Clarendon Homes Questions & Answers (page 3 of 7)

Hi. We first signed up late October but our land didn't register until the end of February.
We signed the final binding contract early in March and are now in the hands of the construction team waiting for a start date.
Our friends used Clarendon and were very happy with the company.
We have been through what you are experiencing before with another company.
If I were you I would be annoying them continually until you get a response as it's taking far too long.

thanks Kimmo i have been pestering them with emails so i have it in black and white and they assure me its just the covenant we are waiting for clearance form the land owners that what we have are doing is ok and then it should go to build. i'm not holding my breath.....but will continue to hassle along with the land owners.

We are the same this company is costing us an incredible amount of money with no action 6 mths and not even a start date!

We were going to do a solid timber floor after handover but the flooring companies advised again this because if the slab dropdown isn’t exact then you may not be able to open and close doors. In the end we got Clarendon to put in engineered blackbutt it looks fantastic but it did cost the same as the solid blackbutt quotes we got from independent flooring companies. I couldn’t have dealt with the mess if bathroom floors didn’t match up with the timber floor etc. All the best with the decisions.

Thank you Mel

Hi,
You use the Base Price to compare the price per square metre to other builders. The Plus Price includes the mandatory build requirements that you have to do to the house no matter who you build with so you have a better idea of what you’re actually spending on your house. things like floor coverings, your underground connections to the house, site works, fly screens etc etc. hope that helps.

Hi I’m sorry I can’t answer that as we had to delay our start date as we needed time to find a place to live and knock down our house. The demolisher took to long to knock down our place and Clarendon were certainly ready to go. They leveled our site the day after we handed the block to them. Unfortunately it started to rain after that and rained for 6 weeks straight

If you are happy with the basic inclusions you can keep the cost at the entry house prices. However at the colour studio you can choose to upgrade if you like. Everything was stated upfront and you don’t sign your contract until you have everything in writing. The base tiles are nice for the bathroom we upgraded our kitchen splashback to Mosaic but you could have had subway tiles included and I think glass might be included now. We upgraded our kitchen bench to 40mm stone and changed the colour so it was closer to white as the included white stone looked yellow compared to the white cupboards and we wanted a white kitchen. We added a butlers pantry as I make cakes from home. We also upgraded the floors to timber and yep that ones expensive but they do tell you up front. We added a free standing bath in the main bathroom for a pretty reasonable price. We also put plantation shutter through the home (these were comparable to external prices as I did get other quotes). We got Clarendon to do our driveway and this too was comparable to external pricing and it’s very convenient to have it done to move in. We went for standard paint through except two feature walls (one in each child’s room). Cheeky things they get you on are having to pay to line under your stairs, lighting is also very expensive so allow a good budget for this. Gone are the days of getting a bayonet light and changing it to a LED later as the cost difference isn’t worth hiring the electrician for. The products did appear good quality when my husband did a review on the LED’s etc. we built one of their biggest homes with pretty high end inclusions for $632,000 plus our upgraded kitchen splash for $7500 (ouch!). We did have an additional
Site cost of 50k on this because our block is not flat. We looked around for 2.5y before deciding who to build with and did sign with an alternative builder and pulled out before going to a contract. I think we got value for money for what we have but I haven’t lived in it yet so time will tell. There were no nasty surprises and we have not been asked to upgrade anything after signing our contract. We have even revived $2000 credit for plumbing that was not needed. Hope this helps. Our total cost came to $639,500.

Our preliminary estimate and contract were pretty similar to the contract amount. We did choose some upgrades approx $15k (shaker cupboards in the kitchen, nicer tiles, etc) but feel the sapphire options were pretty reasonable, just have to remind yourself not to get carried away

Hi Mel, do you mind me asking if that $630k included the land? Thankyou :)

The job number is 29911258 located in Telopea. Is there anyway to rectify the two skirting boards not matching. Why can’t I just have a deeper skirting board? Thank you for assisting us. Kind regards, Mel

Hi We are currently completing the Sheridan on a sloping block and a split was required with 2 stairs. We also have 3 steps from our alfresco to the backyard. I love the layout inside as it created beautiful high ceilings in the back of the house (kitchen, dining and living). We also have higher doors and larger windows. We did have to front up the 50k for the split though. Our block is 35m deep and loses 5m from the front to back boundary. We are on the low side of the street. Keep in mind your landscaping costs at the end, as we cut into our block all quotes have come in around 100k for retaining walls and landscaping (no that doesn’t include plants!). All the best!

Thank you Mel...really appreciate it. Yes, we have obtained quotes for the retaining walls and landscaping ...they are not cheap!

Is your home a Kirribilli by any chance? And was the leak in the bedroom at the front?

I believe, that you have already got the best reply from Clarendon. Best thing to do is explain your problem and forward to the email address [email protected]

not sure Clarendon in QLD, in NSW, they provide lifetime warranties on the building structure and the manufacturers provide standard warranties on the appliances.BTW any "complimentary " things actually will be paid by you. best you get and compare three tenders from some reputable builders, then pick the best one.