turnkey new house outside belfast any advice???

missma

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has any advice. We are going to sort our turnkey, electrics, tiling bathroom e.t.c. soon on new build.

Just wondering has anyone any advice or from experience things they did not think of and wish they had???

Thanks

wifeforlife

In my experience with turnkey, if you can, pay for tanking kits in bathrooms, the builders don't. Also pay for decent underlay, it's another thing they don't include. Get the basics right.

Try negotiate with the electrics, getting extra sockets, aerial points, oh consider putting them up high in bedrooms, if your not considering tv's now they can be covered with pictures. If there seems a good relationship ask about fencing and patios too at this stage, it's cheaper now than later, we got 3 laid down for nothing.

You'll probably find a decent choice in the suppliers, although try find out what the price allocation is, e.g. I knew we had 20k to do our house, I saved money by swapping a counter top from quartz to laminate, saved 2k and upgraded in my tiles etc.

keep your look simple, you'll not get bored or dated too quick

Good luck, we're just finished it all, it's stressful!

ger27

Underlay - my developer allowed for none at all in bedrooms so you might need to budget for that! And put in the best you can afford on the stairs.
Also mine had a tiny corner basin in the cloakroom when there was plenty of room for a full sized one. I got it changed at no extra charge as it was no dearer to install.
Think about heated towel rails in bathrooms - the decisions have to be made before the pipework goes in. Have a light put in airing cupboard and if there is a walk in wardrobe check there is a light in their (there was none in mine but they did put a light and power in the loft!). Consider having 2 double sockets in the hall (phone/broadband/table lamp). I regret not thinking of that!!! I had a greater area of paving done on my patio but it was expensive. As I was a new resident in NI and did not know any tradesmen, I paid the extra but it would usually be cheaper to DIY. You can never have too many sockets in the kitchen!!!!

dsab

As already mentioned get as many Sockets in as possible, also try to get some on the walls for TV's etc.

We also asked for proper Attic Access via Attic Ladder and floored attic for Storage. Cost us some £200 extra, but money well spent. Outside Tap and Outside Socket are also highly recommended. The latter is one thing we didn't think about at the time, and we really regret it.

We also got Motion Sensors in the Bathrooms, as we hate the noisy strings commonly found in Bathrooms here. Especially handy if you have kids who go Toilet regularly at night, and you don't want them to wake the rest of the house all the time.

And make sure they put the light fittings roughly where you plan to put your furniture. Our kitchen had 2, and one was nowhere near where a Kitchen Table was supposed to go. So we got it moved to go over the intended Table.

missma

Yea we put in some extra sockets. They not allowed to floor attics now due to building control regulations which have changed, thicker insulation.

dsab

missma wrote: »

Yea we put in some extra sockets. They not allowed to floor attics now due to building control regulations which have changed, thicker insulation.

Did the Builder tell you that? We bought about 2 years ago, so could have changed since then. But I have friends who actually completed on a new built yesterday, and they got the Attic Floored as well, and Building Control was def. aware of it, as our friends took him up to discuss possible future conversion of the Attic into a Bedroom.

Old_Git

outside lights and sockets.If you have oil heating get a tiger loop fitted

missma

yea they told us something about new regulations, said we could put in after but insulation they have to put in is now thicker. Never thought of underlay for carpets. Heating is gas

Old_Git

are you getting zoned heating ,where you can heat the main rooms without heating the bedrooms.

waltsalt

missma wrote: »

Yea we put in some extra sockets. They not allowed to floor attics now due to building control regulations which have changed, thicker insulation.

The builder is telling porky pies. Building Control have no objections to boarding out a loft whatsoever. The new thicker insulation standards just make it a more difficult and expensive job.

missma

There to be thermostats in bedrooms if that what you mean. I asked at a number of sites 're flooring attic they said same thing