Auburn Farms neighbors,
 
If you have large gaps between your siding, bulging, drooping, or cracks in the siding strips, you may have a claim with Certainteed.
 
Before submitting your claim, take 20 pictures of the siding gaps, cracking, bulging or drooping issues. As requested from Certainteed, four of these pictures NEED to be direct side shots.
 
Locate-
#1) Centex Homes Purchase Agreement & Escrow Instructions – Transaction Summary
 
#2) Certainteed Warranty pamphlet
 
You may have a warranty page for Certainteed, if not, the pictures of the front side and back side of the Certianteed warranty pamphlet should work in lieu of the warranty page. Just attach to your claim form when you submit. 
 

 

Next, email Karrien Nations @ Parr Lumber. You will need to get the original invoice for the siding. In the email to her you will need to give her your home Address and Lot # if you have it. Let Karrie know that you are looking for the ORIGNIAL invoice for the siding. You should hear back from her same day or next day, if not feel free to call her. Below is her contact information. 
 
Email:
Karrien@parr.com
 
Direct # (503) 614-2552
Fax # (503) 941-4541
 
At this point you have gathered all above pictures, papers and dates needed to submit claim.
 
Submit Claim @ http://warranty.certainteed.com   -  Click on Fiber Cement Siding
 
When submitting online you will need to know the installation date, however, if you don’t know the exact installation date, just try to narrow it down to a month and pick a date.
 
After submitting, give at least 24hrs for them to get the claim. Call Certainteed and make sure they got it. They can be reached at 800-999-3654. Certainteed will then set up an appointment for a representative to come inspect the siding on your house. When the representative comes, this is where you will then pass along that Parr Lumber invoice that Karrie Nations sent you.
 
After inspection Certainteed will give a choice between replacement of siding or a refund for siding. If you haven’t already given them Parr’s invoice by time you receive their first offer, when you choose refund, say you would like the amount offered AS WELL AS the money for the siding and attach invoice. Also, write that you would also like reimbursement for paint.
You will have to acknowledging that you or anyone who owns your home after you, will no longer have a claim against Certainteed.
 
Good Luck!

 

 

Happy spring!

 

“Breaking news”: After much research and planning and a few discussions with City staff (Public Works,

City Engineer, City Planner) and our landscaper Dave Kelly, the City has agreed to let us fill in all

of the swales in the neighborhood. We are ecstatic about this! This means that we can level off the

dirt in the ditches. We will probably pour a curb around the catch basins, too. No more falling in the

dysfunctional swales, hooray!

 

There will be another CBU (mailbox system) placed across from the existing box located between 2168

and 2152 N. Laurelwood St. This is per a letter from the U.S. Postal Service, and it is for the new homes

being built on Locust Corner.

 

We wanted to give a refresher on some of Auburn Farms’ Conditions, Covenants, and Restrictions

(CC&Rs). If you have lost the copy that you received upon buying your home, please access it here at

under “Governing Documents” or contact Tracie to order another hard copy.

 

The biggest concern we have regarding the CC&Rs is that people have neglected to follow the

procedures regarding architectural changes and improvements over this twelvemonth. You might have

noticed that last year some houses were painted unusual colors for our neighborhood. That is because

many of them were not formally approved through our Architectural Review Committee (ARC). We need

to be in compliance as an association, however.

 

Although it is extra work, if you wish to change the exterior of your house or property, you must

get permission from the ARC by submitting an online application. We have a volunteer group of 5

neighbors on the committee, who review applications and vote to approve or disapprove them. The

application is on the website under “Forms,” and you simply email it to arc@auburnfarms.com (or mail

it or hand deliver it to a board member) and the ARC then consults the Architectural Manual and

collectively makes a decision. The application must be submitted 30 days in advance of the proposed

project. The ARC then has 30 days in which to approve or disapprove the proposal. Most projects are

approved, to be honest, but remember that house colors are supposed to be natural tones!

It’s not fun to jump through these hoops, we know, but it’s what we all agreed to when we bought our

beautiful homes in Auburn Farms. J

 

Also, please add the following email addresses to your contact log so that you may receive all

neighborhood emails in future: board@aburnfarms.com and tracieheidt@hotmail.com.

 

Thanks for your understanding and cooperation!

Mark Hagel, President; Tracie Heidt, Vice President; and Brandon Ard, Treasurer

 

REFRESHER ON KEY CC&Rs OF AUBURN FARMS

• Article VI of the CC&Rs states: “No building, fence, wall, patio, deck, outbuilding, landscaping,

pool, athletic facility or other structure or improvement shall be erected, altered, added onto to

repaired upon any portion of the Property without the prior written consent of the AAC [or ARC, 

as we call it].” In other words, please get all of these things approved prior to the project.

 

• Section 6.6 of Article VI states: “If there shall be a material deviation from the approved plans

in the completed improvements, such improvements shall be in violation of this Article VI to the

same extent as if erected without prior approval of the ACC (ARC).” In addition, if a homeowner

does not submit an application to the ARC in advance, they might have to remove or correct the

non-conforming structure. It would stink to have to repaint your entire house an approved color

if you go rogue, so please fill out an application in advance!!

 

• Garbage, recycling, and compost bins should be removed from the street at the end of garbage

day (Wednesday). (Article X, Section 10.7). We have no desire to come down on people if they are

a day late, but we wanted to share the official rule on this.

 

• Campers, boats, recreational vehicles, etc. may not “be kept or stored on any street within the

Property for any period in excess of 48 hours” (Article X, Section 10.5.3). We aren’t going to

come unglued if the thing is there for a few days beyond that, but you get the picture. J

 

• Campers, boats, boat trailers, and recreational vehicles “must be fully enclosed within the garage

located on such Lot”…or be “screened from view by a screening structure approved by the Board”

(Article X, Ssection 10.5.1). We know that garaging such a large vehicle is very impractical, but

screening it behind a fence is easily achieved. Please ask the ARC about this.

 

• “The surface water drainage contours of each Lot shall conform to the approved grading plan

established by the Declarant” (Article IX, Section 9.6). In other words, it’s important that we

keep our property’s original landscaping slopes unaltered for purposes of drainage.

 

• Landscaping wise: “Decorative ground cover consisting of bark dust/mulch or rock in the front

and side yard may not exceed 50 percent of the total area of the front, side and rear yards,

excluding side yards, decks, patios, or sidewalks, unless otherwise approved by the ARC…” (Article

X, Section 10.13). Please keep this in mind if you plan to re-landscape your yard!

 

• “Each Lot Owner shall keep all shrubs, trees, grass, and plantings of every kind on his/her Lot

cultivated, pruned, free of trash, and other unsightly material” (Article X, Section 10.13). Thanks

for doing this. It can be really difficult to keep up with weeds!!

 

*Thanks for your help, everyone! Please know that we do not wish to police anyone but rather inform

you of the policies, and keep it looking nice around here.