Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The lights are on

How nice to see electricity!  It was the first night since groundbreaking two months ago that we did not have to bring flashlights to see what was going on.  So much has happened over the last few days.  We have a driveway, the stove and microwave are in, most of the lights are in, and Guardian was there finishing up their wiring.  The outlets, towel bars, and closet shelving are in, and the tile is finished in the hall bath.  Next up is flooring--can't wait to see that!  Oh, and our rangehood arrived too.  Apparently the Broan in the garage is for someone else after all. 

The lights were on!

Porch lights and doorbell!

Super-bright eyeballs.  These will definitely need a dimmer.
So, now I  have some questions about our light fixtures.  When we were going over options for the house with our SR, he asked us if we wanted the light fixtures throughout the house to be oil rubbed bronze (ORB) and we said yes.  He said in order to get ORB like what the model has, we needed to upgrade to Light Package "B."  So, today when I saw our lights, I was a little confused.  First, I think I've only seen these particular ORB lights in a couple of other blogs (at most).  A lot of you have ORB fixtures and they look just like what is in the model.  Did you pay extra for your ORB fixtures?  Or did you just choose between brushed nickel and ORB and that was that?

Let's start with the hallways.  My understanding is that most homes (without a two-story foyer) come with a semi-flush mount in the foyer and what we affectionately call "boob" lights in the upstairs hallway and mudroom.  Check out our "upgrade" in the foyer.  What's up with that chain?

Foyer "chandelier"?
A pic of what is in the model is below.  You can see it better if you click on it.  It's much more refined, in my opinion.  How can the fixture we got possibly be an upgrade?


 
Now for the upstairs hallway and mudroom lights.  Ours are semi-flush mount and, in person, they look kind of huge and don't have much ORB on them.  I think it's a little strange to have three lights hanging down from an 8' ceiling in the hallway.  Here's a pic of one of them...

 
 
...and this is what's in the model:
 
 
I like the upgraded lights in the bathrooms, but based on all of our other "upgraded" lights, I think we could have lived with standard ORB all around.  It's hard to see in the pic below because the lights are on, but you can tell the difference from the standard ORB lights found in other models:
 



Okay, enough on the lights.  I just wanted to get that out there for those still in there 14-day window.  You may want to ask for a picture of what is included in your upgraded lighting package.  We made the mistake of assuming it was the same as what was in the model (based on what the SR said).  I'm not sure we would have intentionally paid extra for what we got.
 
Here's a pic of our new floor tile in the hall bath and then it's lights out. :)
 
 

5 comments:

  1. Yay for power!!! It sounds like things are moving along nicely. Love the diagonal floor tile!

    I wish they would just break out the books and SHOW you what is included in the packages/upgrades. That would clear up so many misunderstandings! The only thing we were shown pictures of was the appliance packages and that was only because we wanted to upgrade our electric stove to the flat/smooth top so we didn't have those horrible coil burners. It would have been nice to see faucets, lights, etc. Like you, I'm not sure I would have paid for the light upgrade after seeing the difference.

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  2. I do have to say, my sales rep has been very helpful in showing me things. I HAVE THE PROGRESS LIGHTING BOOK! If anyone is at all interested in send me a message and I'll shoot it your way. We stayed with the basic lighting package because we disliked a lot of the lights. The only thing we plan on changing in the future is the dining room chandelier, but other than that we actually prefer the base level lighting.

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  3. Looks wonderful! Yeah we were never told anything about different lighting... just that we could change it out on our own after! How beautiful everything looks with light!

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  4. Wow! You are right! What is going ON!

    They certainly have the lightening mixed UP! And certainly don't understand why they have a chain on the foyer light. Maybe they suddenly changed the design for that fixture??? Did you ask Brian to check the book to see if that is offered to verify if the guys goofed.

    When I asked about the lightening package "B" this is what I was told:

    Lightening Package "B" is $675 in the ORB and it covers the front door entry and foyer lights, upstairs throughout the hallway and basement boob flush mounts
    AND when you purchase this package, you must purchase the bathroom package with it for $100 to cover all the lightening fixtures for each bathroom you have
    HOWEVER, the faucets in your bathrooms will remain chrome which is a mismatch.

    When I elected to purchase the lightening package "B" I wanted to get the ORB because I didn't want the brushed nickel and the ORB seem to be a better fit for the espresso floors. After thinking about the combination in the bathroom with the mismatch I opted out of the lightening package "B" to use the $775 else where in the house for other options because eventually I would be changing all the lightening fixtures.


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  5. You have a very lovely home! I particularly like your choice of lighting. The recessed porch lights are brilliant! They make your porch visible even at night time and secure you from possible break-ins that happen mostly at the wee hours.

    Allison Shallenberger

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