Granite color to avoid the 'builder grade' look...
9 years ago
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Builder grade home? (? re hpj thread)
Comments (31)Perfectly said Livewire. In NJ custom homes come at a very large premium. Not only in cost but taxes since NJ has the highest property taxes in the nation. We live in a cookie cutter 2300 sq. ft. TH that we bought new 4 yrs old. Let's talk about the builder options and costs. We were sent to a design studio to pick our options. They were overpriced junk. The builder wanted $12,000 for hardwoods just on the first floor. The kitchen cab upgrades were $2500 and $4500 and not worth it. The master bath upgrade (tile) started at $2500. This one we could not figure out. There is not enough tile nor was the guality good enough to justify the cost. Recessed ceiling lights were $200 ea. We put in our own upgrades and started after settlement with very high quality kitchen cabs, my great Franke Orka sink and faucet,and HW throughout most of the house which includes most of the second floor and closets and upgraded much more with better quality and less money than the builders stuff would have cost. Our cookie cutter has the same floor plans but our home is our own....See MoreDoes ANYONE like builder grade oak cabinets?
Comments (56)To the original question - does anyone like builder grade oak cabinets - my answer is no. But that's mainly because the particle board parts of the drawers and carcass usually come apart at some point, like the drawer front that came off in someone's hand. The thread seems to have veered off into a question of whether even solid oak cabinets are liked, and or dated. I love my oak cabinets even though they need to be refinished. They are good quality, custom built though, and I think that makes a difference. I also like painted cabinets, and might even go that route next time. This thread kind of reminds me of something that happened in 1978. We bought our first house that year, and so did some good friends. Both our kitchens had painted cabinets. Mine were brown with yellow doors, which I hated, along with the fact that they were older. I stripped and refinished them and they looked so much better. They were a slab style solid wood though I can't remember what kind now. My friend's cabinets (and house) were newer, white, raised panel with arched top. I thought they were gorgeous, but she thought they were terribly dated since wood was really in then, so she started stripping hers too. That's when she found out that the doors were made of particle board, and stripping ruined two of them. All that to say that painted vs wood comes and goes as we've discussed here before. If you like your cabinets and they are in good shape, keep the wood finished. If not, paint them. Whichever you choose, it will come back if it's not in now, and it will be out if it's not now. And that's probably the same with arched tops, beadboard panels, aprons between cabinets, and so on....See MoreUpgrading Builder-Grade Kitchen Cabinets
Comments (6)If this were my kitchen, I would be so happy, it is in great condition. The decorating scheme is a bit too frilly, however. To advance it out of the 90's, get rid of the large floral thingies on the walls, the curled-arm barstools, the floral rugs, and paint all the walls a deeper shade, closer to the cabinet hue. Change out the cabinet knobs and pulls to something darker. Also change the light fixtures to match the new knobs-- all that silver/nickle is very 1990's. Do not try painting the cabinets--that is very likely to give poor results as a DIY. Deeper toned rugs and knix the florals. Good luck!...See Morebuilder grade materials
Comments (55)I don't understand how a granite could be "horrible quality". Granite is granite geologically--it's a crystalline igneous rock. Price of various species has to do with commoness, how much is mined and how much there is to mine, it's not that a common speckled granite is "inferior in quality" compared to something rare...not if they are both granite, and not different stones. That's just a snobbish classist statement because it's been seen too much and it's "common". Like someone not buying Coach brand anymore because every secretary in the US has Coach and Coach is bougie now. That's fine if you don't like it because it's "builder common" or whatever, but "quality" has nothing to do with it. Quality is only going to be based upon the install, and I have seen very expensive (and coincidentally hideous) granites ruined by a terrible install, and an installation we haven't seen in this case. I can't say anything about the flooring, except that it's oak flooring and at least where I live that was the flooring installed for most of the post WWI 20th c. where I live in houses of all sizes and shapes--so it least it won't be "dated in ten years" because it's much too ordinary to be so. Narrow oak is my favorite flooring for the typical house. In terms of getting a COO, I know someone who didn't get one because a single light socket in their house was inoperable, in their locale, and yet in my location the house only seems to need working plumbing an operable stove and a furnace, and not much more. So who's to say? But what I can say is that most builders will credit you pennies on the dollar for leaving something out. I know someone who wanted to leave an entire bathroom out of the plan and leave the space a closet and the builder offered them a few thousand dollars. It's hardly ever worth it. I really don't get the badmouthing of the finish choices available for this house. It's a house at a particular price point and with a limited number of offerings. That's how this business model works. If you want more customization, you either go with a more expensive builder, or you go really expensive and do all custom all the way. I realize that custom is how many of the houses in this forum are built. But there's no reason to look down on the choices that some people are given to make. I get custom, I am doing complete and overboard custom on some aspects of my house. I had custom wastebaskets made for the two upstairs bathrooms. I had a custom door made for my cat's custom tunnel, for cripe's sake. I get it. But on the flip side, I am not walking into the builders's show area with a client building a builders house with a few choices for each finish telling them it's all horrible and they need to get something else. There is no something else. We work with what is offered. The time to make any wider choices is when the builder is chosen, not after....See More- 9 years ago
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