Budget for new house interior

dutopia

I'm wondering what needs to be considered for the interior when buying a new home, not just in terms of furnishings but basics like flooring, etc. What kind of money do I need to budget (120sqm house)? We're thinking wooden floors in every room except tiles in the hall and bathrooms.

I see depending on the development and individual house, you usually get a kitchen, may get some or all appliances, flooring, painted walls, etc.

Do attics usually come with basic flooring or just beams? It is worth paying for extra work done to put some flooring in the attic?

Anyone with experience of this I'd love to hear your thoughts.

the_syco

dutopia wrote: »

It is worth paying for extra work done to put some flooring in the attic?

Yes. It gives you a lot of extra storage space, esp for seasonal crap such as the fake xmas tree that you only use once a year. Furthermore, it'll allow you to move heavier stuff around easier. Depending on the layout of the attic, you can turn it into a mancave :P

DubDani

Our builder charged us about 300 extra for flooring the attic and putting in a proper attic ladder. Well worth it for the convenience of having additional storage (old furniture, Suitcases, unused toys, XMAS, Halloween, Easter stuff etc.)

dutopia

DubDani wrote: »

Our builder charged us about 300 extra for flooring the attic and putting in a proper attic ladder. Well worth it for the convenience of having additional storage (old furniture, Suitcases, unused toys, XMAS, Halloween, Easter stuff etc.)

That's not much extra at all, thanks!

hfallada

But more than likely if you get the attic floored, they will do it on the cheap and half the insulation to 150mm so they can just ply the floor. OP are better just going to a builders merchant and picking up a few insulated chipboard panels designed for attics.

Floors for bedrooms etc. can be expensive if its solid or cheap if its laminate. Tiles very greatly in price. Go to trade stores for better prices like project tile design in Dublin or chadwichs can be cheap for wooden floors.

macnug

Depends how much you do yourself op. With 12k I painted the whole house, wooden floored bedrooms, living room and hall, tiled kitchen and three bathrooms, carpeted the landing and stairs, floored half the attic and put a stairs in, got a second hand boiler, a new toilet and sorted the plumbing system, blinds and curtains for the whole house, new kitchen counter, sink and tap, extractor fan,fridge, washing machine, dishwasher and oven, brand new bed, mattress and fitted wardrobes, electric shower, a side gate,a shed, an outside tap, **** load of tools and countless other small finishes and appliance's. Op if you can do things yourself you can do it very cheap. If not you could be looking at 20-30k for what I've done with 12.

dutopia

dutopia wrote: »

We're thinking wooden floors in every room except tiles in the hall and bathrooms.

I wouldn't put a wooden floor in the kitchen either, either tiles or lino.

dutopia

Joziah Bald Headroom wrote: »

I wouldn't put a wooden floor in the kitchen either, either tiles or lino.

For water resistance? Some newer laminate flooring is water proof.

dutopia

dutopia wrote: »

For water resistance? Some newer laminate flooring is water proof.

I don't think it fits with a kitchen though, never actually seen a kitchen with wood or even laminate flooring, only tiles or lino.

macnug

dutopia wrote: »

For water resistance? Some newer laminate flooring is water proof.

Id be more worried about water getting underneath it if a washing machine or dishwasher failed, does happen sometimes.

Woshy

Joziah Bald Headroom wrote: »

I don't think it fits with a kitchen though, never actually seen a kitchen with wood or even laminate flooring, only tiles or lino.

I think wood/laminate flooring can be quite nice in a kitchen, as long as your cabinets aren't a similar finish to the floor. I've seen it plenty of places.

We're getting building work done soon and will need to refloor the kitchen after. I hate tiles so much (it's the constant cleaning) and would have loved to get wood flooring but the cabinets are kind of a pine colour so it would have looked ridiculous. If the kitchen was a cream/white finish I would definitely get wood flooring.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do actually. I guess lino but I'm not mad on that either! Maybe white laminate flooring? but as other posters have said there is a concern about water in the kitchen.

dutopia

Woshy wrote: »

I think wood/laminate flooring can be quite nice in a kitchen, as long as your cabinets aren't a similar finish to the floor. I've seen it plenty of places.

We're getting building work done soon and will need to refloor the kitchen after. I hate tiles so much (it's the constant cleaning) and would have loved to get wood flooring but the cabinets are kind of a pine colour so it would have looked ridiculous. If the kitchen was a cream/white finish I would definitely get wood flooring.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do actually. I guess lino but I'm not mad on that either! Maybe white laminate flooring? but as other posters have said there is a concern about water in the kitchen.

Some newer (and more expensive) laminates are completely waterproof so I don't see why not.

cpoh1

macnug wrote: »

Depends how much you do yourself op. With 12k I painted the whole house, wooden floored bedrooms, living room and hall, tiled kitchen and three bathrooms, carpeted the landing and stairs, floored half the attic and put a stairs in, got a second hand boiler, a new toilet and sorted the plumbing system, blinds and curtains for the whole house, new kitchen counter, sink and tap, extractor fan,fridge, washing machine, dishwasher and oven, brand new bed, mattress and fitted wardrobes, electric shower, a side gate,a shed, an outside tap, **** load of tools and countless other small finishes and appliance's. Op if you can do things yourself you can do it very cheap. If not you could be looking at 20-30k for what I've done with 12.

Your house is either the size of a dolls house or you bought cheap as chip materials or went second hand because as a bit of a DIYer myself there is no way all that can be done for 12k. Just not possible.

macnug

cpoh1 wrote: »

Your house is either the size of a dolls house or you bought cheap as chip materials or went second hand because as a bit of a DIYer myself there is no way all that can be done for 12k. Just not possible.

Well size is relative. Its a 3 bed 100 sqm house, I don't know if you would consider it a dolls house or not. Some things were of course cheap, such as the bed, mattress and wardrobes from ikea, tiles were ceramic, some things were second hand refurbs like the dishwasher, washing machine and cooker but totally functional, clean and came with a 12 month warranty. The op didnt specify marble tiles and high end stuff, he just asked a general question, how much will it cost to finish my house? Well the answer is, how much have you got?

Its very possible to do it on 12K however you have to be willing to bargain/shop around, for example the wooden floors should have been €1800 but I got them down to €1450. You also have to stay away from the likes of woodies, I got most of my stuff from builders providers, paneling center etc.

How much do you reckon a house this size would have cost you?

cpoh1

macnug wrote: »

Well size is relative. Its a 3 bed 100 sqm house, I don't know if you would consider it a dolls house or not. Some things were of course cheap, such as the bed, mattress and wardrobes from ikea, tiles were ceramic, some things were second hand refurbs like the dishwasher, washing machine and cooker but totally functional, clean and came with a 12 month warranty. The op didnt specify marble tiles and high end stuff, he just asked a general question, how much will it cost to finish my house? Well the answer is, how much have you got?

Its very possible to do it on 12K however you have to be willing to bargain/shop around, for example the wooden floors should have been €1800 but I got them down to €1450. You also have to stay away from the likes of woodies, I got most of my stuff from builders providers, paneling center etc.

How much do you reckon a house this size would have cost you?

I could change the timing belt and fully service my car myself for €180 but that doesnt mean that if someone were to ask me how much these things would typically cost that would be the price.

I wasn't insulting your house, merely making the point you have painted an unrealistic image of how much it costs to upgrade interiors.

As an example for a kitchen alone:
New cooker top, fridge, oven and dishwasher - €1600
New laminate Countertop - €450 (including fitting)
Tiles (say 4x4m kitchen) - €800 (€20sqm fitting, €25 tiles, materials)
Curtins/blinds - €500
Paint - €300

Thats over €3.5k alone just for an average sized kitchen. It'll be the same again for a living room (and more for decent furniture and wooden floors).

I would personally double what you have estimated if you want to fully upgrade a standard 3-4 bed semi-d house.

Balmed Out

I presume its available to people who just purchased a property so be aware of the home renovation scheme.
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/hri/hri-general-faqs.html#section1

Basically I think till the end of 2015 any work done by a qualified tax compliant professional will allow you to claim the tax back as a tax credit as long as the total bill is between 4.4k and 30k. So if it were 10k you would get a tax credit of 1350. Excludes carpeting, appliances and 23% vat rate services like architects.

macnug

cpoh1 wrote: »

I could change the timing belt and fully service my car myself for €180 but that doesnt mean that if someone were to ask me how much these things would typically cost that would be the price.

I wasn't insulting your house, merely making the point you have painted an unrealistic image of how much it costs to upgrade interiors.

As an example for a kitchen alone:
New cooker top, fridge, oven and dishwasher - €1600
New laminate Countertop - €450 (including fitting)
Tiles (say 4x4m kitchen) - €800 (€20sqm fitting, €25 tiles, materials)
Curtins/blinds - €500
Paint - €300

Thats over €3.5k alone just for an average sized kitchen. It'll be the same again for a living room (and more for decent furniture and wooden floors).

I would personally double what you have estimated if you want to fully upgrade a standard 3-4 bed semi-d house.

Ok fair point but the first thing i said in my post was it depends on how much you do yourself. I was just trying to point out that you dont have to spend 20-30k like what most people think.

In fairness the kitchen is probably the most expensive room but this is what I spent.

New electric hob - 200
New fridge - 300
Oven, dishwasher, washing machine - 400 - (Refurbs)
New counter sink and tap - 360 - (Bnq w 20% off), installed myself.
wall and floor tiles - 700 - (21sqm wall and floor, installed myself, didnt get the adhesive and grout from tile shop, much cheaper from local building provider)
Blind - 60
Curtain - 50
Paint - 100 (dont know how youd spend 300 on paint in a kitchen)

Which is over 2k but as I said probably the most expensive room to kit out due to the appliances.

cpoh1

macnug wrote: »

Ok fair point but the first thing i said in my post was it depends on how much you do yourself. I was just trying to point out that you dont have to spend 20-30k like what most people think.

In fairness the kitchen is probably the most expensive room but this is what I spent.

New electric hob - 200
New fridge - 300
Oven, dishwasher, washing machine - 400 - (Refurbs)
New counter sink and tap - 360 - (Bnq w 20% off), installed myself.
wall and floor tiles - 700 - (21sqm wall and floor, installed myself, didnt get the adhesive and grout from tile shop, much cheaper from local building provider)
Blind - 60
Curtain - 50
Paint - 100 (dont know how youd spend 300 on paint in a kitchen)

Which is over 2k but as I said probably the most expensive room to kit out due to the appliances.

It was 300 to paint my kitchen because I paid someone to do it like most people will.

As I said, a decent couch will set you back €2-3k alone, living room units, light fittings, beds, storage space... Without sounding like a knob this is your home and spending €50 on a curtain reminds me of someone doing up an old campervan or caravan.

Fair play to you for going the extra mile but this is not the normal.

macnug

cpoh1 wrote: »

It was 300 to paint my kitchen because I paid someone to do it like most people will.

As I said, a decent couch will set you back €2-3k alone, living room units, light fittings, beds, storage space... Without sounding like a knob this is your home and spending €50 on a curtain reminds me of someone doing up an old campervan or caravan.

Fair play to you for going the extra mile but this is not the normal.

Well you said you were a DIY'er but if you cant paint a kitchen then what are you doing yourself. Wouldn't pay someone 300 for a couple of hours work most people can do themselves. 50 is the low end for curtains but again they were on sale, normal retail would have been dearer. I agree maybe tiling wouldn't be normal (although not rocket science) but certainly painting should be something everyone should be able to do.

NewCorkLad

cpoh1 wrote: »

It was 300 to paint my kitchen because I paid someone to do it like most people will.

As I said, a decent couch will set you back €2-3k alone, living room units, light fittings, beds, storage space... Without sounding like a knob this is your home and spending €50 on a curtain reminds me of someone doing up an old campervan or caravan.

Fair play to you for going the extra mile but this is not the normal.

Im sorry if you cant even be bothered to paint your kitchen your not much of a DIYer.

cpoh1

macnug wrote: »

Well you said you were a DIY'er but if you cant paint a kitchen then what are you doing yourself. Wouldn't pay someone 300 for a couple of hours work most people can do themselves. 50 is the low end for curtains but again they were on sale, normal retail would have been dearer. I agree maybe tiling wouldn't be normal (although not rocket science) but certainly painting should be something everyone should be able to do.

Being able to do DIY and taking the time off to do it are two different things. Of course painting is something someone should be able to do but a lot of people are stuck in a day job. When we were doing up the house we got somebody in and they painted the whole house because I didnt want to take 3 weeks holidays off, simple. And if you think it takes 2-3 hours to prime and put two coats of paint on walls and a roof along with skirting and doors you are off your rocker.

€50 the low end for curtains? You wouldnt buy fecking bed sheets for that.

I genuinely think you are on a pisstake. Regardless you are setting ordinary folk astray with silly low ball price estimates.

cpoh1

NewCorkLad wrote: »

Im sorry if you cant even be bothered to paint your kitchen your not much of a DIYer.

It is cheaper for me to pay someone to paint my kitchen than it is to take time off work to do it. Being able to DIY and choosing not to are two entirely different things.

NewCorkLad

cpoh1 wrote: »

It is cheaper for me to pay someone to paint my kitchen than it is to take time off work to do it. Being able to DIY and choosing not to are two entirely different things.

You could say that about pretty much all time consuming DIY jobs, however if you do it yourself it doesnt hit your pocket as much. I painted the interior of my house in the evening and it only cost me the price of the paint.

NewCorkLad

OP unfortunately there is no easy answer to this question, depending on how much you are willing to do yourself, the finishes and furnishings you want, you could spend anywhere from €10,000 up to €40,000(if you dont go too mad) easily.

cpoh1

NewCorkLad wrote: »

You could say that about pretty much all time consuming DIY jobs, however if you do it yourself it doesnt hit your pocket as much. I painted the interior of my house in the evening and it only cost me the price of the paint.

You could indeed. But if you refer back to the original posters request about how much it would cost to renovate an entire interior of a house then I think its fair to say that not everyone has a few weeks/months off (or maybe you do?) to allow them to carry out a full renovation of a house.

Taking an isolated item like painting a single room or even a full interior is to remove the bigger picture and misleads people.

macnug

cpoh1 wrote: »

Being able to do DIY and taking the time off to do it are two different things. Of course painting is something someone should be able to do but a lot of people are stuck in a day job. When we were doing up the house we got somebody in and they painted the whole house because I didnt want to take 3 weeks holidays off, simple. And if you think it takes 2-3 hours to prime and put two coats of paint on walls and a roof along with skirting and doors you are off your rocker.

€50 the low end for curtains? You wouldnt buy fecking bed sheets for that.

I genuinely think you are on a pisstake. Regardless you are setting ordinary folk astray with silly low ball price estimates.

Well that's your choice not to take some time off but my point was you can do it yourself and save money. Most people get paid for their holidays so it shouldn't cost you anything and if you dont get paid holidays you must earn 250+ a day which would mean your not exactly ordinary folk.

You said its not possibly, now your saying you choose not to and your calling me a piss-take. I just think you need to stop calling yourself a diy'er.

Del2005

Nobody can give a price on how much it'll cost as it comes down to how good you are at hunting down the best price for each item (don't forget to count the cost of this in time and money spent travelling or searching the Internet, unless you don't place a value on your personal time ) , how good you are at haggling with vendors, how much work you can do yourself or get from friends, and finally the quality of materials and finish you want.

2 people kitting out adjoining semi detached houses to the same standard could have huge price differences.

macnug

cpoh1 wrote: »

You could indeed. But if you refer back to the original posters request about how much it would cost to renovate an entire interior of a house then I think its fair to say that not everyone has a few weeks/months off (or maybe you do?) to allow them to carry out a full renovation of a house.

Taking an isolated item like painting a single room or even a full interior is to remove the bigger picture and misleads people.

I think you didnt read the op right, he is not renovating a house. He's buying a new house from a development (like i did) which means a lot of things are done for you.

NewCorkLad

cpoh1 wrote: »

You could indeed. But if you refer back to the original posters request about how much it would cost to renovate an entire interior of a house then I think its fair to say that not everyone has a few weeks/months off (or maybe you do?) to allow them to carry out a full renovation of a house.

Taking an isolated item like painting a single room or even a full interior is to remove the bigger picture and misleads people.

I think you need to re read the OP. The OP is not looking to renovate an entire house but looking to potentially put down flooring and maybe paint a few rooms and buy some furnishings.

If someone is willing to work hard in the evenings after work for a few weeks(which I have done) this is possible to do yourself and does save money. No one is misleading anyone, if you are willing to put in extra hard work you can save money, no one said its easy.

Also OP putting down some basic flooring in the attic and putting in some stairs is well worth the effort in any house if its not in already just for the extra storage.

cpoh1

NewCorkLad wrote: »

I think you need to re read the OP. The OP is not looking to renovate an entire house but looking to potentially put down flooring and maybe paint a few rooms and buy some furnishings.

If someone is willing to work hard in the evenings after work for a few weeks(which I have done) this is possible to do yourself and does save money. No one is misleading anyone, if you are willing to put in extra hard work you can save money, no one said its easy.

Also OP putting down some basic flooring in the attic and putting in some stairs is well worth the effort in any house if its not in already just for the extra storage.

My apologies - I assumed when the OP mentioned new they were referring to new for them not a new build.

I still 100% stand by my comments though, for a decent finish flooring (wood/tiles) over 120sqm you are talking close to 7k alone on materials. Curtains & blinds will cost decent money unless you are making them by hand from old clothes like macnug and unless you want to spend your entire annual leave or a month or two of evenings and weekends painting I would estimate that at at least €2k. Then you have to furnish the kitchen, living room and a few bedrooms, I would estimate another €6k for decent stuff that will last.

As Del2005 stated this is all variable and down to the person involved but for me at least a lot of this stuff if you want decent quality costs money and theres no way €12k is gonna cut it!

jlm29

Woshy wrote: »

I think wood/laminate flooring can be quite nice in a kitchen, as long as your cabinets aren't a similar finish to the floor. I've seen it plenty of places.

We're getting building work done soon and will need to refloor the kitchen after. I hate tiles so much (it's the constant cleaning) and would have loved to get wood flooring but the cabinets are kind of a pine colour so it would have looked ridiculous. If the kitchen was a cream/white finish I would definitely get wood flooring.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do actually. I guess lino but I'm not mad on that either! Maybe white laminate flooring? but as other posters have said there is a concern about water in the kitchen.

We put wood floor effect tiles in the kitchen - best decision I made! Our kitchen is cream, so we went with dark ones- I didn't want all cream. they come in a huge range, so you might find one to suit.
Because ours are brown, they are very low maintenance. They're so quick to clean, and they hide a lot of dirt! Got grey grout too, so overall, cleaning is no trouble!