Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 20, 2009 3:13 pm Dear all,
I just wonder for most of you, what items will you prefer to do it externally (ie. NOT by the buiders), yet it won't affect the Builders' warranty? For me, I've come up with the following items which I will try to manage to do it after the house is constructed, and the obvious reason is to save cost and cut down the mark up by the builder if they supply those items/services. 1. Concrete Paving for Alfresco (maybe Timber Decking depends on budget) 2. Clothesline 3. Ducted Evaporative Cooler (thinking of a bigger unit with 8 outlets) 4. Colorbond Fencing 5. Landscaping (Front & Back) 6. Letter Box 7. TV Antenna 8. Windows Furnishings 9. Carpets (depends on the building cost) 10. Timber Flooring 11. Home Alarm System 12. Downlights 13. Dead Locks (Extra) Could anyone suggest whether my allowance items make any sense in terms of MAJOR savings? Or will any of this allowance item done externally affect the Builders' Structural Warranty? If you believe there is any item in my allowance list be better off done by the buiders, could you give me a bit of warning and explain why? BTW, could you recommend me any popular place for getting the carpets / timber floorng and windows furnishing done? I would need to get a quotations to submit to my bank on top of the building contract THANK YOU SO MUCH, this forum has reminded me a lots of things which I never think of ~ guess every first home buyer must have gone through this pain huh? Re: Your Allowance List :) 2Jan 20, 2009 4:25 pm Get a price for your alfresco slab. Depends on your builder. With our builder, our alfresco slab is 3.25sq... we get a concrete slab AND tiling to the slab for 4.2k.... we couldn't get concrete and tiling after handover for that price.
Get prices for everything from your builder..... then get outside quotes..... then delete what you can do cheaper after handover and keep what's reasonable. Some things do actually work out not bad with the builder. Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Your Allowance List :) 3Jan 20, 2009 4:32 pm My theory is "why give the builder good money to organise something you could easily do yourself"?
Anything external to the house I would exclude from the contract (ie letterbox, landscaping, paving, etc). Sure use the builders contacts and try to tack on to their pricing but don't have it included in the contract or pay them a margin for it. Air Conditioning - we are getting the ducting and wiring done during the build (about $2k) and then getting the unit hooked up afterwards ($11k), so we are only paying margin on $2k TV Antenna - I don't think any builders include this anyway Window Furnishings - again, do it yourself, you would probably want to wait until the house is finished to choose them anyway, and they then can be measured properly. Timber Flooring - this may be the only sticking point. Some builders want the flooring on before the kitchen is laid, so they have an even surface for the kitchen, others are happy to have it done afterwards and they will simply cut the kickboards shorter to match. I hope this helps Re: Your Allowance List :) 5Jan 20, 2009 8:58 pm 1. Carpets/tiles etc (are you in Melb?) if so, def the cheapest place is Western Distributors, McIntyre Road, Sunshine 3020 - huge range, often sells to builders...
2. We are doing our internal feature glass doors (buying on ebay 2nd hand for $100 per set) and the builder is leaving the door frame ready for their installation after handover - saves thousands... 3. We are putting in our own skylight post handover and water tank. 4. As others will say, what you pay for your builder to put in a downlight, will determine whether you arrange yourself post handover. I know H3nley for instance charge usually $129 each. Our builder charges $80 each and then discounts for bulk orders. We can't really compete with that post handover. Also take into consideration convenience. I don't believe it affects structural (eg. lighting), but may affect their 3mth or 12mth service contract??? ask them... Annie A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Your Allowance List :) 6Jan 20, 2009 10:46 pm Thanks! My Builder charge me around $100 per downlights, and it's a feature I love but I want to make sure I don't over budget ~ so I prefer to do it after the house is done! So if I have spare $$$, I can always put in the downlights!
I am thinking of using the money saved from floor covering to make the house bigger by putting in the Alfresco on the side of the house (which is a family/dining area) ~ As I couldn't put Alfresco in later on??? Is this correct? So if I can save some $$$ and make the house a little bit bigger to start with, then I can choose the carpet & timber floor board later ~ The bank has confirmed me that they are happy to reserve the funds for items that would ADD VALUE to the house, so I might go for the high ceiling of 2.7m rather than 2.55m, etc. The hardest thing is to get an accurate quote up front as I have no idea how much to spend in landscaping, etc ... and not quite sure the size of the windows for windows furnishings, how do you estimate those figures accurately up front usually? Re: Your Allowance List :) 7Jan 21, 2009 6:20 pm Anything structural you need to get the builder to do now as it will cost you a lot more later. About the downlights, that is $100 installed. See how many you need and get a quote outside but that is something you can do later.
I would go for the extension and Alfresco if you want them now. Get the builder to include these items in your tender and anything else you can think off, wish list. Then decide on your budget if you dont have one already. If the cost is over budget, which it usually is, start cutting things you have included that are not structural and then if still over budget you may need to cut even more like the extension or look at a different house. For us, once we see all the goodies , We want to have them all Re: Your Allowance List :) 8Jan 21, 2009 6:55 pm I'm pretty sure your windows would be mostly standard, so list them out (ask builder for approx size) then go somewhere value for money (eg. Spotlight) and collect together the curtains/blinds, whatever you want... add them up and I'd at 10% contingency to estimate my outlay. Landscaping??? maybe call a few landscapers and ask for a few prices based on the sqm's... A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Thanks mate. Yeah good points! Leaning towards Option 3 to get a bit extra space in the cabinets but not going too crazy high (and expensive). Would require a mini… 13 39468 Broker here - legislation says that every true broker must put the clients best interests before theirs so in theory they must offer you the best options for you on their… 2 46003 |