Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 22, 2013 9:01 pm Not sure how to ask this question but here goes. Is there items when you are building(we are going to build with a small builder to our own plans) where we can skimp and be tight with standard fitting so we can spend this money elsewhere.We are keep to have hydronic heating(not slab) and having most of the house with nice floorboards. I Know in the long run it probably cost me extra to get better fittings but i need the house to be completed and be moved into rather than having a house which is constantly been worked on after lockup.I know my wife will kick me out if i am still fitting out the house after 3 years!. Love to know your thoughts and NO I don't want to borrow more money to cover the extras! thanks Mixo Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 2Sep 22, 2013 9:10 pm Hi Mixo, I think it depends upon how long you are prepared to wait for your dream home. If you really needed to cut corners get the basics done ie the size of the house but look to 'down size' on fashionable pieces ie bathrooms and laundries. Just my thoughts AKB <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=62083">viewtopic.php?t=62083</a><!-- l --> Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 3Sep 22, 2013 9:17 pm Take the standard, batten, light fittings and get oyster shades cost about $40 per light. Will save $100's per room over down lights Don't save money on power sockets an extra $1500 is well worth it. (see http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2012/02/ele ... g-general/) Do you really need a phone line? Go standard plumbing and kitchen fittings - might not be the height of fashion but that means won't go out of fashion as quick. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 4Sep 22, 2013 10:01 pm We are a young family on a tight budget. We spent on those things that are easy to change and not so expensive and paid for the ones that aren't so easy in the build. We made sure the floorplan was a good size that would grow with our family, made sure the joinery was what we wanted, tiles in the colours we wanted (luckily we liked the standard), back to wall toilets, sinks, mixer taps instead of the standard 3 taps (very basic ones, it is easy enough to get nicer ones put in later so long as you don't need to buy a whole new sink as it has 3 holes). In compromise for the things we felt we needed/wanted that weren't so easy to change we stuck with things like the standard doors and door handles (so easy to change and actually cheaper than the upgrade was to buy them ourselves), standard paint (so easy to use a paintbrush!) etc. Building the Leabrook with Fairmont Homes in Mallala, SA. Building contract 24/3/13 Council Approval 18/6/13 Selections 29/6/13 & 1/7/13 Site works 21/10/13 Slab 7/11/13 Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 5Sep 22, 2013 11:07 pm We stuck with lots of standard things and really only upgraded things that it's prohibitively expensive or not possible to do later. We raised our ceilings, double glazed all the windows/doors, added an extra linen as well as a walk in pantry (which we will fit out after handover) and added a splashback window in the kitchen. At our selections appt we upgraded taps, door handles and bigger kitchen sink, the variation for those things from the appointment came in at $650 so wasn't over the top. I have a nice big kitchen with a basic laminate bench, but at the end of the day stone benches etc would have left me with a kitchen half the size due to our limited budget. Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 6Sep 23, 2013 9:48 am Thanks guys for the ideas, I hear most small builders let you do things yourself , like hooking in wiring like speaker, lan, security so you can wire it up yourself when finished. mixo Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 7Sep 23, 2013 12:50 pm Absolutely you can. It really depends on what things you will or won't compromise on which will be different for everyone anyway. This is our first time building but our second home so we are upgrading a lot of things as we have already lived in our "basic" home. We decided we would basically go all out on what we really missed in the first place and that's why we built instead of buying established. So we have put our money into things that we really really wanted such as timber bifolds and stackers to open out the whole back of the house, stone benchtop in the kitchen, and changes to the floor plan which obviously can't be done later. However we did go with the standard on lots of other things for eg timber laminate flooring (wanted tiles but just couldn't stretch the budget). If your floors are your splurge just decide on a few other things that don't matter as much, ie externals you could go with the cheaper bricks as realistically only your neighbours are the ones looking at them! My build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70636&p=1161767#p1161767 Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 8Jan 22, 2014 6:12 am there are plenty of things that can be changed at whim later... Doors (but not door sizes) more cabling (it's easier if run conduit assuming you have insulation in the walls your running down though) Light fittings power points (not necessarily moving locations, but singles can easily be changed to doubles, doubles to quads) floor coverings Stuff it's not worth changing later: over-all dimensions ceiling heights structure or wall locations that have water piping etc Slooowwwwly getting a Manhatten 35 in Middleton Grange Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 9Apr 29, 2014 4:03 pm bashworth Go standard plumbing and kitchen fittings - might not be the height of fashion but that means won't go out of fashion as quick. Hello, would it be better to upgrade the shower mixers and bath mixers that are behind tiles to a premium brand, say Grohe that has a 15 year warranty? I am afraid the standard fittings would leak and then because they are behind tiles it would cost more to get fixed. Any ideas? Building is both exciting and stressful Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 10Apr 29, 2014 9:00 pm We just went with standard taps to avoid this. I didn't trust the cheap 'builders upgrade' mixers. May have been too over cautious - don't know. Not a huge fan of mixers anyway in showers/baths. Re: Skimping on some things to get better things elsewhere 11Apr 29, 2014 11:28 pm Pretty much what everyone else is saying, do the things that are absolutely needed and very hard/expensive to upgrade after building is complete. As for plumbing IMO any mixertap that is watermarked and offers a minimum 7 year warranty would be better than a standard hot/cold set up for leaking. Building a Sierra on the Gold Coast https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=68899 Full timeline on Pg 1 Settlement: 13/05/14 Retaining Walls: 20/06/14 Site Start: 02/07/14 brokers will also be in a position to get you a better rate than the advertised rate most times. 6 7584 Bigger the better for storage for me IMO. But I guess it's harder to tell the cost/benefit in your example - mainly the 'cost'? If you go 700mm, what are you doing extra… 2 1235 Depends what you're current inclusions are, but we're not including wardrobes and will just use second hand ones until we can save later on to get them built. Also have a… 3 11647 |