We recently built our house, and if you’ve never done it, wow is there are a lot to learn. I thought I would share about our experience, things we did differently than most, advice, what to be aware of etc.. Building was new to us, so I relied heavily on others’ experiences to gauge how things might go. I have put together some of my best tips for building a house that helped us to save money and more work down the road.
Every build is different – the market, the builder, the size of the home, layout of the lot, level of custom selections etc. will impact things like timeline, cost, and capability. A lot of these involve a little more work up front, but it will save you time and money in the long run when you aren’t buying new light fixtures or new faucets to change out the builder grade ones you already paid for. These are my best tips for building a house!
Choose your own plumbing fixtures
This is something not a lot of people know is an option. If you are doing a completely custom build, you likely are already choosing your own fixtures. If you are doing semi-custom or spec, it’s very likely you are given a few options to choose from out of the builders catalog. ASK FOR A CREDIT! Let your builder know you would like to provide your own plumbing fixtures and will take a credit for whatever amount they allotted for that category. The options that builders provide make all of their homes look the same. You don’t have to spend a ton of money, you don’t need to buy the unlacquered brass, but you can get affordable faucets that are much better looking than the builder grade ones. It involves a little more work up front, but it’ll save you time and money in the long run when you aren’t buying new fixtures to change out the builder grade ones you already paid for. It’ll be one less thing you have to worry about changing once you move in.
See: 7 Things to Know Before Building a House
Set aside more for flooring
“Spend more” is something you hate to hear as advice when building, but trust me on this one. If you don’t spend more on anything else that’s okay, but do not skimp on this one!! The laminate flooring that builders are using these days is not as durable as it claims to be, there is too large of a variation in color which makes it look fake, and the look is very hard to work with as your style changes and evolves.
There are definitely some LVP options that are better than others, but I would spend the money to go with an engineered hardwood instead of vinyl/laminate. Real hardwood is always my first choice, but that will likely double or triple your flooring budget. Real wood will put you at about $10+/sf, engineered wood will be around the $5-6/sf price, and LVP can be around $3/sf. Engineered wood is definitely worth the extra bit of money. It has a wear layer of real hardwood atop MDF or plywood, so it looks almost identitical to real hardwood floors. LVP is a printed image of wood floors covered with a clear protective layer, often times very thin, making scratches more noticeable. The printed look of the planks cause the flooring to look more “block like” and not flow as well. The engineered hardwood is almost identical looking to real hardwood, at a much better price point.
Source your own lighting
This is in line with sourcing your own plumbing fixtures. Lighting can be so affordable if you do your research, that it is almost cheaper to source your own lighting depending on what you’re looking for. This is another prime example of not “double spending” using the builder grade light fixtures you’re paying for, then changing them all out later with more light fixtures you purchased. Wayfair, Target, Amazon, Ikea, and Facebook Marketplace are the first places you should check. I have linked some of our light fixtures we used in our home below.
Timelessness is Key
This one is tough to gauge, but do your very best to make timeless choices. In line with the flooring choices, you want to make timeless choices when it comes to tile, paint, and accents within the house (wallpaper, wood detailing, knobs, etc.). Get a little daring with some furniture choices, throw pillow, comforters, rugs, things that are easier to change out. I usually don’t go too far outside of my comfort zone on the permanent choices and go for something more timeless and versatile!
This is where I would start when looking to save money or reallocate funds within my home build project! Sometimes the smallest decisions make the biggest impact.
Check out this previous blog post: 7 Things to Know Before Building a House
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