Hey guys,
I finally did my PDI yesterday and asked James about some of the things that you all had been mentioning:
When I asked about the gap under the door he did say that it had to be there to be to code. He also went on and on about how we'd be breathing recycled air if the gap wasn't there (or if we were to seal it ourselves). Maybe part of the noise problem stems from the door material itself... They do seem to be trying to save $$ by using cheap materials after all.
Asmegin - Thank you for your comments re: the toilet paper holder/towel rack - I asked James to have them not install these, along with the mirror in the bathroom (which I want to replace immediately with a wider vanity immediately, as there isn't all that much storage space in the bathroom for us ladies!).
One weird thing that I noticed: Asmegin and Layla - In your units, you have a few feet of space in front of your washer/dryer. In my unit, the laundry room is much smaller (i.e., no space in front). I looked into a few of the units near mine, and most seemed to have the few feet of space like you two. I'm jealous!
Overall though, everything went well during the PDI. I found some cracked tiles, paint splatters, small chunks of floor missing, and the bathroom lights were installed crookedly.
The unit was much smaller than I pictured... But hopefully will look bigger once I get some furniture in there.
Some nice surprises: The ground floor patio does seem to be slightly bigger than the balconies, and of the hall closets in my Aspen unit had full closet width shelves installed for linens. My pictures are not all that fantastic (should have brought my camera instead of relying on the iPhone as it was super bright in the afternoon on the West side of the building), but I'll add a few below in case anyone is curious.
EDIT: I tried to post a few photos, but am getting error messages... Too bad.