Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 24, 2015 4:08 pm Hi all, we have just been through our prestart meeting with ventura and of course there are a ton of potential upgrades to consider. we have budgeted for some of these so need to decide which upgrades are the most important but would appreciate hearing views/experiences from a knowledgeable crowd. Kitchen Benchtop (currently 20mm) Upgrade to 30mm $1375 Upgrade to 40mm $3,588 integrated dishwasher $2,000 (includes dishwasher) Pantry laminate shelving $2,000 Vinyl wrap settler doors to all kitchen cabinets (in lieu of standard laminates) $3,360 Front door upgrade $816 Internal doors upgrade $900 Skylight above stairs $2,356 Upgrade showers in master and ensuite downstairs $1300 The rest is pretty small stuff so i won't include it. My fiance of course would like to upgrade everything but i think vinyl wrap cabinets, which sound like they have a bad reputations is too steep as is the shelving in the pantry. I think we could do both of these through a carpenter and keep the cost down. Any recommendations of other options regarding kitchen cabinets? Skylight is pretty important as we don't have any natural light to the stairs, although i didn't think it would be that expensive. i think 40mm benchtop is unnecessary especially for the cost. Icing on the cake is that 28 downlights will cost $3,500, just have to accept that i will be broke for the next 5 years! thanks for any advice Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 2Mar 24, 2015 5:21 pm Pantry is expensive and can be done yourself after handover. I am also doing my robes after handover. Upgrade the benchtops to 30mm rather than 40mm. IMHO, and after some research myself, the 30mm looks just as good and is a solid thickness. The 40mm is only 20mm laminated to the thicker section and only on edges. Very expensive and you can see the joins Wrap the doors? Not something I would be doing personally. Integrated dishwasher? Do you mean like a dishwasher space under you bench? Seems very expensive for a dishwasher. Front door is always worth upgrading now. Hard to do later. Upgrade internals... Something I am trying to decide on myself... Let me know what you decide lol. Remember... You can't turn a skylight off. At the end of the day... Upgrades are just that, but they are also where the "personal touch" is achieved to some extent. Have fun deciding Cheers, Paul (& Lisa) Parkhill 36 by ClarendonHomes in Coomera Retreat H1 Build Thread And Blog Building Blogs List - Go Ahead And Add Yours!! Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 3Mar 24, 2015 6:49 pm
Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 4Mar 24, 2015 7:18 pm the cost for dishwasher is to have the cupboard finish over the front of the dishwasher so it's built into the cupboards and you can't actually see it. it includes the cost of the actual dishwasher, guessing they cost about $1,500 so $500 to have it hidden in the cupboards basically there is v little light coming down the stairs as there is no landing at the top and only closed off bedrooms so i think it would be nice. Prob with the formica laminate cupboards in the kitchen is that we think it might look a bit bland, but as you have pointed out, vinyl wrap is not reliable and pretty expensive. just wondering if there are other options. thanks for all you helpful advice Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 5Mar 24, 2015 7:27 pm We went gloss laminates for our overheads in the kitchen to make them pop a bit more than just plain. I agree that the pantry shelves and integrated dishwasher probably aren't worth it unless your dishwasher is going to be facing a living area and you really don't want to see it. We didn't upgrade the front door and I wish we had. Get a quote for a solar tube so that you know if you can put one in later and it's going to be cheaper. With upgrades our theory was that we upgraded things that were difficult to change later or that we wanted covered by the builder's insurance. Structural things are harder to do later. Cosmetic things you can do whenever you want. Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 6Mar 24, 2015 8:13 pm Wow that all sounds very expensive. My only tip is, do what you can't do later. I am on an extremely tight budget (my total upgrade spend is 3k). I focused on the things I can't do later, and things that could keep down energy costs as priority number 1, like double glazing, sarking, and then things that are nice to have and difficult to do later, like tiled shower bases, and then lastly spend on things you can do later like dishwasher and blinds. Good luck!! Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 7Mar 24, 2015 8:25 pm My vote is for the doors; a nice front door gives a lovely welcome and if it's bigger it's practical whenever you need to move something in, and if the internal doors will be more soundproofed then you won't regret that upgrade. The built in dishwashers look lovely, but is it easy to replace them when they die? Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 8Mar 25, 2015 11:30 am High ceilings would always be my number 1 upgrade! Anything that is 'structural' so the skylight would rank as a priority, plumbing for a dishwasher, that sort of thing as the others can all be retrofitted later! Having said that internal doors are tedious to replace/paint so I'd then 'rank' that above stylised upgrades too. Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 9Mar 25, 2015 11:48 am thanks all we've gone 31c downstairs with 28c al fresco doors (not cheap) i think 30mm benchtop the dishwasher is hidden so does not need to be behind a cupboard finish front door and skylight we have decided to go ahead same with upgrade in showers as we both think these are important while i have your attention, we are going for hanging/pendent lights over the breakfast bar in the kitchen and we were thinking about anohter feature light over the dining table but they are not far from each other so concerned with overkill on the lighting so perhaps we should just get a couple of downlights for that section. So many decisions to make!! Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 10Mar 25, 2015 11:50 am I would firstly take anything out of that list which is possible to do after, and then run through the list of items which can't be done after such as higher doors, benchtop thickness etc. If you have 31c ceilings I would deff upgrade your internal doors to 2340, it makes a huge difference and everyone who has come through our house the first thing they notice is our tall door frames. I would only do 30mm bench, I think 40mm is an unnecessary expense unless you really love it. Skylight might be harder to do after so i'd maybe look at doing that also. I'd also upgrade the showers now as too hard to do after. If the front door upgrade is for a 1200x2340 DO IT I loveeee mine Our build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70984 Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 11Mar 25, 2015 11:51 am We tossed back and forth between breakfast bar pendants and a dining table pendant, and in the end we scrapped the breakfast bar ones because we decided they wouldn't give enough illumination in the kitchen and replaced them with downlights, and just have a feature pendant over the dining table. The dining pendant will also pretty much line up with the front door so as you come in and look down the house you'll see it, which helped with the decision! Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 12Mar 25, 2015 3:21 pm Once upon a time not so long ago lol... I would have said Downlight, Downlight, Downlight.. but now..... I would actually consider pendant lights over both (We ARE doing pendants over both). These two images are from the display home of the design we are building. Pretty close together but I dont think they are over done... Cheers, Paul (& Lisa) Parkhill 36 by ClarendonHomes in Coomera Retreat H1 Build Thread And Blog Building Blogs List - Go Ahead And Add Yours!! Re: What to prioritise regarding upgrades 14Mar 27, 2015 10:39 am Upgrades are such a personal choice. Different people prioritise different things, not just because of the different house plans, but personal opinion. From what you have noted, I would definitely do the skylight, and the front door, as this forms part of your front facade - a nice door goes a long way in terms of the look. Personally I wouldn't bother with making the internal doors higher, unless you are extremely tall. We have 9" ceilings and we are keeping the standard door heights. Making them higher is simply for the look, it doesn't make them work any better Do you have to upgrade the stone benchtops? I don't think that the 20mm looks bad. I am actually considering downgrading from 20mm stone to a very similar laminate option to cut some cost in the kitchen. Pantry shelving could definitely be done after handover, especially if it is a pantry with a door that you can only see in if the door is open (so it could be a cheap shelving option, etc). I would just have a standard freestanding dishwasher. Most people expect to see them these days, they don't stick out that much. You can get a reasonable freestanding dishwasher for $800.00 - $1,000.00. The cost of the downlights is always huge. I think we are going to be up for about $4,000.00 for our lighting.... Another thing to consider upgrading is carpet. Most standard carpets are nearly 100% nylon which will wear out very quickly. Good luck with everything. 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