What do you get with a new build?

What's not included in the price?

I just wanted to summarise what is not included in the price, so you can see it all together in one place.

1. Plot position
2. Double garage- possibly
3. Flooring (carpets, tiles, Karndean etc)
4. Spotlights
5. Tiling
6. Wardrobe inners, type of handle, type of outer, type of mirror
7. Kitchen- too many to mention.  See previous post.
8. Colour on walls
9. Extra spurs
10. Garden.  We spoke to someone who had bought from another builder.  They were shocked to learn that the turf for the garden was considered an extra they would have to pay for.  Be warned.

Extra Spurs

You may well find that you would like to place a mirror in the bathroom/ensuite etc that has lighting.  This will require the builders to place a spur in the room so that the electric point in the cabinet can be connected.

Consider where you would like electric sockets.  You may be able to have them moved, again at a cost or you may require extra ones.  Just for reference, they cost ~£40 for one spur.

Choosing the extras

When you walk around the show house, it has been decorated by an interior designer and the potential of the house has been maximised to make you want to buy.  Everything is colour matched, lighting has been strategically placed and flooring has been chosen with luxury in mind.

The trend these days is to NOT label anything as standard or an extra/ upgrade.  You would think that the sales advisors would know what was standard and what was an upgrade, but don't take this for granted.  We had no end of problems finding out what was and what wasn't standard.  Apparently, they don't put stickers on the items that cost more anymore, because it stops people buying them. The result is that no-one seems to know what is actually included.  Be aware as previously mentioned that viewing different sites will be confusing as their remit will be different in some parts to the site you are looking at.

Which extras are available

You may well think that when you look around the show house that everything you see will be available either as a standard or for you to purchase, but you would be wrong to think that.  We had several occasions of asking for items, only to be told that they were not available.

Examples of this

• Carpets.  In one show house, they had the exact colour carpet we had been looking for.  We asked what colour it was, only to be told, we don't know, it isn't available to order!
• Taps in the kitchen.  We were interested in a particular spray tap and were told it was available and were given a price.  We were told it was available on more than one occasion.  When it came to ordering, it was not available. We were then told, we could have the one from the show house.  However, we were later informed by a different salesperson at a later date, that this tap would be unsuitable in the sink we had chosen, because it would have some give where it was fixed.

With regard to this issue, we were told that suppliers have some items available when the showhomes are built, but by the time it comes to customers ordering the product, it may have been discontinued and no longer available.

• Tiling.  When you get around to choosing the tiles, you may well decide to opt for the standard tiles and expect to see them amongst the tiling options.  Again, be warned.  We saw tiles on the wall, in the show house that were NOT shown as an option, but when we enquired, were told that we could choose them!

Standard of extras

You may well find that the houses are graded according to price and type.  This means that if you choose the cheapest house, you will be limited to certain standard options.  In the next price bracket, you will be able to choose from a wider range of options and the most expensive house will allow for the widest range of options.  Basically, the extras are split into tiers.  However, just because you have chosen the most expensive house, does not mean you will have a full choice of all the extras that they do.  Since the builders build on other sites, there is a good chance that they will have houses graded at a higher standard than the ones on the site you may be looking at.  This means that the builders will do some extras that are only available to certain sites.

Choosing your cupboard doors for the kitchen

We wanted to choose two different colours for the doors to enable us to have a more interesting looking kitchen.  The brochure, on the website, for the kitchen company suppliers shows kitchens done out in such a style (it's where we got the idea from).  However, whilst the company could supply different coloured doors and they do for some sites, the site we were looing at does not offer such an option!!!

Carpets

Again, these will be graded according to the type and price of house you are buying.  We were given sample books to take into the show house to choose our carpet and told we could choose any of them since they were all standard for our type of house.  However, when it came to the pricing, this turned out to be incorrect.  We had repeatedly checked this out with the sales people before choosing, because by now we had been told several conflicting "facts" regarding price and choice, so to be told they had got this wrong was another source of irritation.  I advise you very strongly to continually check what you are getting for your money.

Types of carpet

1. Traditional wool.
2. Stain free- polypropylene
3. Synthetic.  Nylon, polyester, olefin and acrylic

The stain free ones are sold as being bleach washable.  Never tried it, so can't vouch for it.  However, we went to a local carpet fitter and salesman who told us that these type of carpets are selling more than wool because families like them.  Most people don't really know how to properly clean a wool carpet, so view them as difficult to clean.  However, it is a lack of knowledge that gives the impression that wool is difficult to clean.  Despite the durability and the many other qualities of    wool, the stainfree types are growing in popularity because you can clean them with a 10% solution of bleach.

Please don't take my word for it as I have never had one of these stainfree carpets and the 10% solution is from memory only.

That's enough for today.  More at a later date.