Building a new house

[paulrey27]

The builder is D.R. Horton. Wireless routers are good for convience but they do not have the throughput that is needed for stuff like HD streaming and as the distance increases the signal decreases. Plus wireless is finiky (sp).
Once again we would have to tear down the drywall after the house is finished and put it in then redo everything (massive cost). I'm not trying to be stubborn but the problem with production builders is they have very limited changes you can make. Adding a 220 outlet was almost like pulling teeth and I paid out the A** for it.

As you probably already expect, I'd venture to say you can pay for a nice router that would not be cheap but give you what you want. I hear you on the finickyness (sp) of them. Mine works 98% of the time. The other 2% is because I think it has hot flashes and needs to deal with it's menopause.
It sounds like the builder is really taking care of everything for you which is almost always a good thing. This is one case where I would soooo badly want them to bend a bit. Sounds like insulate the block to get what you can from it and call it a day.

 

[boiler7904]

Once again we would have to tear down the drywall after the house is finished and put it in then redo everything (massive cost). I'm not trying to be stubborn but the problem with production builders is they have very limited changes you can make. Adding a 220 outlet was almost like pulling teeth and I paid out the A** for it.

If core fill is an $850 option and you can't rigid foam installed on the interior or exterior of the building, how are they planning to insulate the house? I'm pretty sure that the International Residential Code has a minimum R-Value for walls, attics, etc.

I hear you on the cost of adding electrical and low voltage to a new house built by a production builder. When we bought our house in 2006, it had already been released for production as a spec house so the foundation was poured and all subsequent trade packages were ordered. The builder added a couple of things I wanted to the order prior to our purchase but when we started looking at it, each outlet was $95 plus a $225 change fee. Phone / Cable / Cat5 were $75 plus the $225 change fee EACH. Needless to say, I didn't add anything through them and have done what I wanted since we've lived in the house.

 

[tegguy]

As you probably already expect, I'd venture to say you can pay for a nice router that would not be cheap but give you what you want. I hear you on the finickyness (sp) of them. Mine works 98% of the time. The other 2% is because I think it has hot flashes and needs to deal with it's menopause.
It sounds like the builder is really taking care of everything for you which is almost always a good thing. This is one case where I would soooo badly want them to bend a bit. Sounds like insulate the block to get what you can from it and call it a day.

Wireless has no where near the throughput of hardwired and decreases as you get farther from the access point. It can be done over wireless but only if you are close and there is nothing else coming across it. Gigabit ethernet is far more reliable and much faster. I used to be a Network Technician/Admin

If core fill is an $850 option and you can't rigid foam installed on the interior or exterior of the building, how are they planning to insulate the house? I'm pretty sure that the International Residential Code has a minimum R-Value for walls, attics, etc.

I hear you on the cost of adding electrical and low voltage to a new house built by a production builder. When we bought our house in 2006, it had already been released for production as a spec house so the foundation was poured and all subsequent trade packages were ordered. The builder added a couple of things I wanted to the order prior to our purchase but when we started looking at it, each outlet was $95 plus a $225 change fee. Phone / Cable / Cat5 were $75 plus the $225 change fee EACH. Needless to say, I didn't add anything through them and have done what I wanted since we've lived in the house.

Our change fee is $400. There is insulation on the interior of the concrete block by code I believe this core foam is supposed to help even more.

 

[tegguy]

And the price gouging continues..... I asked for a quote to rough in whole home audio with 4 zones (1st floor only) (1 cat 5 cable and 2 speaker runs each) and they want $1,150 They have already told me they'd charge $48 buck for each data run in the house so that means they want $958 just to run 8 speaker wires I think this is a little absurd considering speaker wire is cheaper than data and the runs are the same length.

Needless to say if they don't come down on the price we won't be doing it which ***** cause it was a feature I was really looking forward to. I asked for a cost breakdown for their quote.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Once again we would have to tear down the drywall after the house is finished and put it in then redo everything (massive cost). I'm not trying to be stubborn but the problem with production builders is they have very limited changes you can make. Adding a 220 outlet was almost like pulling teeth and I paid out the A** for it.

Have you considered a custom builder ? Have them frame it and close it in, then be your own GC to have the inside finished ?

 

[tegguy]

Have you considered a custom builder ? Have them frame it and close it in, then be your own GC to have the inside finished ?

There are no lots to do this in an area we'd like to live plus we've already signed a contract

 

[cburnscrx]

And the price gouging continues..... I asked for a quote to rough in whole home audio with 4 zones (1st floor only) (1 cat 5 cable and 2 speaker runs each) and they want $1,150 They have already told me they'd charge $48 buck for each data run in the house so that means they want $958 just to run 8 speaker wires I think this is a little absurd considering speaker wire is cheaper than data and the runs are the same length.

Needless to say if they don't come down on the price we won't be doing it which ***** cause it was a feature I was really looking forward to. I asked for a cost breakdown for their quote.

Wow! When we had our house built, (through Centex, now a part of Pulte) they let me run all my own Cat 5 and speaker wire. Heck, they even allowed me to all the interior insulation, as well as a couple of other features I didn't really feel like paying their cost. Here was the rule...

"I'll let you do almost anything you want, but if it's wrong, we're not fixing it, we're tearing it out and you'll find it in the driveway or the dumpster"

That meant fire caulking the wires, hangers for the insulation on interior walls, ect. I did it right and NOTHING was ripped out or even complained about. I came in after they were gone, used my power inverter for a small flood light, and had at it. They even offered to pick up the materials and drop them for me, as long as I paid them for it. I didn't take advantage of that, but I did get everything done the way I wanted it.

Here's a perfect example...Attic stairs are against code where I was building, so I asked them to leave the rough opening big enough to put them after the house was inspected. They did. However the inspector made them close up the opening to the proper size as to not allow attic stairs. That particular piece of framing was held in with one nail half sunk on each side. I yanked it out, cut the drywall, and low and behold, attic stairs!

I'd talk to the guys actually DOING the building on site, and see what they'd let you get away with. Heck, offer them a couple of bucks, and you'd be amazed what you get. I suspect the contractor isn't seeing any of those upgraded prices, but the company is...

Just a thought

 

[tegguy]

Yeah i don know why its such a big deal low voltage is not an inspect able item. I wish they'd just let me do it but ive already asked. Their thing is since we don't technically own the house yet they would be liable if something happened.

I might take the ask the people on site thing if I supply the materials what they would charge to do it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

There are no lots to do this in an area we'd like to live plus we've already signed a contract

I think I would be a thorn in their side till they either let you do it (it is your house and your money) or let you out of the contract.

 

[tegguy]

I think I'm going to e-mail their corporate because I can't believe anything they are teling us. We were told we couldn't make plumbing changes but at the design appointment we could. I was told any change we made after the contract would be a $400 change fee but then at the design studio we could make electrical changes without a fee (a hot tub pre wire was cheaper than a 220 outlet figure that one out.....) The low voltage company doesn't know what they are selling I had to tell them out the pre wire for the surround sound would work and the whole home audio. There is a longer list to.

 

[NUTTSGT]

That would be a worthwhile email to send.

 

[tegguy]

I sent the e-mail we will see what they say.

So apparently mine and the low voltage companies definition of rough in are different. They were trying to charge me for installing the EZport plate (the plate the speaker wires hook up to near the amplifier) which is odd becuase the style of EZport depends on which system we are using and since we didn't choose a system I don't know how they are planning on charging us for it. It also included putting the end on the cat 5 cable that also plugs into the EZport not to mention the cost of the EZport itself.

I basically had to lay it down as follows
" A rough in quote should not include the termination of the ezport since we do not know which system we will be going with it also shouldn't include putting the ends on the cat 5e cables since I can do it myself the only thing the quote should include is the running of the data cables and speaker wire and the installation of a single gang box where the data is ran to.

This should knock down the price since termination of everything is labor intensive. Please let me know."

Cause I'm also looking at running speaker wire to the control panel (same location as cat 5) to allow us to use more options for the system.

I flat out told him I was expecting the price for speaker wire to be about the same as the price for data runs (considering speaker wire is cheaper)

 

[bczygan]

I would get the back of a closet framed and boxed out to create a chase from the attic to the basement. Then any future wiring you wanted to do could be brought down from the attic or up from the basement.

 

[tegguy]

There is no basement