Rory20, the $200/SF rule of thumb budget would be for a custom designed home. A builder's tract development or an individual house from a builder MAY be less, depending on lots of things, i.e., land and development costs, size and amenities, demand, etc. A $/SF cost is only a very rough approximation and it's only useful purpose is in very preliminary initial budgeting. As I mentioned the Zillow web site (and similar ones) lets you quickly compare actual prices of existing and new houses for sale to get a quick sense of cost ranges, what may be appealing and what may not. The best way to become familiar with the cost of houses in areas of your choice, and what they include, is...to look, look, look at them! Each and every builder has their own approach to customization, from a little to a lot. You have to go out and investigate. The old rule of thumb is that existing houses tend to cost less than new ones. While not always true, it's good to keep in mind. One of the best things to do before a dedicated search is for you and your spouse to make a list (to which you BOTH agree) of the "must have" spaces and amenities, and a second list of "nice to have" spaces and amenities. The lists are of little value if you don't both agree. The purpose of the list is to establish some important criteria by which to evaluate the houses you see, rather than simply getting carried away by some of the glitz and upgraded features that are common in model homes. Thus, when you visit homes, look beyond the surface "glitz" and try to evaluate the "bones" of the house to see if they will fit your lifestyle and budget. Everyone has their own priority list, but my recommendation for the top priorities in choosing a house are: 1) location; 2) immediate neighborhood, improvements, schools, transportation, etc; 3) individual house. Unfortunately, IMO, some folks make a purchase decision simply on house amenities such as granite counter tops, a buffalo tub and a MBR walk-in closet large enough for a basketball game. Builders know this and construct their houses accordingly. This is why so many builder's houses are so similar. So know what you really need and want before beginning your search. Good luck on your hunt!

These questions should best be posed to your local Municipal Sanitation Department because Municipal sewers are not governed by the Plumbing Codes but rather they fall under your Municipal Sanitation Code. While it is possible that your community makes an exception, typically the municipal sanitation providers are extremely protective of their pipes and will not permit anyone who is not in there direct employ to make any cuts or taps into the municipal sewer lines. As a rule they will provide you the exact location where the final connection will be made and the homeowner is responsible for running the house sewer from the structure to a specific point within a few feet of the final connection. Normally the municipal sewer provider will then send one of their crews to make the final connection however in some jurisdictions they do permit some commercial plumbers who have been previously certified by their agency to make the final connection. In either case, they will give you specific details on the method of cutting the tap and the type of saddle tap that you must use. What is of greater concern to me is the fact that you state in your post that you have run a 6" line. While we often take the position that bigger is better, such is not the case with sewer lines. A 6" line is way too big and it would prove to be a maintenance nightmare in future. All Sewer and drain lines must be sized by the anticipated load, which is calculated by the DFU (Drainage Fixture Unit) method as defined in the plumbing code. The Plumbing Code provides us a table that lists every type of fixture than may be connected to the drainage system as well as a DFU value for each type of fixture. In order to compute the size of a house sewer we begin by listing every fixture in the structure as well as its DFU value from the table. From this we can determine the total DFU load for the whole structure. By Example: The International Residential Code (IRC) Table 3004.1 list the following: Kitchen sink/Disp or DWŅŅŅ..2DFU Clothes Washer standpipeŅŅŅ.2DFU Laundry SinkŅŅŅŅŅ.2DFU Water Closet-greater than 1.6gpfÂÂÂ..4DFU Water Closet-1.6gpf or lessÂÂÂÂÂ...3DFU BidetÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ.. 1DFU Shower StallÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ..2DFU Bath/showerÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ..2DFU LavatoryÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ1DFU Laundry Group (Standpipe & Sink) Â. 3DFU Bathroom Group (Lav, tub/shower/WC) 6DFU Consider a simple 2BR/1Ba house: Kitchen ÂÂÂÂ2DFU Laundry Group Â3DFU Bathroom Group..6DFU TotalÂÂÂÂ11DFU Now let us consider a custom 3BR / 3-1/2Ba Kitchen Prep SinkÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ..2DFU Scullery Sink/DWÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ2DFU Laundry GroupÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ...3DFU Master Bath Shower stallÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ2DFU TubÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ.2DFU Lavatory 1ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ..1DFU Lavatory 2ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ..1DFU Water Closet 1.6gpfÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ3DFU Bathroom #2 (Bath Group)ÂÂÂÂÂÂ.6DFU Bathroom #3 (Bath Group)ÂÂÂÂÂÂ.6DFU ½ Bath LavatoryÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ...1DFU W.C. 1.6gpfÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ..6DFU Utility Sink in basementÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ.. 2DFU TOTAL 37DFU As you can see most single family residential structures would range between 11 and 37DFU Once we have computed the total load we then refer to IRC Table 3005.4.2 to determine the correct size for the House Main Drain and House Sewer Line. 3" line with a 1/8th inch per foot pitch ÂÂÂÂ.Maximum 36DFU 3" line with a ¼ inch per foot pitchÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂMax.42DFU 4" line with a 1/8th inch per foot pitchÂÂÂÂÂÂMax .180DFU 4" line with a ¼ inch per foot pitchÂÂÂÂÂÂÂMax 216DFU Here you can see that the large custom home in the example above would only require a 3" line with a ¼"/ft pitch or a 4" line with a 1/8"/pitch. From this example you could see that we could actually connect 5 large custom homes such as the one in the example above on a 4" line with ¼" per ft pitch. The purpose of sizing the lines in the manner is to insure that at full load the line will be ½ full of liquid. This provides a sufficient amount of liquid to suspend and carry any solids such as fecal matter which might be present in the waste while still keeping the upper half of the pipe open for the free exchange of vent air. If we were to arbitrarily install a line that is too big even at full load there would not be a sufficient level of liquid in the line to convey the solids. In this case the solids will collect on the bottom of the pipe and once the liquid has passed the solids will dry in place forming a hard lump. With each successive use the lumps will build up until the line is clogged.

Thanks for the responses, guys! @herbflavor You're right, the dark wood cabinets is not an inferior look, I just don't love it. I've attached a picture of the sample. If we go with standard cabinets to free up the budget, the quartz countertop for the island ALONE is $6K. I didn't even ask about upgrading the perimeter counters after that. Also, the budget is somewhat loose; there's room to grow but mentally I don't want to spend over a certain threshold. Do you think there would be any problems painting the dark cabinets if it's not specifically "paint grade"? I don't want to risk the time and money to take the kitchen apart sometime in the future and end up with splotchy or easily chipped cabinets. @blfenton Thank you for confirming that fear. I really don't want to end up with a brownish/yellow-toned kitchen. All of the pictures that I've looked up of white cabinets and giallo ornamental make the granite look boldly yellow. There's ONE exception but we can't pick our own slab so I don't want to risk it. Would you mind sharing a picture of your kitchen? Right now, we are leaning toward the New Caledonia. It's grey and black with taupe-ish(?) flecks. Hopefully neutral enough, any idea? @cpartist We'll be getting a quote from an independent contractor about the floors. If there's a significant difference, we may do that. We would probably have to live with the standard flooring for a while to not void our warranty. One concern -- I've read that vinyl can be hard to rip up, is that true? The standard vinyl is throughout the home: kitchen, pantry, 3.5 bathrooms, laundry. @Amber That's an interesting idea. I have seen a lot of soapstone in white kitchens. I've also looked up pictures of honed uba tuba, which leans mottled-blackish, definitely not an "absolute black" look. Do you happen to have a link to that thread? Thanks!

I'm glad you were able to remove the drain cover. From the pic it didn't look like it would. It still seems really close, but if you're able to remove it for cleaning, then it should be ok. Have they said anything about not having an edging on the drain? The pic you posted is what I would have expected as well. Schluter is bendable, but maybe they couldn't get it as curved as your arch. I have no idea what paint to use. I would ask what they suggest. When we did our bathroom, they tried to bullnose our tiles and the body was an awful color. He said, you could always paint the edges. But we never discussed what type of paint to use. We just went with schluter. Have they said why they didn't caulk the bottom? That just doesn't make sense to me. You would caulk at the shower wall tile and floor tile...just because a counter base was used doesn't mean it should be caulked? I'm curious to hear what they say about that. Love the wicker baskets you found...great idea! I love Amazon for their returns. I have bought/returned so many things from them it is ridiculous! What doorstops are you considering? We always use the ones that go into the door hinge. Hope you get some answers soon. Bummer about the plumber getting injured. Hope his injury wasn't too bad. I'm super anal about risk and making sure our guys work safely. And then my husband decided to do some work today without any eye protection!! I was like, we would lose it if we saw one of our guys working without eye protection and here you are doing it?!? I wanted to strangle him lol!