Options Upgrades (caution: scary stories)

[blackpool]

What a great idea. That would certainly been the way I would have gone if given the choice. I imagine the problems would arise in the fundamentals. Its a building made up of concrete all over the place, floors, walls, ceiling. It's not a house built of 2x4's. Wiring and plumbing could really constrict what you can and cannot do. Still, as long as you went into it knowing what your parameters were.. maybe it just might work.

I know one friend who just got a "shell" of a place, and built it from the ground up. I don't think most builders will allow this, as they have to warrantee what they do, and if they don't install a kitchen, then this interferes with the warrantee for the water pipes etc.

Builders pretty much ask for at least 2X the cost of everything - doesn't matter if it's a stove upgrade, undermount sink, wall built, everything is at least 2X the cost of you doing it yourself - you just have to accept that.

You also have to consider when you get an upgrade done, you are not going to be there to supervise the work at all. I refused to spend $2000 on an undermount sink, especially when it is not going to be done to my standards. What made me suspicious was the half ass job they did on the undermount sink in the model suite.

Because of the cost and worried about the work, I went minimal with the upgrades, just the stuff that would be an absolute pain to do. I upgraded the hardwood floors, went with the ceasarstone countertop, heat lamp in the bathroom, and bathroom vanity

The floors were damaged during the construction. They are also completely filled with dust - the floors looke 40 years old when I moved in. Their answer? Used furniture stain, to color the dust brown!!!

Heat lamp - they forgot to install this.

Vanity - they installed and looked ok. But inside the vanity, they also installed the access panel to the water pipes and pinned the vanity to the wall via the access panel, so you could never remove the vanity, because it was cemented inbetween the vanity and the wall.

There have been major screwups with other people in the building as well, putting doors on the wrong side of closets, poor drywalling, tiles changing colours, floor panels changing colours (one floor was layed without properly shuffeling the boards, and you could see the transition.

Anyhow, my advice to you is hold off what you can, and get it done properly later. It will cost you less, you'll get a better job done the way you want.

 

[dpylyp]

Buying a shell

How would the lender treat buying a shell condo?

Would you be a cash buyer?

 

[DarnDirtyApe]

That's something I've wondered about too, as I've always thought it would be nice to finish something to my own liking. I've sort of resigned myself to eventually buying somewhere that's really crappy and needs to be gutted anyway. These are hard to find now with the flipping craze, but why would I want to buy some else's vision of a reno job for more than it would cost myself to do it?

 

[aiekon]

I have my color selection with Boutique Condos next Wednesday. Can anyone here please give me some helpful advice regarding things I should consider/not consider during the appointment? e.g. what I should upgrade and what I should do on my own..

Based on the previous posts it looks as though I should:
- Get flooring upgraded (bedroom and den are carpeted) to hardwood
- Get a credit on the appliances and use it to purchase better ones at Appliance Canada

Is there anything I should bring up at the appointment?

 

[Solaris]

If you intend to upgrade flooring, I would be inclined to ask if you could get the builder to leave the flooring out altogether, saves you time and $$ to rip it out later and install nicer floors at less costs

 

[aiekon]

Thanks, Solaris.

Anyway, I've budgeted about $15,000 for upgrades. Do you think that puts me in a good range to get some quality stuff?

 

[Rondosa]

We spent around $6K and did things like:
- smooth ceilings throughout the unit (they were going to install stipple aka popcorn ceiling in living/bedroom area)
- built in stove vs. slide in, this required cabinetry and countertop modification which would have been tough to do afterwards
- we shrunk the size of the den to increase the size of the bedroom closet...that would have been a pain to do afterwards and i need my closet space!
- a bunch of cable outlet and power outlet moves, including installing the power and cable up off the floor, so that we could install an LCD without wires hanging down - i swear they plan them to be badly placed so people have to pay to have them moved
- installed three way switch in bedroom so that we had a light switch beside the bed's headboard (so you can turn the light off from bed)

I would have rather done the power outlet and cable outlet moves myself but the thought of ripping all the drywall was annoying

We upgraded two appliances: the stove (built in) and washer/dryer. I hate those crappy washer dryer stacking systems they give as standard. I just wanted it complete from the start.

We ended up quite happy with the standard finishes re: floors, counters and granite so didn't end up wanting to upgrade that. we'll see how it turns out.

Good luck
Kristina

 

[Solaris]

Thats a lot of money (well at least to me) on upgrades aiekon ... I think that would get things to make you quite happy ... good luck on the selection ~

Question I wanted to ask ... I plan to upgrade 3 things in the new condo, is it worth it? should/can I get it done by the builder or do it afterwards by outside contractor?

- undermount sink in kitchen
- potlights in living / dining
- edge return on granite counter (they add a piece around the counter edge perimeter to make it look thicker, cosmetics ... but since I have open concept L-shaped kitchen with centre island there is lots of exposed counter edges)
- slide in stove rather than the standard range (not sure about this one)

Thanks !

 

[Granny]

Thats a lot of money (well at least to me) on upgrades aiekon ... I think that would get things to make you quite happy ... good luck on the selection ~

Question I wanted to ask ... I plan to upgrade 3 things in the new condo, is it worth it? should/can I get it done by the builder or do it afterwards by outside contractor?

- undermount sink in kitchen
- potlights in liv

Thanks !

- undermount sink in kitchen
- potlights in living / dining
- edge return on granite counter (they add a piece around the counter edge perimeter to make it look thicker, cosmetics ... but since I have open concept L-shaped kitchen with centre island there is lots of exposed counter edges)
- slide in stove rather than the standard range (not sure about this one)

Your upgrades are all great sensible ones and expensive. These three are are great classic rip-off targets for the builder, because the builder knows it will be extremely difficult for you to get done afterwords.

- undermount sink in kitchen : If you have them drop it in, instead of undermounting, make sure you have them 'finish' the edge. When you remove the sink later to install it underneath, it won't look bad. Of course the builder will probably nail you for the 'finished' edge. You might just have to bite the bullet and go for the undermount.
Rip-off price? $800.00 to up to double that. (I paid 850.00)

- potlights in living / dining : Forget it! Its concrete up there. They can do it but you will pay through the nose on this one. (Me? 1000.00 for three pendant light capped junction boxes for over the breakfast counter)

- edge return on granite counter : They of course will nail you on this one too, but you might get lucky here. I personally think that this is an upgrade that is worth considering. Even thouh it is just the edge that is done, it basically 'thickens' the counter by double and gives it a rich solid look to it. You will all so get a choice on the edge finish. Get this done in your kitchen and all other granite counters will forever look thin and cheap to you.


Good LUCK!

 

[aiekon]

Thanks for the info, Granny! I'll look into your suggestions. I happened to sneak a look at the price list for another unit but did not see any "upgrade" to the granite edges or the undermount.

Solaris - I purchased long, long time ago and an incentive for early purchasers was $8,000 towards upgrades. I'm putting in $4,000 - $6,000 of my own money as I plan to keep my unit for the long run.

 

[Solaris]

aiekon ... thats great that you got credits for upgrades @ your place ... too bad for me I'll have to pay every single cent for mine

Thanks for all the input Granny, really appreciate it .... I figured I'll just 'pay the price' for undermount sink, and I totally agree with your thoughts on uprgrading the granite counter edge ... with regards to potlights in living room, I have no other options cuz only the builder could make this change (pour concrete in such a way during construction to allow for these potlights), I sorta wanted potlights as opposed to having light stands (where the light shines towards the ceiling) in the living room

 

[aiekon]

Does anyone know what the following options mean (particularly AD / BD):

- Pot lights in Insulated Ceilings - AD
- Pot lights in Insulated Ceilings - BD
- Pot lights in Uninsulated Ceilings - AD
- Pot lights in Uninsulated Ceilings - BD

As well as,

Before Forming and After Forming

They seem to have a bunch of different pricing for Insulated vs. Uninsulated and Before forming vs. After forming

 

[aiekon]

Popcorn Ceilings

So I had my upgrades/finishes appointment this past Wednesday and the prices didn't shock me too much. The only upgrade that really threw me off was the ceiling upgrade.

The units come standard with popcorn/stucco ceilings. To have them upgrade it to smooth ceilings would be $4.25 per sq. ft. Isn't that a little high??

Anyway, would anyone suggest going this route and having the developer do it? Or would it be much more cost effective to 1) do it myself or 2) hire a contractor to do it after I move in?

 

[Granny]

So I had my upgrades/finishes appointment this past Wednesday and the prices didn't shock me too much. The only upgrade that really threw me off was the ceiling upgrade.

The units come standard with popcorn/stucco ceilings. To have them upgrade it to smooth ceilings would be $4.25 per sq. ft. Isn't that a little high??

Anyway, would anyone suggest going this route and having the developer do it? Or would it be much more cost effective to 1) do it myself or 2) hire a contractor to do it after I move in?

I'm going to check out a contractors price after I move in. If its still too expensive, I'm going to live with it.
So far I've spent many many tens of thousands on that options list. Ive had ENOUGH! I know I've been robbed blind, but I'm trying to be philisophical about it. The place has gone up in value one hell of a lot since I put that first deposit down several years ago, so its worth it.
I want to live in a certain manner of comfort, and have certain things in this place, then that is what the place is gonna end up costing. ..still, it really frosts my preserves the way the builder so blatantly rips you off with their 'take it or leave it' attitude'.

 

[aiekon]

Thanks for the reply, Granny. I think that I will do the same. I'm just concerned about all the dust/rubble that will come from removing the ceiling once there's already furniture in the unit. I guess that's my next question.. are purchasers able to do these types of things during occupancy period?

And I feel the same way regarding the upgrades. I paid much more than I should, however, considering I bought years and years ago the amount that I saved from not buying at today's prices justifies this expense.