Fitting out a new build

Vampgirl

toffee_pie wrote: »

so, things not going well with the OH - as in she wants nothing to do with the house if i got someone else to fit tiles.
Her concern is damage to property, warranty or generally some botched job - she wants DWH to complete it from start to finish including all the tiling and wardrobes

I hope she like spending hours on the phone arguing with the developer trying to get them to come back to make good because having the developer do the tiling is a surefire way to find yourself with a sub-standard job. The tilers employed by the developer are generally working as fast as they can and have no motivation to do a good job.

We had a certain amount of tiling included as standard (not DWH, but another mass builder): the floors are mostly ok, there are a couple of tiles that aren't quite in line/level (not noticeable unless you look closely and not bad enough to put up with the disruption of having it replaced). The standard of the wall tiling in places was abysmal though. We had our ensuite totally retiled twice, and even now it still isn't great (I just gave up in the end). As an example of the kind of tiler developers employ - we had one who didn't notice there was a pattern on the tile and laid them different ways up. He's also the same guy who noticed one of the walls wasn't quite straight in the corner but instead of stopping and telling someone he carried on regardless.

If you want a good finish, get your tiling done yourselves!

toffee_pie

she wasnt joking when she said she wanted nothing to do with it if i did not get the tiling done by DWH,

so the wardrobe and tiles -
4672 for tiles (complete house)
Wardrobe for master and 2nd larger bedroom (3 bed in total) 1800

will ask them to get a (huge!) discount on above items, if they dont budge will see what happens.

I am going to leave everything else alone -
Carpets - do by 3rd party
Uprated switch surrounds and sockets / LED downlights- do by electrician, screwfix here i come
Quartz kitchen top - leave for later (if at all)

Not sure what is going through her mind, i think because its brand new she doesnt want anyone else faffing around with it and the warranty that DWH has is also on plus, and the fact she is a woman so god knows how her mind works....

thanks for the advice, will keep you posted!

toffee_pie

getmore4less wrote: »

Tell her you have to change to the cheaper properties on site as the addons take you over budget.

She does earn money?

What's she going to be like when the cracks start?

Has she started picking the new furniture yet?

she earns but i will be forking out the mortage - for furniture not even got that far..

toffee_pie

Vampgirl wrote: »

I hope she like spending hours on the phone arguing with the developer trying to get them to come back to make good because having the developer do the tiling is a surefire way to find yourself with a sub-standard job. The tilers employed by the developer are generally working as fast as they can and have no motivation to do a good job.

We had a certain amount of tiling included as standard (not DWH, but another mass builder): the floors are mostly ok, there are a couple of tiles that aren't quite in line/level (not noticeable unless you look closely and not bad enough to put up with the disruption of having it replaced). The standard of the wall tiling in places was abysmal though. We had our ensuite totally retiled twice, and even now it still isn't great (I just gave up in the end). As an example of the kind of tiler developers employ - we had one who didn't notice there was a pattern on the tile and laid them different ways up. He's also the same guy who noticed one of the walls wasn't quite straight in the corner but instead of stopping and telling someone he carried on regardless.

If you want a good finish, get your tiling done yourselves!

I agree 100% but cant get the message across to the OH - which is depressing as you can get amazing tiles fitted for much much cheaper by someone else

Sibz

The new build I got had pretty much everything included. I looked at other companies like Barratt, Persimmon, DWH, Bellway etc... I couldn't believe how little they were including and what they wanted to charge for what I would consider essentials.

A 'garden' with no grass - that's just a patch of mud.
They'll mark out your boundary with a bit of string - We'll just nail the fence-posts to that then will we?
No flooring, no white goods, no painting, no cupboards/storage. I'm surprised some of them didn't want extra for a roof or doors. Polythene for windows, upgrade to glass for a squillion zillion dollars.

And don't assume that paying over the odds gets you quality materials - no chance! It's the same cheap tat they fit into the people who haggled better than yous' houses for free.

Have you gotten quotes etc for labour and prices for what you want fitted (from good reputable firms and for quality products) for a comparison?

getmore4less

Sibz wrote: »

The new build I got from xxxxxxxxx had pretty much everything included. I looked at other companies like Barratt, Persimmon, DWH, Bellway etc... I couldn't believe how little they were including and what they wanted to charge for what I would consider essentials.

A 'garden' with no grass - that's just a patch of mud.
They'll mark out your boundary with a bit of string - We'll just nail the fence-posts to that then will we?
No flooring, no white goods, no painting, no cupboards/storage. I'm surprised some of them didn't want extra for a roof or doors. Polythene for windows, upgrade to glass for a squillion zillion dollars.

And don't assume that paying over the odds gets you quality materials - no chance! It's the same cheap tat they fit into the people who haggled better than yous' houses for free.

Have you gotten quotes etc for labour and prices for what you want fitted (from good reputable firms and for quality products) for a comparison?

Why not say who your new build was from?

toffee_pie

Quick update.
As already stated I was suspicious of the charges DWH charged for 'extras' and need to get flooring in particurlarly sorted soon as well as wiring. Here is where I am at

My worry on the cost of the tiling has been confirmed by at least 2 tilers who have got back to me with prices when I put the job across to them.

Tiler 1 can do the tiling for labour cost of ca £1400, he mentioned the dubious quality of the tiles DWH use.

2nd tiler also mentioned the quality and when I gave him the tile product numbers he said his all inclusive price was £2200, a gulf in difference from a tilers quote with 24 years experience and DWH there.

I looked into superior tiles from Porcelanosa which is my preference and with a trade discount the tilers can do I am looking at an all inclusive cost of about £3k or so, again much less than the £4672 DWH are charging for vastly superior product.

My wife is on board (I think!) with my logic so my problem now is how to fit the bathrooms as these need to be tiled after the piping so either DWH need to let someone else do this work or I need to agree a price with them for the vastly superior tiles, so i might have a problem. I think I can do tiling in the dining floor after the cabinets etc are done but I need to get bathrooms fitted in around the piping and the showers ..

I have agreed on them fitting LED downlights (11 spread across the house and need to be flush with ceiling so let them do it) for 800, that includes a discount and also I agreed them to fit wardrobes in 2 rooms for £1900, the wife wants this so just let it be done plus there is the 2 year warranty.

Sibz

getmore4less wrote: »

Why not say who your new build was from?

Modern Housing New Homes... a smaller local builder. If your not in Lanarkshire (and often even if you are) you'll prob not have seen any of them.
Haven't been in long enough to really be able to recommend them properly. But so far so good. There are wee snagging things as I expect there to be with any house but I've had no probs so far with the builders or the house.
Having been on these forums for a while I'm expecting to have some agro somewhere down the line but other than some minor things ourselves and the neighbours we speak to seem fine.

From what we see here perhaps the smaller developments are ones to consider if you can speak to people who've used the developer before, or even chap some doors in earlier phases of the development or something

toffee_pie

Ok everyone, been a while so a wee update.

The house is finished, DWH have actually surprised myself as the house was pretty much faultless, most of the issues I did find were electrical sockets, or some scuff marks etc. I couldnt really fault them and any issues wrong they corrected.

I got tiles from Porcelanosa at the end and a good quality carpet from ScS, The tiles are great. The marble top and upgraded kitchen wiped out my budget on handover for the keys so I had to do serious saving to get the carpet and tiles in. Parking for 2 cars is nice also, I was sick of using hand car washes and the like!

Still married also...:eek:

markin

Why is that window not a door? Its really bothering me!