Thursday, May 24, 2007

Finishes

I've gotten some great feedback from people emailing and asking that I address issues they are interested in. A few people have wondered what the quality level is of the finishes. So I'll detail a few here:

Windows are Anderson 400 series, sliders are Anderson Frenchwood Patio doors;

Daltile white subway 3x6 tile in the shower (we looked at the much more expensive glass tile, which we both liked a lot, but decided against it), Daltile black and white mosaic 1x1 tile on the bath floor (instead of slate or other nice stone products);

Zodiaq synthetic black countertop in both the bath and kitchen (instead of some more expensive natural/synthetic stones);

Merillat maple cabinets (nice maple doors with less expensive plywood boxes);

5/8" strandwoven bamboo floors from Sustainable Flooring;

Lutron Maestro dimmer switches;

Lightolier recessed lighting;

Kohler sinks, toilet, bath fixtures (though nothing outrageous).

As I said, compared to a lot of the finishes you see in Dwell or even in some of the Res4 projects detailed on their site, ours are modest and genuinely cost effective (and of course largely unspectacular).

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for this wonderful blog. I am curious, does Res:4 have a set list of standard finishes/upgrades, or do you choose these on your own? As a prospective pre-fab homeowner, how would I know what finishes a Res:4 prefab home comes with? I can't find any information about this on their website.

Chris said...

Thanks Scott. We spent a few hours with them picking out a bunch of the finishes (cabinets, floors, countertops, tile, faucets). They have a range of products that they've worked with and recommend (and that are compatible with the process of factory construction - you don't want to get too far out of the factory's comfort zone with what they are installin). But a lot of this stuff we never even talked about (doors, windows, door hardware, recessed lights, trim, etc.). We were not picky about micro-level stuff like that and left what other decisions were needed to them.

I think the short answer is you can pick what finishes you want. If you want to bring them x faucet and y windows - depending on whether that will work with the factory - you can. But there is no set of finishes that "comes" with their homes. Depending on budget, you can go pretty much whatever direction you want (though it might mean less gets done in the factory and more gets finished onsite).

Good luck.