Cardel in Notting Hill South

[New Orleans]

Thanks for the props guys.

My wife found that house on the MLS just at the time that we were deciding on which model to choose. It's really tough to plunk down that kind of money by looking at a floor plan on a piece of paper. Those pictures really helped. Then they had an open house so we meandered over and got to walk through the house. There used to be a virtual tour as well as some better quality pictures but that house is now sold so the link is dead. Sorry.

As far as upgrades go we have been pleasantly surprised by the prices. Don't get me wrong, it's still pricy but compared to some other builders the upgrades are a little less expensive. Like Meth said, you are paying a little more up front but you save on the back end. Cardel offers so many standards that are upgrades with other builders. To hardwood the great room is 2,400.00 We chose to do that. The standard carpet is fine. We just upgraded the underpad for something like 300.00. You go to DesLauriers kitchens and the sky is the limit there. You can spend nothing or as much as you want. I think granite will get that price up pretty quick.

[prince]

Originally Posted by Meth

All in all, I would have to say that the majority of upgrades have been reasonably priced; of course it is a business and they have to take care of the bottom line, but from what I've seen on the forums and from what I've been hearing from friends that have bought with other builders, they are on par and better on some items (but keep in mind you are paying a higher base price).

I agree with Meth. And I have to add that in many cases, its a pain to deal with contractorsc after you move in to your new house (unless you are a handy man yourself). Paying for the upgrades removes this pain and you'll get a turn key house that is ready for you. However, there are things that you can do it yourself but the builder should pay a contractor and charges you for that. Things like installing light fixtures. We did not upgrade any light fixture (as a matter of fact Cardel gives you a couple of nice light fixtures). Wherever we liked to have a light, we asked them for a rough in (costs around $79). It is easy to hook up light fixtures later and you have more choice then. On the other hand, our neighbor paid around $600 for a garage door opener upgrade. I have not seen theirs yet but for us it ended up almost the same (about $500) plus not having a GDO for one month while it was -25 outside Then two trips to Sears, booking time with the installer, cancellation of the booked time by the installer because of the extreme cold etc. So $100 was not so much to save!

Any ways, I think structural upgrades are even more important since you can hardly do it in the future without making life miserable for the whole family. And it costs more. The time for the structural upgrade is so short. Kitchen and bathroom is where we put most of our upgrade money and no regret for that.
Good to see more Cardel buyers in this forum and I take the opportunity to welcome everybody here

Attached is some pics from a formerly model home in P.O.W (Cavendish)
May be you can fnd some ideas there for upgrading your new home

[Meth]

Man gotta give you some more props Orleans, I regret not going for the coffered ceiling upgrade in the nook area, it's going to look awesome in the Dover model. Ah yes, DesLaurier can certainly get dangerous

[New Orleans]

Just shows how much I know. Apparently the virtual tour link is still working.

Here it is...

http://www.obeo.com/Public/Viewer/De...tyID%3d6271963

These pics are a lot better and you get the 360 tour as well. I would suggest downloading it to your hard drive Swerve so you can reference it later on. Not too sure how much longer it will be working.

The coffered ceiling is standard in the Dover Meth.

We paid a lot less at DesLaurier that we thought we would. I think Cardel has much better pricing than other builders. More standard selections too. We had 4 boards of kitchen cupboard door handles and door knobs to choose from where most of the builders had 1 board. Cardel also has a silver door handle package for the entire house (bedroom doors, bathroom doors etc.) as a standard option. That is an upgrade for most other builders.

Small things but they all add up.

[prince]

There is a rumor that Cardel is building town homes in Ottawa. Does anybody know if this is true.

[Meth]

Ah yes, going to be some built over here in Notting Hill South. Not too sure as to whether or not they have gone on sale as of yet, but they are on the website to check out.

[New Orleans]

Towns and 2 storey apartments too.

[Swerve]

Thank you everyone for all the great information!

So we put our deposit down on our lot. We are just waiting to here back on one other lot that they just got however we need to find out which builder is going in next to it and the dimensions of the lot. The Dover & Cardel is very grand looking and I don't want it to stick out and look funny next to another builder. I feel better knowing the lot is reserved. We drove out to the Richmond location to get the feel of a Cardel house plus looked at so many other models with other builders to see the difference.

Thank you so much for the extra pictures of the Dover it really make us feel better about choosing that model. I really think that Cardel you get good value for your money. Other builders the price is more plus they accommodate you for much less for structural changes.

New Orleans! I have some questions for you, if you don't mind.
Did you put leave the ceramic as is and only upgrade the family room? We were thinking of making the hall hardwood more like the pictures? And having ceramic in the front entrance, mudroom & kitchen/eating area.
Did you leave the fireplace as is? Last night at the sales centre she mention you might be able to move it, but I don't know if I would want to do that? But it's got me thinking now
I saw in the pictures of the Dover they only did 4 squares of coffered ceiling instead of 6 as in the drawings?

This site is great hopefully we can get more Cardel - Notting Hill South buyers on so we can bounce ideas off each other.

[Swerve]

I forgot to add, when is everyones closing date?

I haven't really asked the sales centre but I think they said December-January, right now??

[skipticum]

Originally Posted by Swerve

I forgot to add, when is everyones closing date?

I haven't really asked the sales centre but I think they said December-January, right now??

Our closing is Nov. 04. Our lot is 166. BTW, I believe the house being built now next to the other new lot (the one just recently became available) is from Richcraft. To make sure, you could drive in and see for yourself, as right now there is no major activities at the site (except for the model homes being built right now). In the last couple of weeks I drove in the site at least 4 times.

Which lot you're thinking (or already) of reserving?