Friday, August 08, 2014

Pre-Construction Meeting Questions Updated - Ryan Homes Build

Most of these questions were answered within the overview of our options reviewed by our project manager. Quick and easy. There were three or so that were left at the end to ask. :)
  • Smooth or rough ceilings? NEVER put any thought to this until I saw this so frequently in other posts. Why would you do rough ceilings? I got laughed at. SMOOTH
  • Have the appliances changed? The refrigerator is no longer being sold. Found the newer model that had been sent to the SR. 
  • Standard recessed lights over each shower? I continue to be told yes. But this is just a reminder to verify. Yes. 
  • Standard recessed lights in porch? Again, told yes. I'd like two built-in. Yes, two standard. 
  • Remove granite backsplash lip? I don't know the true wording for this, but I think that it looks cleaner with the lip removed for backsplash application. Easy to remove after we move in to put backsplash, but this is a quality control issue according to inspector. 
  • Crown moulding on kitchen and laundry cabinets? I haven't found much clarification on this. It would seem to me that this would not be standard, but I never saw it listed as an option? Continue to need clarification. Although for sure not in laundry room. 
  • Will laundry cabinets be installed high enough to accommodate our stands? Yes. 
  • French door vs. sliding door in back? Crossing my fingers for a french door.  Yes, one stationary, one that opens. 
  • Different switch for pendants vs. recessed lights? MUST have this. Yes. 
  • White mantle? Praying this is possible, but if not we will install ourselves. We do not want a stone mantle. Most likely doing stone. 
  • Glass cabinets above the range? End of cabinets? Really crossing my fingers on this one. The glass makes a huge difference in my opinion. Not an option. Would have to reach out to Timberlake distributor instead. 
  • Do the end of the cabinets round at the wall? This is something that I'm just simply clarifying. The upgraded kitchen shows this online, so I am assuming this is a yes. Yes. 
  • Outlet on landing of stairs? Wondering if we can add this in. Seems simple enough to request to add-in. I want to be able to put scent plug-ins here. A little silly you may think.. ;) Not present and not a big deal the more I think about it. 
  • Switched outlet for tray ceiling lighting in master and dining? We are planning on putting rope lighting in the tray. We have already paid for the outlet, but just want to make sure it is run by a switch. Yes. 
  • Move crown moulding on tray to bottom? This is related to a model home we saw in MD which has the rope lights in the master and dining room trays. Our SR is not sure our PM will accommodate this. It never hurts to ask. If it cannot be done, we will ask to leave off the crown moulding and apply it ourselves. Because otherwise, the outlets placed in the trays would useless. Yes, will be 1/3 way down
  • Extra insulation in laundry, bathrooms, and between master/bonus? I cannot STAND to hear the bathroom shower or toilet running in the bedrooms next door - this happens as my parents home that was a RH from 2003. Will do ourselves. 
  • Mini deck and porch having trex/geo-deck material? Hoping for trex or some variation because of the cleanliness and way it looks. Concrete. Not exciting but it is what it is. 
  • Archway vs. raised in bathroom between sinks and shower/toilet? This is a pretty big deal to us. It changes the openness of the bathroom A LOT and I'm hoping this is a simple fix. Archway, no. Possibly raised. 
  • Tile ABOVE the showerhead? No bigger frustration than halfhearted tiling. Our previous RH (that we did NOT build) had upgraded tile, but it stopped below the shower head. Made our nice bathroom seem a little less nice. Yes. 
  • Have shower head raised high enough? My husband is 6'4" and many shower heads do not accommodate his height. Hopefully a simple request. Yes. 
  • Light rough-in for morning room? CANNOT remember for the life of me. Kind of important! Yes, chandelier. 
  • House paint color? A beige/greige/off-white may be nice? I think we may paint sooner than the 10-month inspection anyway. So it is kind of a flexible point. Forgot to ask. 
  • Light on the back “deck” recessed or on the wall? I believe one of the neo-traditional models we saw had a recessed light in the overhang of the small "deck". Recessed per plan. 
  • Laundry room light? Our previous, lovely home, had the large, long tube light in the laundry room. But am starting to entertain the idea of additional recessed lights here. From what I understand it's a typical round light. 
  • Wood stairs to bonus and wood stairs to bottom of basement? Yes, wood stairs to bonus but not to basement as that is not per plan. 
  • Is the blower necessary now that we have a new fireplace? TBD.
I'm not necessary interested in timelines as I know timing, weather, and other situations arise. We can be flexible and accommodating for this ride. :) But I am definitely SUPER excited for the future. 

18 comments:

  1. In our subdivision crown moulding on the cabinets is a $600 upgrade. So check on that for your house.

    We were originally slated for a slider, but Ryan is now including a French door instead. That was a total happy bonus.

    I know the homes in our subdivision the interior is painted an off white. That's so much better than asylum white!

    Make sure you get everything in writing. We are having trouble right now because i was a little too trusting and believed the SR. For your sake just get it all in writing! It will save you a headache!

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    1. Yikes Bridget! See.. that is why we need clarification! I do not want to have to pay $600 for that. :/ That is so awesome you all are now getting a french door. My fingers are totally crossed. I know what you mean about "getting it in writing".. I'm really hoping this doesn't come back to bite us in the butt. But every time we meet with our SR we are sure to reiterate what we are going to request and he seems to remember.

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  2. I hope that you get your shower. We were told no. No even if we paid the glass company out of pocket ourselves. We were also not able to move the house on our lot to maximize backyard, but thankfully it was already placed, per plan, in a spot where we would have plenty of backyard.
    Good luck at your meeting!

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    1. Thanks Natasha! I will not be surprised if we are told no, because it seems to frequent that people are told no. And for our lot, there really isn't much to actually move it to and it might change the uniform look they are going for. We literally have such a small lot that I'm not sure moving it will make much difference in the land lol :)

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  3. Hi Michelle! Exciting for your precon coming up for you, congrats! Extra outlets, the crown moulding, recessed lights, rough ins, and tile above the shower head were all considered extras for my model and/or development. Each model is different, as well as each development from my short experience doing all this. Your sales rep should have given you a list of "add ons" while you had your grace period to make changes (it's like a 30 pg document). We had a pretty decent sales rep, but he even told us one request we had (where we wanted the slider in the basement located) could just be requested at the precon, and turned out we needed to put in a non-standard request back before our grace period so we didn't get it. Ask the PM too for the electrical plan. It's nice to know to prep to move in but also in the future if you need to add/have any work done. If they do let you add the rough in for the morning room, I suggest asking for a tiny "box" to have it centered in. I've seen some where they put this enormous box and it takes away from the vaulted ceiling. I have pics on my page, feel free to check out! Oh, and the moving of the actual placement of the house, we were told that is all code (I guess that's the right word!) and regulated by the township, so the placement was the placement. Similar situation as you, small lot! Ok, I think I have answered all I can from my experience! Good luck!

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    1. See Chrissie.. that is what I'm nervous about! The extra outlet and rough-in's are no big deal, I understand the charge. BUT the moulding above the cabinets and tile above the shower were neither things that ever came up.. you know? I'm going to have to go check and see if it is listed on the options sheet for the cabinet moulding, but I thought I memorized it and never saw it? Definitely could be wrong. :) And I'll check the sheet from the tile company because she drew us a diagram. So many little things just start to add up, you know?! :)

      My biggest concern is like you are addressing, that things we are told will be "no big deal" may end need being added on as a non-standard and who says that will be granted. :/ Fingers crossed.

      I appreciate all your input so much! I'd be nowhere without you all. :)

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    2. So far this is one area that I see Ryan lacking in. You are building a big fairly expensive house. As the purchaser of said large ticket item, there will always be little tweaks and adjustments that come up. How are we supposed to perfectly visualize everything that you want in a house and have such a short window to add them? It's ridiculous. Between seeing already built Ryan homes, reading blogs or doing other research, you might find a small item, such as adding an outlet in an important place, that will make your forever home that much better. As an example, we are fighting to add 2 stinking recessed lights in the Morning Room. We haven't even broken ground yet! Which should be tomorrow. We were told we are outside the window for changes. Come friggin' on. We aren't asking for walls to be moved, or something that will change the structural plans, or require different permits. TWO stupid lights requested and ground isn't even broken yet, ridiculous. We are fighting them and taking it up the chain. So short sighted on Ryan's part.

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    3. I agree! There are going to be changes. You can't expect there not to be. Especially when you have a wait before construction starts. That's the hardest thing for us. If we were seeing progress, we may not sit back and conjure up all these other ideas ;) I believe it's just par for the course. But it's true.. you really do think of things that in the end, can make a HUGE difference for what you want in your home. I'm not sure I understand how they won't let you add two recessed lights. I think there should be exceptions related to the smaller items such as wiring and lighting versus structure changes. That is more money in their pocket, I would think.

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  4. I'm hoping your SR and PM are more lenient than ours! They're sticklers when it comes to doing last minute changes like outlets and lights. I asked if they could fore-go the "lip" on our counter too and they told us that would have been a custom request! I didn't really understand that one because he went to explain that they just glue it to the wall so I can easily remove it .. so why can't they just not glue it to the wall?

    The crown molding on the cabinets and tile above the showerhead was extra for us as well. I'm thinking you'll probably be good with recessed lighting on the porch. I know that that came standard for us. They'll probably give you a hard time about some of it unfortunately.

    It's annoying that they are so strict with little last minute changes. Like James was saying, it's impossible to really know exactly what you want if they only give you 21 days! I completely forgot about pendant lighting and now I can't get it :(. How hard is it to put in some rough-ins? Soo irritating. This is when it's good if they make a mistake because they'll sometimes throw in something to make up for it and you can get stuff you forgot previously! lol!

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  5. I'm not sure what to expect if for some reason we do need to add a light fixture to the morning room. That ends up being important, you know? I really can't believe the "lip" removal is a request! That is something so small and honestly, something that is not passed along. I wish there could be a list of non-standard requests that you could do as well. I know that would stir the pot more and they want an easy completion as they are not custom builders. With all of you mentioning it is extra for crown moulding on the cabinets and extra for the tile in the shower.. I'm honestly somewhat shocked. I think those are simple additions that change the home drastically. I still need to look at my paperwork and figure those two out.

    Thanks for the peace of mind about the recessed lights on the porch. Our SR claims it is standard but I just don't want to be shocked when it's not. But it is a relief to hear that someone else's community does it as a standard so maybe so! :) Our window was supposed to be 14 days, but it has thankfully been kind of lax since the community is so new. But as I told James, I'm not sure I understand why little things like rough-ins for lights and switches can't be extra when they are not structural? Clearly I'm not involved in what truly happens. Of course there is a method to the madness! :)

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  6. I really like your idea for the frame-less shower. Let me know what you find out on this topic. We would love to do a frame-less shower but didn't think it was even an option. Also where did you find the crown molding option levels? They weren't listed on the options list we got. Does it come included with any crown molding? I totally missed this.

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    1. I'll let you know! Like the persons blog I referenced, we will try to coordinate with the installer ourselves and pay out of pocket. Fingers crossed we can. The SR was unsure about this route, but we will also speak with the PM about this. But I'll keep you updated. I saw the level 2 & 3 on the options sheet but got clarification (albeit minimal clarification) from different SR's from the models we've visited). Everyone kind of had different ideas of what was included with each option. That's why I still need to clarify with our PM when we meet because all I think we are getting is the hall in the first and second and chair rail in the dining room? I really have no clue lol. I don't think any crown moulding is standard though.

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  7. Hi and congrats on your house! We are just in the early stages and haven't even signed anything with Ryan yet but I'm trying to get as much information as possible. Did you get an answer on the white mantle? That is something we really want but our SR said we had to get a stone one. Also where did you are the linen cabinets in person? That kitchen is beautiful. I'm really torn on what color to pick, the hazelnut is way too creamy but I just want to make sure the linen isn't really white and modern looking. Thanks!

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    1. Hey Nicole! As far as the white mantle goes, it's going to most likely have to be stone that we tear down and then acquire the white one on our own. Our sales rep is going to look into getting a white one because his last RH community allowed it, but at this point its not looking too bright.

      To be honest about the linen cabinets in person, they are very white and very modern. But I also think they are beautiful! I am somewhat apprehensive to see how it will look because with the granite we chose I'm worried it may be a little TOO modern/sterile looking, but I am thinking/hoping when we add in our belongings and put our touches on it, especially with a backsplash it will soften it up. But honestly, I love the shape of the linen cabinets versus the general white cabinets available. I originally wanted the hazelnut cabinets with the santa Cecilia granite, but it seemed very popular around our area and I didn't feel I could branch out and have the same options with flooring and backsplashes that I was hoping for. I hope this helps and that I'm not too late on giving you a reply. I apologize! But good luck!!! :)

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  8. Thanks so much for the response! They so seem pretty modern but I think with the right touches they will look amazing we're on hold right now because we can't sell our current home.

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    1. I hope you have had some luck with selling your current home. I know how hard it is to sell in the Winter, but hang in there! You've got great things ahead. :) And I think you're right about the cabinets.. it will just have to be one of those "wait and see" kind of things, but it can look great. :)

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  9. Congrats on the new home. We are a little behind you guys on the building process, we still need to pick out carpet and flooring, but that is the last thing on our list before building. Please come by our blog:
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