Cost of granite upgrade

V

vikas420

New member
Does any one know what is IP design center charging  for the countertop upgrade to a decent handpicked granite stone.  I am skeptical going by their default granites considering the different shades( some very ugly) they may force upon us. Also, anyone compared the $ difference when going with outside contractor vs. design center for countertop upgrades on hand picked granites.
 
So you don't pick the standard granite?  Seems outrageous to me that you're spending this much money and can't even decide which piece of slab you want..
 
i bought a san remo...

i upgraded my kitchen counter to a level 2 granite with full splash for 3991

for standard granite with full splash (santa cecilia) with full splash was 2030

their markups about 30% here, but i like their masonry (ive seen homes with horrible fabricators, and so far IP's model homes are all above average) so chose to go with them...

u cant pick ur granite at the granite yard if u stick with standard, so to me, it was more like paying 2k so i could get the privilege to pick my granite, which to me was worth it...
 
It really is outrageous. the standard granite has wide array of shades ( mostly with wide dark and uneven patches) they could pick without feeling the need to consult the buyer. my wife hates the idea of being stuck with something despising after its all installed in the kitchen. Not sure about the effort involved in replacing them with hand picked ones later on ( am assuming there will be wear and tear  with the cabinets etc)  with outside contractors. As much as i hate IP squeezing out more of our hard earned money,  it looks like we may end up upgrading it with Design center as well.

 
changm55 said:
i bought a san remo plan 3...

i upgraded my kitchen counter to a level 2 granite with full splash for 3991

for standard granite with full splash (santa cecilia) with full splash was 2030

their markups about 30% here, but i like their masonry (ive seen homes with horrible fabricators, and so far IP's model homes are all above average) so chose to go with them...

u cant pick ur granite at the granite yard if u stick with standard, so to me, it was more like paying 2k so i could get the privilege to pick my granite, which to me was worth it...
Click to expand...
What's the difference between a level 2 and standard granites?
I thought granite was standard, even though you have to pay extra to select the one you want.
 
For the standard granite installed by IP ,  curious to know what has been the experience like for new home buyers here on TI forums. Has people liked what they have got for standard, or is everyone biting the bullet and going for the upgrade with Design/ ripping center.
 
The granite countertop was one of the few upgrades I did through IP. It cost me about 2K, which I felt was cheaper than ripping out the standard granite and replace it afterwards. I chose a dark gray/black granite called Black Impala. I kind of feel the seams on the double stack edge wasn't done very well. The seam was really obvious where they stacked the granite.
 
standard granite = Verde Butterfly OR Juparana St Cecilia OR Sapphire Brown

anything else is considered an upgrade

i was really close to going with St Cecilia, but the thing that concerned me was i would not be able to pick my slabs... it would have been fine if St Cecilia was more consistent, but seems like theres a lot of variation between slabs for this particular granite... so i had a long talk with my interior designer and we just decided to suck it up n upgrade so that we could coordinate our flooring with the granite and rest of the furniture
 
forgot to mention u cant think about countertops without thinking about ur flooring

my standard flooring was Emser Toledo series ceramic tiles... had a tough time deciding which to use too since none of the standard floor tiles really matched any of the standard granite countertops if u want either/or to match... annoyed the heck out of me bleh... IP kinda forces ur hand, either upgrade ur flooring or ur granite countertops... i opted for the countertops because after estimating their markup, they add a 30% margin for countertops vs flooring which they add close to 40% markup... (my estimations are based off of 300-350 usd per laborer prices per day , also assumes they are quality installers that have a long term relationship with ur architect)...
 
gaogi said:
The granite countertop was one of the few upgrades I did through IP. It cost me about 2K, which I felt was cheaper than ripping out the standard granite and replace it afterwards. I chose a dark gray/black granite called Black Impala. I kind of feel the seams on the double stack edge wasn't done very well. The seam was really obvious where they stacked the granite.
Click to expand...

which community and plan did u buy at? also is ur fabricator "American Marble"? That is probably my biggest fear that i get obvious seams after paying so much extra money :(
 
changm55 said:
gaogi said:
The granite countertop was one of the few upgrades I did through IP. It cost me about 2K, which I felt was cheaper than ripping out the standard granite and replace it afterwards. I chose a dark gray/black granite called Black Impala. I kind of feel the seams on the double stack edge wasn't done very well. The seam was really obvious where they stacked the granite.
Click to expand...

which community and plan did u buy at? also is ur fabricator "American Marble"? That is probably my biggest fear that i get obvious seams after paying so much extra money :(
Click to expand...

I bought in San Marcos.  The slab yard I went to to pick out my slab was Marbolis.
 
yeah marbolis... same here... im going to go pick out my slabs this week... i think marbolis is their slab distributor... but their masonry (fabricator/cutter/etc) and installer is actually a company called "american marble" (at least thats what my appointment sheet the irvine pacific ppl gave me says lol)

was there anything u could do about the obvious seams? did u mention it to some "customer service rep" the sales ppl keep mentioning to me that will handle problems for me post escrow? what did they say?
 
I pointed it out during walk through, and the guy just said that's normal and unavoidable.  I googled it a little bit, and I guess it's true if the installer is subpar.  So even if I pressed for them to redo it, I think the results would have been the same.
 
thanks for the tip!

man... fingers crossed lol...

btw did u get to have a pre-drywall walkthrough?... i think mines coming up... they wont let me bring an inspector but they say they will point out all the electrical wiring upgrades i included or something... haha this is exciting hahaha
 
When I signed my purchase contract, the house was already at stage 9 or 10.  I was technically already past the dry wall stage, even though when I walked through the construction site, it seems like only the framing was up (no wires or pipes), so I didn't get to do the pre-drywall walkthrough.
 
thanks!

what about ur final walkthrough, was it informative? im planning to bring along a 3rd party inspector just for shits n giggles... planning to do another 3rd party inspector 10 months post escrow so i can milk their 1 year fit n finish warranty haha
 
The final walkthrough was okay.  Look for paint defects, drywall defects, etc.  The representative was pretty good, he was marking defects that we didn't catch.  Even if you don't catch everything, you can always call them back, it's pretty easy to open a service case online.  Our powder room toilet clogged up the day after we closed escrow.  I opened a case online, and they came the next day to look at it.  They had to call a plumber which took me to the weekend, when my flooring people came in and removed the toilet to install tiles.  After the toilet was reset, it magically unclogged, so I guess flush all the toilets during the walkthrough.  Other than that, most of the things were cosmetic, although I didn't hire a inspector to look deeper into things.
 
thanks man!

thats good to hear... at least IP post escrow conflict resolution ppls (customer service reps) sound like they are much more easier to deal with then the IP sales/design center ppl... actually its VERY comforting to hear haha... the stuff IP sales/design center ppl put me through sapped a lot of my home buying joyful experience away... and thats really hard cause im a pretty optimistic guy to begin with lol...

haha actually the real reason im bringing an inspector is quite embarassing... more a matter of me to prove my point to IP... cause when i first asked my sales, they flat out said "no inspector"... which kind of took me aback, so i pushed for it and they finally yielded and said ok... took like 2 weeks n i even got my broker involved... i dont think i would have been such an ass if they were nice about it in the first place, like "ill see what we can do for u mr. chang, we'll try to pull some strings, etc etc" (even if they know they cant do anything about it) vs a flat out "no inspector" attitude...
 
i found counters to be one of the cheaper upgrades since they gave a decent credit for the existing counter.  Upgraded all counters to a nice stone for $2K (kitchen is decent sized).    My friend upgraded to caesarstone for just a bit more than that.  the oe granite looks horrible, and i'd just bite the bullet.  i guess if you upgrade you can pick your slab.  we did.  kind of a no brainer to pay $2K more now, vs. trying to upgrade the whole kitchen later where nice stone would cost me at least $10K. 

Floors are a diff story, you can save money going w/ outside vendor.
 
what... u actually got design center credit from irvine pacific? wth... which community did u buy in?... these IP bastards refused to give me any credit lol
 
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