New build questions for anyone recently moved in

ilovefridays66

Hi, we've put a deposit down on a new build in a fairly small estate and our house is one of the ones currently being built. It's about halfway up with no roof or anything. Just wondering in general, covid restrictions and delays with materials permitting, generally how long would this take to complete? Also, do the builders generally let you choose the kitchen/tiles etc. If they are included? We would rather install our own so just wondering if anyone asked for a white box finish instead of getting it done by the builder. Thanks in advance!

elchupanebrey

Paid booking deposit last feb, due to snag this week hopefully. There was a covid lockdown for a period of time before the construction started though, so yours should be quicker than mine to build.

For finishes we could pick our tiles from a designated supplier in town. Kitchen we could pick what we wanted from the supplier the builder uses. For bathrooms they gave us the option of changing one or two things like basins into vanity units (at an extra cost). Any extra cost in tiles/kitchen over what the builder allowed we had to pay.

I know of a lad who decided he wanted to get his kitchen elsewhere and this was allowed. I presume they took the kitchen allowance off the price he owed. However he was not able to get the kitchen fitted until after he got the keys to the house which held him up in the end.

The best thing to do is talk to someone from the contractors office and see what you can leave out. Find out who their suppliers are and if you like what you can get before ruling out anything.

awec

Also worth pointing out that your builder will not be paying anywhere near retail price for the kitchen, so if you decide to change suppliers it will cost a lot more than you think. If you stick with the same supplier you will probably still get the discounted rate.

Made up numbers, but a kitchen that retails at 10k might be sold to the builder for 6k cause he's buying 50 of them, and you decide you want a kitchen worth 12k from another supplier instead. You'll owe 6k to change, not 2k.

For tiling, usually you get to pick up to a certain value, but the value that the builder covers will not come close to paying for the tiles plus labour so you'll usually have to pay the difference.

ilovefridays66

Thanks a mill, yeah my husband works for a kitchen suppliers, that's the only reason we would like to get one installed ourself but good to know about not being able to get it fitted until getting keys! That's great about tiles and bathroom fittings too. So many things to think of!

DubLad69

We didn't get to choose tiles or kitchen. Biggest change allowed was the colour of the kitchen.

ongarite

In my experience if it's a small development by a local builder, you might be able to change the spec of kitchen, bathroom.

In large developments by the big developers, you get what you get and that's it. The spec of the house is fixed.

ilovefridays66

Good to know. At what stage do they actually inform you whether you get a choice or not? Is it within the contract?

cubatahavana

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118459343#Comment_118459343

It usually isn't in the contract, as whaterver is ther it's binding for both parties. If it is being built, I would advice to go and speak with the foreman. What we did is inform our estate agent that we wanted a few changes and that we wanted to check with the foreman. They didn't allow us to speak with him until contracts were signed, as they did not want to do any work and then we would walk off, but we got:

• tiles in the kitchen istead of wooden floor (we supplied the tiles but they intalled them free of charge)
• outside tap
• outside double socket
• skirtings not fixed anywhere, as we wanted to put wooden floors in all floors
• removed one wardrobe from one room

I don't think they would give you a big discount by not installing the kitchen, but you may get lucky if you ask them that you don't want the standard one installed

Thoie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058227135/new-build-questions-for-anyone-recently-moved-in

Something to note is that even when the house is built, roof on, plasterwork and painting done, etc, there could still be delays in getting the keys until things like electric certs are signed off - depending on the house type different certs seem to be needed, some of which are dependent on outside bodies. You won't get the keys until those are done, and they're somewhat outside the builder's control.

ilovefridays66

Thanks both for the very informative replies!