Room dimensions (new house, construction, closing)

[stauburn]

I just arrived from out of country and we are building a new home in lakes of bella terra with DR Horton. We are about 2 weeks from closing and I am noticing that the rooms seem to be appear smaller compared to the model home (we have purchased the same model)such as the bedrooms, one of the walk-in closets upstairs and most disturbingly the shower in the master bathroom is a tight fit. I'm concerned about that because I specifically asked if the model home had the standard size shower or if was upgraded when we were shopping around. We actually rejected a home that we preferred because of the snugness of the shower.

I haven't measured the rooms to compare at this point and I am fully aware that things can change from the time the model home was constructed (we actually have a few nice upgrades that aren't in the model home that we weren't aware of) and that language is written in the contract of course. We have bought 2 homes before and never had this problem , but has anyone else had this issue? If so, what action did you take! If any?

[cheryjohns]

It's not uncommon for each house in a floor plan to be a little different (at least going by the appraisers' measurements) - but it is not usually noticeable. Measure the model's rooms and yours to compare.

I was going to say that rooms actually look larger with furniture in them - which would explain the bedrooms - but that's not the case with the shower. Did you ever step into the model's shower?

[PedroMartinez]

Personally, I would expect the room sizes and shower sizes to be the same in the model and finished home. I wouldn't accept smaller rooms or a smaller shower.

[haudi]

What explanation have you been given? I'm curious as to what they say. Dimensions might change an inch or two but nothing noticeable.

[NTexas2010]

Originally Posted by stauburn

I just arrived from out of country and we are building a new home in lakes of bella terra with DR Horton. We are about 2 weeks from closing and I am noticing that the rooms seem to be appear smaller compared to the model home (we have purchased the same model)such as the bedrooms, one of the walk-in closets upstairs and most disturbingly the shower in the master bathroom is a tight fit. I'm concerned about that because I specifically asked if the model home had the standard size shower or if was upgraded when we were shopping around. We actually rejected a home that we preferred because of the snugness of the shower.

I haven't measured the rooms to compare at this point and I am fully aware that things can change from the time the model home was constructed (we actually have a few nice upgrades that aren't in the model home that we weren't aware of) and that language is written in the contract of course. We have bought 2 homes before and never had this problem , but has anyone else had this issue? If so, what action did you take! If any?

DR Horton home owner and Lakes of Bella Terra Resident here. I would suggest you take a tape measurer to the model and take the dimensions there and compare them to those in your new home build. It's possible the lack of furniture in your under construction home is throwing off your perception of how big the space of each room really is. I remember thinking the exact same thing, especially right after they poured the slab. I thought maybe they had gotten the floorplan wrong because it appeared to be so small against the backdrop of the empty lot. The human brain doesn't have anything to help define the scale of the space, especially when it comes to an empty room.

[cheryjohns]

Ha! I tell you what is really jarring - right after pouring the slab. You look at that slab and thing that it is WAAAAY too small.

[Linjy2]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Ha! I tell you what is really jarring - right after pouring the slab. You look at that slab and thing that it is WAAAAY too small.

I'm with you on this.

Building my new house right now and when the slab went down and I walked it in person. I was like maybe I should had bought a bigger house.

Now that the frame and walls are up. The house actually looks quite big. The tricks our mind plays on our visual perceptions.

[stauburn]

I just checked the model home shower and it is 36x36 our shower is 32x30. I spoke to the supervisor and he seemed surprised. He is following up on it now.

I'm not sure if it can be fixed because everything in the bathroom is in place

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by stauburn

I just checked the model home shower and it is 36x36 our shower is 32x30. I spoke to the supervisor and he seemed surprised. He is following up on it now.

I'm not sure if it can be fixed because everything in the bathroom is in place

That's a pretty big difference. 2.5 sq feet doesn't sound like much - but in a shower it is. Is there room to expand it?

[longhorn96]

If they can't expand the shower, see if they can at least give you money back. A family member of mine ran into a situation with his home where the extended patio he had requested was falling short of what it was supposed to be by over a foot. At first the builder had told him it would be short only a few inches.

Since there were utility easements preventing the patio from being any longer, the builder agreed to refund part of the patio cost, and the refund amounted to over $1000. But this was only after my family member made some noise about it.