We are expecting to break ground this week, so I will post pictures as soon as we get them from our SR. Our PM is on vacation this week, so its nice to know our SR will fill the gaps in his absence.
Little nuggets:
We confirmed there are no upgrades for the faucets, bathroom or kitchen. Our selection sheet during our Pre-Construction meeting listed "upgrade1" for the faucets, so I thought I would ask as others homeowners have mentioned they were able to upgrade theirs. What was nice to find out is that the granite will have 3 holes for the faucet and will come standard with a sprayer and soap dispenser.
Ryan homes does not offer any different types of sinks. You get a standard 50/50 stainless steel sink that is mounted under the granite. Our SR said RH used to offer a 70/30 sink years ago, but few people got them so they stopped offering them.
Ryan homes does not offer beveled edges on the granite. Kinda sad about this as I would like something more than just a square edge.
Finally, one thing to keep in mind is that each RH community operates like their own business, per our SR. I told him that I saw other pictures online of homes with the beveled edges on the granite and he explained that some divisions may offer that and some do not. Unfortunately, my division does not offer that.
I'm pretty satisfied with that answer and it makes sense, when you think that the homes are built at a certain price and have a certain profit margin built in, the pressure is on the PM to make sure he comes at or under budget for the home. If everyone was allowed to deviate based on what they saw in a different state or community, then the home building process becomes less streamlined and the process takes longer to plan and build because are worried about why someone else got more outlets or more shiny door knobs.
Showing posts with label Change Order. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Change Order. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
Final CTI Choices
We made it through out CTI decisions this morning in about 1.5 hours. We've read where this sometimes takes 3 hours to get through everything. I can't stress enough about being able to get these items picked out early in the process so that you can know where you want to spend the money.
I wish this was the first thing we had to decide on as the cost is a bit unknown and you can easily go over budget if you are not careful. Overall, I think we got what we wanted and it was all less than $8,000. (Prices may vary per region and home model. This is based on a home the Washington D.C. area)
If you want to know a rough price for certain upgrades, let me know as I have a list of what they will cost.
This is the shelf that can be added in the master shower for $75. You can add two of them, but we went with just one as we have the seat in the shower as well. This looks a lot better than having a "stripper pole" in the corner of the shower
These will be our cabinets and granite in the kitchen. The hard woods will be in the kitchen, foyer, powder room, morning room and family room.
The carpet for the room with the fireplace is not as gray as it looks. It is actually more beige tan and has a higher pile. We chose level C in this room, as it will have more use out of it.
We chose the middle color carpet for Zone B and the basement. Its a lighter tan color, but dark enough to where it should not show much traffic patterns or stains. The last image is of the Zone B and basement (left) and Family Room (Right)
Our master bathroom tiles and accent piece. We did confirm we were able to mix and match the accent piece with our tiles. We like the glass tile in the accent piece, but not the shiny or iridescent ones. Thankfully they had something that was more contemporary but still ties into the natural look we wanted. The granite in all the bathrooms is the St. Cecilia light with the same cabinets as the kitchen.
We like the look of this color scheme for the kitchen, but wanted a little darker floors.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
CTI Preview
Our Realtor had a preview appointment yesterday so that we could get an idea on cost and colors. We were able to do this because we live on the opposite coast and will not be able to get to the design center to see and make the decisions ourselves.
There was no issue with us doing this and our SR helped us get this lined up, knowing we were buying the house, sight unseen.
Here are some of the images our Realtor sent us of the cabinets and granite, which we already knew what we wanted. The hard part was visualizing everything together to pick up a good hardwood.
We like the tiles below but not the accent piece. From what we were told, you can mix and match the tiles and accent pieces
One thing that we were told different from the SR is the option of a 10lb carpet pad. The standard is a 5lb pad with an upgrade option to an 8lb pad. We decided to add the 8lb pad in the entire house.
Here is a breakdown of what we are doing:
Hardwoods - Kitchen, Foyer and living Room, Powder Room and Morning Room. It was only about $200 more to upgrade to lvl B hardwoods. Lvl A has good stuff, it just depends on what you are looking for. It was an additional cost of $1995(Living Room) and $1495(Morning Room) to have the hardwoods installed. I am trying to get a discount or rebate for that as they would have put carpet and vinyl flooring, respectively, in the rooms anyways. SR said there was no rebate because the cost is minimal to them, but I will push for it anyways.
Carpet - Basement, Zone 2 (upstairs and bedrooms) and Family room (Room with fire place). We are going with level B carpet in entire house because it has stain protection and 10 year warranty and level C in the Family room. We like the top grey color and pile. There are soo many options for carpet, it gets a bit overwhelming. I would suggest going to your local home improvement store to get an idea on what you like/want before going to the CTI appointment so you can filter out most of the options you dont like.
Master Suite - Upgrade to lvl C. It was only about $900 to upgrade over the standard white or almond tiles and it gives the house a more custom look. We also will add a shelf for soap and stuff for $75, which is better than a cheap soap dish stuck to the wall.
Overall, our Realtor did a great job for us in getting most of the items pre-selected, but we sent her tons of texts and emails every time we found something we liked, which she encouraged. I would recommend to do your homework on the brands and models to find out what you like. Both of us have spent hours going through colors and styles online to find ideas we like. This has allowed us to be specific in what we want and made it easier overall in making our final selections. Also, our Realtor has a couple clients that are building Ryan Homes in various stages and has been through the process a few times before us, which has made the process easier for us and her as she knows what we can and cannot do.
There was no issue with us doing this and our SR helped us get this lined up, knowing we were buying the house, sight unseen.
Here are some of the images our Realtor sent us of the cabinets and granite, which we already knew what we wanted. The hard part was visualizing everything together to pick up a good hardwood.
We like the tiles below but not the accent piece. From what we were told, you can mix and match the tiles and accent pieces
One thing that we were told different from the SR is the option of a 10lb carpet pad. The standard is a 5lb pad with an upgrade option to an 8lb pad. We decided to add the 8lb pad in the entire house.
Here is a breakdown of what we are doing:
Hardwoods - Kitchen, Foyer and living Room, Powder Room and Morning Room. It was only about $200 more to upgrade to lvl B hardwoods. Lvl A has good stuff, it just depends on what you are looking for. It was an additional cost of $1995(Living Room) and $1495(Morning Room) to have the hardwoods installed. I am trying to get a discount or rebate for that as they would have put carpet and vinyl flooring, respectively, in the rooms anyways. SR said there was no rebate because the cost is minimal to them, but I will push for it anyways.
Carpet - Basement, Zone 2 (upstairs and bedrooms) and Family room (Room with fire place). We are going with level B carpet in entire house because it has stain protection and 10 year warranty and level C in the Family room. We like the top grey color and pile. There are soo many options for carpet, it gets a bit overwhelming. I would suggest going to your local home improvement store to get an idea on what you like/want before going to the CTI appointment so you can filter out most of the options you dont like.
Master Suite - Upgrade to lvl C. It was only about $900 to upgrade over the standard white or almond tiles and it gives the house a more custom look. We also will add a shelf for soap and stuff for $75, which is better than a cheap soap dish stuck to the wall.
Overall, our Realtor did a great job for us in getting most of the items pre-selected, but we sent her tons of texts and emails every time we found something we liked, which she encouraged. I would recommend to do your homework on the brands and models to find out what you like. Both of us have spent hours going through colors and styles online to find ideas we like. This has allowed us to be specific in what we want and made it easier overall in making our final selections. Also, our Realtor has a couple clients that are building Ryan Homes in various stages and has been through the process a few times before us, which has made the process easier for us and her as she knows what we can and cannot do.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Last day for changes
Had a great meeting with SR today to go over all the structural details of the home and make any last minute changes that we wanted. We went over options we did select and options we did not select. I thought was helpful as it is a refresher of what is available just in case you forgot something. I have purchased new construction before, so I did not feel pressured to choose additional upgrades and we had a clear idea of what we wanted in the house before we started this process.
Overall, nothing changed much from when we first drafted up our wants and desires. A few things did change however and I'll provide some info for others who have not reached this point yet:
1. We decided to not get the under cabinet lighting. We can do this later ourselves with wireless LED lights or use the extra outlet above the microwave to hard wire lights if we want.
2. Two house bibs are provided and confirmed to one in the back and one in the front at the discretion of project manager/standard location.
3. We opted to not have the basement sliding glass door, for budget and security reasons.
4. We got trim package #3, which includes thicker baseboards, trail trail in family room and crown molding in family room and upstairs hall.
5. Confirmed hardwood floors are standard in kitchen, foyer, powder room and MUD ROOM!!! We will be adding hardwood floors to family room and great room.
6. We decided to get the gas fireplace in living room. It is only a white mantel with stone veneer. It costs considerably more to have the stone go all the way up the wall, so we opted not to do that.
7. Added flood light to back of house, with location set by the master bedroom window for easy adjustment and light bulb changes.
8. We asked about the tile in bathroom and the tile goes past the shower head, but not all the way up the wall. This is much better than other blogs that mentioned it only went up to or below the shower head.
9. We upgraded the cabinets in the bathrooms to match the ones in the kitchen.
10. We upgraded the granite in the bathrooms to St. Cecilia. We were told it is a shade lighter than the granite in the kitchen, just so everyone knows. This isnt an issue for us an should work out better being less natural light in the bathrooms.
11. We confirmed Venice Model Elevation E.
Overall, it was a pretty quick process, only about a 30 minute phone call. When you get ready for this, I would recommend having a list of all the pre-selected options and your change orders for review. We caught a few things that were not updated on the change order from last time, ie., the bathroom cabinets and granite, which would have been a big let down if we did not catch it. Just make sure you go line by line and ask questions if an item or upgrade is not listed or you are unsure of what it is.
Overall, nothing changed much from when we first drafted up our wants and desires. A few things did change however and I'll provide some info for others who have not reached this point yet:
1. We decided to not get the under cabinet lighting. We can do this later ourselves with wireless LED lights or use the extra outlet above the microwave to hard wire lights if we want.
2. Two house bibs are provided and confirmed to one in the back and one in the front at the discretion of project manager/standard location.
3. We opted to not have the basement sliding glass door, for budget and security reasons.
4. We got trim package #3, which includes thicker baseboards, trail trail in family room and crown molding in family room and upstairs hall.
5. Confirmed hardwood floors are standard in kitchen, foyer, powder room and MUD ROOM!!! We will be adding hardwood floors to family room and great room.
6. We decided to get the gas fireplace in living room. It is only a white mantel with stone veneer. It costs considerably more to have the stone go all the way up the wall, so we opted not to do that.
7. Added flood light to back of house, with location set by the master bedroom window for easy adjustment and light bulb changes.
8. We asked about the tile in bathroom and the tile goes past the shower head, but not all the way up the wall. This is much better than other blogs that mentioned it only went up to or below the shower head.
9. We upgraded the cabinets in the bathrooms to match the ones in the kitchen.
10. We upgraded the granite in the bathrooms to St. Cecilia. We were told it is a shade lighter than the granite in the kitchen, just so everyone knows. This isnt an issue for us an should work out better being less natural light in the bathrooms.
11. We confirmed Venice Model Elevation E.
Overall, it was a pretty quick process, only about a 30 minute phone call. When you get ready for this, I would recommend having a list of all the pre-selected options and your change orders for review. We caught a few things that were not updated on the change order from last time, ie., the bathroom cabinets and granite, which would have been a big let down if we did not catch it. Just make sure you go line by line and ask questions if an item or upgrade is not listed or you are unsure of what it is.
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