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rjrazor

Appropriate or impeding?

10 years ago
The photo on the left is the way it is installed by the new construction builder. In the Builder's Design Center, they ask you to pick out a fixture from a particular group of fixtures. They don't give you an option for a smaller fixture. I don't think they are considering the particular house plan or location in the design center. A home buyer naturally trusts the assigned home designer to know the right size fixture. One assumes they've already considered this and they know the right size of fixture. But now that I see it installed, Any of the choices in this category at the Design Center would impede the entryway. The photo on the right has been photoshopped. I feel it would make more sense to have the Front Door fixture on the hinge side of the door not right at the entry way to the door. This is not the field manager's mistake or the electrician's. It is exactly where the electrical plan says it should be. However, I believe the design center needed to tell me to pick a smaller fixture ( however there are three matching fixtures on the front porch and the other two look lovely and completely appropriate so I don't know that the smaller fixture is an option unless all three are changed.) Or the draftsman/designer who drew the electrical plan needs to place the fixture on the other side of the door. The second picture is another installation at a different address by the builder of the same elevation. The field manager's say they cannot change it because they are installed correctly referencing the electrical drawings. What does the community think?

Comments (20)

  • 10 years ago

    The light fixture needs to be over the handle and lock. It is located correctly. Ideally, the design would have had the door swing reversed as well as the light fixture moved.

    However. A production builder doesn't do attention to detail. If you wanted attention to detail, you should have been more involved at the plan stage, or gone the actual custom route.

  • 10 years ago

    is there enough headroom to put the light over the door? As long as it doesn't violate code, there is no reason you cannot move it. You are the one paying for this, not anyone else.

  • 10 years ago
    Is there a particular reason for the white behind the light as currently installed? If that was the same colour as the siding that might help a bit.
  • 10 years ago

    Or put a fixture in the ceiling instead. That's what we have in a similar covered doorway. Your builder may not give you these options now (though you can always ask, if willing to pay for the changes), but after the fact you can fix it to how you want it.

  • PRO
    10 years ago

    I can’t see a problem with the right hand pic at the top

  • 10 years ago
    I was told I was being overly involved in the design center and had to stop and make the deposit. Any recommendation I made in the Design Center was challenged. This particular builder is undergoing a good bit of transition, being bought out by a bigger builder. I did not know this was happening until after I gave them the design deposit, supposedly no one did. I don't believe the Design Center knew enough about the plan to guide me in the design. The plan had been recently revised by the builder to attract the bigger builder. They should have listened more to my recommendations. Each one that was listened to I am grateful for. I believe each one benefitted their own learning curve. I would have loved to go with a Custom Builder but I loved the lot location too much and had to fall in line. I have caught many errors along the way realizing upper management left. I love the house and I've done my best to appropriately not step on toes and be respectful while giving the overwhelmed Construction team a second set of eyes. They have definitely needed it but not because they gave any deficiency. On the contrary, Upper Management seems to be glossing over the need for more field supervision. What they are saving in manhours, they are trying to charge to the trades to re-do errors made, in reality, due to not enough humans overseeing the project.
  • 10 years ago

    I think the right photo looks best.

  • 10 years ago
    Thank for the light and lock info. That is exactly what I needed. I am truly grateful.
  • 10 years ago
    There is a porch above which is why they cannot install it overhead. The porch is the reason for the purchase. It brings us the sunset every evening.
  • 10 years ago

    Not sure why the porch above would matter? You put ceiling lights in first floor rooms with second floor rooms above, why can't you do that here?

    Porch is lovely, by the way!

  • PRO
    10 years ago

    This is a common problem with production building, it is a "one size fits all" scenario. I conduct a lot of new homeowner selection appointments. I generally tell my home-buyers to take what the builders give them in the beginning and switch it out later to something more appropriate for the space, especially if they do not have the money to "upgrade". I try to guide them in spending their available upgrade funds in the more important areas like tile and cabinetry, places that are more difficult to upgrade later on.

  • 10 years ago

    This should have been noticed at the plans on paper stage. I like the other location better, but then the door needs to be re-done as well- if that even works with the interior.

  • 10 years ago

    Yes, you need the light on the side you open. It does look a bit crowded, but since your door opens inward, it won't actually block the door at all, and since it's beyond the frame, nobody will be bumping their heads. Maybe you can go back later and have a flush sconce subsituted for this one to give it less of a crowded feel -- it's worth the price of an extra fixture to feel better about the outcome.


    Franklin Transitional 1-Light Black Outdoor Wall Sconce 12" Height · More Info


    Vitrine 1-Light LED Indoor/Outdoor Wall Sconce, Bronze · More Info


    Kichler 9167GNT Lantana Textured Granite 1 Light Outdoor Wall Sconce · More Info

    Savoy House Brooke 1 Light Black Outdoor Wall Sconce · More Info

    Good luck!

  • 10 years ago

    Thank You!

  • 10 years ago

    It is a beautiful home and you love the location, so this issue is not really viable in the balance of things. The light is in the correct spot for unlocking the door; you have more fun things to work on now than this! Let's look at furnishing and arranging and landscaping!

  • 10 years ago

    I agree with katbv.

  • PRO
    10 years ago

    I would prefer an over head light.

    And as the one who is writing the checks, you have every right "to be over involved".

    This is a (tiny) example of what happens when you are not


  • 10 years ago

    I think a lantern light to the right of the door adds a nice design element.

  • 10 years ago
    The current placement would annoy the heck out of me, as I'm standing there with groceries, fumbling for my key, mindful of trying not to hit the light fixture. I would think that a light fixture that size would illuminate both sides of an entry door sufficiently, to see the lock. Plus the bugs that swarm around it may not have as easy a route into the house, and it may illuminate a little of the landscaping. I would pay to move it while the trades are there, or pay later after you close.