Who's building with Clarendon??

i forgot to ask...was anyone charged a Zone allowance - Additional cost incurred for your area for trades and suppliers?
i got charged $4000 for Canterbury area.

Hi Nlov
uh about that fridge point; It's the same point as anyone can install, it's the fridge that does the filtering. I just wrote it like that in the blog

And as you asked; here are a few pics of our recent cut/fill that happened last week and then the piering/slab beginnings that started on Monday.

Yeah I've got a fridge point too. It's just a tap. Fridge does the filtering and ice making

Got a question and desperate for advice.

I had my slab poured last thursday and since it was holiday since yesterday, they have not done anything else on my block. I need to know what is the next step after they poured the concrete. How long would the curing take? ? My 1st progress payment is "base" stage. What kind of inspection can I do during this weekend? I would not be in the area starting monday and will only be back after 11 days.

Any advise how should I handle this? Thanks

HD

Didn't your customer service rep provide you with a copy of the construction process flow chart?

After my slab was poured they let it settle for a good month, it had to be inspected etc also. I'm now at lock-up stage, over a month ahead of schedule. At some stages things need to be left to cure/sit, it doesn't mean that you're going to fall behind schedule.

Speak to your site supervisor or customer service rep. I didn't even bother inspecting my place until the bricks were done, but if you insist you can call your site supervisor to arrange anytime basically.

Hi all
Good news; Our slab was poured yesterday (we found this out after receivign the 20% invoice) so we rushed out to see if it indeed had been poured as we were told by our SS on Thursday it would be ready by friday 5th May. We didn't want to fork over that kinda cash until we knew it had been poured.


I'm wondering if anyone is going to organise to have a private inspector/certifier visit their site at any point(s) during the build. It is my understanding each visit is around $500; I think most people get an inspector pre-plaster and pre-handover (making sure you don't sign any paperwork until any issues have been fixed by your builder.) All that needs to be done is arrange it with your SS as to when the private can be onsite with you and the SS.

Does anyone have any experience with this or know of anyone in the Wollongong area that's an inspector?

-Rubyam

My Sheridan 35 with extensions

Thnx guys for recent pics...keep them coming especially yours Zojo as I'm building the 38. Would love to see what the inside look like. I love the outside already I chose the Oxford facade too!

BTW I'm still progressing nowhere...still at limbo where my storm water run off is concerned.

Starting to get excited but at the same time I know there's a heap of work I'll need to do post-handover from Clarendon before I can move in.

A few pics

1. Scaffolding will come down over the weekend, once the painters do their thing the stained wood will be fitted at the top of the entry


2. Standing in the entry, I am super happy I opted for the wide door.


3. Master bed still feels tiny with nothing in it, but when I measured out where the King size bed will go, there's actually heaps of room.


4. They were about to fit the stone bench tops when I visited yesterday. Didn't have time to hang around to get "after" photos though unfortunately.


5. Main bath.. looking forward to having a proper bath in the house again (apartment doesn't have one)


6. Ensuite


Final inspection is still scheduled for the 26th of this month, so there's a lot of stuff being done over the next couple of weeks. My Site Supervisor has picked up on all of the minor defects I've spotted thus far (and more)so I'm pretty confident that he will deliver a good quality house. Hopefully the painters are decent, that's usually where people have hassles I think.

Hi fellow clarendon builders we are currently at CDC waiting approval we are building the Paddington 31 from the Clarendon Domaine range which started at $220k however we are now at over $4000k the process has been slow to say the least. It is actually a knock down re build we we organised ourselves as Clarendon would have charged an arm and a leg.

We have just finished our electricals last friday 5k later as hubby wants so many led down lights at $117 each installed so we have tiling on friday so excited. Our kitchen appt was crazy moneywise i think i upgraded everything, changed everything to smeg appliances and got the servery and the stone bench nearly $7k later but we thought if we are going to build we may as build right as it will be our one and only house:) We are building in roselands and Canterbury council is not bad actually we submitted paperwork for the demolition and got approved in 2 weeks however we are going through CDC with the build. Has anyone else gone through CDC how long does it normally take? as we were told around 10 working days,if this is the case we should have approval early next week.
Has anyone had any major dramas with Clarendon at the moment?

Hi everyone. Hope the builds are going well for all. Just wondering if anyone could shed some light on garage skirting boards. Our garage is lowered with an internal access door and the skirting board is currently sitting off the ground at two different heights, following the slab height of the porch and then the hallway. We are trying to get this changed but to no success.
Has anybody else had this problem? If you're past lock up what has been done with the skirtings in your garage? We're building the Killara.

Hi Chilly,
We went through CDC in Wollongong Council zone area and though our builder told is it takes 10days the builder then has an additional 10 days to receive it and make any necessary comments and adjustments; in total it was close to 4 weeks after our plans were lodged to CDC that we received approval.

-Rubyam

Hi Rubyam,

Thanks for that, gee thats great:( more waiting, when i spoke with Rebecca my rep she said from the time of approval to slab it will be about 4 to 6 weeks.ridiculous, but was reading the contract last night and it said that the builder has up to 20 working days from receipts of approval and permits to commence building, think hubby will have a chat to them tomorrow. i know building is time consuming but this is just ludicrus. Wanted to be in by Christmas but dont see that happening, What stage are you up to?? how has your process been?

-C

I think mine is the same, my site supervisor said he is not a fan of the look also but this is the specification they have to build to. Function over form I guess. He did clean up the concrete underneath the skirt for me, I'm just going to seal it with the same epoxy as the rest of the garage - should look neat. No big deal, I bet nobody will even notice.

Hey Chilly,
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news like you though we thought CDC was going to be quick and easy!!!
After CDC approval was granted we had to chase up the following:
-Written Loan Approval confirming the loan amount, loan number and the postal address of the Bank/lending institution.
-Authority to commence construction (ACC) from Bank West, confirming mortgage docs have been signed and the loan is ready for draw down.
-Confirmation from the lender that the final payment will be released without Occupation Certificate being issued due to client’s works from the CDC approval that need to be carried out prior to the certificate being issued.

While this was being done apparently stock for the house was being ordered (frames etc). Now the 20 days to be on site thing is true, but it just means they have to be on site for further reports to be carried out .. But hopefully in your case they will go to site right away and begin cutting/filling your lot. Piering happened pretty quickly for us and we have now had our slab done. Frames due to be delivered tomorrow.

This is our current timeline:
7.11.11 Deposit paid on land with Stocklands
7.11.11 Deposit paid with Clarendon Homes
7.12.11 Initial Tender presentation with Clarendon at Baulkham Hills
6.01.12 Contract signing and Clarendon Create apt pt.1
16.02.12 Clarendon Create apt pt.2
12.09.12 Tender expired (eeeeep)
21.11.12 Land registration
27.11.12 Rates paid and Land settlement
30.01.13 Plans lodged with CDC
7.02.13 Found out our lot IS in a BAL 12.5 zone (originally screened as a BAL Low zone)
28.02.13 CDC Docs received at Clarendon's office. Now awaiting assessment
4.03.13 Email received from Clarendon station Tender had expired and a price increase will be issued to us via PCV. CH forcast a 28th March site start (with the Easter period taken into account).
7.03.13 Electrical appointment with Your Home Consulting in Oak Flats
14.03.13 Tile appointment at Dons Tiles, Narellan
15.03.13 Clarendon move our file into 'Production' and commence ordering supplies for our build
24.03.13 Cut/Fill of site completed
25.03.13 Piering work commenced
28.03.13 Waffle pod installed w/ steel beams
2.04.13 Slab poured [20% progress payment due]
12.04.13 Stormwater pit and external drainage installed

I post about our build on my blog (see below) but most of my issues i've had with Clarendon have been shared here viewtopic.php?f=31&t=63095 <---that's the new development We'r building in. We have had little issues along the way and are hoping for things to settle down a bit.. i don't like our luck though!

Hope this helps
-Rubyam

Just to update you all, our frames were delivered yesterday and will probably now sit int he rain for the next week Hoping for some sunny weather so they can get these babies up!!


-Rubyam

wow look @ those lovely wood...when will i see mine?
Praying for good weather for u Rubyam!

Thanks Nlov; i appreciate it!!!

What stage are you up to now? And where are you building?
-Rubyam

Hopefully ready for CDC in the coming week as we've just dealt with hydraulics, though not to my satisfaction...but what can one do when final decision is from a third party who has their own set of rules. I hate rules!

We're building in Roselands/Narwee.
Also thx for info on Independent Inspector, it was very thorough and helpful, will definately refer back to ur blog.

Yeah that's frustrating; and the lack of communication sometimes is even worst!!!!

Glad you found it helpful; it'll all start moving a long for you soon i am sure
-Rubyam