Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 12, 2009 6:14 pm Hi All,
To begin I'd like to say thanks to everyone who takes the time to respond to these posts it makes a relatively isolating experience much better! Just wondering -we are currently finalising to build - we have gone for high ceilings and stone top benches both which add up to an extra $10,000 - we are first home buyers and a young couple so I am just wondering if this is a necessity to have in the house or would we be better off minimising the cost of the house? Have most of you elected for these extras? Cheers Bec Re: House cost 2Jan 12, 2009 6:31 pm Quote: so I am just wondering if this is a necessity to have in the house Well, they're certainly not a neccesity !! We went for higher ceilings, haveing previously lived in older houses with 9 ft ceilings we wanted these again, gives a house a sense of spaciousness and helps keep it cooler, IMO. Stone bench tops - No, we didn't, laminate is perfectly good and large range of colours, our old house we renovated the kitchen 8 years ago and the laminate bench tops were still fine 8 years down the track, with simple precautions such as using chopping boards instead of cutting directly on the bench top. What your priorities in your house are is up to you but I would make sure you stick within your budget, and can afford whatever you decide to upgrade. Re: House cost 3Jan 12, 2009 6:40 pm We have a stone benchtop in our kitchen this time as we had a deal with the builder because we could have gone back to our first choice of builder. . It was a sweetner. I certainly dreamt of having stone benchtops but don't think we could have afforded them otherwise.and yes they are lovely but we've always had laminates before now and they last very well. We only have laminates in our bathrooms as we couldn't afford to upgrade the lot.
I would be sure and have all the things that would be difficult to renovate, or change later done first. For us that meant bigger rooms and eaves,rearranging rooms to suit us, larger shower, wider doors /door frames and passageways. As well as the standard things like lots of additional powerpoints, conduit for cabling, But it could have meant aircon/heating,. thicker insulation. the thicker type window glass. etc etc. Obviously this depends on what is included with your builder anyway. For us the thicker insulation , wall insultation were already included as were eaves. Blog http://wherethehearthis.blogspot.com/ Build https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=6634: Yard https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27687&p=378401#p378401 Re: House cost 4Jan 12, 2009 6:44 pm We went with the higher ceilings and Ceaserstone bench tops were part of an upgrade deal. Not sure if I would have bought them if they were not, probably not. There are many opportunities to blow your budget so be careful to stick to it or choose the most important things to extend it to if you think you can. It's YOUR house, and ultimately YOU are paying the bill so be sensible and don't feel pressured into anything. You will be happier at the end of the build if you feel that you can handle the bill for it. That's just my opinion anyway and that is what Iam trying very hard to do
Good Luck ----------------------------------------------------------------- themax Re: House cost 5Jan 12, 2009 6:48 pm Hi there
I think a good rule to follow is to think about the changes which are relatively easy to make afterwards, eg upgrade laminex to stone and if money is tight or an issue then to leave these items out. Things like raising ceiling heights are virtually impossible to do in a cost-effective way after the build so if you have money in the budget and want these kinds of structural "upgrades" you should do them at the time. bec Re: House cost 6Jan 12, 2009 7:01 pm Becster Hi there I think a good rule to follow is to think about the changes which are relatively easy to make afterwards, eg upgrade laminex to stone and if money is tight or an issue then to leave these items out. Things like raising ceiling heights are virtually impossible to do in a cost-effective way after the build so if you have money in the budget and want these kinds of structural "upgrades" you should do them at the time. bec I agree - leave out the stone benchtops - they are a fashion fad anyway - but if you can afford high ceilings go for it... Ed Re: House cost 7Jan 12, 2009 7:07 pm EcoClassic I agree - leave out the stone benchtops - they are a fashion fad anyway - but if you can afford high ceilings go for it... Ed Completely agree we wouldn't have stone benchtops if our builder was not providing them as part of a package. Nice to have but are they required? Not really - second or third time builders I could see justifying the expense but for a first home buyer (like us) we wouldn't have them unless it was packaged in. Re: House cost 8Jan 12, 2009 7:08 pm We are having them in our new house but only because they are part of a current promo.
I probably wouldn't bother with them otherwise because our priorities would lie in other areas, such as doing a big outdoor entertaining area. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: House cost 9Jan 12, 2009 8:46 pm High ceilings are sometimes an estate requirement too.... ours were, we had to go to 2740mm, but we'd have had them anyway.
And I join the general consensus re stone benchtops: we have them but would have been unlikely to spend the extra cash if they weren't part of a promotional deal. I refused to spend the extra on stone in the bathrooms and laundry, and the laminate we chose for those rooms looks fine. Re: House cost 10Jan 12, 2009 8:49 pm My partner loved the raised ceiling but i couldn't agree on spending that much knowing that we were on a budget and could upgrade other things that would be more noticeable and useful.. The ceaser stone benchtops were part of the promo - otherwise we wouldn't have got them either. Re: House cost 11Jan 12, 2009 8:55 pm Our stone benchtops were part of a promo in the kitchen and we have laminate in the other areas.
We are having the higher ceilings as my DH is 6'5" and this way we cannot get finger prints on the roof!!! Re: House cost 12Jan 12, 2009 9:08 pm I totally agree with whats been said. Do things you can't do down the track first, if you are happy with things like bricks, tiles, ceiling heights - then go for the things like stone benches.
BUT, at the end of the day, its your home and if you like something - go for it! ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: House cost 13Jan 13, 2009 4:37 am We didn't upgrade either - and now the stone bench tops are an inclusion . The price also went up to include it. I can live with laminate - although I've had stone bench tops and did love them. I'm short and my husband's not tall so the higher roof thing wasn't as much as a priortiy as many other things. Fi has moved in!! Re: House cost 14Jan 13, 2009 7:46 am Hi Bec,
High ceilings were included on our ground level, as was stone in the kitchen. We upgraded to stone in the bathroom, ensuite and powder (stopped at laundry!) to create some uniformity throughout the house. But it is a decision totally up to you! This will be our second home (first to build) and plan on being in it for the long haul, so we chose many extras. Despite not having started the build yet, I won't be doing it again! Way too stressful! Anyway, things like stone benches can always be added later if need be. Ceiling height cannot! If it is important to you, and the budget allows, do it! If they weren't standard for our house, I would have raised them. I lived with 9ft ceilings for 12 years and wanted more space! Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: House cost 15Jan 13, 2009 7:50 am As with others we went with the theory of if it's cheaper and easier to upgrade to now do it now but if it can be done easily and chaper later then do it then. We upgraaded most things as they were part of a package which included the bench tops everywhere. We also chose to have the higher ceilings as well as we also currently live in a house with 9ft ceilings and it feels so much "bigger". Re: House cost 17Jan 13, 2009 12:04 pm Back Pocket We are having the higher ceilings as my DH is 6'5" and this way we cannot get finger prints on the roof!!! Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: House cost 18Jan 13, 2009 1:02 pm EcoClassic Nothing is free - if stone benches are included, so is the cost... Ed So true Ed, but we found when we asked if we could have a credit and laminex instead, we were told "they are included in the package and whilst we could take them out, there would be no credit back for them". So, we could pay anot have them, or pay and have them. It's one of the issues we found with volume builders. Re: House cost 19Jan 13, 2009 1:44 pm Yes, good advice from all - let the budget determine your decision not your hearts (or the builder,lol) and remember you will need funds for other things further down the track.
Now, having said that, we were offered both as standard inclusions so it was a no brainer to keep them. (As Ed said nothing is free but, and most forumites would agree I think, once something has been included as standard you are unlikely to get a full credit for downgrading the item so it is often better value to retain it if you can.) If we had been offered neither then, at the time, I probably would have gone for the stone benchtops but that was then. Now that I have been able to savour the extra spaciousness provided by the higher ceilings (our house is at lockup) I would definitely go for the higher ceilings ahead of the benchtops if I had to choose now. The following post discussing the cost of higher ceilings may help you decided if the $10K offer by your builder is good value:- http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=11100&highlight=2700mm+ceiling+cost 'We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.' - Winston Churchill Re: House cost 20Jan 13, 2009 2:07 pm If you want raised ceilings you should get them, you cant put them in later and they add so much to a house. I am a big fan of them. In five years time the extra money spent will seem like nothing.
Stone benches are not so imprtant. there is a few calculators you can use if you just google it 7 7536 7 11936 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37085 |