We got most of our plumbing out of the way. (Fergusons) I think we went about 400 over budget here, we stayed within the limits for the most part. We didn't like any of the fauctes we were given, so those we all upgrades. Same with tubs and showers. We also went with a different pedestal sink in the powder room. For the kitchen, I wanted the double bowl undermount Franke sink, so that was an upgrade too.
The design person we met with was really good at helping us finalize the exterior colors of the house. (Michael David) I'm looking forward to working with her on the interior as well. She has lots of good ideas around design, not just color coordination.
There are so many choices to make here. Our first visti was just for exterior, and we still ended up having to decide: stucco color, window color, shutter color, trim color, stone color, grout color, gutter color, entry door color, garage door color, exterior door colors, and shingles. Whew!
We're looking into getting grids in the windows, that was one suggestion that was made during our visit.
We need to start picking what we like for interior colors. We only get 3 colors to use throughout the house, and we can't go with any dark shades. I think at this point, we'll just pick what we like, see what costs are to upgrade, and then we'll probably end up doing a few rooms on our own.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Still more things to consider
We've considered several other items to add recently.
Central Vac - I found one on craigslist, no hose or attachments, but came with quite a bit of piping, and all of the fittings and outlets, which can add up fast. The unit was new.
Skylights - we don't have any windows in our master bath, so I thought it would be nice to add some light. Velux is the brand to go with. We are considering either a skylight, or sun tunnel(s). The sun tunnels are a pretty good idea, work very well, and require minimal space depending on the roof space available.
More plumbing. We'll have the laundry plumbed for the basement, and the bonus room.
Lighting. Haven't had to decide on anything yet, but trying to determine lighting that will be needed throughout the house.
Fireplace. We have a ventless gas right now. Looking into pellet fireplaces. They make them just like the fireplace we would get(not an insert), only needs to be vented.
Central Vac - I found one on craigslist, no hose or attachments, but came with quite a bit of piping, and all of the fittings and outlets, which can add up fast. The unit was new.
Skylights - we don't have any windows in our master bath, so I thought it would be nice to add some light. Velux is the brand to go with. We are considering either a skylight, or sun tunnel(s). The sun tunnels are a pretty good idea, work very well, and require minimal space depending on the roof space available.
More plumbing. We'll have the laundry plumbed for the basement, and the bonus room.
Lighting. Haven't had to decide on anything yet, but trying to determine lighting that will be needed throughout the house.
Fireplace. We have a ventless gas right now. Looking into pellet fireplaces. They make them just like the fireplace we would get(not an insert), only needs to be vented.
The Closing
We just closed on the loan last last week. It felt good to finally get that portion out of the way, since we only had our loan rate locked in for 60 days. A few things had to come together quickly to get the closing complete.
We owed the builder a down payment of 25K, which for some reason was to be paid to them before the closing could take place. I was under the impression that was something the title company would take care of, but the loan company insisted that happen before. So, that was a surprise, just don't make assumptions, ask questions.
We also had to have risk insurance. There were terms in our builders contract for "insurance" that required this, but there were also some "insurance" items that were part of our closing costs. I assumed this was covered. Nope. Had to get a new homeowners policy that listed the loan company and the builder as payees. This can be added in to the closing costs.
Just ask lots of questions. I was mad at the fact no one had pointed that out. I don't know what I don't know. This whole thing is a learning process.
The other piece was the closing costs. We knew what these were going to be some time before closing, but 7K was hard to swallow.
In the end everything worked out just fine, it was just a little frustrating.
We owed the builder a down payment of 25K, which for some reason was to be paid to them before the closing could take place. I was under the impression that was something the title company would take care of, but the loan company insisted that happen before. So, that was a surprise, just don't make assumptions, ask questions.
We also had to have risk insurance. There were terms in our builders contract for "insurance" that required this, but there were also some "insurance" items that were part of our closing costs. I assumed this was covered. Nope. Had to get a new homeowners policy that listed the loan company and the builder as payees. This can be added in to the closing costs.
Just ask lots of questions. I was mad at the fact no one had pointed that out. I don't know what I don't know. This whole thing is a learning process.
The other piece was the closing costs. We knew what these were going to be some time before closing, but 7K was hard to swallow.
In the end everything worked out just fine, it was just a little frustrating.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Still making changes
We're just about ready to close, and our dig date is only weeks away. But, we are still making changes to plans. We have now moved a bathroom that was in the transition area down to the basement. We'll have more room for a "media room" by doing that. The basement is only a few steps down. We're alos looking into what kinds of film are available to cut glare on the great room windows. With the triple pane, and file on the 2 upper rows, we should be fine. There are always other things we can do for shading. We also decided on the concrete driveway. I added a washtub, and water lines in the garage. Can't have a drain due to code issues.
The kitchen design is done. There was a small disappointment there when we found out what we could actually get with our allowance. Agian, we should have found out what our allowance was on that in the beginning. I just made a few assumptions based on my last kitchen remodel. Depending on the types of cabinet drawers, door style, and wood species, you can go crazy on price, and with choices. We ended up $2002 over our allowance. And that was down from $4300. The choices were crazy, so we ended up picking what we knew we wanted, regardless of being in our package or not, then goign from there.
We liked the previous Cardell cabinets we had previously, so that is what we wanted again. But, of course the door style we wanted was a step up. We didn't care so much about the bathrooms (or at least the kids bathroom) than we did the kitchen. So, we ended up with the Shaker II, Maple, Mocha cabinets with dove tail drawers. We know how they held up before, so should be fine again.
We also have the "U" kitchen. So, working in the island with some seating was a challenge due to space. But, I feel good about the work area we will have in the kitchen from the island, and have seating for two with a raised bar. Due to our open floor plan, I thought that might spearate the ktichen a bit. Having the big drawers in the island facing the range was something I wanted to (also had this before). They are nice for storing the cooking utensils, and pots/pans.
The one corner of the kitchen was to be a double oven cabinet, but since I went with the range, didn't need, and I thought that was a waste of space. So, we now have a walk-in pantry where we can use that whole space.
For appliances, I went with the Frigidaire Pro series. The main reason was because I wanted a dual fuel range that was in a decent price range, and didn't have the controls sticking up in the back. And Frig. is the only maker of one that I like and can afford. The new Maytag or LG refrig. would be nice with the french doors, bottom freezer, and cabinet depth, but I can't justify the price. We'll be fine with side-by-side, can always replace it. Stainless range hoods are very pricey, so do some shopping around ahead of time if that is what you want. The builder would do a custom wood range hood over the range, but I opted out of that, took the $500 credit. It does have a nice look, but I'm not sure that is what I wanted.
The only thing left is the countertop material to use, flooring, and how I'm going to do the under and above cabinet lighting. Again, I put this in before and we liked it.
The kitchen design is done. There was a small disappointment there when we found out what we could actually get with our allowance. Agian, we should have found out what our allowance was on that in the beginning. I just made a few assumptions based on my last kitchen remodel. Depending on the types of cabinet drawers, door style, and wood species, you can go crazy on price, and with choices. We ended up $2002 over our allowance. And that was down from $4300. The choices were crazy, so we ended up picking what we knew we wanted, regardless of being in our package or not, then goign from there.
We liked the previous Cardell cabinets we had previously, so that is what we wanted again. But, of course the door style we wanted was a step up. We didn't care so much about the bathrooms (or at least the kids bathroom) than we did the kitchen. So, we ended up with the Shaker II, Maple, Mocha cabinets with dove tail drawers. We know how they held up before, so should be fine again.
We also have the "U" kitchen. So, working in the island with some seating was a challenge due to space. But, I feel good about the work area we will have in the kitchen from the island, and have seating for two with a raised bar. Due to our open floor plan, I thought that might spearate the ktichen a bit. Having the big drawers in the island facing the range was something I wanted to (also had this before). They are nice for storing the cooking utensils, and pots/pans.
The one corner of the kitchen was to be a double oven cabinet, but since I went with the range, didn't need, and I thought that was a waste of space. So, we now have a walk-in pantry where we can use that whole space.
For appliances, I went with the Frigidaire Pro series. The main reason was because I wanted a dual fuel range that was in a decent price range, and didn't have the controls sticking up in the back. And Frig. is the only maker of one that I like and can afford. The new Maytag or LG refrig. would be nice with the french doors, bottom freezer, and cabinet depth, but I can't justify the price. We'll be fine with side-by-side, can always replace it. Stainless range hoods are very pricey, so do some shopping around ahead of time if that is what you want. The builder would do a custom wood range hood over the range, but I opted out of that, took the $500 credit. It does have a nice look, but I'm not sure that is what I wanted.
The only thing left is the countertop material to use, flooring, and how I'm going to do the under and above cabinet lighting. Again, I put this in before and we liked it.
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