New build - settlement

dhokes

I understand all new builds take some time to settle, years even. My new build is due to complete next year and I'm planning to do some work on it:

- painting all the walls
- installing wooden flooring
- installing fittings on walls e.g. curtains, blinds

I could do these things as soon as I receive the keys to the house or I could potentially wait a few months to do the painting, for example as I currently live with my parents and in no rush to move in.

I could get carpet installed for free by the developers and pay for my own wooden flooring after a year or not get any carpets installed and pay for my own wooden flooring as soon as I get the keys. I 'm tempted to do the latter but I'm wondering if there are any major downsides to this?

I want to minimise any settlement issues whilst at the same time try to make the house liveable sooner rather than later. Any tips/suggestions?

Flutterbat17

I waited a year with our house to do anything as we got lots of cracks and of course snags to sort, plus our cylinder leaked water and stained all the ceiling and stairwell walls, it was all put right but imagine if I’d have painted or wallpapered. The builders will repaint if it’s the original paint but not if you’ve already decorated. I’d wait a bit.

magn8p

I back Flutterbat17.

Enjoy your new home as is for a year or so and then you clearly know the snags which can then be easily shown to the builder - imagine you do the hard floor and something starts leaking from the ceiling - apart from the difficulty, the builder may blame you for it.

Moreover, blinds and other fixtures will take a weekend and painting the rooms roughly about 2 to 3 weekends. Unless we are talking about buckingham palace sized accommodation of course ;-)

You must be really excited about getting the keys - been there done that!

All the best.

dhokes

Flutterbat17 wrote: »

I waited a year with our house to do anything as we got lots of cracks and of course snags to sort, plus our cylinder leaked water and stained all the ceiling and stairwell walls, it was all put right but imagine if I’d have painted or wallpapered. The builders will repaint if it’s the original paint but not if you’ve already decorated. I’d wait a bit.

magn8p wrote: »

I back Flutterbat17.

Enjoy your new home as is for a year or so and then you clearly know the snags which can then be easily shown to the builder - imagine you do the hard floor and something starts leaking from the ceiling - apart from the difficulty, the builder may blame you for it.

Moreover, blinds and other fixtures will take a weekend and painting the rooms roughly about 2 to 3 weekends. Unless we are talking about buckingham palace sized accommodation of course ;-)

You must be really excited about getting the keys - been there done that!

All the best.

Hmm. Thanks for the quick replied. I've modified the OP with details of my dilemma regarding wooden flooring. Think I might be better off sticking with the carpet...

daz_79

Interesting post. I am in the process of buying a new build and wasn’t aware of the points raised but they make sense. Apart from the standard carpets, flooring and painting that the property comes with is it best to leave anything else planned for a while? Any other new build tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Flutterbat17

Daz_79 other things I’ve learned is you must ensure you service you boiler every year and also cylinder if you have one so you don’t void the warranty with your builder and manufacturer. Sounds obvious I know, but we thought Just servicing our boiler was enough, and realised we missed the first cylinder service! They were ok about it though (luckily) when we had a leak.

Mention any thing that seems broken or wrong. We’ve replaced radiators, got them in for squeaky floor boards, replaced tarnished chrome fittings, wobbly Newel posts fixed, electrical issues,even had half our kitchen units and worktops replaced and refitted because they didn’t seal around the sink properly and it caused the units and worktop to swell.

There will be lots of little annoying snags that will crop up over the first year or two that need sorting so it’s best to get them all done and then think about decorating when it’s all settled down.

The other thing that shocked me was the state of the floors under the carpets, when we went to lay laminate they were uneven, water damaged and really we should have got them to sort it but we just used thick underlay to level it off a bit. So check them in advance

SuboJvR

dhokes wrote: »

I understand all new builds take some time to settle, years even. My new build is due to complete next year and I'm planning to do some work on it:

- painting all the walls
- installing wooden flooring
- installing fittings on walls e.g. curtains, blinds

I could do these things as soon as I receive the keys to the house or I could potentially wait a few months to do the painting, for example as I currently live with my parents and in no rush to move in.

I could get carpet installed for free by the developers and pay for my own wooden flooring after a year or not get any carpets installed and pay for my own wooden flooring as soon as I get the keys. I 'm tempted to do the latter but I'm wondering if there are any major downsides to this?

I want to minimise any settlement issues whilst at the same time try to make the house liveable sooner rather than later. Any tips/suggestions?

The advice given to us is to avoid redecorating too soon. My dad even suggested waiting out the two year builder warranty, so any issues we will see and get them to correct. The builder though suggests leaving it a good few months at least. It's pretty simple: if you leave it as is, you will see any settlement cracks appearing etc, and can get larger ones fixed, or amend the little ones yourself. If you add another layer of paint then you may not see them at the time they appear.

Flooring - do what you want Builder laid flooring will probably be more expensive and you'll have less choice. If you don't use their flooring, try and make sure they screed at least so you can then get something laid more easily. We didn't get the builder to put ours down and we are very happy with the work that has been done, but now any issues with that just means our comeback is to the floor people not the builder. But I guess we have the reassurance of knowing that the underneath was all in good condition before anything went on it.

Curtains/blinds, we will be doing those as soon as we can really. As an interim measure I got some "tension rods" which unscrew and fit inside a window recess without making any holes or marks etc, and we just have some light voiles there at the moment to give a bit of privacy. A really cheap solution as an interim measure, just so it's not wide open windows until we have measured up fully and fitted blinds.