gutters

[eyegirl]

Do the new homes come with gutters? If not, does anyone know
A) if they are necessary?
B) the approx cost to put them on a "lilac" model?

[JenAjd]

We have a cottage series house and bought it new---no gutters but we had them installed just on the front and it cost $100.00. Sorry can't remember the name of the people who did it. You will want gutters as when it rains here it comes down very heavy and runs like a water-fall from the roofs. Think about people possibly coming to your front door getting drenched. Now wish we had them on the back as well.

[Tom Hannon]

Do the new homes come with gutters? If not, does anyone know
A) if they are necessary?
B) the approx cost to put them on a "lilac" model?

I have an Iris. Gutters were on the front on the house but none in the back. I had them installed recently (I forget the name of the company but I can locate it easy enough if you want me to get it for you) Total cost $180. I thought it was more than a fair price. The gutters run along the back to protect my lanai and have spouts at each end. I recommend them.

[Tweety Bird]

We have a cottage series home. We had our year inspection and he recommended gutters around the entire house. It makes sense to me, because wherever there no gutters, the rain POUNDS down in a downpour and creates deep holes on the side of the house. We have them around most of the house, but we will end up calling him to simply complete the entire thing.

[eyegirl]

thanks to all of you for your responses.

Tom, if you could look up that info, I would GREATLY appreciate it.

[Tom Hannon]

I'll get back to you later.

[golfnut]

I had gutters installed on the whole house, used Alamo Gutters, great job at a great price, they installed 6" gutters at the same price as 5", ask them if they still are running that special. I recommend them highly. Their number is 347-6390.

[Niels]

My designer home that was built earlier this year came with two partial gutters to protect the area near our front door. There are no gutters on the rest of the house.

[Tom Hannon]

Yes, Niels. It seems the designer homes only have gutters in the front. I can't understand why. For less than $200 this could be corrected. I mean like, we are spending a quarter of a million dollars on something where we most likely spend the rest of our life in. Having gutters as a standard option would not break the bank.
I also have a complaint about why attic stairs are not standard options. They give you the attic and an entrance. For another $250 the stairs should be included.

[robbie]

i just asked on another thread, but can someone tell me if floorboards came installed in the attic on a new construction designer model or were they an upgrade you had to ask for???

[mulligan]

Once again, I would remind everyone that if you are going to use the attis space for storage, you should be sure that you have "attic trusses" to support the extra weight.

[Tom Hannon]

I bought a spec home and I had partial flooring. More than enough for me. The guy who did my attic stairs said "He could always add more floor panels for a small price".

You'd be surprised on how much space you have up there and there is also a light switch.

[Sherman931]

Partial attic over the garage was standard in my designer home

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Yes, Niels. It seems the designer homes only have gutters in the front. I can't understand why. For less than $200 this could be corrected. I mean like, we are spending a quarter of a million dollars on something where we most likely spend the rest of our life in. Having gutters as a standard option would not break the bank.
I also have a complaint about why attic stairs are not standard options. They give you the attic and an entrance. For another $250 the stairs should be included. Agreed, Tom. Like most builders of anything - be it houses, cars, appliances, etc. - corners seem to get cut/items left out in the interest of keeping the price down. Seems to be happening more and more with the weakened economy. Same thing with houses in TV - for a nominal sum (in a designer model), those things you mentioned and more could be addressed....better grade of appliances, cabinetry, countertops, flooring, and so on. With the way it's currently being done, it gives the homeowner the option to just leave things as-is, saving a few bucks in the process, or do some add-ons/upgrades on their own when they want, giving them the ability to do those things as they see fit.

JMHO :)

Bill

[logdog]

I also have a complaint about why attic stairs are not standard options. They give you the attic and an entrance. For another $250 the stairs should be included.

I remember reading somewhere on TOTV that stairs aren't provided because the developer doesn't want to accept liability in case of a fall. I also recall that someone in my village was seriously hurt or maybe even killed early this year after falling off these stairs.

[Halle]

I remember reading somewhere on TOTV that stairs aren't provided because the developer doesn't want to accept liability in case of a fall. I also recall that someone in my village was seriously hurt or maybe even killed early this year after falling off these stairs.

The person who died after falling from a ladder was using a free standing ladder to access the attic, not built-in attic stairs. We had already scheduled to have attic stairs installed and the work was done the evening of this tragic accident.

[elevatorman]

The Designers have some flooring installed. Our Begonia has an area 8 X 8 with plywood. Some have more it depends on the roof style. We have a hip roof and the flooring does not extend toward the front of the garage, it is just in the center. The trusses that the flooring is on have 2 X 6 joists, most of the others are 2 X 4. Our neighbor does not have a hip style roof and his floor extends to the front. I guess it is all about headroom. There is a light installed at the center overhead. We keep all of the christmas decorations as well as luggage and other plastic containers with things my wife just could not part with.

[batman911]

Lets do the math. $500 saved by the developer by not installing gutters, attic stair, etc. times 50,000 homes = $25,000,000. That's a lot of elk hunting trips paid for.

[Tom Hannon]

Lets do the math. $500 saved by the developer by not installing gutters, attic stair, etc. times 50,000 homes = $25,000,000. That's a lot of elk hunting trips paid for.

Maybe so but instead of charging something like $264,276 for a new home, why not add the $500 and make it $264,776. Nobody would think about the price and they'd be happy. For instance...on my Iris, we did not get a washer or dryer. Had to lay out a grand them.

[batman911]

I agree with you Tom but I believe the developer feels that they want to make the base price of the homes as low as possible to keep them affordable to people on fixed incomes. I personally would rather pay a little more up front than deal with the individual vendors (and scammers) and noise and dirt from renovations and additions. I guess making those items an option complicates the building process too much when you build so many homes per month.

[Niels]

Maybe so but instead of charging something like $264,276 for a new home, why not add the $500 and make it $264,776. Nobody would think about the price and they'd be happy. For instance...on my Iris, we did not get a washer or dryer. Had to lay out a grand them.

The Villages does offer washers and dryers as an option. However, I have been told that they offer a limited selection of appliances at prices that are not competitive. Therefore, most people just buy them on their own.

[Tom Hannon]

The Villages does offer washers and dryers as an option. However, I have been told that they offer a limited selection of appliances at prices that are not competitive. Therefore, most people just buy them on their own.

In our case, we bought a spec home. "What you see is what you get." I felt we got everything else we wanted and the lack of a washer/ dryer wasn't going to make us walk away. Even with the added expense of the washer/dryer - we still came in under the price range we were working with.