Clarendon Build - Boston 36

We updated our external selections once we go to our colours appointment at Clarendon but i will keep the Clarendon selections to a separate post to avoid any confusion. The below is just relating to the external colour selections we had to update; So... as i had suspected, some of the colour choices we made just were not available from Clarendon. The roof tile we chose was not available in the colour we chose - so another selection was made, not a big deal really. The one thing we were frustrated with is that the 'wood look' garage door we chose is not available through Clarendon - so we actually had to downgrade from the wood look and go for a painted garage door. We didn't like the brown wood look doors available, they just didn't go with our colour selections. Also they mentioned to us something about external beams along the alfresco, totally confused us, but the lady just wasn't clear - we just gave up on chasing an explanation as it was structural an...

We had our external colour selection appointment with Austral - a relatively basic experience. We went in knowing we what brick we wanted - a $5,500 upgrade - and that with the rest of the colours we wanted to stay within the gray colour family. The above image is what we ended up with. We chose roofing materials and colours, gutter and fascia colours, window and door frame colours, the garage door, the entry door, render options and driveway colors. The frustrating part is the consultant did not know ANY prices. So even though we made our selections, they may still change when we find out the pricing. They also have this iview option that's  supposed to allow you to see your home with the choices you just made. But none of it is exact. The colours don't come out quite right and supposedly its expensive for builders to upload numerous facades so you get one that not yours anyways - all in all quite pointless really. My advice  - just go in with some clarity for ...

Now that the hard stuff has been done - its time for the fun things. Choosing everything for your home. I have to tell you, its not as easy as i thought. I think the novice within me just thought 'yep - i've got this' but there is just SO much to consider and analyze. Or over analyze if you're anything like me. The first steps: at the contract appointment go to the colour studio and just book your colours appointment - don't wait! There's lots to do. We gave ourselves two weeks to do a little more research, we spent more time at the colour studio, visited both brick yards (PGH & Austral) and did a tile tour with tiles direct. Clarendon advises you that you must have your bricks chosen before your colours appointment with them - so off we went... We knew we wanted GREY but that was about it... PGH was our first stop and we found two that we liked. Nothing in the included range is gray. Sadly. So we knew we were up for an upgrade. We had alloted $5k ...

The contract appointment was quite uneventful. Literally crossing the Ts and dotting the Is. All in all quite quick and simple. We have received a 42 week build time frame so will see in due course if that will eventuate. The one thing with the contract appointment is that you just have to resign yourself to the process at this stage. Go with the flow. Just take note of the payment deadlines, and any penalties that may apply. Don't get caught out with this. This is also when you will have to pay the stipulated 5%. We asked to pay less (in advance) as we simply didn't have the money and they agreed - thankfully. The fun stuff is next to come :)