Week 12: Floors, Appliances, Touch-Up Work

Week 12 - August 1 - 7, 2016

 

Days 78 - 84

• Hardwood floors & carpets installed - 8/1-8/3
• Appliances arrive - 8/4
• Drywall spackling/ touch ups (everything is pink!)
• Sprayed inside of main vents black (instead of shiny)
• Bathroom fixtures hung (TP holders, towel racks, etc.)
• Shower surround in master bath installed
• Shower curtain rods hung in hall & guest bath
• Faucets installed everywhere.

We asked our PM for a walk-through on Wednesday afternoon. It was GREAT to see the progress, and our floors in particular. I love them!! Wish we could have seen the appliances, but we were a day too early. We measured for blinds and took a few pics (see below).
Work definitely feels slower now that it's detail stuff and not drastic changes.
We caught a few new fixes:

• Cable outlet was faced into the loft, when it should have faced into bedroom #3.
• Long towel bar hung in powder room (had requested it be left off). I don't understand why they install a full towel bar in a powder room. It should be a ring or short bar. So silly.
• Move TP holder in master WC from next to toilet to on opposite wall.
• Carpet transitions between rooms obvious in a couple of places - you can see the cuts.
• Front living room window is being bowed up pretty severely by mortar globs on the stone.

And a few remain that PM added to/kept on his list:

• Banged up kitchen cabinets
• Still wrong vanities in hall and guest baths
• Door swings of laundry room and master bath need to be reversed
• Crooked ceiling drywall in pantry hallway (between kitchen & dining room)
• Horrendous drywall gap and blobs of spackle around front door light switch
• bowed drywall above loft windows
• white outlet cover on espresso island

Some general stuff I don't love, but can't do anything about:

• Front door has no trim, and a plain white kickplate. Snore.
• Strange undersized garage carriage lights
• We paid for upgraded padding in study. It does not feel upgraded in the least.
• Ugly/cheap-looking window in front door
• Meh about the stone selection

One happy note: PM demonstrated that electrician was able to accommodate my wiring request to control front porch and garage lights from the same place inside the front door. Yay PM!

Day 8: Dining Room and floors! Note the raised box molding to accommodate higher baseboards we'll install ourselves. Resolution to that ugly issue!

Day 80: Entry View with bonus shots of hubs and PM + So.many.boob lights.

Master Bath light fixture - not a big fan

Day 80: Master shower. BIG fan!

Day 80: The Glorious Tub!

Day 80: Study with "upgraded" carpet and pad

Structural Selections

I'm struck by the fact that structural options aren't really differentiated in the options list. That would have been helpful up front in the decision-making process. What did help a ton was asking for straight-talk from our sales rep. We asked which options made the most sense to do up front, for the most reasonable prices. That really helped to drive our decisions.
I've included all the prices for anything we considered upgrading from my Master Selection Sheet, whether we selected them or not. Figured that might be helpful for someone else!

"Free" Promotions for signing in December

1. Finished basement with recessed lighting 
2. Morning room 
3. Gourmet kitchen (gourmet island, level 1 granite, stainless appliances)
4. Hardwoods in entry & powder room

Neighborhood "Free" Standards

1. Elevation B
2. Half stone front
3. Cottage style garage door upgrade (with windows)
4. Black shingle roofs
5. White trim
6. Sump pump included 
7. Master bath double vanity
8. White balusters
9. Ceramic tile surround in hall bath
10. Recessed lights in kitchen

NOT offered as standard our neighborhood, but found as standards on other blogs around the U.S.

1. Tankless or up-sized water heater
2. Water softener
3. Dehumidifier or humidifier
4. Paint options
5. Overhead light rough ins (only offered ceiling fan rough-ins/complete installs)
6. Garage door opener
7. Cabinet hardware
8. Double sinks in hall bathroom
9. Sprinklers
10. Outdoor sprinkler systems
11. Neighborhood Centers - gym/movie/pools/playgrounds, etc. (SO jealous!)


Elevation

• Upgraded from "free" Rome (version 6) elevation B to Elevation C (2 foot bump-out in loft, and 2 windows in front living room) Standard floorplan, no porch. ($1995)
• Added custom front stoop overhang
• Elevation C Meltdown 
• Elevation C Meltdown - Resolved

Basement

• Finished basement with morning room bump out (included - $12,995)
• 3 piece plumbing rough-in ($1395)

Garage

• Included cottage style door upgrade (with windows) - standard in neighborhood (no price listed)
• No 2" extension or access door (something had to give in the budget! - $2,495/ $995)
• No side entry (still crying over this one - $7,995)
• No garage door opener ($495)

"Mudroom" Closet

• Added 2 outlets and wiring through Guardian to move TV components (cable box, dvd player, etc.) into this closet

Entry

• Trim package 3

Living Room

• 2nd front window added with elevation upgrade (n/a)
• Not  later selected - optional living room side window ($495) 
• Trim package 3

Dining Room

• No upgrades 
• Trim package 3

Kitchen

• Standard gourmet kitchen upgrade included in our sales promotion
• level 1 granite counter tops  ($4,495)
• gourmet (version 5) extended island ($3,195)
• stainless steel appliances ($2695 - received credit for stove) 
• Double wall ovens ($3995)
• Gas cook-top hookup ($295)
• Cabinet crown molding ($595)
• Custom request to move double wall ovens + additional surrounding cabinets to empty powder room wall ($1895)

Morning Room

• Morning room included in our sales promotion ($16,995)
• Double patio door (included - $995) 
• Ceiling fan rough-in ($225)
• Side windows ($990)

Family Room

• Gas fireplace with standard slate surround ($3,495)
• Not selected - window(s) family room side ($495)
• Ceiling fan rough-in ($225)
• 4 recessed lights

Study

• No upgrades later added ceiling fan rough-in ($225) 

Hall Bathroom

• No upgrades

Laundry Room

• Requested that doors be hung to open into hall (no cost?) Requesting to leave door off so we can install barn door - will not pass inspection, so we will remove later.
• Gas dryer hookup ($295) Somehow this was missed, but later learned that selecting this would require a swap to a louvered, rather than solid door to meet code. 

Master Bedroom

• No tray ceiling
• Loss of sitting room (gain bigger closet) to make way for extra bathroom in bedroom 
• Flipped bathroom door to open into bedroom

Master Bathroom

• Shower with seat and soaking tub ($4,995)

Bedroom #4

• "Bathroom #2 standard tub" ($5995) -This will likely be our guest "suite", but may become our daughter's room when she's older...

Attic 

• Storage option no longer available ($1,495)