Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 12, 2015 2:55 pm Hi all, For any of you that went ridiculously over budget before signing the contract, what did you choose to go without or downgrade? How did you cut costs? Or did you bite the bullet and deal with a larger loan? Any regrets with doing this? We have mostly standard specs, with the only major upgrade being stone benchtops. We would appreciate any tips, ideas, opinions and experiences! Re: Over budget - what did you go without? 2Apr 12, 2015 3:00 pm We didn't go way overbudget really but we were at the top end. We didn't upgrade our laundry past the standard tub, because the Plantation laundries were ridiculously expensive, so we're going to do a budget IKEA one after handover and think about renovating it in a couple of years. That was the only thing really that I wish we could have spent a bit more on. Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: Over budget - what did you go without? 4Apr 12, 2015 3:20 pm I was massively over budget so I had to slice a number of spots. - I dropped from super premium stone in the scullery to premium spec that the builder includes and saved around 3K, - I went with one level up spec on roof tiles instead of shingle type tiles and that saved me 8K. - I dropped clipsal saturn switches and gpos after speaking with my cousins who are sparkies and they recommended standard switches and then selectively swap out afterwards. This saved another 8k. - I had the builder install plain mdf cupboard and drawer faces and arranged separately with the cabinet maker to have all of them finished in 2 pac which saved about 2k - went with less labour intensive handles on drawers that did not require rebating into the tops of each drawer, that saved about 3K. - switched from stainless steel Blum soft closing drawers to painted Blum soft closing that saved 4K. I felt the above changes for me would not really be noticed as the overall feel and fit will still be very high. I am still deciding on the fence as I was looking at having a concrete fence which is more than 25K over the colourbond fence. Have not decided that at this stage. If you are mostly standard spec then I think it can be tough to avoid a bigger loan. You can also look at how the finishes done after hand-over are carried out. For me this will be my house for a very long time so I wanted to upspec. If you are close to your cap with only upgrading bench tops you may want to re-assess your capacity to pay down a larger loan and look at what you have to pull back on to achieve payments. Good luck. Re: Over budget - what did you go without? 5Apr 12, 2015 3:23 pm My rule of thumb is anything structural takes precedence over anything aesthetic! Then anything that would be a PITA to retrofit when funds allow (like doors!) Then I look at function (so drawers in lieu of cupboards) and what would make my life easier (closed cisterns = easier clean!) I'm also not really brand driven, an oven is an oven is an oven, I wouldn't upgrade appliances! I've been pretty lucky that my tastes are rather simple, and standard inclusions are just that! Re: Over budget - what did you go without? 6Apr 12, 2015 3:25 pm Thankyou AussieMark. I like your idea of downgrading the stone in the scullery. We have chosen one of the most expensive stones (it was the only one we liked), but I guess people won't really notice if we have a different, less expensive stone in the scullery! Over budget - what did you go without? 8Apr 12, 2015 3:30 pm Try and keep at least some in the kitchen, lose the bathroom ones! Think about what rooms you use the most and direct your budget there! Re: Over budget - what did you go without? 9Apr 12, 2015 3:57 pm Yes regarding the stone in the scullery, because I went from Quartzite to Ceasarstone I also get to keep the unused part of the slab as the builder needs to buy the entire slab. Knowing this I asked if the offcut can be saved and used as splashbacks as it turns out it will suit perfectly as I have enough for either side of the window. I only wend cupboards where I had to because I wanted drawers. However in bathrooms and ensuites I went with 2 drawers instead of 3 and wide drawers instead of two narrow drawers. From a practical stand point I wanted to be able to actually use the drawers in the bathrooms so I wanted width and depth. This cut the number of drawers down. Fantastic Four is right about the appliances, if you select standard sizes you can always swap them out down the track with ease. Make sure your fridge recess is big enough to fit most if not all sizes. That would be about 1m wide by 850 to 900 deep and have a tap installed. Another area where I can still save a bundle is on flooring and wall tiles. These are areas where costs can escalate very quickly as well. Re: Over budget - what did you go without? 10Apr 12, 2015 7:24 pm We went without render to the front of the house and saved just over $4000. I got a quote from a renderer which came in at only $1500 to do post handover. We then ended up $2500 under budget. We don't like the look of 90 mm thick kitchen bench tops so we didn't get one but that's another think you could save $$$ on. 30/01/15 - Land Settlement 07/04/15 - Contract & colour selections 05/05/15- Council approval 28/05/15 - Site start Build Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76068 This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 28285 Elvis has left the building... The site supervisor quit after 2 month on the project. I guess he was just instructed to bark at people, but didn't like when he was… 26 20828 Hi, I contracted a Builder to do a Garage to Bedroom + ensuite conversion (Class 1a), the Builder engaged the Certifier and Engineer and received BDA from the Certifier… 0 4988 |