# finishing a house?



## money mate (10 Dec 2009)

ok we going to pay a builder to build a house hang doors paint walls inside and out. 

after we pay the builder to do that 

we need to pay for 

esb
phone
water
floors 
kitchen
furniture
land scaping 

the house is about 2000 SQ feet. 

i wondering how much will this cost to buy the stuff on the list.

i know its a open ended quistion as it depens on go for basic furniture or very dear stuff. 

but a guide would be nice to work off. maybe some one here had to pay for the same stuff


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## dozydelilah (10 Dec 2009)

we built 2200sq foot house 4 years ago. we scraped by with 165,000 but done a lot of the work ourselves, including kitchen.  good luck.


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## money mate (10 Dec 2009)

thanks dozydelilah. 

i made a mistake with my post. i meant we are paying builder to get planing and build house to above spec. 

we need to finshing with the esb stuff list, wondering how much all that will cost


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## onq (10 Dec 2009)

money mate, assuming this is a once off, you need to become familar with how things are done in the industry.

Some people aer clued in enough to self-build - it can be long hard slog and very time consuming.

Others like you are in the happier position of being able to pay a builder to do the work.

This is only half the battle - read the self build FAQ on this forum to learn about the other half - the stuff you must do before you can build.

You seem very new to this.

I think you need to retain a professional to design and specify your house and obtain costings before you go near a builder or you may get fleeced.

Thsi isn't one-stop-shop firm from the south of the country BTW is it?

FWIW

ONQ.

[broken link removed]


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## money mate (10 Dec 2009)

ii may have come across as clueless but am not! 

i not going self build , i seen way too many bad storys with people doing self build and everyone of them going over budget. 

thats why we are going with a builder to build the house, they look after everything design , planning building etc, they build my brother and where very happy with them. it may cost a bit more but am willing to pay the extra for qualty. 

however even doe we pay them to build the house , we will have to pay esb phone water etc


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## money mate (10 Dec 2009)

onq said:


> Thsi isn't one-stop-shop firm from the south of the country BTW is it?
> 
> FWIW
> 
> ...


 
it could be


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## onq (10 Dec 2009)

money mate said:


> it could be



Its not www.absolutehouseplans.ie is it?

ONQ.


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## money mate (10 Dec 2009)

no murphy new homes


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## mosstown (10 Dec 2009)

you should probably find out how much the building levy is in your county, it can vary hugely from one county to another. i.e. i think for instance in Kildare it is really high and can be a substantial part of your budget.
water will cost approx 2k - depends on whether road to be opened and all that
esb - about 1700 + - i think this is a set amount
kitchen - probably about 6-7k minimum for an ordinary sort of kitchen
furniture - who knows ? you can buy a bed for 100 or 5000 if you want !
landscaping - impossible to say without size of area, whether you are fencing, hedging, paving, tarmac, etc
floors - carpet, tiles, cheap laminate, expensive oak ? , vinyl - you can do it cheaply and it will be fine or you can go top spec but prob wise not to go too mad ! - you have to live as well !
Building a house is one of those things you can get carried away with by overspending very easily (ah, sure we're only going to be doing this once !) - lets go with the oak stairs, the oak skirtings and doors, the 30k kitchen, the 2k fridge freezer, lets put in Andersens windows, geothermal heating, loads of solar panels, vaccum systems, high tech security and entertainment set ups and it goes on and on.
I know a guy who has done all this and now he has no job and none in sight either - he literally hasnt got a pot to p**s in. built a great looking house way over the top which is only at builders finish and he has spent 250k ! and still no where to live.


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## onq (10 Dec 2009)

money mate said:


> no murphy new homes



Well, I looked at their website here: [broken link removed]

They seems like a sound firm, but their house plans don't "do it" for me.

Designed to a fairly standard formula and little "one-off" about them.

No double height spaces, nothing to suggest they are designed for a unique site or a special view, no "WoW!" factor

Workmanlike, to be sure but long internal corridors in some of them.

I think you could do a lot better than this for your new home.

Still you pays your money and you makes your choice.

Personally I think you might try for the best of both worlds.

Retain your own architect to design the house for you.

Use Murphys to build the house.

Best of luck with them.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]


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## johnnyg (21 Sep 2010)

I would not go with these builders from my personal 3 years ongoing experience with them and if any one wants to email me on my experience they are free to do so.


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## PaddyBloggit (21 Sep 2010)

From my experience I can recommend Willie Murphy and the mgroup 100%.

They built my house. I was and am fully happy with their work.

Communication was excellent throughout the whole build, snags were quickly sorted and extras were easily accommodated.

Were I to build again I'd have them in a flash.

(I have no connection with the mgroup - just a very satisfied customer)


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## onq (21 Sep 2010)

Guys,

I know from personal experience that sometimes it "clicks" with clients and other times it just doesn't.

One or other side has unreasonable expectations of what the other side will do, etc..

But this is a hugely opposed pair of view points - its hard to believe you're both talking about the same company.

ONQ.


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## johnnyg (21 Sep 2010)

well i can only tell my story and give my opinion and i have the house to prove it,  anyone who is interested is welcome to visit my house and i can go through all the issues ...i can go through the build experience and people can make up their own mind wether to go with them or not but i can personally say with confidence anyone who has withnessed what we have gone through and still going through, would not and have not gone with them....and if i could start over, i would have gone direct labour


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## PaddyBloggit (21 Sep 2010)

And I have the finished product to back up my view point.

Your experience wasn't mine and mine wasn't yours but the good experiences need to be told as well because people need to have both sides presented to them.

As with any purchase ... it should always be buyer beware and cover yourself as much as possible so that the purchase will run as smoothly as it can.


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## onq (22 Sep 2010)

At the risk of seeming to bait you both did either or both of you use a building professional to oversee the works and what was the result?

ONQ.


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## johnnyg (22 Sep 2010)

MNH's were in charge of the build, there were "project managing it" - i use that word lightly, i had an engineer but personally wasn't any good as he kept missing mistakes they kept making..i had to double check all the subcontractors work as it wasn't being checked by MNH, so it was the same as doing a self build but i was actually paying a builder to do it, but wasn't being done.
As i said before, its up to people to make up their own minds, but when a builder will not complete snags going on over a year then its time to tell people, i have leaks and loose slates (to mention two of the minor snags) that they won't come back and fix, not to mention the larger problems- its this poor service that people need to know and what to expect. 
As you said buyer beware and go into a build knowing the complete facts (good & bad) about the builder.


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