costs of spec out for new house. advice.

Specialun

so we just bought a new build in a new estate. house came with pcm allowance of 13.5k. the house was sold to us for “luxury” however three weeks in i would question some of the basic standard fittings such as toilet, showers, painting. so far we have;

* brochure said choice of colours. we were told white ceiling and magnolia wall. anything outside of this is 250 for hall + landing. 200 for kitchen. 100 per bathroom ( even though half is tiled ) 200 for living room. these costs inc paint. expensive?

+ in a bathroom we wanted wall hung sinks and a shower over a bath. a pipe moved slighly so shower would face a wall. including fitting shower this was 900 just for work. expensive?

+ bathroom spec out was 2200 additional contractor bought in bulk a he has over 200 houses in one go. when we changed off standard the building provider contracted to the job. this is 1 shower, 3 toilets, 3 sinks, 2 ladder rads.

above is just a summary of costs. i recognised that outside of standard there would be costs but i get the feeling that these boys are milking me. the houses were all built and the second you even move a pipe they go into oh thats extra

im planning on writing an email to the project manager but i dunno if it makes a difference as they can just go oh if yadont like it fcuk off and they will sell it again so easily. i thought the while idea behind a contractors list was that as a buyer you get economies of scale for work as they will have the volume for being on these lists. should a project manager not be working with us also to keep the costs down? it seems like its just pals of the building company are all on tne gravey train

any advice. or as a first time buyer was i ignorant and thats just the way it is.

Samuel T. Cogley

None of those costs seem expensive tbh. A tub of paint can be €50.

Specialun

I can't really help you out too much, although I do know a friend in a similar boat (bought a new build) and their choice of colours was also magnolia or white. :rolleyes:

With extra cost for anything else.

Specialun wrote: »

house came with pcm allowance of 13.5k.

Can I ask what this means? PCM allowance of 13.5k? I don't understand that..

davo10

PC = prime cost (necessary) items that the buyer has not yet selected. The builder will allow buyer to chose items up to a total value of €13.5k.

Op, once you start moving pipework or picking items of higher spec/cost, they are going to hit you. In some places you can take the €13.5k and have the work done yourself, but the benefit of getting the builders to do it is that they are on site and incentivised to do the work quickly so the deal can close.

Dymo

Those prices seem about right, your buying as is anything else is extra.

Samuel T. Cogley

Worth getting it done right from the outset also.

Specialun

sorry kkv I meant PC. what davo said for what it is.

perhaps its my nievety but i feel each contractor is fleecing me.

ie painter guy.2500 allowance for painting. if i tell him different colour..sure isnt he painting it anyways so shouldnt the difference in paint be paid..

plus the contractor has bulk bought off building providers for significantly off rrp.but when i buy i dont. i buy off rrp. the builder provider takes off the standard fittings cost but this is the bulk buy price. so in this has the contractors buying power not done me?

plus should having a contractor list not mean economies of scale for a buyer too

Fol20

If you feel the items are too limited or costing two high. You could always try and see if you can remove the pc sum from the purchase price and get everything yourself. Or if you can for your pc sum. Pic out the essentials and paint or Diy the work you can do. At least then. You might pay extra for the stuff your customizing that you can’t do and save on what you
Can do

PhoenixParker

ie painter guy.2500 allowance for painting. if i tell him different colour..sure isnt he painting it anyways so shouldnt the difference in paint be paid..

Theres a fair bit of coordination involved in making sure the right paint gets to the right house at the right time and the people actually doing the painting know about the variation. Narrow it down to rooms and it's worse again.

There's a big risk/cost involved in rectifying it when it inevitably goes wrong too.

They quote accordingly.

davo10

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Theres a fair bit of coordination involved in making sure the right paint gets to the right house at the right time and the people actually doing the painting know about the variation. Narrow it down to rooms and it's worse again.

There's a big risk/cost involved in rectifying it when it inevitably goes wrong too.

They quote accordingly.

Painters also tend to use a spray when doing multiple rooms in the same colour, if you restrict colour to white/magnolia, it's s lot quicker and easier