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heartspeace

saving money building a new home

heartspeace
11 years ago

I wanted to ask you how and with what you can save money if you're building a new home. For me there are obvious things, don't get a six car garage etc. I'm not in that market anyway I'm in more nice townhouse market w/ a two car garage, 2900 sqft.

I wanted to ask with upgrades what will be the best things to not have upgraded in the design center, or structurally, and have it done afterwards?

For eg I like the cabinets within the design center but they're expensive. The gas fireplace is also expensive but something I feel must be done during the build.

However the hardwood flooring on the first level seems extraordinarily expensive, for me this seems like one good place to save money, what do you think? priced it out afterwords it seems like a good deal to do later, if I get Brazilian wood somewhere else and have it installed but what are the catches?

Carpeting also seems like just get what you can get at the lowest cost with good padding to let it wear out until you replace it.

Lighting also seems like another good area to just do afterwords except for all the junction boxes and fan box pre installation.

The Internet, cable and the audio in the electrical seems like they have to go in now unless you want a lot of drywall cut later.

The appliances they have I would want better but I can live with these from now. I do not like that the charging $2000 to upgrade to stainless steel but they got me over a barrel.

The bathroom is one area where I am happy and sad and getting what I want paneless cost for it I don't know whether that's cheaper or having it redone after.

of course was doing anything after you don't get it financed whereas if you get it done by the builder it's at a very low low rate.

hp

Comments (25)

  • zyllah
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm curious about this too.

  • _sophiewheeler
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Building a townhouse, you have little to no say about the really important elements of the home--the shell that lzerarc emphasizes. Those things have already been chosen for you by whomever did the planning for the community.

    "Saving" money in this instance means to get your wants vs. needs under control and don't do any upgrades at all.

    Or, save even more money and look for an existing home as those are MUCH cheaper to buy at this time than a new build is. You can probably buy a dated older single family home for what you're paying for a new townhouse.

  • Mom23Es
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Some things depend upon your handiness. Are you a DIYer? DH and I are not. When selecting items "worth" upgrading, we had to consider how much it would cost to pay someone to demo then replace.

    If you go with thin laminate or vinyl flooring and later want to upgrade to a thicker tile or hardwood you may run into height difference issues. Our current house originally had laminate floors on half of the 1st floor. The original owners laid ceramic tile on top of it. There is a noticeable change in the height of the floor molding from the ceramic tile to the carpeted areas. The height difference also affected the dishwasher - can't put tile or plywood underneath to make it flush with tile bc then it won't fit height wise under the counter. When we replaced our fridge, we had to pay a handyman to cut 1/2" off the bottom of the cabinet above the fridge so that it would fit. Just random little things I would never have thought about.

    You don't need a tile backsplash in the kitchen. I would upgrade cabinets if possible. Those are harder and more expensive to replace.

    Holly springs pointed out buying an existing house. Another option that is kind of in the middle is to look for a spec home. It's a very popular option in my area. If you find one you like early enough in the build process, you can even get to pick out things like cabinets, floors, and paint colors.

    I'm not an expert so I'm sure others can chime in with many more ideas. Just thought I'd share a couple tidbits from personal experience.

  • Xclusive
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    ^ I agree with all said comments above. We just sold our townhome and purchased a new build. Not as massive as some of the other builds on here (roughly 2300sq ft.) but it will serve our family just fine. In order to stay on budget we basically put our money into the shell as suggested above (added 4th Bedroom and a 3rd car garage) because these were things that would be very expensive to add later on or wouldn't be able to be done. A lot of saving will depend on if you are handy and DIY or not. I love to work on projects and an avid DIY so I figured we could stay on budget and save a lot of money here and complete things when we were ready. Below are just a few examples:

    - We wanted stacked cabinets to ceiling (9ft height) in kitchen but we went with builder grade 30in cabinets and we will stack 18in cabinets with molding later on.

    - I have done a lot of tiling so we will add tile in kitchen, mudroom & 3 bathrooms later on.

    - I did the prewire for whole house audio (12 zones) and 5.1 surround sound in bonus room and great room as well but left wires behind the drywall and will add equipment as we are ready (if you leave wires behind drywall you MUST take lots of pictures and I did video as well or you can just have builder leave blank plates on the wall). Some builders will not let the homeowner pre-wire so that will be something you will want to discuss. If they want you can always have builder pre-wire your house.

    - We kept builder grade appliances and carpet as well that were standard as we felt the builder's upcharge was crazy to us. We will use them to they wear out or we find what we want for a great price and then upgrade then.

    - We also did a lot of pre-wiring of lighting so we could purchase our own lighting.

    Now some things we did price out and decided to pay for now since they were priced competitively and the headache of doing it ourselves was not worth it.

    - Granite - Our level one selection from the builder for our kitchen countertops was NVG, Uba tuba or New Caledonia. After getting a few estimates for our counter space it was actually cheaper to buy from the builder so we chose NVG, plus we wouldn�t have to deal with demo. Now the bathroom counters for some reason were totally overpriced to us so after we move in I will find some granite remnants and have those done for much less than the builder charges.

    - I wanted oil rubbed bronze door handles/hinges. These were priced about the same as me buying them but once you factor in the headache taking each door off the frame, I didn't want to sign up for that :)

    - We chose iron balusters for our stairs. I could have done this but for the price the builder was charging it wasn't worth the hassle to me.

    - Our house came with one solid color for the entire house. Certain rooms we want different colors so we will paint those once we move in saving money there as well.

    There are more examples I could give but it basically comes down to a few things:

    1. How handy are you and do you mind DIY?
    2. Have an idea of what your upgrades will cost you to do or have done later on versus the builder to see if its worth demo, time, and effort to pay or do it later.
    3. Some things unfortunately have to be done now such as insulation, windows, outlets in certain places, etc. so those you will just have to pay for even if they are overpriced.

    Hope that helps!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

  • heartspeace
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    xclusice and lzerarc,

    wasn't the prewiring extremely expensive? Or did they allow you to do your own prewiring? Mine is extraordinarily expensive and do not allow you to step a foot into the house to do it yourself. eg rear speakers hookups only, $350+ etc. as a result I've been honestly think about wireless speakers. Anything with wires whatsoever is extremely expensive from security system to 5.1 surround to ethernet.

    somethings are obvious like countertops, but others are not like the wood flooring where you have to get the contractors to lower the flooring before installing everything so wood flooring can be installed later. the kitchen is a different story asI'm told it's best to get the tile from builders because of appliances/counters/cabinets. Others tell me as long as the builders compensate for the tile being installed but it doesn't matter because the cabinets are installed before the tile anyway... but you still have to disconnect the gas stove and reconnect it and move the appliances.

    The whirlpool tub ( in another thread ) really has a because it's $10,000, but it is a special model because of the ten jets for my back for my nerve damage, plus the installation of the 75 gallon hot water heater, plus a lot of additional title installing, possibility of a specialized frame, etc. The tub itself is about $6.5k+ but if it helps with pain, fine.

    I was a DIYer... no longer.

    Many things in the house already upgraded. eg appliances, except if you want stainless steel it's 2000 more.

    Is oil rubbed bronze really in right now or is stainless steel or is brushed nickel or brushed chrome?

    Also there's an option for upgraded cabinets but it's almost $2500 which gives you enhance tops for the cabinets, undercounter lights and decorated end caps. For just lights its $1500 which comes to about $130 per high end halogen light installed.

    The big money comes from the cabinetry which is a couple levels upgradedpre wiring/electric) and the flooring ( after take into account the structure upgrades ). Then it's $500 here $300 there... ad nauseum

  • heartspeace
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    holly springs,

    you're right on track for a lot of it it's wants versus needs, but unfortunately I do have a lot of needs. I am having the hardwood done by an outside company afterwards because the builder just wants to much. I am going to stainless steel because of resell value. I think I may let them know the kitchen floor just because the irritation of having to disconnect the gas stove and move the appliances and tile outside it isn't saving a lot of money. Builder has been wonderful and accommodating in my special requests, but not cheap. I broke my budget but I knew it would considering my situation.

  • _sophiewheeler
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    $2500 for the cabinet upgrades you are describing is about right. Cabinets aren't cheap, and the "average" cabinets in most SFH kitchen are around 15K. A condo or townhouse might be a bit less, but not by a whole lot.

    The under cabinet lighting isn't too bad either, considering if you had to do it after the fact, you'd have to do drywall repair and everything else. You'd pay every bit of that for the electrical work and drywall work.

    You never state what it would cost to upgrade to the hardwood, but if you're only counting material and installation costs for your own after the fact upgrade, then you are forgetting about the demolition costs of the existing flooring and baseboard or quarter round and installation of new base or quarter round. Most people forget to factor in that. If you have to do this after moving in rather than before you move in, you also have to pay for furniture moving, and possibly storing if you can't just shift it to another room.

    Yes, builder's upgrades are notoriously high, but for much of it, you will pay even more to do it after the fact because you have to pay for removal of what's there, and/or it's actually impossible to alter what's there without buying 100% completely new. If you factor in those additional costs, the upgrades aren't priced all that outrageously. The sad thing though, is that you are lucky if you get 15 cents on the dollar in "added value" for resale purposes later on.

  • zyllah
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you everyone. We're looking at building a craftsman and if you are trying to accurate there is extensive trim work so I'm trying to figure out what makes the most sense to do at time of build and what can be done later without extensive demo. Although our budget isn't tiny it's not especially large for the area we're moving to (Maryland near DC) I would love to be able to just buy an existing house but other than bethesda/arlington there isn't much where we would like to live that I actually like. If I could be sure we'd ever move again that wouldn't be an issue but my husband hates moving so...

  • Xclusive
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well being able to pre-wire is something that you would have to discuss upfront and alot of builders dont allow it. I can say that you have the most leverage before you sign the contract. Their excuse is usually they won't let you do it for insurance purposes but I think its so they can make more profit from overly inflated prices. My builder would not sign off on me wiring my house but I spoke with my GC who basically informed me of the two weekends the house would be open after plumbing and electricial inspections and he left it at that. I along with a friend was able to wire my house in the two weekends for most of what I wanted(12 zones whole house audio, 2 rooms 5.1 surround sound,orange conduit for hanging flat panels and runing wires thru walls, extra wire keypads for the alarm and front/back door cameras. There is never enough time as I wasn't able to finish wiring for automated blinds or security cameras but that will have to be done after I get in as I made sure I had attic access where I needed it. My DW won't appreciate the few holes here and there for me to complete my wiring but its so much easier to wire before the drywall goes up. Once its finished she won't even notice. :) I did pay the builder for pre-wire as the price was good and I felt not worth my time to wire for.

    I went back and looked at what my builder charged for pre-wire and YES you are correct it is rather pricey. My builder prices for pre-wire for audio/video are listed below:

    $340 per room for whole house (which included speakers wires to ceiling and cat5e for control)

    $90 per run for speaker wires (5+1 surround sound = $540 per room)

    $440 alarm pre-wire which included door contacts, siren, motion detector and two keypdads.

    I was spent roughly a $1,000 in wire and materials so I was able to save alot of money running my own wire versus the approx $6,500 what the builder would have charged. As you stated earlier it all boils down to wants and needs to be honest my audio/visual request were all wants. I am lucky I was able to pre-wire but if I had not been allowed to do so I would have scaled my wants down just a bit because alot of this if not done before drywall can be even more expensive and more of a mess. If whole house audio is something you want, why not select 2 or 3 zones? This way the infrastructure is in place and you can add electronics when needed.

    Now as far as taking builder choices now and upgrading later I think it again all just depends on what it is. For example in the kitchen and bathrooms since I am going to do my own floor tile, we opted for included vinyl so demo wont be a problem at all. On the other hand lets say if you were going with a cheaper tile and wanting to add a more expensive tile later, that I would pass on and just pay the premium if you really wanted because the demo in that wouldn't be worth it to me personally.

    Stainless steel appliances to me is an upgrade and not necessarily a deal breaker for me. We took the included black appliances and will upgrade later as I find close-outs and discontinued models. I want mid to high end appliances which the builder charges an fortune for and I don't mind waiting for a deal.

    As far as finishes are concerned I think they all are in, it just depends on what you like and will be happy with. I personally like ORB and thats the reason I went with, not because it was the "in thing" :)

    Hope that helps, just my .02 cents FWIW

    As far as the finishes I think they are all in, just depends on what you like.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

  • Linda Gomez
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I agree with spending your money on a shell first. Windows, insulation, etc.

    I would put wood floors in now. We put in hardwoods a few years back. We needed to move EVERYTHING out of those rooms. It creates a great amount of dust and I can't stay in the house with the solvent smell of stain, much less 2 to 3 coats of poly. If the humidity is high, it may take longer than one day between coats. Yes, it was worth it, but we do have dishwasher and countertop height issues. We hold our breath every time the dishwasher goes in.

    I'd pay for an upgrade in kitchen cabinets. It's also a major reno. Good cabinets will last the lifetime of the house. They are well-worth the money. I can forego the granite countertops until retirement--my tastes may change by then anyway.

    If you go with a builder carpet, at least make sure it's Stainmaster. We put inexpensive Stainmaster in the bedrooms when we moved in here 20 something years ago and last year was still able to clean up a huge red wine spill that flung itself around.

    I think I want to go ahead and get stain grade door and window moulding but hollow core doors. The doors can be replaced later on down the road. We are still in the pricing stage so I my need to change my mind and eat my words!

  • heartspeace
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    first of question to Stillwaters, why did you get it stained inside the house and not use prestained/prefinished hardwood?

    continuing on with hardwood: To get 5" hardwood on one for is around $20k. For 2 3/4" it's $7k. For $9k-$10k I canget Brazilian cherry installed w/ quarter round an that's from home depot with a small discount. If I went just cherry it would be much much less. I don't have any furniture to move for two or three weeks, as the floor will initially start off with empty for that time. the builder agreed to prepare the entire floor for the move to hardwood, which means adjusting the floor height on this floor for the steps and the other rooms. Initially it will have just carpet. The demolition will be very small because the carpet will be lightly tacked down, so almost an able person can do this. Does anyone see problems here? I can get similar or better from other contractors. But if someone has good ones in metro dc area I'm own to checking them out. I'll either get cherry or Brazilian cherry. I like the latter better and even home depot sells it. Lumber Liquidators is not on my short list but I use them as it's too good to be true pricing, and home depot as high, but not highest. I know I'll have demo of the quarter-round on the main floor and carpet and tact strips to have taken up but can't think of much else.

    The kitchen is a different story. I am torn between doing the tile after or during the build. If I do it after I have to take the gas stove out that means calling the gas company etc. and then moving the heavy appliances. That's more money or man work. However for the same price I'm paying for tile in that for the first level I can buy premium tile from Home Depot and have it installed. So at the moment I have linoleum planned lightly tacted down... easy to get up. Obviously this would be the first thing to be done because I want to carpet there instead of the hardwood.

    With wiring my price is $300 per speaker pair run, or $150 per speaker. It's insane, but builder won't let you in any time. This really makes me sick thinking about it and how much profit they are getting off my back. (angry/frustrated feelings).

    I'm going mostly hollow core doors as they want $250 per door for solid core. The master bedroom will have a solid core door and there's three of the doors that are mandatory to have it. I've been trying to get quotes on solid core door installs with or without frames inside of the house but have yet to get any. I would really think it's slower than the cost of 250 or even $200 per door, even with painting.

    Shaw is my carpet maker and I'm picking the lowest grade initially, with to padding. I really cannot tell much difference between the different carpets. The pads were for an entirely different story.

    I still have the question of: Is oil rubbed bronze really in right now or is stainless steel or is brushed nickel or brushed chrome? In my next question is can you mix chrome and polished chrome in the house? Or even in the same room such is the bathroom? For example almost every toilet comes with a chrome flusher. Yet for the lights will be a polished nickel. I am unsure what features will come with the whirlpool but I doubt I get to specify such thing as a drain color. So with lights and faucets and showers and bathtubs I don't know the rules of engagement for colors. (crazy eyes)

    hollysprings, Do you really think that the cost of those cabinet extras are worth it? I don't have that many cabinets and then there's a $2500 for the quarter inch of extra molding at the top and lights underneath and about four or five side panels. I'm guessing about 8 to 9 lights.

    In the end I told you just about all of things in mind, and I'm not sure if many places can cut back. I mean I could cut out fireplace but my significant other would kill me, or rather be very sad. I don't know how she can be sad with a 17 foot walk in closet, and me giving up my upstairs den for it. I still can't find a place for the office except open in the basement. :(

    hp

  • zyllah
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well you could do wood in the kitchen too. That's what I have and I love it. I put ORB in my current house since it was just coming into fashion and I wanted my house to not look dated for as long as possible. I'd also have them do the under the cab lights since I use them every day. I'm moving up by you but if we build it will be a SFH.

  • Linda Gomez
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    hp: I understand now why your builder is so expensive for upgrades--you are in the DC area. Anything around the Beltway is $$$$$. There are other areas of the country like that where construction and remodeling costs, they really have you over a barrel. Is DC a big Union area too? Cost of living is high there; where we are in the Southeast and there are still bargains to be found.

    I understand that you'll have this extra work done before you even move in. That's smart. Get firm prices before you write off your builder's up charges.

    My first experience with pre-finished hardwood was that it chipped off in the joint area. Mind you, that was early in the market with pre-finished. I'm sure it has improved a lot. We got ours finished in place. We have coats of poly over them so we have one big sheet of surface area. When there is a spill, nothing goes down between the cracks because there are no cracks. No moisture, no crumbs. I can also refinish it or refurbish it in the future by sanding it down and putting more poly down. Or I can take it way down and change the stain color. We have 90yo houses with the same wood floors they were built with and they undergo periodic refurbishing. (Rentals) We've had great success.

    If you are going to live with the carpet for awhile, at least get one with a stain protection on it. It won't get dirty while you're moving in. You do get what you pay for with carpeting.

    As far as finishes, both the brushed nickel and ORB are the new items on the block. Shiny chrome never goes out of style--if it has style to begin with! lol The nickel and ORB are probably more updated looking, yet they'll look old in the next decade. They are like the Antique Brass in the 80's and shiny gold brass in the 90's--NOT what they are putting in new builds and you have to special order replacement parts...but you can still get them. I am going with the ORB because I find them more rustic looking.

    Delta calls the shiny chrome "stainless steel." Your drains should be the same color as the fixture--they usually come in a set. When you build, the hardware should be consistent throughout the house imho, but you can do what you want. We fixate on the details when we're building but don't pay any attention to them later on. Some people don't care. I've seen where the most expensive knobs are on the main floor and they've used cheaper ones upstairs. I think it looks cheaper, but now I understand why. All this stuff adds up....ka ching, ka ching, ka ching.

  • dekeoboe
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Since you are planning on taking out carpet and vinyl and replacing them with hardwood, your floor heights will be different. This means you probably want to figure out ahead of time how you will handle the baseboards; easiest to add shoe moulding when the hardwood is installed. Another consideration is the trim around the doors as well as door thresholds, including exterior doors that may be impacted. Since this is a townhouse, that means it will have stairs. How will the change in flooring work with whatever flooring you are having installed on the stairs?

  • renovator8
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    More money will be saved by building what you want now than changing it later unless you incorporate a future addition in the original design. Doing something once is always cheaper than doing it twice and nothing gets cheaper with time.

  • renovator8
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    In 40 years designing buildings, I have found that the best way to lower the cost of a home is to eliminate what is not needed and add those features that make a real difference in your lifestyle. Since that exercise is so very different for each family, the assistance of a professional designer is essential and a good investment. The secret is to build less, build better, and leave room to add on later. It took 20 years for me to develop the skill to be able to guide a client through this process so I find it odd that anyone would assume they could do it without experience or assistance. The development of good design skills is a process of learning only to become aware of how little you know. It never ends.

  • renovator8
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    In 40 years designing buildings, I have found that the best way to lower the cost of a home is to eliminate what is not needed and add those features that make a real difference in your lifestyle. Since that exercise is so very different for each family, the assistance of a professional designer is essential and a good investment. The secret is to build less, build better, and leave room to add on later. It took 20 years for me to develop the skill to be able to guide a client through this process so I find it odd that anyone would assume they could do it without experience or assistance. The development of good design skills is a process of learning only to become aware of how little you know. It never ends.

  • gaonmymind
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am a true believer in a architect or designer and agree with Renovator 8...best money I spent was on my architect...hands down!

    He really captured my vision on the first draft and designed the house literally only 2 sq ft above the neigborhood minimum...we couldn't believe it.
    Which by the way is a whopping 4500 sq ft not including basement. It was much bigger than we wanted but the land was a steal in a town that was voted the best in GA. So he was under strict instruction not to go over.

    Anyway...I tried to go with a stock plan, but soon realized the benefit of the architect. HE WAS AMAZING!

  • gaonmymind
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Forgot to add that he saved us money by incorporating all of our needs and many wants without going over in sq footage. He also came up with architectural details that would give the house character very inexpensively. He loaded us up on storage and made the most use out of stadard windows. Also incorporated brick and stone with hardi in a way that kept the expense down but provided a huge visual impact. It is also unique from the other houses in the neighborhood and area, but still blends nicely so that if we ever resale we will standout among the homogenous designs most builders put up in our area. So that will payoff later. I have had someone on my hoa with a house significantly bigger than mine rave over the design and wish she could move in.

    Also he could have...but we chose not to do this... make it so the first floor was the only floor finished so that we could finish the second and basement later without anyone being the wiser. However we lost our minds and now are finishing the whole basement.

  • wu343
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've read a few bad posts about Lumber Liquidators on this forum, but we got a bid from them that would save us $1.70 per square foot our main level flooring (about 1k sq ft). We had a floor picked out at the same place that will do our carpet, but I would like to save a few $. Is the Virginia Mill Works stuff from Lumber Liquidators any good? We are looking for an engineered wood with a hand scraped look and they have what we like for only $3.29 per sq ft. This does seem too good to be true.

  • heartspeace
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    dekeoboe,

    First, great name.

    Second everything you said I will have done or rather the builder said he would do for me. The builder hss an amazing man as a project manager and he is going to prepare all of the downstairs for wood to be put in. He thought of the doors and the stairs and molding. Apparently a lot of people do this. He is also adjusting the floor height.

    thankyou for your advice!
    hp

  • heartspeace
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am learning a lot from everybody. Thank you so very much for all your teaching me.

    hp

    Now if I can only decide on whether the fixture have to match the faucet finishes vs the door knobs. I'm seriously thinking of just leaving all The faucets chrome. It saves me $1500. If I forgo the 60/40 sink I save $700. If I forgo the fireplace I save $5000. If I forgo stainless steel I save $1500 (otherwise same appliances). I cannot forgo the elevator or the whirlpool because of my disability. There is another 6000 dollars if I just want for the basic cabinets, but my significant other will not allow about $4000 of that. :-) I'm debating $1000 worth of speaker hookups (3 pairs) :\.

    Hp

  • heartspeace
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am learning a lot from everybody. Thank you so very much for all your teaching me.

    hp

    Now if I can only decide on whether the fixture have to match the faucet finishes vs the door knobs. I'm seriously thinking of just leaving all The faucets chrome. It saves me $1500. If I forgo the 60/40 sink I save $700. If I forgo the fireplace I save $5000. If I forgo stainless steel I save $1500 (otherwise same appliances). I cannot forgo the elevator or the whirlpool because of my disability. There is another 6000 dollars if I just want for the basic cabinets, but my significant other will not allow about $4000 of that. :-) I'm debating $1000 worth of speaker hookups (3 pairs) :\.

    Hp

  • jazzyjones
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    spend more money on the roofing technique.it can save your home from heating.Therefore spend more on roofing.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Roof Repairs Manchester