Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 15, 2018 2:47 pm Our Home is near completion. It's a knock down & rebuild. The smaller house at the back is the granny flat. From the beginning we have already noticed that the bricks seems darker under the drop edge beam. Our site manager told us that there are moisture in it and it will dry up (eventually). We didn't question much because we are not an expert and because it was also winter so we though maybe it does take longer to dry up therefore we assume what he was telling us was the truth. Up until now (6 months later), we can see that there are still 2 tones on the brick. We had a meeting on 14/11/18 on our site with clarendon's area manager and our site manager and Austral sales rep. They all agreed that there are moisture in the bricks because of the drop edge beam, that's why our brick is like this. We did questioned Austral sales rep whether they are from the same batch, he said they are definately from the same batch and they are the same colour but, we really doubt this. To our dissappoinment Our site manager and area manager from Clarendon also agrees that moisture has cause this problem and that they can not do anything about this and will not do anything as well. We are so stressed at moment as we feel like Claredon ( our home builder ) is not helping us at all. Much to our disappointment do we have to accept what we have been told by these two big companies? Does anyone know what is happening here and is it correct what we have been told? We have been during around looking at new built houses and haven't notice anything like ours. We have also visit Austral brick display centre both in Horsley Park and Punchbowl and have been told by their customer service consultant that even if there's moisture in the brick it will not that much of a difference in colour. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Disappointment with Clarendon Home and Austral Brick 2Nov 15, 2018 3:00 pm The fact that there are some darker bricks higher in the wall suggest colour variation rather than moisture. The usual practice is to lay brick selected randomly from different pallets, but looks like this might not have happened, so they started with one batch and then kept going from another, with a few random ones thrown in that might have been laying around separately. The bigger question, though, is what do you expect as an outcome? Making a complaint is fair, but what action do you want as a result? They can’t or won’t knock it down and rebuild, so you do need to have an endpoint that you will be happy with as part of your claim - otherwise it's just to get it off your chest and they can ride that out until you do. Disappointment with Clarendon Home and Austral Brick 3Nov 15, 2018 3:03 pm By the way, moisture ingress can be tested. Has anyone applied a moisture meter to the different bricks and shown you the results? https://www.instrumentchoice.com.au/emails/Monthly%20Newsletter/10-4-16/choosing-the-best-moisture-meter-for-building-applications Re: Disappointment with Clarendon Home and Austral Brick 4Nov 15, 2018 3:25 pm Yes Austral sales rep said they did a moisture check but didn't give us a report on the day. Our inspector did a test that day and the difference between the top and the bottom was around 10%. Clarendon Area Manager said from his memory the brick seems lighter since he last visit on our site 2 weeks ago. We have taken many pictures to show them but, they didn't seem to care. All they said was moisture and there's nothing it can do done, even if we were going to give him a report from our inspector. They didn't even ask us what we wanted as an outcome of our complaint. Re: Disappointment with Clarendon Home and Austral Brick 5Nov 15, 2018 6:16 pm leslie cheong They didn't even ask us what we wanted as an outcome of our complaint. Would you have had an answer if they had? This is something you should be proactive about. The biggest issue with dispute resolution is to come to a conclusion, so it often just leads to ongoing bitterness without an outcome. Figure out what it is you want and tell them this as part of the complaint. But be reasonable, as no one can deliver the impossible. Re: Disappointment with Clarendon Home and Austral Brick 6Nov 27, 2018 1:58 pm leslie cheong Yes Austral sales rep said they did a moisture check but didn't give us a report on the day. Our inspector did a test that day and the difference between the top and the bottom was around 10%. Clarendon Area Manager said from his memory the brick seems lighter since he last visit on our site 2 weeks ago. We have taken many pictures to show them but, they didn't seem to care. All they said was moisture and there's nothing it can do done, even if we were going to give him a report from our inspector. They didn't even ask us what we wanted as an outcome of our complaint. my 2cents There is a solution which is to colour/dye the bricks ( the product is called Nawkaw), but its extremely expensive. if they have laid the wrong bricks you are well withing your rights to demand that they either, relay them, render the house or dye the bricks Simeon McGovern Affordable Custom Homes, We design and build to your budget Ashington Homes www.ashingtonhomes.com.au Re: Disappointment with Clarendon Home and Austral Brick 7Nov 27, 2018 1:59 pm Simeon McGovern Affordable Custom Homes, We design and build to your budget Ashington Homes www.ashingtonhomes.com.au Re: Disappointment with Clarendon Home and Austral Brick 8Apr 09, 2019 3:18 pm This happened to me on a previous build. Mine was moisture to which evaporated. But, the colour didn't return either. I just ended up having to live with it. Its the same with yours. You can see the weep holes are located directly above where the moisture is. The moisture barrier usually sits just below this, however I am not sure why it is so high. Did you build you block up (ie: due to slope or flooding?) Follow Our Clarendon - Double Gable, Hamptons Inspired Fairmont 35 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=94604 Anyone built with Fowler Homes? Feedback? Especially any things concerning or negatives? Have heard some horror… 0 9299 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 7847 the stair balustrades? There is nothing special about these and I imagine literally every stair installer will be able to do this. 1 6723 |