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Thursday, November 6, 2014

Pre Construction Questions

We have constructed a list of specific questions for our pre construction meeting.  Some of these we have gleaned from viewing other blogs and homes.  What questions did you ask  or will you ask at your pre construction meeting? 


Kitchen

-how big is the island? We have a morning room hoping that the standard island will be on the larger side
how big is the refrigerator cabinet? trying to buy the largest refrigerator that can easily fit in this area
50/50 or 60/40 sink
what is the model of the appliances? 
Do the cabinets come with sliding shelves?  Noticed this all the models have this feature would like to know if this comes standard with the cabinets

Mudroom

can we have the light switch on the inside of the mudroom 
is the bead board included over the bench?

Family room
where are the outlets located
does the family room have recessed lights

Owner's Bedroom
can we put an outlet with a dedicated switch on the tray ceiling ledge
Are there recessed lights in the hallway/ archway?
Can we move an outlet to the master closet?
are there lights in the walk in closet?
We are planning on installing a closet system- will this be a problem for our 10 month  drywall inspection?

Bathrooms
does the towel bars come in the bathrooms? Where are they located?
Where is the toilet paper holder located?
Is there a shower rod in the hall bath? 

Exterior
How wide is the driveway
Where are the hose bibs located
Where will the egress window be placed, 
Placement of the basement windows in relation to the deck
How big is the buffer- how much yard will it take up? 

Laundry Room

How big is the laundry space?  What size washer and dryer can I feasibly fit into this space? 
Would the laundry door to swing OUT- so the door will not have to be closed while doing laundry
How high are the vents and the water valves placed (I'm short)

Dining Room
Is the tray ceiling included?
Is the columns between the living room and the dining included

1 comment:

  1. Hi there! Nice to see another CG Blog, like you mentioned in a previous post, there aren't too many. I will attempt to answer some of your questions based on my own Courtland Gate, however, some things may be done differently in your particular area.

    From what I remember from the plans, the standard island is roughly 4' x 4'. The refrigerator doesn't technically go into a cabinet, it fits into a space formed by the adjacent cabinets. We have a Kitchen Aid french door 30 cubic foot fridge that fits with a couple inches to spare all around so most typical fridges out there will fit without issue. That was one of the questions I asked at the pre-con and was told as long as it wasn't a big Sub-Zero type fridge it will fit.

    Base appliances are GE entry level stuff. Decent, not great. Sales Rep should have all model #'s available/

    All of our lower cabinets have slide-out shelves.

    You should be able to look at the construction drawings at the pre-con. There is a set of drawings for electrical items depicting placement of all switches, outlets, and fixtures in the house. There is no light included in the family room, just a switched outlet. Same for morning room, living room, office, and all bedrooms. Recessed lights were around $150/ea and a ceiling fan rough in (switch and wiring only) was $175. We met separately with the electrical contractor and were able to add lights/outlets/etc as well as change placement of certain items.

    No beadboard in mudroom and we were able to move garage light switches into mudroom. I suggest moving switch for exterior lights on either side of garage next to the front door. We didn't and should have.

    Should be able to add outlet for tray. We don't have the tray but a neighbor does and has outlet. One recessed light in master bedroom foyer area, 3 recessed lights in upstairs hall. Probably can't move an outlet to closet (code dictates # and spacing) but I'm sure you could add an additional one. There is overhead lighting in walk-in closet(s).

    Towel bars, tp holder, and shower rod are all included. Placement can be less than ideal for certain items and we ended up taking down towel bar in 1st floor bath and swapped it for smaller towel ring next to sink (bath is small and RH provided towel bar cuts into available space).

    Our driveway was 18', which is barely adequate, but we had them push it all the way to one side of the garage and we added another 12' of width to the driveway soon after closing.

    We were given the option to select placement of hose bibs. Typically one in the front and one in back. Our front bib is actually on the side because we have elev. A with full front porch. Back bib is on the morning room.

    Standard location for egress is on the back wall of morning room. One other window comes standard. We added 3 additional windows and were able to choose locations of all basement windows. Suggest adding lots of basement windows. It was actually pretty inexpensive and the additional light is nice to have.

    The laundry space accommodates a standard sized washer and dryer. There is very little variation in overall sizes of washer/dryers so you should be fine there. One thing to point out is make sure washer is on the left and dryer on the right if you have front loaders so you are not going around the washer door to put clothes into the dryer.

    Our door does not swing out but we have standard laundry room with no counter space opposite washer and dryer. Seems like that wouldn't be a big deal to change.

    Dining room tray was like $1500 and columns were around $700.

    Hope this answers a few questions for you. Good luck with your pre-con meeting and your build. Looking forward to seeing things progress.

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