Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 16, 2009 6:32 pm Blimey,!! Why do we always choose things that are so much more expensive then what we really truly can afford? We chose our brick, not from the selection the builder gave us..of course (Selkirk) We LOVE the Zinc Brick from Austral but we found out today it is an extra $1500 then delivery from Adelaide to Mildura!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hmm.. What can i sacrafice to have these,? or do we just go with what we can afford? I look at it like this... It is First impressions when sellinmg, and i think this brick is awesome for resale too. Any way.. Just having a vent really, thanks for reading Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 2Jul 16, 2009 6:44 pm I have to say I don't regret spending more on my bricks to get ones I was happy with. I look at all the ones that have the bricks I would have had to choose and I dislike the houses! Don't sacrifice because you will regret it down the track. It is something you cannot change after. Things like extra electrical points or lighting can be added afterwards (and usually cheaper than what your builder charges). But saying that, if you have a brick in a cheaper category that you like, go with those. Make sure you're happy with the ones you choose as it is a more permanent choice! Good luck! PS They are nice bricks BTW! Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 3Jul 16, 2009 7:37 pm Yes, I wouldn't sacrifice anything else you have chosen, isn't there something similar? If it's not in your budget you must move on to something you can afford ..... says me keep looking, there is sure to be something out there that would be a good second choice and within your $$$. Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 4Jul 16, 2009 8:06 pm I made sacrafices to get the brick I wanted. I didn't like any of the builders choices, we went for a brick that is costing us an extra $2500. But the brick is forever! everything inside can be changed and upgraded later. The Zinc brick is lovely btw and one of my first choices. But hubby refuses to have a dark brick We would drive around and there where just rows and rows of houses made out of the builders standard range, and they all looked awful to me. I could see the 'cream' and the 'beige' in them. Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 5Jul 16, 2009 8:12 pm I spent an extra $7500 to get the brick I wanted and consequently will never regret the decision. Had I gone for a cheaper one that wasn't quite the same I know I would always think "Why didn't I get those ones?". For me, nothing really came close and I absolutely love them. If there is something that is cheaper but you are just as happy with, then go for it. The decision for me was that the bricks cannot be changed if you are not entirely happy with them, except for render. You will see them everyday, and they form such an important feature of your home. Only you can make that choice! Bricks or something else!! Bricks were of HUGE importance to me! Good Luck. 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: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 6Jul 16, 2009 8:14 pm I would sacrifice for the brick I wanted. As net said, other things can be upgraded later on down the track. Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 7Jul 16, 2009 8:29 pm We got rid of a few little things that we wanted for our bricks ... Boral Espresso. Thought the things we got rid of were upgrades we could do down the track anyway, whereas bricks are there and can't be upgraded. Once they were dropped off at the block ready for construction, we def knew we made the right choice!! Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 8Jul 16, 2009 8:52 pm Teh bricks you choose can make or break the look of your house. It is a choice that will be with you for as long as you're in it. Just imagine what it will look like as you pull inot the driveway at the end of each day. That was the clincher for us. Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 9Jul 16, 2009 9:12 pm We originally picked a brick that we liked but didn't love and were willing to pay the extra $1600 to get them as they were not in the standard builders range. Once we changed the our roof colour though (from Deep Ocean to Jasper then to Loft), the search for a new brick began. We found it and were delighted that it was in the standard range ....but had it not been, we would've forked out the $1600 or more if required to have it. It seems that you love the Zinc (which is lovely btw) and despite the extra cost from them, if you can't stomach the thought of not having them for your home, then yeah, l'd sacrifice other things in the house (which can be done later on) in order to get them. Good luck! Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 10Jul 16, 2009 9:27 pm $1500 is such a drop in the ocean for something that you love so much. In 10, or even 5 years, do you think you're going to miss that money? My tac-home-ter: Been in 8 months! Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 11Jul 16, 2009 9:46 pm The bricks are something that you will have to live with throughout the life of your home. so considering you can get most other things done later I for one would choos the bricks. Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 12Jul 16, 2009 10:31 pm consider eating nothing but baked beans on toast for 6 months and use the money saved for the bricks. even better sell your toaster and just have baked beans on bread better still, don't even heat the beans (you'll save gas/electricity). Expect this to happen a lot though -> Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 13Jul 16, 2009 10:39 pm We are big on brick choice as well and think its a defining element of the home. We are spending an extra $8500 on the bricks we chose and looked at it this way "you can't change them later on" Built 36sq Plantation "Retreat" on 4460m2 at Spring Mountain, Qld In Living and landscaping.. >>> ... http://retreatspring.blogspot.com Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 14Jul 16, 2009 10:41 pm annie.s $1500 is such a drop in the ocean for something that you love so much. In 10, or even 5 years, do you think you're going to miss that money? $1500 may be a drop in the ocean for some of us, but obviously it is not the case for sun otherwise the question would not arise. sun, if you are happy to give up other things you have chosen to get these bricks then that's your choice, It is your home after all. Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 15Jul 17, 2009 12:24 am I agree with SuH, $1,500 might be a bit for them. In saying that though, we paid $3,500 for our bricks upgrade (and our budget is tight) and had to sacrify on other things because of all the reasons everyone has stated above, you can't change your bricks later on. But we just didn't find any bricks we liked in the inclusive range. Have a look again at the inclusive range and then if you don't find anything there you'll have to go back to this decision but remember that you can't change them later on... Big decisions and they all cost money!!! Building a Wisdom Prosperity 23 - http://erwisdomprosperity.blogspot.com/ Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 16Jul 17, 2009 12:51 am Oh, don't get me wrong, It would not be a drop in the ocean now for me either. It's a lot of money. I would seriously have to consider spending $1500 on something. But if you love the bricks so much and you don't like anything in the standard range, then I think you should go for it, if you can manage it. I meant that it may feel like a drop in the ocean later.You may think "of course it was worth it and I'm so glad I did it". Even if the baked beans get boring, they will be worth it if you love what you choose. Every time you get home and drive in that driveway you will get that good feeling and think, "I love those bricks!" My tac-home-ter: Been in 8 months! Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 17Jul 17, 2009 1:56 am Hi Sun, we paid $1200 for our upgraded bricks and love them. We didn't like anything that was standard and I would sacrifice other things in a heartbeat to get the bricks we chose. We had planned on rendering the front of the house after handover but now the bricks look so good we are not going to bother. Good luck. Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 18Jul 17, 2009 2:20 am annie.s Oh, don't get me wrong, It would not be a drop in the ocean now for me either. It's a lot of money. I would seriously have to consider spending $1500 on something. But if you love the bricks so much and you don't like anything in the standard range, then I think you should go for it, if you can manage it. I meant that it may feel like a drop in the ocean later.You may think "of course it was worth it and I'm so glad I did it". Even if the baked beans get boring, they will be worth it if you love what you choose. Every time you get home and drive in that driveway you will get that good feeling and think, "I love those bricks!" I understand. It's tough deciding what will be worth it. There are things we've gotten that were expensive but I often pause to think how useful this is or how great that looks. There are things we had taken off the list and I don't miss them. There are things I wish we'd done differently and it would be complicated and/or expensive to do it now and I have said to hubby pretty much what Annie said about a drop in the ocean later, but it's too late now. There's one thing I have mixed feelings about because we could have done something for half the price and I suspect we would have been just as happy with it, so I find myself thinking sometimes about what else the money could have been used for. Regarding bricks, we found a few we liked and one was in the standard range so we went with that and I still like it. Having said that though, when we were looking at new homes for sale prior to building, there were some that I just couldn't see myself living in purely because of the street appeal, regardless of how good the plan was. So it's got to be something you can live with. Re: Hmm, what to do? Sacrafice something for the brick we want? 19Jul 17, 2009 7:24 am Sun, I love the Zinc brick too. We have visited a display home where the facade that we are getting has a feature wall of Zinc bricks. Needless to say, it's the picture on the desktop! We ended up choosing a lower category dark brick instead; it was way out of our price range. I think you need to consider what is the priority. Is there something else that's not so important to have in the house, that you can forego or get later down the track? When we chose for the house, some things were not negotiable but others were. All the best with your choice! I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15284 Hi Everyone I learned something this week that I thought would be worth sharing. In NSW a lot of developers of subdivisions put covenants on the land which normally… 0 6581 I would be wary. Is you site demilished but nothing else done? Sounds like liquidity problems to me. Our builder did the same. Got hundreds of thousands of dollars of… 2 15409 |