Final walk through

Closing is Thursday!

Final walk through yesterday went well.  We marked several minor drywall repairs.  There was a hole on the insulation on the garage door that they had "repaired" with duct tape, so they're going to "fix" that.  They're going to repair a shingle that's missing, leave us some extra hardwood, replace a cabinet door and figure out why there isn't a gfi in the kitchen.  The sod is looking ok.  He admitted though that it was supposed to be watered over the weekend but someone dropped the ball.  He's confident it will come back, but if not they will take care of it.  I got a contact name so I can figure out what all of the plants are in front of the house.  We talked about granite and hardwood cleaning.  He suggested a 409 granite cleaner (I've heard good about Method granite cleaner) and Bruce for hardwood (we like Bona better so we will continue to use that.)  He also suggested closing upstairs vents in the winter and downstairs in the summer.  I hadn't heard that, so we may try that?!?!  It's a fairly big house so saving that gas & electric bill will be helpful.  I did get some inside pictures but I totally forgot the basement and exterior.  This was my first go with panoramic mode on my camera, sorry.

House on lot, note spotty sod.

Alex's bedroom

2nd floor laundry with tub instead of a closet.

Adam's bedroom

 

Boys bathroom

Austin's bedroom

Huge bonus/play room.

Master bedroom

Master bath with closet in the back and tub to the right.

Officially the dining room, but we're using it as a sitting room with no tv.  Light will need changed.

Standing where refrigerator will go.  Looking at kitchen, morning/dining room, and great room.  Office is the door at the far end.  Island to come this weekend!

Standing in the morning/dining room.  Kitchen on the right, sitting room through doorway on right, pantry is the double doors, basement is the single door, hallway/entryway/mudroom is the next doorway, great room on the left, office through the door on the far left.

Entryway.  Mudroom on the left and powder room up farther on the left.  Considering painting the back of the front door black?!?!

We are starting to plan to get some loads of stuff there this weekend.  At this point we have stuff stored at both sets of parents and my brothers.  So we'll spend the next 2 weeks getting that unloaded.  Also, hopefully get the island installed this weekend and work on the backsplash.  All while keeping the yard watered!

We ordered a traveling sprinkler to try out and see if it helps water all of the grass!

 

Week 9 is done

I wasn't out at the house much this week. I did stop by today and get a few pics and talk to our Project Manager. He said they should finish the siding and drywall this weekend.  They got the meter on so they've got the furnace running.  The ceilings were finished as well.  Plan is to do the first coat of paint Monday and flooring Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Trim is set to start Friday but he's thinking he may get bumped to the next Monday.

Front

Side

Left side.  Definitely in need of grading.  Probably will call for some sort of retaining wall around the landscaping.

Back (home of future deck.)

Right side of back yard.  It goes back a bit, but I'm excited we have some big trees!

A few things that I'm watching:

Electrical outlet in garage still hasn't been exposed.  (PM said Monday they would expose it.)

Basement bathroom rough-in still hasn't been exposed. (PM was made aware at preconstruction meeting.)

Windows still don't close all the way.  (I told PM at preconstruction meeting and he said they would address it before the final walk through.)

Two windows need fixed.  One is chipped and one has a trim piece missing.

The boys bathtub has some scratches. 

Bathtub scratched

Another bathtub scratch

Picture from last week and probably the cause of said scratches :(

You can sort of see that top half of window is missing some trim.

Cracked "ledge"

Also, scheduled our POD to be redelivered on May 14.  So with an April 28 closing, that means Andrew has 2 weekends to build the island and remove and re-do the half wall :D

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!