ᐅ Today was the material and finish selection appointment, smile
Created on: 9 Mar 2017 13:40
N
Nordlys
Some leftover vacation days in March. We just had the selection appointment. This morning at nine. Selection appointment with the mid-sized company. Waiting for us were Mrs. L., the secretary, with a coffee; Mr. K., the master carpenter; and Mr. R., the head of masonry and roofing. Mr. K. starts. In front of him, the building plan of our house, next to him a laundry basket full of various bits and pieces. Let’s get started. With windows. He flips through the building specification. Ah, they’re from Poland. He rummages through the laundry basket and pulls out a profile sample. Veka, triple glazing, Roto fittings, Hoppe handles. The handles can also be lockable, costs extra. But then you just lose the keys, no one needs that, and if burglars want to get in, they will anyway; it just ends up broken... My wife examines the profile. Well, you can easily wipe off the dirt, can’t you? And colored, she asks? Mr. K., dryly: Yeah, it’s possible. But it’s a waste of money; it doesn’t make a difference when looking out either... So, it remains white. It goes on in that style with tiles, interior doors. When it comes to the exterior window sills, he really gets going. Yes, those are aluminum, white or nothing at all. He grins. And on the inside? Laundry basket. Granite slabs are brought to the table. Four pieces. Two disappear right away because they are polished high gloss. That’s nonsense, he says; anyway, you’ll just put flowers on them. My wife picks one from the remaining slabs. Done, moving on. The roofing expert chimes in. Hey, I need to take off some joints first, what’s the plan? He takes us outside. There lies a package from Braas with sample tiles. He picks out three. That one, that one, or that one is allowed in the building plan. We choose the dark red one. Gloss coating against moss? Doesn’t work, there are no trees here. In High German: You don’t need it because there are no trees where you are building. Okay, convinced. The roof is done. He storms off. Inside we go. Front door, Mr. K. says, now that’s a topic. So, here are the panels from Rodenberger; from K1 to K6 are included at no extra cost. The long handle costs 100 extra. The very long one 250. But that one is no good, it’s flimsy. Then take the short one for 100. We flip through. That one is good, he says. Stable, timeless, with K5 included, okay price, has some glass, lets some light into the hallway, but it’s not a department store door. Done... that’s the one. Now the interior staircase, he judges... Yeah, you take beech, it’s a hard, quiet wood. It’s coated with parquet lacquer, so it’s also durable. And as a railing, a handrail with metal rods. He grins, done. Can it be done differently? White? Hmm, he shakes his head. It’s possible. But... that costs more, you have to paint, sand, and fill more. You can see on his face what he thinks about white stairs. I give in. Beech, parquet lacquer. Matte. Then he and my wife decide where the towel radiator should go. Here or there! And how and where tiles will be installed... done. Oh yes, facade... we’ll do it like the garage, right? So, everything smooth and seamless. The plinth a little anthracite accent, everyone does that. He rummages for some color samples for the plinth from the basket. Yes, that will do.
Selection appointment with the mid-sized company. Two hours, one coffee, and not a penny extra paid.
Selection appointment with the mid-sized company. Two hours, one coffee, and not a penny extra paid.
For us, the selection appointment only took 2 hours... but it only included windows, interior and exterior window sills, roller shutters, the front door, and the exterior facade.
We already knew in advance the direction we wanted for the roof tiles, so I ordered them myself from the building materials supplier since we also installed the roof ourselves.
For the electrical work, I chose a separate company and went through switches and sockets with them beforehand. After that, they provided a quote...
I ordered sanitary fixtures online and had them installed. Just with this, I probably saved several hundred or even thousands (when I read what most people here paid for a bathtub/toilet).
Interior doors and frames were from the hardware store... even got a discount. I picked the door handles spontaneously there as well. Installation was done together with my dad...
The staircase was from Poland, a short conversation on site. The order was placed after reviewing photos... almost half the price of the standard staircase offer from the German company. So far, I’ve already had to give their address twice because our guests liked it so much...
The kitchen selection took the longest, but that was probably because I held back and let my partner make the choices.
Some seem to use it more for showing off to others than for themselves...
By the way, just yesterday I invested the money saved in a playset for my children... Their joy somehow gave me more satisfaction than the recognition from anyone else...
We already knew in advance the direction we wanted for the roof tiles, so I ordered them myself from the building materials supplier since we also installed the roof ourselves.
For the electrical work, I chose a separate company and went through switches and sockets with them beforehand. After that, they provided a quote...
I ordered sanitary fixtures online and had them installed. Just with this, I probably saved several hundred or even thousands (when I read what most people here paid for a bathtub/toilet).
Interior doors and frames were from the hardware store... even got a discount. I picked the door handles spontaneously there as well. Installation was done together with my dad...
The staircase was from Poland, a short conversation on site. The order was placed after reviewing photos... almost half the price of the standard staircase offer from the German company. So far, I’ve already had to give their address twice because our guests liked it so much...
The kitchen selection took the longest, but that was probably because I held back and let my partner make the choices.
Some seem to use it more for showing off to others than for themselves...
By the way, just yesterday I invested the money saved in a playset for my children... Their joy somehow gave me more satisfaction than the recognition from anyone else...
Whenever deviations from the standard features require different installation or laying methods, or even just changes in connections due to different material thicknesses, I would carefully reconsider any special requests.
Otherwise, I recommend creating a short list of truly essential details where you want something very specific—similar to the concept of "seven things" or "ten commandments"—and otherwise being open to the standard proposals.
There are home builders to suit every taste. Trying to upgrade a basic house to a villa, or downgrade a luxury house to an affordable monthly payment, or choosing a traditional hipped roof exterior for a cube-shaped city villa with a tent roof strikes me as unwise. The more you want to customize, the more likely you have chosen a builder whose style doesn’t quite match your preferences. Trying to drive in too high a gear slows you down.
Builders appreciate a little variation from routine, but you have to keep it reasonable; otherwise, construction defects can easily occur.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Otherwise, I recommend creating a short list of truly essential details where you want something very specific—similar to the concept of "seven things" or "ten commandments"—and otherwise being open to the standard proposals.
There are home builders to suit every taste. Trying to upgrade a basic house to a villa, or downgrade a luxury house to an affordable monthly payment, or choosing a traditional hipped roof exterior for a cube-shaped city villa with a tent roof strikes me as unwise. The more you want to customize, the more likely you have chosen a builder whose style doesn’t quite match your preferences. Trying to drive in too high a gear slows you down.
Builders appreciate a little variation from routine, but you have to keep it reasonable; otherwise, construction defects can easily occur.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Regarding ibdk14.
What could be worse than beech stairs? Steel stairs! Made of locust wood.
Honestly, such comments irritate me. If you don’t like beech, just say, “I don’t like beech.” That’s all there is to it.
Otherwise, 11ant has quite accurately pointed out, as is often the case, that the customer and provider need to be a good match. For us, they are. What we consider coziness will not be created by the contractor, but rather through beautiful flooring, fiberglass on some walls, a flowery garden with almost no fencing, attractive, light curtains instead of blinds, and candles in the windows.
What could be worse than beech stairs? Steel stairs! Made of locust wood.
Honestly, such comments irritate me. If you don’t like beech, just say, “I don’t like beech.” That’s all there is to it.
Otherwise, 11ant has quite accurately pointed out, as is often the case, that the customer and provider need to be a good match. For us, they are. What we consider coziness will not be created by the contractor, but rather through beautiful flooring, fiberglass on some walls, a flowery garden with almost no fencing, attractive, light curtains instead of blinds, and candles in the windows.
Nordlys schrieb:
Robson, curly, an honest word. I was born in 1958. I will retire at 66. I am by far the higher earner in our household. We have two children, both grown up. One still needs us a bit. We enjoy traveling and own a boat that we don’t want to give up. Not a yacht, but big enough to sleep two people on it. We had a semi-detached house, but because of the stairs, it shouldn’t be our last residence before eternity. We owned the plot. We can’t pay for the new house in cash and want to be debt-free by 65, without overstretching ourselves because of the house, and without giving up the boat or travel. Our parents have passed away, leaving no inheritance, as they didn’t have much. So we’re budgeting tightly to manage with a loan of 50,000 (50 thousand). We both agree on that.
Of course, our generation may have different priorities. The color of a staircase is less important to us than accessibility and 98 cm (39 inches) doors. The red roof and slightly off-white facade were decided beforehand because, of course, we had looked at photos of other houses before our appointment that we liked and discussed what it would look like. We don’t expect the kind of smart home technology younger people do. More important to us are our old furniture pieces, some flea market finds, some reminders of our parents. We can’t delight in a designer faucet, but we appreciate a beautiful piece of teak wood. That roughly sums up our situation, and I can say “we” here honestly and genuinely. We have been married for 32 years, it works well, and it was fate, made for each other, so to speak.
That’s why I like to say, “Keep it simple.” And, this is my guess, there are many people who feel the same way; they have different reasons, different life situations, but also have to say “keep it simple.” And often they don’t dare admit it because there is some shame attached to not being able to keep up with the big, tall, wide, flashy show.
Yes, maybe we are modest, but we live quite contentedly like this. KarstenI really admire and love this attitude. Great. Perhaps life experience plays a role here—focusing on what really matters (feasibility and age-appropriateness).
We will do it similarly. We are only in our early 30s but are parents of five children, so the color of the tiles, etc., is not so important to us. More important are things that cause everyday inconveniences or that you actually need.
It’s great that you know what you want and are content with what is achievable!
Likewise
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Nordlys schrieb:
Regarding ibdk14.
What could be worse than beech stairs? Steel stairs! With robinia wood.
Honestly, sentences like these annoy me. If you don’t like beech, you can simply say, “I don’t like beech.” That’s all that’s needed.
External venetian blinds, candles in the window.Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I really phrased that poorly and clicked too quickly without thinking it through. Good luck.
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