Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 22, 2013 1:33 pm Hi guys, Not sure if this topic has already been covered or not. So please let me know if it has. I am working on my build budget and am not really sure how much to add roughly for upgrades. Obviously it will be different for every different builder, so I am just after a vague idea on cost of different upgrades. S I am wondering what everyone was charged for things like increase ceiling height, caesarstone benchtops, different skirting and cornice etc. Thanks Re: How much were your upgrades? 2Mar 22, 2013 2:26 pm To summarize, leave things that can be done later, later and you'll save at least 50%. I mean downlights (get junction boxes), wall paint, flooring, extra paving, blinds. As for the things you mention, it all depends on sizes. Re: How much were your upgrades? 4Mar 22, 2013 3:22 pm $100k?! Wow!! I think it depends a lot on the builder and their inclusions. We are building with redink and got essastone kitchen bench, 900mm appliances, high ceilings in living area and air con, included. I'd say our extras were about $25k but that included increasing height of garage, increasing width of kitchen bench, things like that. About $3k of that was for electrical. That doesn't includes painting, carpets or blinds as we're doing all that ourselves, but it does include the crossover in an upgrade paver. Hope that helps. Re: How much were your upgrades? 5Mar 22, 2013 3:55 pm ours is a custom home so everything we wanted was included in contract. then we took out tiles and did our own which enabled us to add other things. extras were done on site like extra niche sliding door and other carpentry work $500 glass splashback study nook $580 glass sliding door pantry $320 extra panels portico no cost yet extra electrical approx $800 Re: How much were your upgrades? 6Mar 22, 2013 6:38 pm Our builder has two standards they build to, the Express Series and the Award Series. The Award Series is the higher level standard and has more things already built into the price. On top of this we got about another $50K of upgrades, this included upgrade to bamboo floors in the main living area, floor to ceiling tiling in bathroom & ensuite, cathedral ceilings in the main living area, additional exterior tap; rendering to front of house, skillion roof, additional electrical points including 3 phase power and light installation, additional concrete pad in the cavity under the house ($26900); additional kitchen cupboards, extra laminate colour, cupboard upgrades & built in bench to the WIP ($2500); upgrade to steel frame ($2000); light fittings & fans ($4000); ducted aircon ($5000) upgraded tiles to the ensuite ($900); ducted vacuum, pet friendly movement sensor security system, intercom system and home hub with data wiring to all living and bedrooms ($8700).
Some of this stuff we got from the builder other parts of it (like the tiles and lights) we sourced direct but they installed. We will only have the driveway, garden walls and our BIR fittings to do when we move in. We got everything else done as we don't want to do it ourselves or have tradesmen working around us once we move in. We know it has cost us a bit extra but with lives as hectic as ours we were willing to pay for the convenience. If you had asked me the same question 20 years ago I would have left much of the finishing out and done it myself but that was a different stage of life. Hope this helps Re: How much were your upgrades? 7Mar 23, 2013 7:25 am double garage $12300 elevation $7500 insulation $4700(standard) overheads to kitchen(3m) $1800 dishwasher provision $150(no door) 9ft(2700)ceiling $5500 carpets $3600 tiles $7700 perimeter pavers $5700 driveway $5000 crossover $2200 aircon $5300 rainwater bypass system $525 extra gas run $600 extras at colour selections(oven, stove, tapware etc) $5500 that is already over $68000 still need window coverings, gardens, fencing, clothes line, security doors, roller shutters. it will work out cheaper if you dont get the builder to do a lot of the things such as carpet and tiles but we got a lot of those type of things put on as we are living 6hrs away from where we are building so it is more convenient for us to get the builder to do them. Re: How much were your upgrades? 8Mar 23, 2013 7:27 am we did around 100k, they had already included about 50k on a promotion but i expect that is over valued. we still need wardrobes,landscaping,window coverings, aircon, solar etc Initial Deposit 28/09/2012 // Prelim Contract Signed 25/11/2012 Selections 21/1/2013 to 23/1/2013 // Contract Signed 22/2/2013 Site Start 21/5/2013 // Slabbed 30/5/2013 Re: How much were your upgrades? 10Mar 23, 2013 8:03 am Gristy we did around 100k, they had already included about 50k on a promotion but i expect that is over valued. we still need wardrobes,landscaping,window coverings, aircon, solar etc Good estimate IMO. Re: How much were your upgrades? 11Mar 23, 2013 10:45 am have you already got land or signed a rough contract? in our estate we are building in we HAVE to have high 9ft ceilings, we were not fussed about having them, i would much rather have spent $5500 elsewhere. also we have to have a septic tank which cost $5200 from memory. dont forget you may have to pay for the land to be re pegged if your pegs go missing, we are paying just over $600 for this. Re: How much were your upgrades? 13Mar 23, 2013 11:44 am JB1 $5.5k for 2.7m ceilings is the best upgrade you can make. Everything else can be renovated in future, except for higher ceilings. Not necessarily... We upgraded bricks, facade and floorplan changes that could not be done post handover (without spending oodles of dollars - bricks especially!) All up, 5 years ago, we upgraded about $70K worth. This roughly included bricks, roof tiles, window changes, floor plan changes, skirts and archs, internal doors, electrical, eaves, 2 pac kitchen and lots of pot drawers, extra bench/storage in laundry, caesarstone to bathrooms, paint system, cooling, insulation, cupboard in study and alfresco to name a few. Worth doing it all when it's being built...saves having tradies in and messing up the carpet, walls and painting again after handover! 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: How much were your upgrades? 14Mar 23, 2013 3:57 pm hachy ...in our estate we are building in we HAVE to have high 9ft ceilings, we were not fussed about having them, i would much rather have spent $5500 elsewhere. Thats a weird caveat isn't it, most caveats I have come across relate to the external look or overall size of the house, its not like anyone from outside is going to really see the inside ceiling height. Re: How much were your upgrades? 15Mar 23, 2013 6:32 pm Our home was price at $194 incl Aircon, stone benches and Dishwasher. Our final price is $243k which includes 3rd garage Scullery with cabinetry and sink Spa Extra large robes with Mirror doors Cabinetry to Laundry Triple Sliding Linen Cupboard $2k Electrical Overhead cabinets in Kitchen and double Oven Extra cutlery drawers (3 in total) and lots of other little things Re: How much were your upgrades? 16Mar 23, 2013 10:32 pm DeeMM hachy ...in our estate we are building in we HAVE to have high 9ft ceilings, we were not fussed about having them, i would much rather have spent $5500 elsewhere. Thats a weird caveat isn't it, most caveats I have come across relate to the external look or overall size of the house, its not like anyone from outside is going to really see the inside ceiling height. just what we were advised, we could only pick from selected facades too. apparently where we are building is not having any more major land releases as they want it to try to stay heritage. Re: How much were your upgrades? 17Mar 23, 2013 11:31 pm beth95 I am wondering what everyone was charged for things like increase ceiling height, caesarstone benchtops, different skirting and cornice etc. Thanks Ask the salesperson to include everything that you want in a quote. Be specific regarding height of ceiling, skirting size, benchtop etc. Add as much stuff as you can think of as it costs nothing for a quote. Go for the higher spec option and you will have a good reference for costs. Re: How much were your upgrades? 18Mar 24, 2013 8:05 pm Some want air/con $10k, solar - elect & HW ($10k), larger island benches, driveway etc etc. It soon adds up. We hired Darbecca to do every stage inspection, and I strongly recommend them to anyone that asks me. They were amazing. Thorough reports with photos at every stage,… 6 7143 7 12018 I thought this would be a popular question but I haven't been able to find any similar posts. Perhaps I'm wording my searches wrong? When you have car insurance and the… 0 6624 |