New build house but I want to internally tile it myself

Liz_mcmahon

Buying a new house in Wales, Davis homes medium sized builder on an estate of around 120 homes. I want to tile the bathroom it myself but they will not let me saying to get NHBC sign off they must tile it. They refuse to use the tiles I want so hence I offered to take possession with no tiles in the bathroom. They say this isn't possible. Nor will they let me buy the tiles I want. Can I do anything? They keep citing sign off by NHBC as the reason they can't accommodate me. My design I want has a set in mirror to the tiles. Nothing to way out. Are they right or are they just being a jobsworth?

anselld

Liz_mcmahon wrote: »

Are they right or are they just being a jobsworth?

Both. ie they have the right to refuse your requests if they wish, equally they could choose to agree if they wanted.

They are probably correct that the house needs to be complete before NHBC will sign off, however the tiling requirement for a bathroom must be very minimal. Also they don't like non-standard options in case the sale falls through prior to completion.

You could try using the language they understand - offer them some money to use your tiles/design

AnotherJoe

anselld wrote: »

You could try using the language they understand - offer them some money to use your tiles/design

It might be cheaper just to take the absolute minimum cheapest tile job they do amd remove it and retile.

Fosterdog

They also won't want to be liable if anything goes wrong with the tiles you want or their fitting. Probably easier in the long run to go with the above option and go for the cheapest they offer and get it redone yourself

GwylimT

We're in a new build, we didn't want an ugly electric fire, we had to pay £500 not to have it installed along with the awful fake internal chimney.

Waterlily24

We were lucky when we bought a new build a few years ago, they let us choose different tiles and have the bathrooms and the kitchen tiled from top to bottom. It cost us extra of course but I couldn't have lived with the tiles they chose lol!

flashg67

Don't know the legal aspects, but sounds like they're being jobsworths. If the sale falls though, they could tile it for the subsequent buyer anyway?

My builder was happy not to tile the bathroom . We also got a discount for not fitting an ensuite (we needed a home office at the time)

Can you ask they fit the minimum required, presuming it is an NHBC requirement - ie one line of tiles round the bath / sink?

swishy87

We are buying a new build and tbh if I was a developer I wouldn't accommodate it because at the end of the day the house still belongs to them and they will need it pass inspections. We're having free tiles, which we hate, and will take them off and do them ourselves.

glasgowdan

swishy87 wrote: »

We are buying a new build and tbh if I was a developer I wouldn't accommodate it because at the end of the day the house still belongs to them and they will need it pass inspections. We're having free tiles, which we hate, and will take them off and do them ourselves.

Sadly they're not free tiles, you're paying for them. I can understand buyers don't want to pay for new tiles and then remove/bin them and pay for more.