You have explained in detail but i will say something short that I will suggest you that whenever you are going to build the home first choose the construction company and after making the plan you should build by professionals.
sloping block specialists

This post was edited by willytaylor on Wed, Aug 14, 13 at 5:50

We were in a similar situation as you. Building a non-custom home and went though the process in May. We had a design studio meeting where I recommend you guys go to a couple of times before you actually have to make your choices. At the meeting it's my feeling you should already know what you are wanting so that it will go as smoothly as possible. I watched numerous couples get in bickering arguments infront of the builder and I wanted to make sure I avoided that if at all possible.

Our pre-construction meeting was to go over the plot drawings, to go over the placement of lights, electrical outlets, cable jacks, phone jacks, surround sound, HDMI ports. We went over our blue prints and were shown all of the changes we made and verified all of them. We ended up finding a few mistakes and had them corrected that afternoon. At this point my builder made us sign off on the build and we couldn't make any more changes. (although we have but they were all initated by the builder since this is the first time they've ever built this plan here in Michigan).

I like the fact that I can't make any more changes because the stress is over with and the wife and I are in for the ride now.

As for upgrades, we had a lot. But for the most part they were things that we couldn't do after. We added taller ceilings in the basement, add two feet to the side of the house, added a bump out to the kitchen and breakfast nook. We added an extention to the garage. In my mind I tried to only do upgrades that were going to add value and resale (although we are hoping to have our one day kids grow up in this house).

Things like fancy door knobs and upgraded faucets were not chosen because I can do that later on and can find it much cheaper. I did upgrade the floor pad in the carpet and I talked the wife into getting those wood floors in the family room. I agree with you though that they can be added in later and I'm still worried about our 70 lbs golden doodle destroying them.

I agree with the advice everyone has mentioned. We are in the process of building our second home and now we know exactly what what we want in it and what to make sure we do during the build and not after. We kept thinking of things we thought would be cheaper to do it ourselves after and honestly I would've rather it be done during the build. Square footage is always the most important, garage size (we upgraded the size during the build). One mistake we made was not upgrading door knobs so we had really dated brass throughout. We never ended up changing this ourselves because it looked like a pain to do. In a nutshell, I'd ask a lot of upgrade cost questions and then sit down and figure out what you can live without or upgrade down the road. For us, we did the basic/standard exterior instead of the 4K upgrade for brick and peaks. We felt the 4K could be better used for different upgrades. We did some cheaper option upgrades like staining the cabinet color instead of upgrading the actual cabinet, so that saved us money. Good luck with your build! It's a fun process!

Hollysprings nailed it, in my opinion.

I built a new home and moved in a year ago. I wish I had found this forum while we were in the current phase that you are.

You are at one of the most critical points, in my opinion. Research windows, doors, cabs, HVAC - the real bones of your house, which are so difficult to change later.

I know it is so much fun to get caught up in hardwood and paint colors. Been there. :) But start by making sure you get good bones!

Thanks for all the responses!

Willytaylor, thanks for the advice. Unfortunately it all comes as a package for us and we just got to pick the builder, and they have their group of subs they work with. I don't think we'll get much say in that matter, but appreciate the input.

Karen15, building a second home! that's so exciting! I wish we could increase the size of our garage! I tried to convince the bf to go with the three car floor plan, but he said we don't need it (the exact same floor plan but with a three car garage). Which I guess is true, since we've had a 1.5 car garage for the past 4 years (just a one car but really long), and we don't even fill it up. Just my car in there, and a bunch of sails stored on the wall, and a few of those Tupperware bins. He's the practical one, which is good! Our current floor plan will have one side of the garage which is about five feet longer. That can serve for storing whatever we may need, and will also be where our tornado shelter will be located, as well as a TV so I don't have to run back and forth from garage to living room. I hate having to straddle the shelter with my car! I've been within 2 miles of all three of the big Moore tornados since 1999, and am probably overly prepared for such events :)

Hollysprings, we love our cabinetry options. They'll be on site designed and built custom cabs all the way up to the ceiling (9' ceilings, maybe 10 but I think the kitchen has a lower ceiling than the rest of the house). Some of the top shelves will be glass front for decorative/nicer serving dishes. We're going with knotty alder (other options were oak or maple, but we really liked the look of the alder) in an ebony stain, with a primarily white granite counter. This is our initial idea anyway, but it comes standard and the model home basically has the layout we want. Only addition would be soft close hinges and pulls, and a trash and dog food drawer. Hopefully there aren't too many fine print details with this, but I'm sure there will be.

Jamannor, thankfully the bf and I are pretty good about talking through the options. I think our biggest argument was the garage because he thought it was wasted for just wanting the home to look bigger from the curb. He's pretty laid back and lets me do what I want... within reason. I give him a few options of what I like, and he'll just say, "Doesn't matter which, but definitely not that." :) his only request was a gun safe in our master closet. He's a police officer and grew up in a hunting family, so we have a few firearms around. Good luck with your build. When will it be done?

Patriceny, all the interior doors are solid wood, or are not hollow, are there other options? They said this was standard (we just asked if the doors in the model home are an upgrade) so that sounded good to us. The front door is wood, and I think the backdoor and side garage door (if we want one) is fiberglass maybe? Not wood though, that's for sure. Those weren't in the list, so maybe another thing to ask about.

I agree with everyone that the "bones" of the house are definitely one of the most important factors of the home. This is the one part that I have difficulty truly understanding. I know that the higher the R value, the better the insulation, but I don't really get how everything comes together. If you have this, can you skimp on that, etc... Here's the basic list of exterior/construction items for the home:

- full brick exterior
- 100% sod coverage in front and back yards, and landscape package (tree, bushes, mulched flower beds)
- brick mailbox
- sidewalk
- two exterior water spigots
- gutter over front entryway, rain guard over HVAC unit
- energy efficient low E argon filled windows
- non insulated garage door, hardware and openers
- concrete 3500 PSI
- anchor bolts/hilti system
- zip board exterior sheathing
- all windows taped
- high efficiency 13 SEER central A/C
- 80% gas furnace
- 2 x 4 stud grade lumbar walls
- R 30 blown ceiling insulation
- composition shingles
- concrete board in tiled showers and bathtubs

Okay, that was all the exterior/construction items that come standard, or on the list anyway. Any questions I should ask regarding those? I would believe most of these are pretty basic, minimum code requirements. Is there anything we can ask for that won't bump the cost up by thousands? I know the mainframe of the home is important, but so is our financial sanity :) we don't want to be living paycheck to paycheck once this is all over.

For a general idea of how we live... In the coldest of Oklahoma winters, we never turn our heater higher than 68. For the hottest of OK summers (which can get pretty toasty!), our A/C never goes below 78. We're pretty frugal when it comes to comfort, but it doesn't bother us much. During the sailing season we're usually at the lake anyway. Not sure if that adds any value, but thought I'd mention.

I hope I wasn't breaking any board rules by posting all those builder features. I can delete it if so, just say the word! With that information, any additional insight would be appreciated. Ugh, another novel... what's wrong with me?! Again, thanks :)

Stephanie

two exterior water spigots
Depending on where the gardens are, you may want more than two.

gutter over front entryway, rain guard over HVAC unit
Depending on the style of the house, you may need more gutters.

high efficiency 13 SEER central A/C
Check over at the HVAC forum to see what they recommend.

R 30 blown ceiling insulation
Sounds like that is the minimum under the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code rather than the 2012 Code. And that is just minimum.

Lotta red flags here.

Site built and finished cabinetry misuses the word "custom" big time as propaganda. It's the lowest quality possible, both in construction and finishing techniques. Look up KCMA standards. No site built will EVER pass their testing techniques. They don't even have backs on the cabinets!

You can have $30 windows with "argon filled" and be vinyl pieces of crap that don't pass an current building codes. Without specific numbers, it's another bit of meaningless propaganda.

13 SEER is far from "high efficiency". Another bit of misleading propaganda.

No way is R30 sufficient for the ceiling, and it doesn't even mention the walls. With only 2x4 construction, I'd hope they plan to do at least 1" of extruded foam on the exterior. Which makes cladding more difficult.

Concrete board in the showers had also better be either over a poly vapor membrane, with a properly pre sloped shower pan, or with a topically applied waterproofing system on top of the concrete. Otherwise, you'll be dealing with moisture damage behind the walls in just a few years.

Composition shingles can come with a 15 year warranty or a 40 year warranty. And there should be mention of ice and water shield at all penetrations and flashing areas.

There's no mention of a ventilation system for your attic (should be a continuous ridge vent and vented soffits.). There's no mention of a proper vapor barrier under the slab.(Moisture in a home is it's enemy.) There's no mention of complying with the seismic and high wind requirements as far as strapping the framing goes. (You mentioned you were in a tornado area.)

Overall, some of the things that they list are below current adopted building codes. They may satisfy past building codes in a jurisdiction that hasn't yet moved on to adopt current codes, but I'd hope you'd put your money in doing things above code, not just the code minimum.

Focus on air sealing, and make a blower door test be part of the requirement before you'll close on this house. And find a local family member or friend who can help you to interpret your spec documents and can help you to negotiate upgrades where it counts. Remember that the builder is not your friend, and his focus is on building as cheaply and quickly as he possibly can. Quality takes a back seat on his list down below cheap and quick. It's very evident from just the partial list you've given here that he's big on propaganda"elevated" terms that mean little to nothing beyond the fact that they sound better than the actual builder grade items involved.