Do everything at once or in stages?

[Linguaphile]

We're finishing off our house build and there are so many extra things that are costing money that we just didn't expect, which is putting huge strain on our budget. We're looking at possibly making cuts, and finishing off the loft is on the chopping block as it's the lowest priority in terms of everyday use and the biggest chunk of change that we can cut. We're just trying to decide whether it's wiser to take out a loan to go ahead and do it anyway in one go along with the rest of the house, or if we should wait and finish it off when we've got the funds. So as not to drip feed, by 'finish off' I'm talking about plastering and priming the walls, installing flooring and doors, bathroom tile, etc. The 'bones' of it are already in place (insulation, velux, stairs, walls, etc). Regardless of our decision, we're planning to get in the heating, electricity, and plumbing installed up there now as those seem a pain to do later, but the building company is quoting us 15k on top of those works to make the space liveable. To me that seems steep considering the electrics, heating and plumbing (plus fittings and fixtures) aren't included. AIBU?? It's about 70sqm and is laid out like a flat with a living/kitchen area, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.

Should we hold off and just finish it off with a separate builder instead of with the building company? Or should we just bite the bullet, take out a loan and get it done now all in one go? It's separate from the family living area, which i guess works in our favour for doing it later, but then I don't know if I want the headache on down the line.

[Sprig1]

If you can afford the repayments on the loan easily then I would get it all done now. It seems silly not to when you are so close and if you don't it may well be one of those jobs which just doesn't get done or keeps being put off.

[Linguaphile]

Yes, the loan wouldn't be hard to manage, but as someone who hates debt I'm reluctant! DH thinks I'm crazy. I think if we went that route we'd probably just try to live on beans and rice for a few months and chuck a few grand at it each month to clear it asap.

[another20]

Get a loan, do the work all in one go - much cheaper than doing it in stages - then work pay off the loan in bigger chunks, early or remortgage if you can.

[Humptynumpty02]

Out of interest, what were the extra things that were unforeseen and blew the initial budget? I only ask as we are due to begin a significant project in less than 2 weeks and I want to be sure I've included everything.

[senua]

Get another quotation, OP.

[Linguaphile]

Thanks all.

Humpty it's an off-plan new build, so technically everything needed for the house to be completed is included, but we had a few extra things we wanted to do with it and upgrades we wanted to make, and they're all just costing a lot more than was originally quoted. We wanted to turn the windows in the master bedroom into a juliet balcony, and that's about 4k. Extra velux in the loft is 1.5k. I wanted recessed lighting in the lounge and kitchen and lights going up the stairs. Wood floors instead of tile. Nicer tile in the bathrooms (the tile in the original spec is awful). Kitchen wasn't ridiculous but cost about 5k more than we'd planned. Extra lights and extra outlets in certain places. Nicer front door and garage door than the white PVC ones they've included. The heating/plumbing upgrades are a huge part of it: a whole house limescale filtration system, tall 'design' radiators in certain places where the long low ones wouldn't work, rainwater showers, bathroom vanities (vs the plain sinks included in the original quote), nice mixer taps, a bathtub in the master bathroom, plumbing/white goods/showers/vanity/taps/etc for the loft bathroom that wasn't originally included, etc. All things that you don't expect will break the budget I suppose but together add up to quite a lot. We live in Luxembourg, and everything here is expensive. :(