We have done this, if you offer to do demo first find out if there is any asbestos tile laid or worse asbestos plaster. Also check to see if the old paint is lead based, probably is considering age of house. Asbestos removal should only be done by pros. Demo with lead paint requires proper masks, precautions and clean up/disposal. Check with your contractor. My number one trick to save money is lighting! Houzz has some great ideas for easy DIY lights! Trim work will eat up a lot of your money. Stick to stock mouldings and layer them, cheaper than custom. If you use standard profiles on the trim then you can put off doing rooms that are accessible until later. Ask your electrician if you can cut costs by running wire for them. Our electrician marked out where we were to drill the holes and used coloured marker to show us which wire to run. That saved big time on labour. If you are paying cost plus then don't bother running errands as this is part of the plus! Any tile work is a big expense. We saved by asking builders to sell us their overage from other jobs. Of course we only had small tile jobs. We are installed cheap floating laminate and vinyl in areas that are easy to replace later and made a five year plan for replacement. Make sure your builder knows where you plan to upgrade to tile so the floor gets structured properly. Appliances are huge. Scour web sites and Craig's List for deals. If you are picky and strong you can ask if you can do the grouting of tile. It is pretty simple to learn but murder on the arms. For kitchen and bath fixtures you can sometimes get great deals by buying discontinued floor display items, make sure all the parts are there though. If you are getting a lot of custom cabinetry and millwork done ask where you can save money. Possibly leave off the fanciest stuff until a later time. Same for crown moulding. Glass from cabinet makers is expensive. If you are using plain glass or frosted consider getting a local window and door shop to add it into cupboard doors after the fact. Painting is a big expense. If your handy do it yourself, unless you have vaulted ceilings then it is faster and safer to let the pros do it. Hope this helps!
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