What are you doing 'post close'

[justmed]

Right now we are definitely adding the AC units after close... the price for a 1.5 ton unit compared to what we could get for a 2 ton or higher was almost double.

I'm also going to be doing all the backsplash in the kitchen myself.

Pretty much anything structural we could do pre close we did, and anything cosmetic we're doing after.

My pet project after the foundation is cleared will be to finish the basement:)

[babymaeby]

-Potlights in great room/kitchen.
-A/C
-water softener
-swing closet doors (we deleted the sliders so there wouldn't be holes drilled in tiles/carpet since we don't want them anyway - and the price thru Mattamy was about 5x what we figured out we could do it ourselves for.)

hmm - that's all I can think of right now - I'm sure there's more...

[smartsexystylish]

The things that I can think of off the top of my head are:

Painting!!! Immediately (Day of closing lol)
Water softener
A/C
Central Vac (2 days after close - Already bought it)
Changing most light fixtures (Bathrooms for sure!)

[justmed]

yeah, thats right... definitely painting the house... right away too

"oyster" just doesnt cut it, lol.

also changing the standard fixtures, we added some boxes here and there, mostly in washrooms i think

[smartsexystylish]

Haha we also chose oyster!
It was the one that looked like it had the most "off-white" colour LOL
We only added the boxes in the washrooms - That's the only place I thought we needed to put them as the light fixtures are hard wired into the walls directly.

[Style]

AC
Mirrored Backsplash
Painting
Widen the driveway for sure
and Drink with the neighbours:D

[K.C.]

Immediately post close we are doing the following:

- Water softener (you don't want to do laundry without this)
- Build a basement apartment for our son through a no drywall contractor. Mattamy will have already built a supershower in the basement with a vertical spa in it. The basement area is about 1200 square feet and will all be finished including a kitchen and a guest room for my son's friends to stay in when they visit from Toronto. If the basement leaks, the panels can be pulled back and put back up by us after Mattamy fixes the problem. No drywall basements are built using materials that are mildew proof. I really didn't want to finish the basement right away but my son says he has to have it so I caved.
- Doorbell intercom (my husband says he can hook it up to the doorbell, should cost about $100). Mattamy is putting an outlet just above the doorbell for us.
- Automatic garage door openers
- Air conditioner
- Replace some of the lighting
- Possibly replace existing range hood with a stainless one

Later on we want to do the following:

- Patterned concrete garage floor and driveway. Also considering doing a patterned concrete front yard and backyard/sideyard. Love the idea of never mowing the lawn again! It would need to be really well done though or it could look gross.
- It would be nice to have an outdoor kitchen if we can find a contractor who's really good at it.

[Style]

Yeah KC, Patterned concrete has been discussed between wife and myself and is something we would like to explore down the road! They look absolutely beautiful!

[Alex&Vanessa]

-Granite countertop in kitchen and Marble Vanity in the ensuite
-Pantry in kitchen, microwave shelf
-marble floor in Kitchen and foyer
-Hardwood floor everywhere there is carpet
-Stone veneer fireplace mantle
-change all the faucets
-change all the lightfixtures
-crown molding
-backsplash
-valance ligthing
-potlights

I am really interested in the stamped concrete thing as well, KC let me know when you want to do it and maybe I'll jump in and we can get a rebate

[K.C.]

I am really interested in the stamped concrete thing as well, KC let me know when you want to do it and maybe I'll jump in and we can get a rebate

No problem. I'm not sure when Mattamy or the city will allow us to do it. Does anybody know about these things? I guess at some point we will have to tell Mattamy not to do the standard driveway??

When I have time I'm going to start a thread just for posting pictures and ideas of things other people have done with patterned concrete. I'll be scouring the Internet for cool ideas. Looking forward to everyone's input.

[gagnon777]

The things that I can think of off the top of my head are:

Painting!!! Immediately (Day of closing lol)
Water softener
A/C
Central Vac (2 days after close - Already bought it)
Changing most light fixtures (Bathrooms for sure!)





Smartsexy... I would hold off on painting for at least 6 months. The house shifts and settles and there will be nail pops and maybe even cracks that Mattamy will fix, but if you paint it could be void/not look so good.

[dvar]

I painted my Mattamy in Hawthrone Village within weeks of moving in (the Oyster was driving me nuts! hehe). We had nail pops and cracks, Mattamy fixes them up no problem. You're left with a visible repair. Just prime and paint the repaired spot. Painting doesn't effect their ability/willingness to repair it. As long as they can get at it they'll fix it.

Even if you finish your basement etc before they recommend and there's a foundation leak you'll have to open up the drywall and clear the area around the leak, they'll fix the leak and all other repairs are up to you. (yes, we had a foundation leak too :o( they fixed it right up and it didnt leak again)

However, never hurts to ask them before proceeding.

We will be painting right away, just making sure we have left over paint for repainting the repair spots.

[gagnon777]

Mattamy has to put in the driveway; part of the contract. They will not expand or delete. When you go to do your patterned concrete, you'll want to wait a full summer/winter season as the ground settles. Mattamy will do one layer of asphalt and then the following year, lay the second one. You'll be amazed at how much the ground shifts, how your house settles (ie: nail pops, cracks, etc.).

[gagnon777]

Depends on who you get from Mattamy to do your repairs I guess. But I do know what you mean re: builder paint colour - YUCK!!! We'll be itching to paint as well!!!

If and when any of you consider the concrete driverways, lemme know cuz the more peeps, the cheaper it is!!

Lot 114, Phase 2

[smartsexystylish]

Smartsexy... I would hold off on painting for at least 6 months. The house shifts and settles and there will be nail pops and maybe even cracks that Mattamy will fix, but if you paint it could be void/not look so good.

To be honest, I would much rather paint immediately and touch up anything after the fact. I had to paint a room that I had nowhere to put the contents other than in the middle of the room and paint around it and I absolutley hated that! I can't imagine having to do that again for multiple rooms! Plus I think I will go crazy with having "Oyster" on my walls for longer than a couple months. I know Mattamy won't repaint the area that needs to be fixed but I would rather touch up then paint a whole room after the fact!

[smartsexystylish]

I painted my Mattamy in Hawthrone Village within weeks of moving in (the Oyster was driving me nuts! hehe). We had nail pops and cracks, Mattamy fixes them up no problem. You're left with a visible repair. Just prime and paint the repaired spot. Painting doesn't effect their ability/willingness to repair it. As long as they can get at it they'll fix it.

Even if you finish your basement etc before they recommend and there's a foundation leak you'll have to open up the drywall and clear the area around the leak, they'll fix the leak and all other repairs are up to you. (yes, we had a foundation leak too :o( they fixed it right up and it didnt leak again)

However, never hurts to ask them before proceeding.

We will be painting right away, just making sure we have left over paint for repainting the repair spots.

Yea, we plan on holding off on the basement for the recommended 2 years for 2 reasons. 1) If any repairs are needed we don't want to have to take down what we put up because we didn't wait 2)To save up more $$$ to finish the basement exactly how we want - We already have it planned lol!

We asked our DC consultant about the painting and she said the same thing about the nail pops and such.

[dvar]

Yeah, waiting to do the basement is proably a good idea, especially outside walls. The Coronation model home had leak repairs beneath 2 of the basement windows I believe (at least one).

I will be doing a bedroom in the basement right away, maybe I wont drywall the exterior wall for a bit. I work steady nights and not sure if I'd be able to sleep during construction. That and there's always one person in the neighbourhood who leaves their dog outside to bark for hours on end.

Will be finishing interior walls so I have a bit of a basement that is liveable...my better half wants me to keep the poker table, sports memorabilia etc below ground level :rolleyes:

[newhomeowner]

how do we go about doing widening the driveway? I know its about 5000$ to take down and replace the driveway, so how did people in upper country club do it?

[A&O]

Hey all!

After we close we'll have our work cut out for us (or at least the folks we hire will ;)), as we will be doing the following;

potlights on main floor
hardwood in Great Room and Living/Dining on main
glass shower door in ensuite
fireplace in living/dining
built-in shelving in great room
painting

It's gonna be great to have it all done and hopefully very quickly.

Amanda

[anxious_f]

how do we go about doing widening the driveway? I know its about 5000$ to take down and replace the driveway, so how did people in upper country club do it?

We pay a fee at closing of about $300 (for 34' lots) to have the driveway paved. There are a few things that you can do from here:

1) Ask Mattamy to NOT pave your driveway. They will credit you the money back for the paving after close. You then hire a company to come in and adjust the grade for a wider driveway and pave it for you.

2) Get Mattamy to NOT pave your driveway. You receive refund. You take care of adjusting the grade yourself (you will need a permit from the city) and then finish it yourself (concrete, asphalt, interlocking stone, etc).

3) Pay Mattamy the $300, adjust the grade yourself so that the gravel is level with the parts that Mattamy has already done and then work out an arrangement with the pavers, when they show up to do the work. Be careful with this one...this is (obviously) the least legitimate way to get it done and you could have someone from the city (or Mattamy since they are responsible for the grading for the first two years) fine you for it and might even have you remove it, because of lack of permits and city approval.

There are other options, but these are the most likely ways of getting it accomplished.

[so excited]

We are thinking of doing a few things post-close...countertops, bathroom stuff, etc. What we are wondering though which may help with the decision-making is if Mattamy allows deletions; i.e. delete the included countertop and give us back the cost of that item. Anyone know the answer? Thanks in advance!

[smartsexystylish]

What we are wondering though which may help with the decision-making is if Mattamy allows deletions; i.e. delete the included countertop and give us back the cost of that item. Anyone know the answer? Thanks in advance!

Honestly, I highly doubt they will "refund" the money of the items.

[anxious_f]

They will not refund the money. They will not leave out anything because in order to pass the final inspection from the city, the house needs to be complete and liveable. A house with no countertops (therefore no sink) is not liveable.

When you say "bathroom stuff" do you mean hardware (like towel and toilet paper holders) or like no toilet? They will delete the ceramic accessories for you, but they do not credit you the cost of them.

A friend of mine that bought in UCC had the upstairs laundry room deleted and they CHARGED him $250 to not build it.

[newhomeowner]

I asked them not to varnish the staircase so i can stain it myself post close, and they said no to that. Apparently it wont pass the inspection.

[anxious_f]

That's right. The need to apply SOME KIND of stain to it. This is the reason that we had them do the stain and the hardwood. If we had them do the stain, but try to do the hardwood ourselves, we would have an impossible time trying to find flooring that would closely enough match the stain on the staircase. If we had them do neither, we would first have to strip the staircase THEN restain it to match the flooring. Not to mention having to rip out the carpet and baseboards, while making sure not to break the baseboards so that they could be re-added so that they would match the rest of the house.

Just not worth it in the end....

Either way, it made more sense to have them do all the work.