You're totally right about hydronic systems being a beast—I helped my brother retrofit one into his older home, and it was a nightmare. We ended up having to reinforce the subfloor and reroute plumbing we hadn't planned on... total budget creep. But honestly, now that it's done, he swears it's worth every penny. Doing just the main bathroom or kitchen first sounds like a smart move to me—less disruption and easier on the wallet.
"Doing just the main bathroom or kitchen first sounds like a smart move to me—less disruption and easier on the wallet."
Definitely agree with tackling it room-by-room. I've seen clients underestimate how disruptive whole-home projects can get. Plus, starting small lets you test out finishes and fixtures before committing everywhere... saves headaches later.
"Plus, starting small lets you test out finishes and fixtures before committing everywhere... saves headaches later."
Exactly this. I once jumped right into a full kitchen remodel without testing anything first—big mistake. Ended up hating the backsplash tile after it was all installed. Lesson learned: slow and steady wins the design race, lol. Plus, spacing things out gives you more time to find those unique pieces that really make a space feel special.
Totally relate to that backsplash regret... been there myself. Starting small is definitely smart—gives you breathing room to tweak things as you go. Plus, it's way less overwhelming than tackling everything at once. Good call!
I get the backsplash regret thing, but honestly, that's small potatoes compared to lender regret. Back when we built our first place, we stuck with the builder's lender because it seemed easy—paperwork was streamlined, and they threw in some incentives. Seemed like a no-brainer at the time.
But a few months later, I ran into an old friend who'd just refinanced with a local credit union and got way better terms. Lower rate, fewer fees...the whole deal. Made me feel like I'd jumped too quickly without really shopping around. Lesson learned, I guess.
Now I'm skeptical whenever builders push their preferred lenders. Sure, sometimes it's genuinely convenient and competitive, but other times they're banking on you not looking elsewhere. It's always worth at least checking out your options—even if you end up sticking with the builder's lender anyway.
Curious though: has anyone here actually found significantly better deals by shopping around after construction wrapped up? Or is it usually just minor differences that aren't worth the hassle of switching?
