ᐅ Tile vs Laminate/Wood Flooring

You have to save somewhere, and flooring usually goes in last – so that argument is somewhat flawed...

In the end, we also decided against (very high-quality) parquet and chose (very high-quality) vinyl instead – but the difference was not 2,000 euros, it was over 5,000 euros...

Sebastian79 schrieb:
You have to save somewhere, and flooring is usually installed last – so that argument is a bit flawed...

If you have to save at the end, it means you either miscalculated at the start or kept stretching the budget over time. That’s a shame, really.

A difference of 5,000€ is quite significant!

Both at the same time – I don’t mind, since I received enough for it anyway. And a custom-designed house by an architect never comes out exactly on budget – unless you include large buffers (which would then also mean the calculation wasn’t very accurate).

Ultimately, it’s perhaps 5,000 to 10,000 euros in additional costs that were miscalculated (in our case) – which is a negligible overrun compared to the overall budget. So this statement should be taken with caution as well...

Sebastian79 schrieb:

And in the end, it might be only 5,000 to 10,000 euros in additional costs that were underestimated (in our case) — a negligible overrun compared to the overall budget. For that reason, this statement should be taken with caution...

That may be true that the overrun is manageable relative to the budget. However, someone has to pay for this overrun. When financing or equity/reserves are fully used up, it becomes a problem. My post referred to these cases. Unfortunately, this is how it looks for many families. Buying from a developer, financing based on a fixed price or tightly planned budget, and then it becomes tight later on.

For architect-designed homes with tenders and the process of “bringing the house to life,” it looks somewhat different... Here, the amounts of money involved and the underlying creditworthiness are often significantly better than for those building townhouses. In our area, “dream homes” are possible for families starting at 120,000 euros (including the land!). That’s when 5,000 euros really hurt.

I find the argument difficult... of course, maybe it’s only about saving 2000 € (approximately 2200 USD) here, just like with nicer sanitary fixtures, the stylish front door, the staircase, the electrical system, and so on... in the end, these quickly add up to 20,000 € (about 22,000 USD). After some time living in the house, many things fade into the background, and it becomes questionable whether you still perceive the difference positively... unless you specifically think about this or that detail.

@BeHaElJa: That’s exactly how it is – we also thought a lot about it, but in the end, we decided on plastic to have some extra money left for paving. We also experienced the typical “builder’s syndrome,” where some things ended up being more expensive than originally planned. Partly because you simply don’t think about some aspects beforehand (which is why I find those long initial selection marathons quite tricky). At least with Archihaus, everything is very transparent, and in the end, it’s your own responsibility if you run out of money. And that can happen quite quickly...

The good part: it will now be installed as a floating floor, so replacing it later will be straightforward.