From what I've seen, this is one of the most viewed posts for new home builders like myself. I think that's because a lot of us are VISUAL people... we tend to like to see things with our eyes. The complexities of trying to put together a unique, combined scheme of cabinet colors, counter-tops, and flooring are astronomical. That's because there are so many combinations - and most of us want a combined look that is truly unique! So, as a visual species, we naturally search out possibilities on the web to view examples of what other people have done, so that we can pull the elements we like the best from those examples to put together in our minds what we LIKE, and what we DON'T LIKE. It's a process of visual construction aided by the process of elimination.
Of course, it could just be a "me" thing because I'm admittedly indecisive... ESPECIALLY when it comes to matching colors and schemes... I don't have what you would call a "natural knack" for it so I have to be careful :)
That all being said, with no further adieu....
Our Flooring Selections
We met with our flooring consultant at Rite-Rug today to do our flooring selections for our new home. The consultant's name is Lyndsay and she was absolutely fabulous to deal with. She offered valuable tips and, most importantly, was PATIENT with us as we struggled to make our choices. She spent nearly a total of 2 hours with us. She was very friendly and kind, and we are pleased with our experience. We actually had a lot of fun choosing our flooring, but it definitely entailed some of the hardest decisions we've made yet in our construction process.
First, let me explain how flooring through Ryan Homes works (and I can only speak for the Milan model but I would bet it's all the same).
You have 4 types of flooring: carpet, vinyl, hardwood, and ceramic tile. The house is divided into zones (typically by rooms). The zones determine what type of flooring you can put in. For example, all "wet" zones (kitchen, bathrooms, etc.) must have a water-resilient type of flooring (basically, not carpet... but hardwood, strangely enough, is allowed).
Obviously... when you select carpet, you also select to have padding installed.
Basically, on the first floor, you can have anywhere from 8 to 10 "zones." For us, we had 9 - the foyer, the hall, the study, the dining room, the family room, the kitchen, the morning room, the family entry, and the powder room. What Ryan Homes did not make clear to us (until the day we had this appointment), was that, if you're doing carpet, any "connected" carpet-supporting rooms (not "wet" rooms) that aren't isolated by a structure (e.g. a wall or a door) MUST share the same carpet and padding. So, for us, this meant that our dining room, first floor hall, and family room all have to have matching carpeting/padding. Same rule applies for the kitchen and morning room ("connected," "wet" zones when selecting water-resilient flooring). Not a huge deal, I just wish that would've been clear from the start.
The first floor is the only floor you can specify flooring types by zone (with some exception). The basement, second floor, and attic, are one-for-all deals. Basically, whatever you select is what they apply to the whole floor (the exception being any "wet" zones or "storage" areas). In addition, basement flooring dictates first-floor-to-basement staircase flooring, and second-floor flooring dictates first-to-second floor staircase flooring, and attic dictates the second-to-attic staircase flooring.
Flooring (regardless of type) and carpet padding, like anything else in a Ryan Home, has a base (which is included in your house's base pricing), and then several levels of upgrades which get more expensive as you go up the chain.
Based on our experience, here is what is included in base pricing:
All in all, we came out slightly over-budgeted, which is okay because we made up for the overage in other areas of the home (we came out under-budget w/ our low-voltage selections w/ Guardian).
TOTAL SPENT ON FLOORING = $7,325
First, let me explain how flooring through Ryan Homes works (and I can only speak for the Milan model but I would bet it's all the same).
You have 4 types of flooring: carpet, vinyl, hardwood, and ceramic tile. The house is divided into zones (typically by rooms). The zones determine what type of flooring you can put in. For example, all "wet" zones (kitchen, bathrooms, etc.) must have a water-resilient type of flooring (basically, not carpet... but hardwood, strangely enough, is allowed).
Obviously... when you select carpet, you also select to have padding installed.
Basically, on the first floor, you can have anywhere from 8 to 10 "zones." For us, we had 9 - the foyer, the hall, the study, the dining room, the family room, the kitchen, the morning room, the family entry, and the powder room. What Ryan Homes did not make clear to us (until the day we had this appointment), was that, if you're doing carpet, any "connected" carpet-supporting rooms (not "wet" rooms) that aren't isolated by a structure (e.g. a wall or a door) MUST share the same carpet and padding. So, for us, this meant that our dining room, first floor hall, and family room all have to have matching carpeting/padding. Same rule applies for the kitchen and morning room ("connected," "wet" zones when selecting water-resilient flooring). Not a huge deal, I just wish that would've been clear from the start.
The first floor is the only floor you can specify flooring types by zone (with some exception). The basement, second floor, and attic, are one-for-all deals. Basically, whatever you select is what they apply to the whole floor (the exception being any "wet" zones or "storage" areas). In addition, basement flooring dictates first-floor-to-basement staircase flooring, and second-floor flooring dictates first-to-second floor staircase flooring, and attic dictates the second-to-attic staircase flooring.
Flooring (regardless of type) and carpet padding, like anything else in a Ryan Home, has a base (which is included in your house's base pricing), and then several levels of upgrades which get more expensive as you go up the chain.
Based on our experience, here is what is included in base pricing:
- Builder-grade carpet (basically what you would find in a modest apartment) for "non-wet" zones - 5 year warranty
- 5 lb. padding (which provides little support and will degrade quickly in high-traffic areas) in carpeted areas - 5 year warranty
- Vinyl flooring (basically linoleum) in "wet" zones - 5 year warranty
When I was researching flooring options, I had a hard time finding prices associated with upgraded flooring... so I am including that here (please excuse my scribbles and scrawls):
Now onto what we selected (with pricing as always) :)
To keep things consistent, we selected the same carpet on the first and second floors, as well as the same vinyl for the "wet" zones (bathrooms/laundry room).
For this next part, note the standard warranty on any base flooring is 5 years. I'll note where this is different if applicable.
For this next part, note the standard warranty on any base flooring is 5 years. I'll note where this is different if applicable.
Basement
We elected the base carpet ("Thornwood" color) with the base padding (5 lb.). The thought is that this is going to be the main rec/play area of the home, so we didn't want to sink a bunch of money into carpet/padding that will be destroyed and replaced eventually. Not to mention the "F" word (no no, I mean FLOODING you pervs! sheesh!!).
First Floor
- Powder Room: Vinyl - "Initiator 66205" (base / $0)
- Dining Room: Carpet - "Graystone/701 Northern Cliffs" (level 1 upgrade / $100), Padding - 8 lb. (level 1 upgrade / $75) (10 year warranty, carpet and pad)
- Family Entry: Hardwood - "3 1/4" Oak/Cherry" (level 2 upgrade / $500)
- Family Room: Carpet - "Graystone/701 Northern Cliffs" (level 1 upgrade / $225), Padding - 8 lb. (level 1 upgrade / $175) (10 year warranty, carpet and pad)
- Foyer: Hardwood - "2 1/4" Oak/Cherry" (level 1 upgrade / $595)
- Hall - Carpet - "Graystone/701 Northern Cliffs" (level 1 upgrade / $25), Padding - 8 lb. (level 1 upgrade / $50) (10 year warranty, carpet and pad)
- Kitchen: Hardwood - "3 1/4" Oak/Cherry" (level 2 upgrade / $2195)
- Morning Room: Hardwood - "3 1/4" Oak/Cherry" (level 2 upgrade / $1495)
- Study: Carpet - "Graystone/701 Northern Cliffs" (level 1 upgrade / $100), Padding - 5 lb. (base / $0) (10 year warranty, carpet)
We didn't upgrade the padding in the study because we have vinyl mats we put down for our rolly chairs and weren't too concerned about padding degrading since this isn't a high traffic area.
Second Floor
- Carpeted throughout (including stairs), sans "wet" zones: Carpet - "Graystone/701 Northern Cliffs" (level 1 upgrade / $995), Padding - 8 lb. (level 1 upgrade / $795) (10 year warranty, carpet and pad)
- Bathrooms and Laundry Room: Vinyl - "Initiator 66205" (base / $0)
Pictures, pictures, pictures...
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| We started with this - "Cherry Bordeaux" kitchen cabinets, "3 1/4" oak/saddle" hardwood, "Fawn's Leap" level 1 upgraded carpet, "black cherry" stair railing, "Anqitue Mascarello" laminate counter-tops, "Fairfield honey" bathroom cabinets... Um, I forget the vinyl name, but that's the base "Thornwood" carpeting for basement underneath. |
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| We ended up with this - "cherry bordeaux" kitchen cabinets, "3 1/4" oak/cherry" hardwood (level 2 upgrade), "Northern Cliffs" level 2 upgraded carpet, "black cherry" stair railing, "Santa Cecilia" granite counter-tops, basement carpet same as above. |
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| BUT.... we may change back to the "Fawn's Leap" level 1 upgraded carpet for a "less gold" look... what do you all think??? |
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| And finally... we settled on this for our bathrooms/laundry room - "Fairfield honey" cabinets (base cabinets) with "Armstrong Initiator 662052" vinyl flooring (base vinyl, we dropped the upgraded vinyl we had in the first photo to make some $$$ room for upgraded counter-tops and hardwood flooring). |
All in all, we came out slightly over-budgeted, which is okay because we made up for the overage in other areas of the home (we came out under-budget w/ our low-voltage selections w/ Guardian).
TOTAL SPENT ON FLOORING = $7,325
Please comment!
Okay, it took me LITERALLY all day to write this post! I'm looking for suggestions on whether or not to switch our main carpet back to the "Fawns Leap" (see first picture) for a "not so golden" look.
Also, I'm not so sure on our bathroom/laundry room scheme... does this match??
Thanks everyone, I really hope this posts finds you all doing well and that I have helped someone else in their flooring ventures with Ryan Homes!!!!!
Next up...... Pre-construction meeting (or, hopefully, NVR mortgage approval??)
I like the less gold look personally. Your selections should transition nicely as well. We went back and forth on this too. We put all hardwoods on the 1st fl but had tile, vinyl and carpet in other ares. I't s important to make sure they transition with each other. I think you'll be fine.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. We decided to stick with the "northern cliffs" because I had a feeling my phone deceptively made the carpet samples look different than they do in real life. So we want to see the samples again in person and the Fawns Leap is actually the more "gold" of the two. Northern Cliffs is actually a nice blend of brown/gray/slight gold, though the pictures don't really show it. Things always look different on the pictures, which is why we've had to go back to the model/showroom so many times to physically see things again!
ReplyDeletevery helpful. Do they negotiate on pricing?
ReplyDeletevery helpful. Do they negotiate on pricing?
ReplyDeleteRite Rug doesn't negotiate on flooring. But you may be able to negotiate your total house price with Ryan.
DeleteDear Dustin,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog. Thank you! Can you tell me why you chose the level 2 cabinets? 97r sales agent didn't know the difference other than hardwood vs. veneer. I am wondering if the hardware was any better. Also, what state are you in?
Sorry for the late response. To answer, the difference on the level 2 is the quality of the wood, but mostly just style selections. They figure most people want the level 2 (or level 3) styles and so they charge more accordingly. All the hardware, etc. is the same to my knowledge. It's really just about the looks and how much money they can and will charge.
DeleteThank you so much. It helped us to estimate flooring price.
ReplyDelete