Hahaha....don't worry, I have three princesses in the house as well, I know the feeling.
Anyway, thanks rmjose18, looking forward to it......I think? lol
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 521Apr 13, 2014 10:58 pm rmjose18 justwondering 1... true... u need to listen to your head too hahah... go for the look you want and see what options they can offer you and prioritise..what would you like more... a posh kitchen or super expensive bricks? cutback on stuff u think is not worth it and splurge on things u think is essential and would be very expensive to touch on later on... for eg: we decided to get another ensuite for my daughters room..princess suite its called!!..but i rather spend that extra 5-6K now..coz i am sure in 5 years time i would spend thrice that to do it...this is what i suggest...sit with ur floor plan and visualise urself in the house..and go with it...and write everything u think of..trust me..on the day somethings u may forget..enjoy the ride..coz its awesome Hahaha....don't worry, I have three princesses in the house as well, I know the feeling. Anyway, thanks rmjose18, looking forward to it......I think? lol Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 522Apr 15, 2014 10:28 am @justwondering1 time frame: we signed our contract on 22nd March, and did colours on 10th April... so about 3 weeks. I cant really offer any advice on what upgrades cost... as we stuck to mostly the standard stuff. And we had the Ruby inclusions. This is our first build, we are in our late 20s and have a 1 year old son, so we are on a tight budget. We did have a $2000 upgrade to stone benchtops in our contract (an add-on to the Ruby inclusion)... but only had a choice of 5 stone colours... which we didn't like, so we had to upgrade to the colour we wanted. We haven't had the quote back yet, but the guy indicated about $600. Adding drawers to a kitchen will cost you $110 per drawer. We were going to add 6 drawers, but once we had to pay for the stone upgrade, we ditched them... and will add those slide out basket drawers after handover (in the cupboards). We liked everything in the standard range, with the exception of the taps, which we changed to standard "turning" taps as opposed to the flick-mixers in the showers and bath. This didn't cost us anything. And we also upgraded the front door to a timber stained one with glass inserts for $164... which was very reasonable. We also added a shower nook to the main bathroom, and that was $280. And to change the laminated bench tops to the squareform edges was $50 per vanity. To be honest, their ranges were pretty good, unless I guess you are after something very specific. We didn’t see the point in spending lots of cash to upgrade little details that people will never notice, like door handles, etc. We would have liked to have the money for stone benches in the bathrooms, and 40mm stone in the kitchen... but we can live without that. We also ended up getting Tile Direct to all of our tiling in our living areas. They said that if they do it after handover, they give you a 20% discount on the tiles, and a 10% discount on the labour. Again, we picked a tile that we liked, and it was already on sale as it was a new line, so we got all our downstairs (about 70m2) for $5600 laid. But the tile itself ended up being about $30m2.... probably not as expensive as some of you are looking at! We are still waiting for our electrical appointment... no doubt that will cost a small fortune! Building Glenelg 27 in Newcastle. 1st July - On Site 3rd December - Handover Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 524Apr 15, 2014 11:02 am Samara0412 @justwondering1 time frame: we signed our contract on 22nd March, and did colours on 10th April... so about 3 weeks. I cant really offer any advice on what upgrades cost... as we stuck to mostly the standard stuff. And we had the Ruby inclusions. This is our first build, we are in our late 20s and have a 1 year old son, so we are on a tight budget. We did have a $2000 upgrade to stone benchtops in our contract (an add-on to the Ruby inclusion)... but only had a choice of 5 stone colours... which we didn't like, so we had to upgrade to the colour we wanted. We haven't had the quote back yet, but the guy indicated about $600. Adding drawers to a kitchen will cost you $110 per drawer. We were going to add 6 drawers, but once we had to pay for the stone upgrade, we ditched them... and will add those slide out basket drawers after handover (in the cupboards). We liked everything in the standard range, with the exception of the taps, which we changed to standard "turning" taps as opposed to the flick-mixers in the showers and bath. This didn't cost us anything. And we also upgraded the front door to a timber stained one with glass inserts for $164... which was very reasonable. We also added a shower nook to the main bathroom, and that was $280. And to change the laminated bench tops to the squareform edges was $50 per vanity. To be honest, their ranges were pretty good, unless I guess you are after something very specific. We didn’t see the point in spending lots of cash to upgrade little details that people will never notice, like door handles, etc. We would have liked to have the money for stone benches in the bathrooms, and 40mm stone in the kitchen... but we can live without that. We also ended up getting Tile Direct to all of our tiling in our living areas. They said that if they do it after handover, they give you a 20% discount on the tiles, and a 10% discount on the labour. Again, we picked a tile that we liked, and it was already on sale as it was a new line, so we got all our downstairs (about 70m2) for $5600 laid. But the tile itself ended up being about $30m2.... probably not as expensive as some of you are looking at! We are still waiting for our electrical appointment... no doubt that will cost a small fortune! Where bouts u building and wat design? Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 525Apr 16, 2014 10:09 am Shoot! that's interesting that they don't use ARK Finishing Touches anymore, I have chosen all my window coverings with them and the cost has been added to my contract price. I guess I better contact Clarendon and find out what this means for us. Still want the same product that I am paying for. Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 526Apr 16, 2014 4:47 pm Samara0412 @justwondering1 time frame: we signed our contract on 22nd March, and did colours on 10th April... so about 3 weeks. I cant really offer any advice on what upgrades cost... as we stuck to mostly the standard stuff. And we had the Ruby inclusions. This is our first build, we are in our late 20s and have a 1 year old son, so we are on a tight budget. We did have a $2000 upgrade to stone benchtops in our contract (an add-on to the Ruby inclusion)... but only had a choice of 5 stone colours... which we didn't like, so we had to upgrade to the colour we wanted. We haven't had the quote back yet, but the guy indicated about $600. Adding drawers to a kitchen will cost you $110 per drawer. We were going to add 6 drawers, but once we had to pay for the stone upgrade, we ditched them... and will add those slide out basket drawers after handover (in the cupboards). We liked everything in the standard range, with the exception of the taps, which we changed to standard "turning" taps as opposed to the flick-mixers in the showers and bath. This didn't cost us anything. And we also upgraded the front door to a timber stained one with glass inserts for $164... which was very reasonable. We also added a shower nook to the main bathroom, and that was $280. And to change the laminated bench tops to the squareform edges was $50 per vanity. To be honest, their ranges were pretty good, unless I guess you are after something very specific. We didn’t see the point in spending lots of cash to upgrade little details that people will never notice, like door handles, etc. We would have liked to have the money for stone benches in the bathrooms, and 40mm stone in the kitchen... but we can live without that. We also ended up getting Tile Direct to all of our tiling in our living areas. They said that if they do it after handover, they give you a 20% discount on the tiles, and a 10% discount on the labour. Again, we picked a tile that we liked, and it was already on sale as it was a new line, so we got all our downstairs (about 70m2) for $5600 laid. But the tile itself ended up being about $30m2.... probably not as expensive as some of you are looking at! We are still waiting for our electrical appointment... no doubt that will cost a small fortune! Appreciate the info Samara. It's good to get a heads up before going there, that way we have some indication of what we can spend. Every builder has different prices on their extras and therefore the questions from us. We noticed that if the builder has a higher "base price", usually the extras are less. If the "base price" is in the lower bracket then they really know how to slug you. For example, you quoted $110 per drawer in the kitchen and we got quoted with another builder who's base price is cheaper than Clarendon....... for 2x drawers with soft close runners......wait for it......$1200....WTF? i couldn't resist and asked if they were gold plated or something...lol I'm presuming your drawers wouldn't have the soft close runners but I don't think the cost $1000 for the two sets of runners is justifiable either. Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 527Apr 16, 2014 10:52 pm Hi. We have decided to go with Clarendon to buildour home. We went to the Parklea display centre and the sales consultant was a real noob. So I contacted the consultant at another display centre and was way easier to deal with. We meet him in Saturday to get the ball rolling. Excited to build again. We recently built with wisdom homes and they were great but this time around we like what Clarendon has to offer and their design. We will do the sapphire package, increased ceiling height. Change in cornice. Front door upgrade and if budget allows increased roof pitch. As for kitchen, I currently have a laminate/stone kitchen and will do the same again. So no major upgrades for us in that area. Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 529Apr 17, 2014 5:08 pm Hi lot 927, Are you still building the maitland 40? We have picked this house design also, but we will be building next year. We have decided on that design with the grand alfresco option. I would love to see your progress, as there is no pictures or display homes on this design. Like you we are going with the sapphire package and will add a lot of extras. We did have a look at the diamond package, it it was a little out of our price range and didn't offer that much extra we thought for the price. Not sure if your interested but there was a blog on the maitland 29 with pictures of build, but there is no finishing of the build pictures. Would you be able to let me know what they charge for the increased roof pitch? Many thanks Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 530Apr 17, 2014 5:12 pm quick question to everyone whose land has registered... did it register before the sunset period mentioned in your contract? our estate has all amenities in, roads done, natures strip in, street signs and light posts up...yet we keep getting notified that its delayed... when we exchanged contracts we were told march 2014..in march we were told end of april-may 1st week and now we got told late june... getting a little frustrated now! Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 531Apr 17, 2014 5:42 pm Hi rmjose18, We purchased our land in March last year, it was supposed to be released Oct 13, then it was Dec 13, then the end of Jan 14, now we finally have a settlement date 29th April. The reason for the December hold up was that there was a signature missing from something for the land titles, so the whole thing had to go through council and land titles again. It might just be something as simple as that to why your delayed. Hope it is not to much longer for you Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 533Apr 17, 2014 7:13 pm Hi 6acrebuild We are only in the very first step of the process but happy to share as we go along. We meet with the sales consultant this Saturday to get the ball rolling. Love the design of the maitland. Just trying to decide where we will put a wood fire to best heat the whole house. We have town water and sewer but not gas. I am very excited but these next few months are the ones that drag out the most. I will start a blog shortly to show our progress. Question for those in construction. How long did it take you from tender to soil being turned? Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 534Apr 23, 2014 7:22 am Hi all, We're planning to build a Glenelg 29 with extended alfresco and rear upstairs balcony on the northern beaches. Been to tender presentation and contract appointment, but didn't sign as family and friends said to get the contract checked, as it is a HIA contract. So this is happening now. Did anyone else do this, and if so, was anything changed? We just want to sign and move on, as super excited to knock down our little fibro shack. Also, did anyone use an independent inspector for the build stages and progress points? Thanks, Cheryl Building with Clarendon, Glenelg 29 on the northern beaches, Sydney Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 535Apr 23, 2014 3:07 pm Hi Cheryl with our last build we did not use an independent inspector, but at each stage before sign off and payment we checked everything with a fine tooth. We had a few issues with our build but they were not within the builders control. With the contract we did not get an independent inspection done for that either. If we felt during the build process there were issues I would have definitely had an independent inspection. Can I ask you, how long from walking into the sales office to contract did it take? Good luck with your build. We are about to pay our first $1000 to clarendon today to start the process... exciting stuff. Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 536Apr 23, 2014 3:59 pm Hi Cass, From paying $1000 deposit, think took about 2 weeks for survey and soil test, then another 2-3 weeks for tender presentation, then 3 weeks til contract meeting. At each stage drawings and price are further refined. Building with Clarendon, Glenelg 29 on the northern beaches, Sydney Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 537Apr 23, 2014 5:49 pm Well, we have paid the $1000 and we are on our way.... here comes the fun!!!! Thanks Cheryl for the timeline, did you do colours etc during the time between tender and contract? How did you find the process, did your costs blow out? Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 538Apr 23, 2014 5:59 pm I've got my colour app next week and even though I put allowances down I still think little extras will come up to 10k. The house we chose looked nice but wen we signed our contract the bloke forgot to mention all the little upgrades that wernt included in the contract price. Partly my fault though so just be thorough Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 539Apr 23, 2014 6:34 pm Hi Jayjay, what were the little upgrades? good to know before heading in.... Re: Who's building with Clarendon?? 540Apr 23, 2014 6:41 pm The stacker door that comes with the house is 2.1 high by 2.7 wide. The one in the display house was 2.4 high and 3.6 wide. To upgrade this door just to be 3.6 wide was 2k but to do the height as well was 6k including raised roof etc. Window sizes were also different, cornices and architraves as well. Even though we got the sapphire package we didn't want the plain doors that come with it which is about 50 per door, highlight windows weren't included. I'll be sure to inform everyone all my prices once colour app is all done It is Genneral stairs, but they won't deal with anyone off the street. They will only work with clients of project home builders. I tried to but some of these exact… 3 8862 The two 15mm holes are obviously not compliant. The Dept of Fair Trading would love to see this one! Do the gutters pool water after it stops raining? Although it's… 4 8824 |