The Lock Up Stage is here!

We dive into this all-important (and all-secure) stage 

Okay, so once you make it to lock-up stage, you’ve completed the Everest of paperwork (whatever vice got you through this stage … no judgement), all the signing and selecting, the slab party,  the meetings, and the milestones along the way. Now the walls and ceilings  are up, it’s nearly time for us to lock. It. Up. What’s so special about being able to lock up your new home? Well, it’s all about safety. When it comes to your interiors, we need to keep all the remarkable appliances, fixtures, and fittings as safe as possible. 

Glazing and carpentry get ticked off the list 

In preparation of lock-up, there are two steps we need to tick off your ever-shrinking to-do list: glazing and carpentry. They’re both important parts of this stage and they’re pretty exciting (at least we think so!). Glazing involves glass installation so you will officially have windows and sliding doors. Then, we bring in the carpenters (aka the ones who could build their own tiny holiday house in no time … ahhh dreams) who will instal your internal and external doors. Be patient though, this might take a week or so. After that’s done, we can officially lock up, and you can sleep without images of your favourite appliances getting lost or stolen. Yep, by this stage you’ll almost be a homeowner and that means having favourite appliances!

Ready to face the world 

Okay, let’s recap: your bricks are bonded, your roof cover is on,  the windows are installed and your sliding, internal, and external doors are all in place. And now that your mark i.e. reMARKable dream home can face the storm, it’s not surprising that you’ll start walking around like The Rock (or Taylor Swift, whatever), feeling utterly undefeatable after lock-up stage. Get it! 

Why is the lock-up stage so important?

Obviously, you know why it’s important (keeping your sanity), but just to go over why we consider it such a crucial stage in the building process we’ll start with one word: theft. It’s a major problem when it comes to new property. People like to steal. Anything. Take the cabling in the wall for instance. They can sell the copper from it. Or they might steal appliances and sell them on FB Marketplace. They even steal the bricks (though they’ll need to be built like The Rock to pull this one off!).

Another reason this stage is so important is to avoid issues with insurance companies; let’s be honest, they’re pretty fickle. They don’t cover any theft of appliances unless they’ve been hard-wired in, and they don’t grant any home contents insurance until a full handover has happened. Nothing against insurance companies but at this stage of your remarkable journey, they’re not exactly on anyone’s side.

Bring on the deliveries

We’ll be honest, we adore the lock-up stage. It’s the point where we can feel confident that your new home is secure and materials can be safely delivered to site. It also means that the interiors are about to glow up. Bring on the disco balls (just kidding … or are we?) Let’s quickly go over what will be delivered to the house, now lock up has been reached:

• Cabinetry
• Stone benchtops (if applicable)
• Shelving
• Tiles 
• Doors
• Paint
• Tapware
• Showers
• Door hardware

After all these materials have arrived on site, you’ll be asked to have a meeting with your building supervisor to go over cabinetry and tiles. This is a massive construction milestone, so we want to check with you to confirm that everything is as remarkable as it was when you first saw it.

A lock-up progress payment is incoming (it’s all part of your loan, dw)

As your house progresses, so do your repayments. Lock up is one of those milestones that sees us issue a progress payment. Dw, like all progress payments you’re not expected to fund this one out-of-pocket, the payment will be made by your bank/lender from your existing home loan. 

This is what needs to happen for the progress payment to be released:

• External walls: we’re talking brickwork, timber, and/or cladding
• Walls
• Wall wrap (plaster or plasterboard)
• Insulation
• Ceilings and cornices
• Doors
• Windows
• Skylights
• Facia and soffit boards

Locked and loaded

If you’re at this stage that means you’ve powered through. You’ve ticked off so many milestones our heads are spinning. If you want to view your progress, dive into your TM portal and let the binge begin. 

In the meantime, your site supervisor (aka the one who hovers over absolutely everything like a human drone) will be getting busy taking photos of the site and stacking up the paperwork so you don’t have to. They’ll then arrange a lock-up stage meeting with you to go over all the little details. CONGRATS! Your new home has reached the half way point!