Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 28, 2016 12:00 pm Hi all, We are going to be finalizing our building contract soon. Just wondering what did you do yourselves to save money? We didn't have any extras included, so we will be doing the window coverings, painting, flooring and down lights after handover. We have also had all the wet area tiling credited back to us as we want full height tiling but the costing to upgrade to that is ridiculous. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 2Oct 28, 2016 8:18 pm We are at Tender stage and I'd love to know the answer to this too! We have left the window coverings but have added in flooring and downlight. Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/853390798159713/ Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 3Oct 28, 2016 8:22 pm We did a lot of electrical provisions so our own electrician can do downlights/fans etc and we'll have our walk in fitted out after handover but apart from that we are getting the builder to do almost everything. I know it's costing us heaps more but we just want it done. Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 4Oct 28, 2016 8:31 pm We've left the driveway, letterbox, clothesline, security doors, landscaping til after handover as found its cheaper plus saved the cost to spend on items that can't do after handover. Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 5Oct 28, 2016 9:19 pm We have just started on site so will hopefully be in around April next year but we have a fully complete home except: fences/lanscaping/driveway/letterbox/clothesline/air con. We didn't have the alfresco tiled either as we want to deck over it but that won't happen straight away. We've had extra drainage out around the house too as we are on quite a slope and didn't want to have to deal with it after handover. Quite a bit of our home is standard inclusions however we upgraded things that were hard to do later (full height tiling to bathrooms, cavity slider doors, wide front door and split level) - otherwise known as Kym - Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 6Oct 28, 2016 9:54 pm Flooring except wet areas and kitchen appliances. Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 7Oct 29, 2016 9:35 am Flooring, except wet areas as they didn't have flooring we wanted Landscaping Mailbox Clothesline We are having our builder pretty much do everything, the less you get them to do, the less that's included in the builders warranty and we didn't want to be mucking around afterwards. I actually found getting quotes that our builder came in on par or cheaper on somethings than if we'd left it for after handover. Our Trinity Lux Q1 with Plantation Homes: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85254&view=undread#unread Insta: @newhomedream Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 8Oct 29, 2016 11:40 am Agree, I prefer builder did as much as we could afford due to warranty cover. We had to pay a lot to get flooring we wanted with builder as didn't want the hassle of diy and any disclaimers between builder and floorer Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 9Nov 08, 2016 11:11 am Flooring - Was originally going to do main floor tiles and carpets ourselves. Got some estimates and turned out the builder's quote was in the same vicinity so took the safe option of having it as part of the build (and warranty). Electrical - Getting the builder to do extra power points as these are easier to wire up before the plasterboard goes on the walls. Many were strategically placed so we can back another point on the opposite wall. Very quick and easy job then. Also the lighting in kitchen cabinetry was done through the builder as its better integrated while cabinetry is assembled rather than trying to retrofit. Different story with ceiling electricals (downlights, fans etc). The items themselves are far cheaper to by direct and its very easy to run cable through the roof cavity. Painting - Costs on additional paint colours wasn't worth it. Anything like feature walls or alternate colours we are happy to ourselves. Window furnishings - didn't even bother to get a quote from builder. One of the easiest things to do post build. Concreting - Driveway was about $130/m2 from the builder. Can get this privately at half the cost. Same goes for Al Fresco area and any other external concreting that can easily be done post build. The builders warranty does not justify the additional cost here. We are at pre-build stage but have taken advantage of Masters commercial misfortune. Recently been buying up a bunch of things at their stock liquidation sales that will go into the new house. Lighting, blinds, paint, wardrobe cabinetry etc. With the larger project builders anything over their standard inclusions (or special offers) is where they have the biggest mark ups. Its advisable to do as much as you can post build (within practical means) as it can save you many $,000s. Different story with smaller builders as they often have reasonable set markups on additional components of the build. With the trade rates they get plus mark up it wouldn't be much different if you did it yourself post build. Also means they are responsible for proper delivery. Its going to be different for each builder so there's not right or wrong answer on this. What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 10Nov 08, 2016 2:41 pm Driveway, landscaping, kitchen appliances ( not to save money but didnt like builders brand), letterbox, clothesline, flyscreens, plantation shutters, walk in robe, curtains Coral Homes Avoca 25 in Gainsborough Greens Gold Coast Viewtopic.php?f=31&t=81406 Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 11Nov 08, 2016 5:59 pm We're doing driveway, alfresco, blinds, ducted air con, fencing, turf/landscaping, letterbox, clothesline, walk in robe shelving and appliances. Also my dad is the electrician on our build. He had to get authorized as a sub contractor to do so but that will also save us ALOT of $$$$$ viewtopic.php?f=31&t=84756&p=1635132#p1635132 Re: What did you do yourself after handover to save money? 12Apr 05, 2017 7:07 pm Mec06 We are having our builder pretty much do everything, the less you get them to do, the less that's included in the builders warranty and we didn't want to be mucking around afterwards. I actually found getting quotes that our builder came in on par or cheaper on somethings than if we'd left it for after handover. Very good point! Might best to review this and re phrase the question: What are the 'MUST LEAVE FOR THE BUILDER TO DO ' things to be covered by the builders warranty? I've just had a look at the website. The company are just building broker's. There are plenty of similar companies that basically draw your plans (they own them so you… 8 10854 The DIY project can be broken into two major steps. Planning and Design and Construction. 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