Caberdek is the floor of choice for upmarket housebuilder

Clarus Homes, a successful, innovative housebuilder from Maidstone, Kent, now uses Norbord’s Caberdek P5 particleboard flooring as standard for all of its new homes.

Launched by business partners, Russell Ledger and Chris Dickens only four years ago, Clarus Homes specialises in high quality traditional homes in the Kent and Sussex Weald.

And, despite launching the company into the teeth of a recession, the partnership has thrived, thanks largely to a reputation for quality, says Mr Dickens: “We look for the best sites and insist on the best quality materials and workmanship” he explains.

Since the company’s launch in 2007, all Clarus developments have featured Norbord’s Caberdek flooring system. “It’s the perfect solution. As soon as the first floor joists are in place we lay the floor and the bricklayers just carry on” says Mr Dickens.

Caberdek is a moisture-resistant, P5 particleboard product with a special non-slip protective film which provides a tough working surface to protect the board during construction work. Clarus obtains its Caberdek from Norbord distributor, Travis Perkins.

“We tend to build through the winter months and complete in the spring or early summer” says Mr Dickens. “It means we’re building during the most inclement weather, but it also means we’re selling at the right time of year.”

“It suits us to use a product like Caberdek that allows us to work in bad weather” he adds. Mr Dickens also likes the fact that, as well as preventing water damage, Caberdek’s protective film allows him to finish the job with a clean floor surface.

“Presentation’s important and when everything is finished, we can simply peel off the film to reveal a pristine floor” he says.

Clarus is currently working on a development of five 4-bedroom family homes at Lower Dene in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Here, the roofs are currently being installed and, although the development is not due for completion until June, Mr Dickens says that one of the houses has already been sold off-plan.