ogilvie sent a contract secured by the Master Builders association.
Weeks later the Queensland Building and Construction Commission suspended Urban Trend’s license.

“For my 50 grand I got about three grand worth of bricks and half a wall built,” he said.

“We absolutely got blindsided by them,” he said.

People have begun to mistake the house as abandoned and leave graffiti on the walls. Photo: Fergus Gregg

Mr Wellsmore is past the point of anger, being years into construction with little to show for it.

“It’s just ridiculous,” he said.

Mikel and Laura still hope to see their dream house completed and are currently in contact with another builder.

So far $1.5m of debt has been identified by the liquidators of Urban Trend, but this figure is expected to grow higher.

Ken and Kathryn Ogilvie were contacted for comment and declined the opportunity to provide a statement on the record prior to publishing.

Originally published as Elevate founder Mikel Wellsmore left with unfinished home by Urban Trend Construction