Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Jul 23, 2013 10:34 am The pricing for our cabinetry has come back at $25,000!! This is on top of what was already allowed for in the contract so we have already paid something obviously. The $25k is to make the below changes. Standard inclusions for our kitchen were 40mm stone, laminex cabinets and soft close hinges to doors and drawers. So, this is what we changed: Kitchen Laminex changed to ultraglaze with the matching edging Handleless cupboards/drawers Changed 3 sets of cupboards to 3 bank of drawers Added 3 metres of laminex open shelving - 1 divider through there Changed overhead cupboards from 8 cupboard doors to 8 lift up rectangular panels Increased width of bench from 950mm to 1200mm Increased fascia on front of island bench from 40mm to 100mm on front waterfall ends only Removed about 2m of stone bench top Removed about 3m of glass splashback Bathrooms Deleted 3 stone benchtops - total of about 5 metres Deleted 1 whole cabinet of 3 cupboards Changed 6 drawers to 3 drawers in ensuite Changed 2 sets of cupboards to 2 sets of 2 drawers Laundry Added 3m of overhead cupboards Changed 3 cupboard doors to 3 pull out laundry basket drawers So, there it is. Is $25,000 unreasonable considering the amount of stone/glass that was deleted? I didn't think changing to Ultraglaze would add that much. I would love any advice anyone can give on my cupboard door options. I'm thinking the standard laminex inclusion is going to have to be it however as the doors are white, I don't want that black edging that my current 13 year old kitchen cupboards have. Are there options for this? Is it done better now? I'm hoping to get a gloss white - are Laminex, Formica, Polytec all the same or is one brand better than the other. Going to crawl back into my hole now and try and wipe the image of my dream kitchen from my mind. Thanks for listening and hopefully you can share some advice with me. Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 2Jul 23, 2013 11:52 am WOW .... First Question ... Can you get your own person to install the cabinetry? Our builder has been pretty good in saying any upgrades to the cabinets speak directly to the cabinet maker, he gives fairly good rates for cash. -Just as a comparison we upgraded all our of kitchen and walk in pantry cupboards to Formica (the gloss looking stuff), the cost was $1500 for the lower cabinets and $700 for the above ones. -We paid our cabinet maker directly for the 'no handle - soft close' drawers and cupboards, he charged $150 for this. Our first builder wanted to charge $3000 for upgrades to the waterfall bench ends, we ended up going with wine racks and shelves in the ends for about the same price. Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 3Jul 23, 2013 1:35 pm Unfortunately some builders charge like wounded bulls for extras. Your extras price tag seems very excessive. Ultraglaze would only add around $1400 - $1600 in material costs to a kitchen over standard laminex! There isn't any more or less labour for it. Handle less cabinets should only add about $600 - $1000 depending on the design. Going from cabinets to drawer banks would add about $400 per cabinet depending on hardware. 100mm fascia's require extra labour but not that much. Are you able to have all the cabinetry left out and get your own joiner? This would save you a lot of money. My wife and I just finished having our house built by one of the big spec builders, I took over at lock up and organised the internals myself. Cutting Edge Kitchens and Cabinet Making http://cuttingedgekitchens.net.au http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cutting-Edge-Kitchens/290484196676 Mobile : 0419 430 575 PH: 9452 4772 Fax :9452 4772 cuttingedgekitchens@outlook.com Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 4Jul 23, 2013 2:18 pm Thank you so much for replying. I'm really devastated at the thought that my dream kitchen is beyond reach because the builder wants to make a quick buck! Unfortunately we can't delete the cabinetry. We have deleted the overheads and things that we can do after hand over but with the rest of it now we have to 'settle' for what they have drawn because their pricing is just ridiculous and they presented it as a total cost so we can't even see where the expenses are. Things like extending the kitchen bench from 950mm to 1200mm shouldn't cost more as don't we buy the slab and then they trim it to size? I'm just really devastated as so much time and effort has been wasted and I had my heart set on the design. I just don't understand it and I can't do anything about it! Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 5Jul 23, 2013 2:37 pm Kirstenl Thank you so much for replying. I'm really devastated at the thought that my dream kitchen is beyond reach because the builder wants to make a quick buck! Unfortunately we can't delete the cabinetry. We have deleted the overheads and things that we can do after hand over but with the rest of it now we have to 'settle' for what they have drawn because their pricing is just ridiculous and they presented it as a total cost so we can't even see where the expenses are. Things like extending the kitchen bench from 950mm to 1200mm shouldn't cost more as don't we buy the slab and then they trim it to size? I'm just really devastated as so much time and effort has been wasted and I had my heart set on the design. I just don't understand it and I can't do anything about it! Yes you are correct about the stone. Unfortunately I hear this too often. I almost had the same issues when we built but I was able to avoid it. I don't know how some of them can sleep at night. You might not have everything you want but it will still be a nice new home. Cutting Edge Kitchens and Cabinet Making http://cuttingedgekitchens.net.au http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cutting-Edge-Kitchens/290484196676 Mobile : 0419 430 575 PH: 9452 4772 Fax :9452 4772 cuttingedgekitchens@outlook.com Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 6Jul 23, 2013 3:13 pm I'm only thinking allowed here but if you turn around and say you dont want all those extra's arn't they going to make less profit? Isnt it in their intrest to try and get you to sign on, even at a reduced rate? Might be worth speaking to them about the price, asking for a break down or something Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 7Jul 23, 2013 3:59 pm Thats what I'm thinking Craig. Given the cost to change things, I can't see how they can supply what they gave us originally for whatever price they budgetted! What I find odd is that we are now reverting back to stone benchtops in all bathrooms, rather than laminex bench tops because it won't cost us anything! Thanks again everyone for responding and CEK thank you, I know it will be a lovely new home, it's just sad when people ask you to trust them and they treat you like that! So, who wants to show me a close up of their laminex door edges? Is the edging really that unnoticeable against a white cupboard door? Is one brand better than the other with their edging? Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 8Jul 23, 2013 6:37 pm WOW! That sounds so unrealistic. Sounds lie they haven't credited costs for what they're not using, and even then it's still excessive. I would demand a breakdown of all the costs, then ask cabinet makers etc for a quote then show your builder how ridiculous their mark up is Building the Porter Davis Dunedin 29 maybe, thinking of forfeiting deposit and going with CH or UE Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 9Jul 23, 2013 7:18 pm These days they use 1 or 2mm PVC edging instead of the old melamine edge tape. I would suggest 1mm edging it looks quite good. If you look closely you will see a faint black line but you have to get up close to see it. Cutting Edge Kitchens and Cabinet Making http://cuttingedgekitchens.net.au http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cutting-Edge-Kitchens/290484196676 Mobile : 0419 430 575 PH: 9452 4772 Fax :9452 4772 cuttingedgekitchens@outlook.com Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 10Jul 23, 2013 7:32 pm Gosh that seems ridiculously high!! Definitely ask for a breakdown. Maybe there's one item there that is massively overpriced (?maybe the wider bench or increased fascia?), and if you just delete that then the others will be manageable?? Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 11Jul 23, 2013 9:46 pm It does sound very high - I agree with those who say ask for breakdown! I got a similar fright with my upgrades but turned out they thought the contract only included 20mm benchtops when it specified 40mm. So when it was repriced correctly there wasn't much extra to pay. Only other thing I would say is that if you increase the bench it is not just stone, they have to increase the cabinet size below and I would imagine the hinges for lift up doors would be quite pricey but still doesn't justify the cost you have been quoted Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 12Jul 23, 2013 10:43 pm We are waiting for our " additional extra's " to come back from our kitchen ppl. It makes you wonder whether the " standard " kitchen they originally quote you would be usable. We have added pot draws, hideaway bin and a couple of other minor things. The kitchen ppl said that it shouldn't be " much more " but I'm starting to worry. Definitely get a breakdown of all the changes, work out where you can save money if done later and go from there... Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 13Jul 24, 2013 6:31 am Caxam Definitely get a breakdown of all the changes, work out where you can save money if done later and go from there... Totally agree but some companies point blank refuse to give breakdowns on price. If they refuse its because they have something to hide! Cutting Edge Kitchens and Cabinet Making http://cuttingedgekitchens.net.au http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cutting-Edge-Kitchens/290484196676 Mobile : 0419 430 575 PH: 9452 4772 Fax :9452 4772 cuttingedgekitchens@outlook.com Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 14Jul 24, 2013 11:29 am I have emailed them and told them that we will start from scratch and have asked for individual pricing for a few things that I really want - an extra set of drawers, widening some other drawers that were standard, adding a set of overheads which will be about 1500mm in length. We figured we will get the structure right - where we want stone etc and then upgrade the doors in a couple of years. CEK, I have pricing from a high end kitchen maker here and they said to upgrade from standard Laminex to either Ultraglaze or Polytec Createk would be around $1500 for my kitchen, a cupboard to a bank of drawers is $500 so thanks for your guidance, it seems in line with pricing here. It's a very simple kitchen, no corners and all straight lines. I'm sure they won't itemise the expenditure for the $25k. I told them it was difficult to know where the money was spent from the way the VO was written and they just said the 'majority of it is in the kitchen'. I just don't know how they got to the price at the end of the day. Unless they only budgeted $5k or something originally - it simply isn't a $25K+ kitchen (minus appliances). That $25k is for cabinetry only, it doesn't even include the cost to upgrade the glass splashback, put something on the front of the island bench etc - this cost is another $2k! I chose the middle level colour not the base level that they included as standard. It's purely cabinetry and stone - of which I said earlier, I reckon I deleted over 5m from the original cabinetry in the bathrooms and another couple in the kitchen. Presuming that credit would cover the handleless cupboards and some of the extra couple of drawers and overheads I put in. Thanks everyone. It helps to talk it through. Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 15Jul 24, 2013 6:04 pm Make sure you let us know how you get on. Good luck! Cutting Edge Kitchens and Cabinet Making http://cuttingedgekitchens.net.au http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cutting-Edge-Kitchens/290484196676 Mobile : 0419 430 575 PH: 9452 4772 Fax :9452 4772 cuttingedgekitchens@outlook.com Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 18Jul 25, 2013 6:16 pm I've had a bit of clarification from the builder. The kitchen was the bulk of it with $14k of changes. The laundry was $9.5k of changes. The laundry is easiest to explain the changes I had made. These were: Add 3 metres of overhead cupboards in Ultraglaze with matching edging Change 3 cupboard doors to 3 pull out laundry basket drawers Upgrade 3 metres of underbench cupboards from standard laminex to Ultraglaze with matching edging Thats it. I asked for some individual pricing, ie for lift up cupboard doors however apparently the cabinet maker did the pricing by area, not by change so it isn't clear, but I guess I can find all of this out when we visit the cabinet maker. So we are now going to the cabinet makers with the original plans, looking at costing of changing a couple of things and leaving it as is. CEK, is Polytec Createc a prefinished board? I've been told I can select a prefinished board and anything else will be an upgrade. Thanks guys!! Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 19Jul 25, 2013 9:54 pm To cut costs I would takeout the overheads and leave them till after handover. Remember the builder will be charging you what the cabinet maker charges plus their margin on top. If you are going to be able to meet the cabinet maker personally you might be able to ask them ways to save costs (those things that can be changed over later cheaply) that way you get the base the way you want and can add to it. I know our builder charged us almost $1000 for two sets of 3 pot draws around the $500 mark for a microwave recess with pot draw and about $2400 for a second piece of essa stone, ours is 20mm (that was apparently after a credit for using left over stone in the bathrooms over the laminex tops...) Good luck making the decisions!! Re: Well now I am thoroughly depressed! 20Jul 26, 2013 6:57 am Can you undo the changes to the laundry? The laundry baskets could be done later, a handyman could take hinges off, fit the baskets and mount the door. If the floor space is large enough you could just buy free standing laundry baskets. Open shelving or fit the overheads later. Will guests see your laundry? Stay with the standard laminate. My guests have to go through mine to get to the back yard. It might free up money for the kitchen. We don't spend as much time in the laundry as the kitchen. Also, have you added slide out baskets and the like in the kitchen? Use the kitchen for awhile and then add storage. My sister's ex did a trade in kitchens and said lazy susans and the like have a huge mark up and people go crazy selecting all that stuff and probably don't really need it. Here are some shelving ideas http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=laundry%20shelves 9k for those laundry changes is INSANE. It's possible but a soak well is usually much larger. Your 'soak well' only holds 424 litres when full. What is your soil type? Soak wells need sandy soils. 10 9102 Finally got the Soakwell at my house sucked out. Now I’m looking for ideas on how to hide it as it’s a bit of an eye sore. I’m thinking I’d like to turf over the… 0 3597 9 24953 |