Day 87 - Ouch, Ouch, OUCH!

When we had our colour selections last week, Mat thought that they would come back expensive. He thought that they would be about $3,000.  I wish they were $3,000. Today we received the prices back $12925!!!!!! OMG. I never thought it would be that expensive.

Here is the list.

Change of 1020mm door to 1200mm door - $1,500.00.  This was the first thing to go. I would love a massive front door, but this build is getting very expensive. Plus for our bushfire we need a screen door and I think you will lose the the effect of it.

Gainsborough Omni Entrance Set - $340.00.

Blue Mountain gutter guard.  When we were going to build with McDonald Jones they included gutterguard as part of the tender for the BAL12.5 bushfire.  With Rawson they did not include it. We questioned this and were told that this is not needed as part of bushfire requirements anymore, and the cost of this was $3,720.00. Mat wanted gutter guard as he doesn't want to clean gutters on a two storey house, and we could have got it slightly cheaper after handover, but it is not worth the hassle.

Water point to fridge $380.00. I think this is really expensive, but what can I do.

Provide two colours for kitchen cupboards - we have one colour on the bottom cupboards and a second colour on the overhead cupboards - $350.00

Provide Polytec 'sheen' for all cupboards $670.00.  I was really happy with this price as it was $1,000 with McDonald Jones and it was estimated that it would be the same. 

Provide 13 pot drawers instead of cupboards.  I have 5 sets of pot drawers, which will leave me with only one set of cupboards. Total $1,250.00. I am happy with this as it is an extra $250.00 per bank of drawers.

The cost for the 950mm set of cutlery drawers instead of the standard 550mm is $200.00.

Handles for the doors and drawers.  It was estimated that these were $15 - $20 each, so I was expecting $400.00. Actual cost $750.00!!!!!! Luckily I was sitting down for that one. 

Brushed aluminium kickers - $670.00.  I will stay with the normal coloured kickers - this has been deleted.

The drawer handles are Hettich brand - they are 494mm and 744mm long. They are nice handles, but ouch.
I actually rung another Hettich supplier and they are $35.87 for the smaller one and $50.48 for the larger. We need 21 handles, so a cost of just over $800.00



The sink has really been my bug bear. I didn't want an undermount sink as I thought that the charges for polishing the edges was stupid.  I wanted a square double bowl overmount. I didn't think it would be a big issue, but apparently it is.  Clark (who Rawson use) don't make this type of sink. For an undermount square it was $1,250.00, not paying that.  I found at Reece an Afa Exact double bowl. It was $495.00. Rawson don't use Reece, they use Tradelink and this sink is a Reece exclusive.  



My option here was to choose another sink, or to have the sink deleted from the contract. I would be credited $170.00 for the standard sink and then Rawson would cut the hole in the bench top with the dimensions that I gave them and we could fit the sink after handover. Mat was not happy with this idea, so we have come to a compromise.   There was a sink on display at Rawson that Mat really liked.  I liked the sink, but dismissed it because it had a draining board - it is $850.00 extra, and it comes with a colander, stainless steel drainer and a bamboo chopping board

The kitchen tap, Rawson came up with a Dorf Jovian pull out mixer - $550.00. The retail of this is $520.00, so a bit expensive, but that is builders mark up for you

The track overhead showers, as seen in the Rawson show homes.  $310.00 each.  Not too bad.

Integrated dishwasher. $895.00. At first I nearly died when I saw the price as all we expected was they would put a door front on the dishwasher - wouldn't cost too much money. When I looked further at the variation I realised the dishwasher model had changed.  We have deleted that variation and will just go for the stainless steel dishwasher.

Adding four downlights to the bottom of the overhead cupboards $560.00. I wasn't sure whether to go with this, it is not really a necessity, however with the amount of money we are spending, what is an extra $560.00.

Adding three double towel rails instead of single - $150.00

Oh a couple of free variations I forgot about

Moving gas point (which was free) from inside to outside on the alfresco - free

Provide cut out for wall hung TV in upstairs lounge - free as we received two as part of our suppliers bonus package.

Change laundry tub from standard 45L to a compact 45L - free

Total cost of the variations $10,970.00 - ouch, double ouch!!!

So now we have agreed on the variations, Mat needs to sign them off and then we can make our electrical appointment.   I need a contract asap so that I can get the contract to the bank for them to do a valuation on the house. 

Good news is (and I will be holding Rawson to it) is that once we have our DA approval they can be on site in approx 3 weeks.  We wont meet our 120 day timeline, but I think we will be about a week over that.