lessons learned?

[highonthehill]

I'm moving to a Harron Home in July and we are currently choosing our internal tiles, floor coverings etc - is there anything you wish you had done different when you moved into your Harron Home? What about the 'built-in' appliances? They seem very expensive just because they are built in. Any options you wish you had gone for?

[Rich]

I think extra storage space in our kitchen would have been handy but we'd already exceeded our extras budget so decided it wasn't a priority. Integrated fridge/freezer is very good and energy efficient. It would be cheaper to buy standalone but we thought it looked much better integrated. The fan oven is a tad basic and I would have liked to have had the facility to have the grill and oven on at the same time.

Hansgrohe shower is mint and the Hammonds wardrobes are superb.

[nicro]

Can I just but in and have some input as some May know we bought with taylor wimpey and spent quite a bit on options we thought just like rich with the integrated kitchen appliances we paid extre to have the double oven but it's the down lighting for me which is the killer we have 4 in kitchen , and 3 in each bathroom and en suite which came to around 600 quid I wish we got laminate floor I'm hallway that's what if have done different

[Rich]

Yep, so important to triple check what they've wrote down is what you asked for. I asked for copies of everything so I had my own record.

[nicro]

Couldn't afford wardrobes at the time but just ordered A set from hammonds themselves from ponsfords

[newt]

We went for tiling through the hallway and kitchen but changed our tile choice from the shiny ones they have in the show houses to a more mottled effect one and my god am I glad we did. Full tiling is great but, as you would expect, a nightmare to keep on top of with cleaning and knowing someone who had the super glossy tiles this huge cleaning job could have been even bigger if we'd not changed our tile choice. We went for fully tiled bathrooms upstairs and they look brilliant. The tiling job upstairs is far superior to downstairs (but then we are fairly sure they forgot they were tiling our kitchen and hallway and so rushed it through in the last few days before we moved in!). Keep on top of HH and what they are doing like others have said. We asked for plumbing into the integral garage so we could have our washing machine in there instead of the utility (for practicality and noise reasons I'd really recommend having this done if its an option). They did originally mess this up and didn't put it in and then tried to charge us for having to dig up the concrete they had already laid and to alter all the plumbing! So like I said, keep an eye on what they are doing. We were told we weren't allowed to go snooping round our house until it was built and ready but have since found out that other people did and so spotted things that had been missed before it was too late. You may have a better experience than some of us have had as I'm almost certain the reason the extra choices were not always done correctly was due to the sales woman who used to work in the show house office. She scrawled down notes about our choices all over the place on various bits of paper and at one point even lost our file! They have since changed said sales woman and, having spoken to her a couple of times, she seems a bit more with it!
Oh, and we went for the double oven and its great. Didn't bother with the integrated fridge as got ourselves a lovely stainless steel one much cheaper from John Lewis and had it delivered the day after we moved in. Looks very smart fitted in nicely in the gap they left and also holds more than the one HH had on offer. The hammond wardrobes are top class - have both sliding door ones and ones that open outwards and they have a great quality feel to them.
Just on a side note, my dads a plumber and says the appliances we have fitted as standard (namely the taps and kitchen sink) are a good standard and not cheap! He was impressed these came with the house. The door handles on the other hand....oh dear. We've had to have several replaced already due to the mechanisms in them failing. Not sure if it is an option to upgrade these, but if it is it may be worth considering. They are cheap rubbish to put it mildly!

[Deleted]

Talking about the Hammond wardrobes .... Anybody have a Canterbury? How many doors does the wardrobe in the master bedroom have? Sales team don't seem to know :S

[sam]

We have tiled floors in the hall,kitchen,utility and dining area. Very practical with kids and pets,but slippy when wet and bloody freezing in winter, had to put a few rugs down. We have the Tiverton wish it had more wall storage in the kitchen and a bigger cooker!

[adammac42]

We would have liked to have tiled floors in the kitchen/dining room but HH were charging a small fortune so we went for the vinyl. It's fine in small bathrooms/WCs etc but isn't robust enough for a large space. It's lifted and there are a few tears in it after a year's use.

[highonthehill]

Thanks for all the replies, some useful information - we are going for tiling in the kitchen and from what I've read here it seems the best (but expensive) option.

[davsur]

We bought a Kenilworth that was complete, I think someone had given back word, everything was already in, integrated appliances, half tiled bathrooms, tiled kitchen floor and grass! The only thing we had done was tiling through the hallway as they were going to carpet, and with the dog wouldn't have been great. Really happy with everything in it, sliding wardrobes are sound and integrated appliances are great. Only downside is the garage is detached and had no power or lighting, and there was no outside tap but I've had those done myself.

[p99ull]

Hi davsur,

We're thinking of getting a kenilworth but aren't sure if we should get that or something like a salcombe. Now that you've mived in, does everything work well for you? (Eg size of lounge, kitchen dinning area).

We have two children and thinknit would be good to 'throw them up on the top floor and lock away the key!' :-)

[davsur]

Hi 'p99ull'!
We love the house, layout works perfect for us.
Unfortunately my son doesn't live with me and my partner but he has the large room on the top floor, as he gets older the shower room will be there for him and keeps it contained for him.
There is a clear floor space advantage of the Kenilworth, and all rooms are technically double whereas the 4th in the Salcombe is only a single. We loved the Salcombe kitchen, but equally love the Kenilworth. The dining room is great, we have a 6-seat extended table in there, and a small table in the kitchen for casual dining (4 seats)
Great with the space, layout, no complaints at all.
Glad we have the Kenilworth now, but both houses are great. I really liked the outside design of the Salcombe, a little different which probably lcks on the Kenilworth, however we're living inside, not outside!!!
Lounge could be bigger, but then again we have a TV in the kitchen which is used often and really chill in the living room at night. Its all relative to your lifestyle as well, we've made a point of avoiding 'Coronation Street Syndrome' and detaching from the box!!!
Top floor ideal for the two kids though, no need to even shut doors to hide the mess, just don't climb the stairs!!!

[p99ull]

Thanks... That's just the kind of confirmation We were looking for!

We think we will probably put the dining table in the dining kitchen area and keep the second room at the front as a kids lounge/family room.

Was hoping to speak with someone to ask what they thought of the kenilwoth before we signed up but felt a bit rude just knocking on somebody's door! Lol. This site has been superb for finding out information and people's thoughts. I'm sure if we do move in (which could be around June time) we will be using this site quite a lot!

We will be coming from a small cul de sack of just 8 houses where everybody knows each other really well and looks out for each other, has nights out at Christmas etc, so it's nice to know we will be coming somewhere where people are friendly :-)

Thanks again

Paul





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