New house

eilidh_s

Hello.

I am just about to start building a new house and I was wondering if anybody had any fantabulous money-saving ideas for me. I have trawled the mortgage boards and utilities and stuff and I have a lot of ideas for saving cash after I move in but what I would like is some money-saving during the build like places where I can find cheap appliances, or any good reclamation yards for slates, flooring etc.

I am building a 3 bedroom, cedar clad timber framed house which is approximatly £65000 and built to weathertight so I only really need fixtures and fittings and appliances. Furniture isn't a big problem just now as my parents are going to move in with me, sell their own house and build a smaller one and therefore be mortgage free so I can use their stuff and replace it when I need too.

There might be a new board in this if there is enough tips.:p

wolfehouse

why not try going to the homebuilding show- you can get free tickets off the website

http://www.homebuildingshow.co.uk/cgi-bin/start.cgi/files/diy/freereg.html?pageref=100304&pricecat=f&venue=g

for just info on the shows:
http://www.homebuildingshow.co.uk/

PROFESSIONAL_LANDLORD

I have a lot of ideas for saving cash after I move in


Before you move in consider


ground levels! don't set out the property too low.

Allow for good storage in the property /fitted wardrobes etc.

consider aerial/satellite/systems etc,

any quotes you get for trades, GET IT IN WRITING

make decisions early, it will be costly to change




BEST OF LUCK

Moneymaker

Planning is the key to saving money.

As regards cable, when I had an extension built I drew a plan of where all the wiring had to go and even that was short-sighted. Had I been able to see the future I'd have had as a minimum:

4 fully-shielded coaxial cables from the loft to each room (TV and satellite and return cable to the loft).
2 x CAT5 cable to every room (for connection to broadband router and a spare for possible video distribution).
Telephone cable to every room.

Doorbell downstairs and doorbell upstairs (for the kids so their friends don't disturb me!)

In addition, I'd have had in the living room:
HDMI cable and plenty of 13A sockets for Hi-Fi etc.
Loudspeaker cables running the length of the room for rear speakers.

windym_2

I agree with Moneymaker. We have just converted our barn and you really must 'future-proof' your build.

We wired for just about everything and installed a multi room sound system in each room. We bought a very inexpensive one from http://www.audiovision.co.uk/ by a company called OPUS. It lets you play music/dvd/sky etc in every room in the house. They start at about £1k. I can plug in my Ipod and watch the slideshow in any room, great when you want to show the family the snaps.

Also, definitely go to the Homebuilding & Renovating show. We get free tickets every year. If you plan on buying something big, then you will get a huge discount for ordering at the show. We bought underfloor heating from Begetube (Inverness) http://www.begetube.co.uk/ and got their quote about 3 months before the show. I took the quote to the show and negotiated another 15% off.

Always, always get quotes and do your research on the internet. Most of our electrical came direct from Siemens via a company on the net called https://www.kitchenscience.co.uk we managed to negotiate a huge discount (over 40%) as we were buying a lot of stuff.

When you get to room layout, lay your rooms on your foundation slab with lengths of wood. Then walk around and see how it all feels. This stage is crucial and could change the whole flow of your house. I did the same with furniture, I stuck pieces of newspaper together to make the size of sofas etc and placed them on the slab and walked around to make minor adjustments to wall locations etc. This costs next to nothing at this stage, but get a wall wrong later and you have to live with it.

Keep very organised, if you are handling the VAT reclaim then make sure you know exactly what you can claim for. http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000150&propertyType=document

But most of all, enjoy it.