Annoyed, Annoyed, Annoyed.

Annoyed. So annoyed.

I can vent here, can't I? Everything about the home buying process isn't all stainless steel and hardwood flooring.

We had our rec room flooring option that had no existing price quote, so we had to wait and hear back from NVH about how much it would cost to make the the entire rec room tile.

Mind you, this wasn't high end tile, like the Fabrique line. It was a basic, level B tile.

They quoted us $4000. For tile. Level B TILE. And that doesn't even include the bathroom, which is an additional $400.

Listen.

It's $5k TOTAL to add hardwood to the living room, family room, and stairs, which is a much, much larger footprint. Why so much for tile?

It's frustrating, because you can never really be certain how much things will cost when you want to do it post-construction. In our last house, we were quoted nearly $3k to replace the carpet in all of our bedrooms, plus a hallway, and that was with basic level carpet and upgraded padding, so I'm not entirely sure of the savings that can be had if we decide to replace whatever builder grade options we choose in the rec room with something better later on down the line.

So I told the SR and the design center that we will need to discuss it, go over all of our options, and decide what we want to do. I also asked them to give us a quote on how much hardwood would cost to be installed instead, and also if there are any laminate options. I am being mindful of resell, but this IS the rec room, so I don't think it would be terrible or a deal breaker to have laminate down there, if it came down to it. But $4k for level B tile? No. No way, not going to do it.

The thought of having carpet down there agitates me. We plan to use it as a room/area for guests (hence the full bath) and our daughter will be down there when she comes home from her school breaks, for months at a time. She's ... messy, and I will leave it at that. We just don't feel that carpet is a good option as a living space for her, hence the tile.

Shoot. It's so discouraging to see the list price of the home ticking upwards.

Catching Up...

As I've mentioned before, we were in California for much of the beginning phases of building. As a result, it was easy to be a bit detached from the whole process and to be honest, we just weren't as excited about it as we probably would have been if we'd be around to have hands on participation in the whole thing.

That being said, we have a great SR who is determined to include us in every step of the way. She sent us weekly updates about the progress of our home, and even sent pictures when she could.

While we're in MD now, but for convenience sake, we're still about 30 miles away, so we won't be able to trek out to Urbana as often as we would like.

Here are some belated "behind the scenes" pictures of the first phases of our home.

Lumber being delivered

Foundation and slab completed

Framing completed! The house on the far right is ours!

These are pics I took myself, on our last visit.

Our house is built on a lot that will be overlooking a pond. It's muddy and gross now, but I've been assured that it will be beautiful once the homes are complete.

Another view of the "pond"

My son, ready to go home because ... this dirty pond is boring, Mom.