July 23, 2012
Please feel free to click on the links- I linked pictures to a lot of our choices!
My husband, Ryan, and I are building a house with K Hovnanian (Oster Homes) ! We chose the Potomac floor plan (with a modified kitchen) back in January 2012 (First floor- original floor plan, Second floor, basement). The base Potomic has 2314 sq. ft.; 4 bed, 2.5 bath. There is an awesome mudroom (perfect since we have 2 young boys!), an open floor plan, a pantry, and larger bedrooms. We delayed closing for various reasons, so they just started building last week! Here's a summary of the experience so far:
We signed paperwork in January 2012. Our salesperson was Gina (in the Lorain, OH office). She was able to delay closing until October, do some customization of the floor plan (Kitchen, first floor half bath, and larger finished basement), and we were able to do a 3 1/2% down payment in 3 installments! They really made everything manageable for us! Our lot is on a cul-de-sac and the back yard overlooks a pond! We had to choose the structural upgrades when we signed the initial paperwork. Here are some of the things we chose:
- Elevation "B"
- Finished basement (approx. 23 x 24; not the size on the posted floor plan!)
- Half bath in basement
- Add second window in basement
- Reconfigured kitchen
- Add second entrance to main floor 1/2 bath, extend bathroom counter
- Add roof over front stoop
- 9' ceilings on the first floor
- 8' garage door
- Handyman garage package (floor drain, heat, hot and cold water)
- Run gas and electric to the range
- Add ice maker line
- Double sink basins in main bath
After signing the initial paperwork, we had a little while to wait (since we delayed closing). Step 2 was signing off on the blueprints, which happened in mid-June.
The third step in the preparation phase was the Design Center. This was both fun and overwhelming. I was really glad that we had extra time to consider our options. I have no idea if we would have been able to choose everything without the extra time. Kelli was super helpful- she really had some good ideas when we were having trouble making decisions. If you're curious, here are some of our choices:
- Siding: slate, roof: charcoal, shutters/front door: black (we also upgraded the front door by adding a glass panel, since there are no windows in the front of the house on the first floor)
- Handrails and spindles all stained wood
- Cabinets: Aristokraft Avalon in Maple Sasparilla. We added pull out drawers on the base cabinets and chose 42" upper cabinets. Upgrade the master bathroom cabinet to 35" tall.
- Countertops: Formica Calacatta Marble in the Kitchen and Master Bath, both with a beveled edge. Formica Portico Marble in all other bathrooms; beveled edge in the 1st floor half bath, standard edge everywhere else.
- Lighting: Progress lighting's Trinity Collection
- Vinyl flooring: Mannington Benchmark 3783 Oregon Slate
- Carpet: Shaw Collinsville 00500 Sterling
- Paint: 2 colors included. We chose Sherwin Williams' Minor Blue and Argos (grey)
Whew! One more step to go! We met with Jason Lance, the construction manager. He was also very organized and pleasant. We went over the construction process, along with a rough timeline for the first couple of phases.
Finally, last week, they dug the basement and poured the footers!
The front stoop:
The right side, garage in front:
Distance shot. It's bigger than it looks:
This week they are working on the foundation walls!
Feel free to leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
Feel free to leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
