New build masonry

srn122 · 12 March 2017 at 8:52PM

Hi all,

Apologies in advance if this is in the wrong forum.

We've been deciding to buy a new home for our family and had one in mind, we had looked at a replica showroom and were quite pleased. We subscribed our interest in that type of home, quick forward a few months and we were notified a plot was available of that type to be reserved. We drove up and reserved it as soon as possible and paid an initial deposit.

A meeting was scheduled and during the meeting we found out that the exterior was slightly different for each home of the same type, we would've loved a dark-ish theme (as was present in the showroom) but instead it was white.. no big deal we thought.

The problem starts later that evening when my wife decided to drive past the development area and look at other houses. She saw a similar house of the same type with the exact same specification as ours and it looked pretty bad on the outside in terms of masonry.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about (this is not the home nor the right colours, just to illustrate the style): i.imgur.com/7UzhbQ3.jpg

As you can see on the photo the right side looks odd with first two layers brick with a dark yellow-ish colour and rest non-brick with a white colour (is this called rendered masonry?). Moreover the living room portion on the left side (with the window) is also white rendered masonry and the back portion of the house is also entirely white. This looks very odd to us.

I was wondering if there's any chance we can actually change this (either through DIY or elsewhere), we don't really mind if there's extra cost involved.

We haven't asked our property developers yet, but I do recall a very early question (a few months ago) regarding brick type. They did mention that it's not really possible to change it since it's set in stone (no pun intended).

I'm planning on asking them when they're open again (unfortunately not for another 2 days). The location is very ideal to us, the interior style is top notch. The exterior is putting us off, the showroom is all brick with the same 'dark' colour (no layers of non-brick white randomly). I'm personally not sure if much can be done but so far no construction has started if that's of any help. Our ETA completion time will be 4-5 months, but we still have the option to back out and only lose our deposit if we want to.

Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts.

HouseBuyer77 · 12 March 2017 at 9:02PM

Take this with a large pinch of salt (I am certainly no expect on house construction) but I suspect the white portion (which is indeed rendered) is made of block-work (grey concrete blocks, this stuff: https://www.methodstatementhq.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/masonry-works-for-walls.jpg). The rendering is probably required to keep it decently weatherproof and even if it isn't I suspect you prefer the white to the concrete blocks!

For the front they've just put the stone there (with the inner wall made up of block work again, there will be a cavity in between). This is a cheaper way to produce a house that has frontage with stone without having to buy that stone for an entire house's worth of walls.

Anything can be redone, but if I'm right it will be expensive. You could get another wall built immediately in front of the one you don't like (You can see people doing this when they get external wall insulation) but I doubt this comes cheap. I guess you could knock the outer part of the cavity wall down and replace but that definitely wouldn't be cheap (if indeed possible, they'd need to errect some kind of temporary structure to hold up the roof etc to replace the outer wall, a major piece structural surgery).

HouseBuyer77 · 12 March 2017 at 9:04PM

Another thought: I believe you can buy products that are like stone tiles that you can affix to the outside of a building. Gives the look of stone, but is only a inch or two thick. That wouldn't be that expensive (certainly less than trying to build an actual wall out of the same stone). Perhaps this is what they're using on the front anyway?

Edit: Yes you can, e.g. this company seems to have a wide range of options: http://www.realstonecladding.co.uk/

Owain_Moneysaver · 12 March 2017 at 9:12PM

Changing the external appearance of a house as suggested may contravene planning regulations or any restrictive covenants on the development

srn122 · 12 March 2017 at 9:12PM

Thanks for the quick response, I'm going to have a detailed chat with the property developers in a few days and discuss what we can do (if we're allowed to do anything). Ultimately we'd love for them to just build the house in the normal format as the showroom (brick-only), though all the paper work and such probably points to rendered masonry in some parts of the exterior.

Cladding indeed sounds like a good alternative (as long as it's guaranteed to work out in the long run and blends in well with the normal brick next to it). Let's hope it doesn't come down to that, the only plus point is that none of the construction has started so perhaps we may be able to convince them (unfortunately there is a lot of interest in that type of house, so I fear they may just decline and get someone else to buy it).

Chanes · 12 March 2017 at 9:29PM

I thought you could clad the building, as mentioned. But also as mentioned make a point of ensuring the developers give full permission for it and it doesn't breach a covenant, otherwise the cost of removal and make right would be eye watering.

Whatever you agree, ensure you are on sound legal ground in word and deed. Is the house Freehold?

srn122 · 12 March 2017 at 9:41PM

It is freehold, I'll be clearing things up to see if we're allowed to do anything as we may depending on outcome just leave the house and search elsewhere (as we're not in legal binding yet, just have the house for a few weeks under reservation till we have sorted some paperwork).

Chanes · 12 March 2017 at 9:49PM

srn122 wrote: »

It is freehold, I'll be clearing things up to see if we're allowed to do anything as we may depending on outcome just leave the house and search elsewhere (as we're not in legal binding yet, just have the house for a few weeks under reservation till we have sorted some paperwork).

That's a rational approach, good luck!

G_M · 12 March 2017 at 11:07PM

Just because it is freehold does not mean there are no covenants limiting what changes you can make.

Or Planning constraints.

What I find amazing here is that you put down a deposit wthout knowing what you were agreeing to buy. I wouldn't do that for a £500 bed, let alone a property worth hundreds of thousands....! :eek:

srn122 · 13 March 2017 at 12:15AM

I agree with you G_M, however we were under the misconception that the property would be exactly the same as the showroom shown to us. We were told during the meeting after the deposit that it would be slightly different. Had we known we'd pan out things differently, in any case the initial deposit was only £250 so it's not too bad.

Ithilien · 16 March 2017 at 12:04AM

We're buying a new build. In our case each plot has been allocated a specific wall and roof colour agreed by the council prior to obtaining planning permission. That means we can't change it at all (nor anything else on the outside for that matter).

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New build masonry

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