House building: where to splurge, where to save?

[Linguaphile]

We're in the middle of our house build (bought the shell off plan and are now in the middle of loads of meetings to choose all the bits for heating/electrics/plumbing/flooring/tiling/etc). We budgeted about 60k for alterations and extras above and beyond what was specified in the original plans, but I'm freaking out because costs are spiralling out of control and we're currently looking at being about 20k over budget. Eeeekkk!!! I'm trying to decide where I should be cutting the budget to save costs and where to invest (because obviously some things are hard to change or fix later). At the moment I'm thinking the first priority should be prioritising by what absolutely will be there for good once it's in, i.e. springing for quality flooring, nice kitchen, generous electrics and good lighting, structural changes to make better use of the space, a limescale filtration system (our water is insanely hard here and gums up the pipes), and doing a very basic finishing off our 3rd floor loft area (which is like a 2 bed apartment, though we won't be renting out initially, just using it for guests as we have a lot of them!) with flooring/light/heat/plug sockets in place and pipes and electrics ready to go for eventually installing a kitchen and bathroom up there. But how and where should we cut corners from there? It's a big house5 bedrooms, 3.5 bath, 250sqm so everything is more expensive. Things that are running up the budget are:

• fully finishing off the loft with bathroom and kitchen(5-10k)
• glass railings on the terraces instead of stainless steel (6k)
• recessed lighting (not sure yet, probably a lot)
• bathroom things like rainwater showers (600 each x3), double sink vanities (1200 each even from Ikea!), bathtub and tap for master bedroom (1.2k), mixer taps instead of just cold water taps for bathroom sinks (100 each x 5)
• fireplace (5k minimum)
• adding an extra velux in the loft living room/media room to get more light (2k)
• making master bedroom windows into big sliding doors to make the most of a stunning view (maybe 3k minimum)
• built in wardrobe for master bed walk-in closet (1.5k)

etc.

I mean these are obviously first world problems. But... if it were you, where would you splurge and where would you save??

I feel your pain! We remodelling our house and I have a 11 page spreadsheet to try and track everything. I am working out what we can defer and what we need to spend on.

Kitchen - last time we had Magnet and they were terrible, I put a B&Q kitchen in a rental property which was much cheaper and seemed as good. This time on mumsnet recommendation we are going for DIY kitchens, but splurging by having a bespoke colour.

Lights - they make or break a room. We are not going for recessed lighting this time but a balance of ceiling, wall and standard lights all on dimmers. We had recessed lights in the old house but won’t repeat.
There are amazing deals on taps and flooring st the mo.

I would be with you on the velux idea and Windows. Bathrooms / shower could be replaced at a later date, Windows can’t.

Good luck!

Insulation is crucial. Has that already been addressed? We saved a lot of money buying from eBay. Building materials and fixtures. This is a great option to save money if you don't mind secondhand. Have a look at fireplaces on there, for starters.

Having done a future proof remodel, I'd say get rid of the glass railings. That's a huge expense - the rest of your expenses are realistic, and I say get the hassle of finishing the loft out of the way now, but 6k on something that's currently very fashionable and may look odd in 10 years time, isn't a good investment.

I also wonder if you are underestimating on the wardrobe and overestimating on the fireplace. Do you really need 5k for that?

What's the span of the doors going to be? That'll give an idea of the cost. I have practically frameless bifolds over a 3m span and they were about 3k including fitting.....

I have done a few renovations. Definitely do the velux and make sure there's enough sockets and big enough radiators.
I would get an account at the builders merchants and put the grade of taps/loo/shower etc that builders put in, apart from the bath which is always a 10mm. The last rainwater shower I bought was nowhere near £600. A complete bathroom should come it at about 1k. Gower Rapide kitchens are very good but you have to ask for the basic three ranges price list. I did a handbuilt kitchen in my last house for 3k.
Really shop around for things like light fittings, scour the internet and look in places such as dunelm and wilko as high quality bargains can be found. Good luck.
I wouldn't put fitted wardrobes in or sliding doors. The fireplace should be a lot cheaper, I'm doing a fireplace, chimney liner and wood burner and it will be about 1k when I've finished. I save money by not going to one place that supplies and fits, I buy the materials and then just buy the labour in for the bits I can't do.

How far are you through, being that you're £20k over now? Are you at second fix, or is there still a chance you could encounter expensive structural issues to first fix? If the latter, I would say that you stand a good chance of being more than £20k out, which is a huge % of your budget.

I would look first at time. What has to be done as part of the renovations now, and what can be left until a later point. I'd spend on large, structural things that would be hard to retrofit, and then save things that can be fitted later. Do you need to do all the bathrooms at the same time, or can some wait?

Then look at places where you can buy cheaper without making huge sacrifices - you don't need to spend that much to get a nice shower or a decent tap. Would the glass railings really make you £6k happier?

Other than kitchen and bathroom flooring carpets are temporary so get cheaper options and shop around - Kidderminster has good outlets who also do big rolls as well as room sized ends. Don't scrimp on underlay as that makes a huge difference to underfoot feel.

Prioritise things that are disruptive to change like bath tubs and sinks rather than taps and shower heads. Assuming plumbing is in place upgrading a tap is relatively painless!

Thanks for all the replies so far, v helpful!

Outlook why wouldn't you repeat the recessed lights? Just the cost or not that great? I'm quite particular about light so want to get that bit right on the first go! We're also doing a number of other solutions like wall sconces, etc.

Kitchen has already been purchased, so that's not changeable. We probably spent a bit much but it's a nice German one (we live in Luxembourg so they're plentiful here) and there's a company just across the border that we're working with. Nothing spectacular but should last and look good in the long termmatt handleless with granite, integrated appliances, good lighting, big island, double underhung sinks, big induction hob, etcand will hopefully be a selling point if we ever move on. Didn't want to go too cheap as anything too budget would be an anomaly for buyers or renters looking in the area for a house that size if that makes sense.

Will have a look for taps, etc on sale! The showers seem expensive but are actually less than half the price of what our bathroom installation company quoted us for the exact same hardware--they quoted over 1300 apiece! We are buying them on Amazon for the 600 to save money. But thinking that the loft probably could use a less posh rainwater shower to save a few hundred.

Kateemo the insulation is all looked after. The house could theoretically be move-in ready with the current specifications we bought it under, thankfully.

Duly noted on radiators and velux. And is the general consensus that the windows should be enlarged in the master bedroom?? Also noted on finishing off the loft. Would you go so far as to install the kitchen as well? I was thinking of a super cheap ikea job for maybe 2k.

Fireplace unfortunately is quite a quite expensive remote controlled long narrow bioethanol one as we don't have a flue (new modern house and all) and is sort of an all-in-one job with built-ins for the TV, etc on the same wall. Hence the expense. The fire mechanism itself is 4k, so hopefully the surround and built-ins can be done for an extra grand.

Wardrobe organisers are the Ikea pax ones to put in the walk-in closet. We were thinking of just doing the master walk-in initially, which isn't a terribly large space. The online quote was 1200 I think...? But also noted about budgeting more potentially.

Ah and good shout about the glass railings. I think you're all right that those could go. It's just an issue of the view being really good and not wanting to disrupt it, though it's likely the glass will just be smudged by children's hands anyway, right?

Forgot to add two other expenses! Home security system and video entry phone system (our living area is 2 floors away from our entrance--it's an upside down house built into the side of a steep hill, so the living area is on the bottom floor where the views are best). Worth it or not? Thought we could always wire for security and install at a later date. Video entry phone to chat to and buzz in guests instead of having to run upstairs to open the door a good investment or a bit gimmicky and unnecessary. No quotes yet there but expecting it to be quite a lot...

I did not like the light from the recessed light, it was not very flexible and a little harsh. This build we are doing more wall sconces and some more diffused and pretty cieling lights with power points for occasional lights.

Run future proof wiring (ether net, sound etc) everywhere- massive disruptive job if not! Get advice on what most future proof tech actually is but do it before finishing!

Fab! The house sounds great. And in one of my favourite corners of the world.

Thanks kateemo. Hopefully it'll turn out okay. We love Luxembourg but honestly everything is so expensive that it's a right pain to build a house here.

One more question for everyone: flooring decisions. Better to do hardwoods throughout (except wet rooms, obvs) in a slightly cheaper wood or a more expensive aged oil finish with wider/longer planks but in fewer areas (bedrooms and living) and tile for entry/halls/stairs??