I am finalizing plans for a new home (built by Morrison) in Austin,
Tx... The kitchen is nice but the standard kitchen lacks granite
countertops, backsplash, and I want to add an "L" to the end of the bar
(about 10 sq ft), bringing the total counterspace to 40 sq ft. The
additional cost for the builder to do the above is about $6,000.00.
Should I just get the standard formica install, and have a professional
come in after and save a few $$$$? Appreciate any experience in
installs this size. Thanks

Ken, good perspective, thanks for the reply.

or you could just go with a plywood or particle board subtop covered
with laminate formica of your coice... ALOT cheaper


most of the tops we do are beveled 45 deegrees and laquered on the front
edge... like this. simple, ornate and inexpensive.
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Roman371 wrote:

I am finalizing plans for a new home (built by Morrison) in Austin,
Tx... The kitchen is nice but the standard kitchen lacks granite
countertops, backsplash, and I want to add an "L" to the end of the bar
(about 10 sq ft), bringing the total counterspace to 40 sq ft. The
additional cost for the builder to do the above is about $6,000.00.
Should I just get the standard formica install, and have a professional
come in after and save a few $$$$? Appreciate any experience in
installs this size. Thanks

"Roman371" wrote in news:1142784969.962753.235410
@z34g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

I am finalizing plans for a new home (built by Morrison) in Austin,
Tx... The kitchen is nice but the standard kitchen lacks granite
countertops, backsplash, and I want to add an "L" to the end of the bar
(about 10 sq ft), bringing the total counterspace to 40 sq ft. The
additional cost for the builder to do the above is about $6,000.00.
Should I just get the standard formica install, and have a professional
come in after and save a few $$$$? Appreciate any experience in
installs this size. Thanks

Sounds to me like you should get a few more quotes. Our kitchen remodel
ended up with 81 sq ft of countertop, and we were quoted about $4500 for
formica. A bit of shopping around, and we found a company that did it in
granite for $6000 (Canadian). This did not include backsplash or any
countertop extensions, but still, I feel that you should be able to do
better than $6000.

--
Murray Peterson

wrote:
On 19 Mar 2006 08:16:10 -0800, "Roman371" wrote:


I am finalizing plans for a new home (built by Morrison) in Austin,
Tx... The kitchen is nice but the standard kitchen lacks granite
countertops, backsplash, and I want to add an "L" to the end of the bar
(about 10 sq ft), bringing the total counterspace to 40 sq ft. The
additional cost for the builder to do the above is about $6,000.00.
Should I just get the standard formica install, and have a professional
come in after and save a few $$$$? Appreciate any experience in
installs this size. Thanks


The best I can give you is a ballpark ...and a very large ballpark at
that.

A reasonable price here for mid grade granite countertops, 3/4 inch,
doubled at the lip, with sink and faucet cutouts is about $80
Canadian a square foot. Which suggests your countertop would cost
3200. Add 300 to 600 for underslung sinks and another 300 for an
appropriate faucet. Add another five or seven hundred for the
extended base cabinets.

That's in Calgary, Canada. My (annecdotal) experience is that
the costs are about the same to most places in the U.S.

Here, builders take a strong markup on "not standard" materials and
do not deduct the cost of the substituted for item. e.g. If your home
includes lino and you want tile, they charge for the lino and again
for the tile.

How come???? whenever I requested an upgrade I just paid the difference
over the cost of original spec. May I ask which builder you work for?
(to avoid it in the future, and to tell friends about it)
I never paid like that when I had my houses/cabin built.

It is probable that you are paying for
formica and again for granite.

In your case, I would guess you are paying a couple of thousand
premium . In my view, it is not worth two thousand dollars to take
a kitchen apart after the house is complete.

Your mileage may vary. Greatly.

Ken

The builder is Morrison. They do not disclose what the cost of the
original spec was, but alot of the upgrades seem to have healthy margin
built into them, which is what prompted my original message. Thanks
for the above feedback.

Roman371 wrote:
The builder is Morrison. They do not disclose what the cost of the
original spec was, but alot of the upgrades seem to have healthy margin
built into them, which is what prompted my original message. Thanks
for the above feedback.

Hmmm,
Never dealt with them. I remember back when they started out.
That's not very nice charging customers like that. But Calgary now is
seller's(builder's) market.

On 19 Mar 2006 08:16:10 -0800, "Roman371" wrote:


I am finalizing plans for a new home (built by Morrison) in Austin,
Tx... The kitchen is nice but the standard kitchen lacks granite
countertops, backsplash, and I want to add an "L" to the end of the bar
(about 10 sq ft), bringing the total counterspace to 40 sq ft. The
additional cost for the builder to do the above is about $6,000.00.
Should I just get the standard formica install, and have a professional
come in after and save a few $$$$? Appreciate any experience in
installs this size. Thanks

If you're just going to rip the thing out again, see if
the builder will give you a price break for not
doing the countertops at all.