Pre-Construction Meeting complete!

Well, we finally met Kevin, our Project Manager, yesterday.  We really liked him.  He has lots of Ryan Homes experience.  He went through the plan and our selections and answered all of our questions.  Andrew is still a bit concerned about the size of the garage and whether or not our boat will fit.  It's within inches, so it'll be close either way...

Also, Kevin is willing to let me bring my own paint for the front door.  I wanted red, but they really just had more of a muted, fall red.  I want a brighter red.  So now I'll be searching to find the right red :)  (And check that off my to-do list for once we move in!)  Even as I type this I am thinking I will wait until the brick and siding is up to decide, assuming that's a possibility.  I am guessing they don't paint the front door until one of the last things?!?!

Just realized I never posted this.  This is the brick, black shutters, white garage door, and the only red front door option they had.  They actually have 2 different samples of this brick.  One looks more brown and lighter and we actually prefer that one.  I took this picture as a worst case scenario.  Missing is the shake & siding.  (See below)

This is the siding.  There is no siding on the front of the house.  So this is basically the side and back of the house.

This is the shake.  It is on the front with the brick.

This isn't our home, but its the exact elevation we chose as well as VERY similar colors.  So, this is basically what ours will look like from the outside...just add a red door :)

This is one my Interior Designer friend suggested - Benjamin Moore’s Heritage Red

This is the other - Benjamin Moore’s Caliente  I think I like this one better but to be honest my non-decorating eye can't tell much of a difference! :P

When going through, I also let Kevin know if he accidentally put balusters instead of a capped wall on the staircase we'd be good with that :) Otherwise that's our plan before we move in, right after the island.

Kevin plans to call each Friday to check in with us.  He understands completely that we will probably be out there or driving by daily.  (He said he would too if he were building a new home!)  We live close enough that is literally just a few minutes of out of the way.  We know too from past experience that it will happen fast.  If someone makes a mistake (which we expect, we all make mistakes) we're hoping we might be able to catch it.

They will begin clearing our lot today, stake the home on Wednesday, dig the hole on Thursday and maybe even had a footer poured on Friday! :o  With the warmer temps we've experienced this week, I am hoping they continue for another week or so and let the foundation really dry.  (Can you read my non-construction expertise coming out?)

Dumpsters are there for removing the trees and brush.  He's planning to save as many big trees as possible, but the majority of this will have to be cleared.  Our house has a 60' set back and they like to clear 30' around the house.

And of course before I even managed to get this post up, we've driven by and they're clearing trees!

He said they estimate it takes about 58 business days assuming everything goes perfect.  They're still telling us May 1, even though those 58 business days means more like mid-April.  The last houses on our street all sold last month so it'll be a busy time of building these next few months.  We are glad to be one of the last homes; construction traffic will be gone! :)

Our current house is still moving through the sale process.  Planning to close at the end of next month.  That will be a relief!  Planning to get a POD for storage.  DREADING packing!  It'd be so much easier to sell everything and just buy new.  Thankfully Andrew keeps talking me down from that bridge!