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Old 04-30-2008, 02:00 PM
 
271 posts, read 1,057,748 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Janipoo View Post
It sounds like you should be able to do it with what you have listed. My mb came with a jacuzzi tub and separate shower. I didn't want the jacuzzi tub just a soaking and the builder credited me 2700.00 for it. Also, my builder, if you upgraded the cabinets in the kitchen you also got upgraded cabinets in the bathrooms for the same price. The house should come with so many cable outlets so you would only have to add the extras to cover all the rooms.

You might just want to think about upgrading the padding and not the carpet unless you want berber.

Unfortunately on this tract the master bath comes with tub/shower combo and single sink. I'm thinking that just on this alone i'm probably looking at around maybe 7k. This is however, on the top of my list, i'm thinking i may have to give up probably on the tile flooring and i would think the upgraded cabinetry is probably going to be alot.

Oh, well, i aint gona complain cus overall we are still getting a great deal, we've looked at alot of tract homes, alot of them with some of these upgrades included, however the price was still way more.
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Old 04-30-2008, 02:23 PM
 
Location: Chicago's burbs
1,016 posts, read 4,528,296 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fresnochick View Post
Unfortunately on this tract the master bath comes with tub/shower combo and single sink. I'm thinking that just on this alone i'm probably looking at around maybe 7k. This is however, on the top of my list, i'm thinking i may have to give up probably on the tile flooring and i would think the upgraded cabinetry is probably going to be alot.

Oh, well, i aint gona complain cus overall we are still getting a great deal, we've looked at alot of tract homes, alot of them with some of these upgrades included, however the price was still way more.
Our builder was charging around $4200 for the luxury master bath, so maybe that won't be as expensive as you are expecting. It cost us about $3400 to upgrade from vinyl to ceramic tile in the kitchen, breakfast, foyer, laundry room, and 2.5 baths. That was for the least expensive ceramic tile, there were more expensive options we could have gone with, but the stuff we got looks great. I think upgrading cabinets went up to $5,000 depending on what type was chosen. My house is very close to the same sq. footage as yours.
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Old 04-30-2008, 02:39 PM
 
271 posts, read 1,057,748 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sbd78 View Post
Our builder was charging around $4200 for the luxury master bath, so maybe that won't be as expensive as you are expecting. It cost us about $3400 to upgrade from vinyl to ceramic tile in the kitchen, breakfast, foyer, laundry room, and 2.5 baths. That was for the least expensive ceramic tile, there were more expensive options we could have gone with, but the stuff we got looks great. I think upgrading cabinets went up to $5,000 depending on what type was chosen. My house is very close to the same sq. footage as yours.

Wow, $3400 for the ceramic tile is not bad at all, i was thinking that would be alot more. I too am not necessarly looking for the expensive tile, i just like the feel of it better than the vinyl, so the least expensive will do fine with me. I was thinking around the same amount for the cabinetry. I would really like the upgraded cabinetry, but i will leave that last on my list if i have enough money.

Did you do any upgraded counters? Carpet?
thanx for the info.
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Old 04-30-2008, 03:13 PM
 
112 posts, read 849,051 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fresnochick View Post
Wow, $3400 for the ceramic tile is not bad at all, i was thinking that would be alot more. I too am not necessarly looking for the expensive tile, i just like the feel of it better than the vinyl, so the least expensive will do fine with me. I was thinking around the same amount for the cabinetry. I would really like the upgraded cabinetry, but i will leave that last on my list if i have enough money.

Did you do any upgraded counters? Carpet?
thanx for the info.
If money is an issue, I would not upgrade the carpets or floor tiles through the builder. Unlike hardwood which you want a seamless transition from room to room, carpet can be a different color and design in each room. High traffic area, you might want berber while in your master, you want something soft. There should be a better selection and price doing it afterwards. Standard carpet should last you 2-3 years until it becomes dusty so your best option now is to upgrade the pads for relatively cheap through the builder and wait it out until you can upgrade to better carpet.

Floor tiles can be done now but it's probably expensive through the builder with limited selection. Just get vinyl for now and have tiles installed later in the kitchen or laundry. There will be a better selection later on and it can be done for less. Warranty wise, if properly installed, you shouldn't have an issue with tiles unlike squeaky hardwood floors or discoloration/warping. In the bathrooms you may want to upgrade the floor tiles just to avoid the long installation process later on but only if you're happy with the selections. Otherwise just go with the vinyl now for easy removal later prior to install.

Counter tops could be done later as well if money is an issue. It's fairly common to have it upgraded however if that's your intent, you might consider the cheapest standard counter tops now. Cabinets however I would do now. If it comes standard with Oak and you upgrade to Maple, you will get credit for the Oak. This won't be the case later. Although it maybe costly, it's money well spent on one of the focal points of your home.
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Old 04-30-2008, 03:37 PM
 
Location: Falling Waters, WV
1,502 posts, read 7,360,121 times
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I paid 2100 to upgrade to tile in my mb, that was the floor, around the tub and the shower. They only charged 5,300. for a bath in the basement. I wouldn't think it would be that much more to upgrade to a super bath since the plumbing is already there.
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Old 04-30-2008, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Chicago's burbs
1,016 posts, read 4,528,296 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fresnochick View Post
Wow, $3400 for the ceramic tile is not bad at all, i was thinking that would be alot more. I too am not necessarly looking for the expensive tile, i just like the feel of it better than the vinyl, so the least expensive will do fine with me. I was thinking around the same amount for the cabinetry. I would really like the upgraded cabinetry, but i will leave that last on my list if i have enough money.

Did you do any upgraded counters? Carpet?
thanx for the info.
No, I ended up taking the standard laminate counters. They had many patterns to choose from so I chose a stone look laminate and would like to upgrade to granite some day when we have more $$. I still have the upgrade price list from my builder, it was $5700 to do granite and $3600 to do corian. My builder was offering 42 inch cabinets standard, so I didn't have to pay extra for that, and we got our choice of oak or birch standard. I went with the standard birch, I thought they looked really nice for being standard. It was an extra $500 to get crown molding on them.

I also did not upgrade my carpet or pad, and I'm kind of wishing I had. We have lived here 6 months and the carpet is already showing wear in the high traffic areas. My builder offered many different levels up carpet upgrades, which ranged from $1,800 for the cheapest all the way to $10,000 for the most expensive top of the line stuff. Pad ranged from $1200-$1500. I would think about at least doing the pad, I wish I had.
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Old 04-30-2008, 04:49 PM
 
Location: Durham, NC
1,364 posts, read 6,007,452 times
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Those of you that are talking about carpet and pad upgrades, are you talking about upgrading from 4lb to 6lb? Or 6lb to 8lb?
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Old 04-30-2008, 05:27 PM
 
271 posts, read 1,057,748 times
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I've been reading alot of other posts, and i think i will definately atleast do the padding upgrade on the carpet, it sounds like that's going to be worth it in the long run.

Man, everything is so expensive. Normally i'd think 30k is alot, but not when you're dealing with upgrades on a house, i'm sure it's not going to stretch very far. It seems that everything in theses new homes are all upgrades, nothing is standard anymore, even the ceiling height. The model on our home has 9' ceiling, however the standard is 8', i was like, are kidding me?......even the height in the ceiling is extra?, geez.

Buying a new house is exciting, but so freaking stressful too. We want to do the most we can with our money and hope we don't have any regrets on the things that we use it towards. I'm such an indecisive person as it is, that it stresses me out worring i'm going to make the wrong decisions in what i choose, kinda takes all the fun out it.

Reading other peoples posts will definately help me in deciding the things i should prioritise on, and gives me an idea on the upcoming expenses.
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Old 04-30-2008, 06:03 PM
 
Location: Falling Waters, WV
1,502 posts, read 7,360,121 times
Reputation: 815
A carpet guy once told me that it is the padding that makes your carpet wear longer. In our old house our carpet were really bad (builder grade and padding), when we had it replaced the padding had deteriorated. When we built our house now we it was the same cheap padding but knowing what I know from our old house we upgraded the padding in the study, family room and basement but only got upgraded carpet (berber) in the family room. Otherwise high traffice areas.

Laminates have come along way and they have beautiful selections now. I went with the corian because I had the worst laminate in my other house and after 15 years I wanted corian so I got it in my new house, it ran around 3,000, I thought it was a fair price and it was done.

Like the other poster said, if money is an issue get what would be expensive and a pain to deal with, like cabinets, hard wood. I only upgraded the tile in the mb because it came standard with the 4 inch white/bone tile which again I had before and hated it and it is expensive to rip up so I did it then.

Also, if you think you might want a fireplace I would get it when the house is built.

Actually, the basic cabinets are pretty nice now also. Like the other poster stated before, the birch cabinets are really nice (I believe that was an upgrade from my builder), but then again I like lighter cabinets.
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Old 04-30-2008, 06:40 PM
 
Location: Chicago's burbs
1,016 posts, read 4,528,296 times
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Unfortunately, my builder wouldn't let us upgrade individual rooms for the pad and carpet. It was all or nothing, we had to choose the same carpet and the same pad throughout the whole house, otherwise I may have just upgraded rooms that get a lot of traffic.
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