Building First Home - Window Treatments and Flooring

[stazza]

Hey guys, recently bought a block and looking to build a home on it. Just wondering how much extra money I should allow for Window Treatments and Flooring? I know it is subjective, but any idea on ball park figure for 300sqm home, 3 carpeted bedrooms, 1 laminate floored bedroom, tiled living areas and kitchen and windows on all rooms and living areas.

Would $15k be a close estimate typically?

[Brucon]

we just put in 6 Venetians nice quality nothing ridiculous and i think it cost around the 4 grand mark, but you can definitely get the plain sheet on the roller that alot of new homes have, you can even get them from bunnings most windows are a generic size and you can save big bucks doing it like that, carpet will be fairly cheap. best bit is to go carpet court or what ever you have down your way and they normally do pretty good deals and as for tiles, tell them how big your area is and get them to work out everything you need ie: glue tiles grout etc and than just get some quotes for tilers off of gumtree

and laminate flooring same as tiles just go buy some and than get a chippy in a day rate, should easily knock it over in a day, and dont forget to buy quad for your edges

whereabouts do you live?

[stazza]

Ah ok thanks mate, wasn't sure if I'd have to go through the builder or not...

I live in WA, Mandurah.

[XP6]

At 300m2 15k would be a massive stretch just for the flooring... $50m2(thats purchase and labor to lay it) is the max you could go with $15k

[stazza]

Wow really, jeez. Typically what's the price I'd be looking at per sqm? Is $50 cheap?

[the_scotsman]

Our house is around 255m2 and flooring alone cost $20k. This was a mix of mates rates a small discounts. 50/50 floor tiles and carpet. And was only mid-range stuff too.

Blinds can vary dramatically. We spent over $1k on vertical blinds for just a few rooms. Even good curtains are crazy $$$.

[Nova 8]

I wouldn't expect change out of $25k, tiling isnt hard and depending on the individual can be easily picked up. Its the speed and accuracy combined which takes years to build. So long as you take your time you should be fine and its a great way to save big $$$. Same for curtains, you can do the work yourself and save good money.

[XR6WGN]

Like Nova8 has said, If you are in no hurry - it's quite an easy task to do the flooring yourself. I've done it three times now - twice I've used the Parador brand and this goes together very nicely. (If you are handy with a jigsaw - that's really about the only power tool you are going to use)

I've just did all the curtain tracks in my daughter's new home (here in Adelaide) They brought most of the gear from Spotlight and I had them mostly done over a couple of weekends - my wife sews so that took care of the curtains also.

Personally, I can see some savings if you are willing to do it yourself - people these days are in too much of a hurry to have everything done BEFORE they move in! (And housing companies exploit this greatly)
When I built my old place at Waikiki back in the early 90's we moved in and lived on the concrete pad for almost 18months - then we slowly did the carpets and laminated flooring LAST. Got fed up of the sand blowing down the street until nearly everyone had their lawns established

[Crazy Dazz]

You need to decide whether you want to go for cheap generic stuff upfront and fit better stuff later,
Or fit quality up front.
For carpet, get your measurements and check out the places that sell "room-size" oddments. Take your time, shop around, and be prepared to haggle. Then get a carpet layer out of the local rag to lay it for cash.
Laminated timber? Consider Bamboo or ceramic tiles. Decent timber aint cheap, and the cheap stuff looks nasty with a bit of wear.
For your windows, if you're going to go for verticals or Venetians, etc, make sure you do your homework. Talk to people who've had them for a year or so, because there is a wide range of quality, particularly in the mechanisms. For your curtains, grab the gear from Bunnings and shop for your curtains online.

[Ruination]

Not trying to be too nosy mate, but who will you be financing your house with?
Purely because some banks won't finance you unless you build a house with flooring and window treatments included.

Its just incase you do a backflip on repayments and the bank takes the house from you. They won't sell a house half done, in other words.

Be aware of that fact.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by Ruination

Not trying to be too nosy mate, but who will you be financing your house with?
Purely because some banks won't finance you unless you build a house with flooring and window treatments included.

Its just incase you do a backflip on repayments and the bank takes the house from you. They won't sell a house half done, in other words.

Be aware of that fact.

Interesting, I've had the exact opposite experience.

[Ruination]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

Interesting, I've had the exact opposite experience.

Yeah, I've only just started building my house. And a number of banks/brokers had this policy.
Bothered me a bit because I wanted to install timber flooring myself as its part of my trade. But the bank said no unless the builder did it. (And charge a stupid profit margin on top)

So now Ill be doing the roof instead as its an easier option to save some money, and less hassle.

[stazza]

It's part of the loan conditions that need to be in place, including basic front landscaping, driveway and a couple other things.

It sucks s I'd like to have done the flooring out of my own money.

Now just to decide on one out of the two homes I really want

[XP6]

We ended up getting a quote on polished concrete for our new build, only slightly more than mid range laminate flooring even with the changes to the slab/foundations needed for polished concrete(extra thickness and near double the amount of reo in the slab).
Polished concrete will outlast any other flooring... will out last the house too!

[GT0132]

Just put new blinds/curtains in our place so have done a bit of research.

Stay away from the cheap brands – eg Accent, Kresta and Wysnston. Many of those offer a 3 year warranty but won't repair after that even if you offer to pay for it, and because they only tend to last 3-4 years you end up having to replace them.

Cheap verticals are a nighmtare and you will be forever having to replace the clips or track. Seems that all brands are proprietary so one mob can't fix anothers product without replacing the lot. Found that out when I had to replace blinds in 2 bedrooms of an investment property all because 2 slats were falling off repeatedly.

Go with Luxaflex