Closing went very well the other day. Actually, it went a lot faster then I thought is was going to. My hand wasn't even tired from signing my name and initials :) And even better was taking home the check as we had more closing costs paid than due! It was an amazing experience to open the door to our new home with our own key! We've only noticed one thing thus far that'll need to be fixed at our 30 day follow up with the PM's; our mailbox is very wobbly. I think the rain loosened up all the soil around it.
The fridge was delivered on closing day...and it looks perfect!
Our big moving day will be tomorrow. I can't wait to get our own furniture and belongings set up.
I've been busy painting. Nothing like painting a room to appreciate the size of it! The basement is tan. And I painted my son's room dark blue (his favorite color). The rest of the painting I plan on saving for weekend projects. Once we get everything set up I'll post pictures.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
T-5 hours
Only 5 hours to go until closing! We are very excited. Our new home is so beautiful that we can't wait to move in! Our actual "moving day" will be Friday, due to our work schedules. But in the meantime, there is a lot we need to do. This afternoon our fridge gets delivered and our internet gets hooked up. The next two days will be painting and hanging blinds.
Thank you to everyone who offered words of wisdom during our building process!
Thank you to everyone who offered words of wisdom during our building process!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
3 Days to Go
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| Lightpost in with the door painted and shutters on first floor. |
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| Front room w/coat closet and powder room |
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| Family room with fireplace |
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| Family room looking into kitchen and morning room. |
Friday, October 21, 2011
Pre-Settlement Meeting
We had our pre-settlement meeting today. Our PM did a great job explaining all of the warranties and just getting us used to our house! Our in-depth review of the house showed only a few very minor issues that need addressed before closing. The PM has scheduled a time in the morning before closing to review the changes. Our dishwasher has a dent in the front but this had already been addressed by the PM. He's just waiting for a new one to be delivered on Monday/Tuesday. Our house looks AMAZING! We are counting the hours until we close! T-4 days!
Tomorrow I'll stop by again to re-measure for blinds. And take tons of pictures!
Tomorrow I'll stop by again to re-measure for blinds. And take tons of pictures!
Friday, October 14, 2011
11 Days to Go
We had our pre-pre-settlement walkthrough today with the PM. We went over the entire inside and outside of the house to find any items that still need to be worked before we close. Most of the items were already marked with blue tape. Only new item added to their list was 2 spots of "bubbling out" on one piece of siding, each about 3-5 inches wide.
It was amazing to see everything cleaned and mostly done. They had pulled off the hardwood floor protectors. A worker was in the kitchen placing the trim around the gourmet island. The drywall has been worked over two times since our last visit. They are going to work it again today and then do another round of paint touchups. The flooring guy will be out Monday to replace a few pieces of hardwood (one has a large gap between it and the trim and the rest have a gouge in it from the oven being dragged at some point in time). Guardian was at the house installing our outside intercom system. We passed the final energy star compliance inspection. We passed the plumbing inspection yesterday. The final inspection will occur Monday.
They offered to let us keep the dehumidifier that is in our house. We gladly will!
Our lampost was in place along with our light by the front door. The shutters for our downstairs front window will be placed Monday after the stone crew comes and shaves off a bit of the stone sticking out. Our front door was painted.
This weekend we plan on picking out our blinds and paint for my son's room, the basement, laundry room, and the garage. We close on the 25th and move on the 28th. That gives me a few days to paint after work. All the other rooms we will do later.
It was amazing to see everything cleaned and mostly done. They had pulled off the hardwood floor protectors. A worker was in the kitchen placing the trim around the gourmet island. The drywall has been worked over two times since our last visit. They are going to work it again today and then do another round of paint touchups. The flooring guy will be out Monday to replace a few pieces of hardwood (one has a large gap between it and the trim and the rest have a gouge in it from the oven being dragged at some point in time). Guardian was at the house installing our outside intercom system. We passed the final energy star compliance inspection. We passed the plumbing inspection yesterday. The final inspection will occur Monday.
They offered to let us keep the dehumidifier that is in our house. We gladly will!
Our lampost was in place along with our light by the front door. The shutters for our downstairs front window will be placed Monday after the stone crew comes and shaves off a bit of the stone sticking out. Our front door was painted.
This weekend we plan on picking out our blinds and paint for my son's room, the basement, laundry room, and the garage. We close on the 25th and move on the 28th. That gives me a few days to paint after work. All the other rooms we will do later.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
16 Days to Go
We did not want to leave our house today! I am still amazed that this is OUR house (well, in 16 days it will be)! The carpet was in. The grading had been completed for our backyard. The logs were in our fireplace. Some "fixes" have been completed. We now have a fan in our master bathroom. The walls have blue tape all over the place. It'll be a busy week for the workers but the house is scheduled to actually be done end of this week or early next week. Then it'll be inspection time and cleaning time for Ryan.
Our yard will be placed Monday. They've done wonderful on the landscaping for the other houses on the street (front/side sod and front landscaping are required in our neighborhood). I'm looking forward to our lightpost (another requirement) to be placed along with our mailbox. Our front door is going to match our shutters which will really pull out the dark color in the stone. The stone looked really good today and I think it will look even better with the dark door.
Our yard will be placed Monday. They've done wonderful on the landscaping for the other houses on the street (front/side sod and front landscaping are required in our neighborhood). I'm looking forward to our lightpost (another requirement) to be placed along with our mailbox. Our front door is going to match our shutters which will really pull out the dark color in the stone. The stone looked really good today and I think it will look even better with the dark door.
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| Part of basement |
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| Basement |
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| Powder room in basement |
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| Basement |
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| Basement to 1st floor |
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| Helping us measure the windows for blinds |
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| Logs in the fireplace |
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| Family room |
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| Kitchen from family room |
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| The soon-to-be fridge location |
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| A HUGE pantry |
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| One of the bedrooms |
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| Master closet with shelves moved higher |
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| Master bedroom |
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| Master bath fan....and yes, an intercom control panel :) I don't want to move from that tub (the panel was supposed to be closer but Guardian placed it wrong...too late to change it) |
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| Looking down to first floor |
Friday, October 7, 2011
Kitchen Countertop
We stopped by our house tonight to take a quick look at the finished stone and were surprised to see all of our lights on. The carpet crew was inside placing the pads down. The carpet was sitting in their truck. I can't wait to see the finished product! We were surprised to find the kitchen countertops in place. The coloring looks even better than we imagined! It looks so nice with our cabinets, black appliances, and hardwood floors. Blue tape is all over the place (where fixes need to be made). Our sidewalk concrete was poured. Here are some late night pictures:
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
20 Days to Go
Stopped by the house over lunch to see if the stone was going up. The PM was driving by and stopped to ask if I had any questions and to give me a current schedule for the next few days. The stone workers had the area prepped and supplies out but they were at lunch too. When they got back they were going to start putting it up. They might finish tonight, if not, it will be finished in the morning. The sidewalks were being poured in the afternoon. I didn't want to walk through the house as the cleaning crew was inside vacuuming. Carpet goes in tomorrow! Our countertop is still sitting in the garage. It will be placed in the next few days.
Monday, October 3, 2011
PM Meeting
Have I ever mentioned how much we like our 2 PMs? We LOVE them! My husband met one at the house this afternoon to go over our concerns. Not only did he already have them on his list, he had a total of about 150 things! Now that is attention to detail!
Our kitchen countertops are sitting in the garage waiting to be put in. The stone crew is scheduled for tomorrow. Our entire road is also scheduled to be asphalted by the city tomorrow. Our driveway and porch concrete was in place and drying. They will do the sidewalks in two days. Our sod and landscaping will be done this week (yeah! don't have to pay 2.5 weeks worth of watering!).
We've really lucked out with everything thus far. Another lucky thing is that the 2nd PM is a PM-in-training and has passed everything except the final stage. This means that he is going to do our pre-settlement with us. In addition, the top guy from Ryan in charge of the PMs is going to fly in to grade him during our pre-settlement meeting. If the PM misses one thing, he fails. Talk about pressure for him! This means our house is going to be in amazing condition! (which is why we agreed to do a pre-pre-settlement meeting a few days beforehand...give him a chance to practice and another chance to go over the house with us before his big "test").
Our kitchen countertops are sitting in the garage waiting to be put in. The stone crew is scheduled for tomorrow. Our entire road is also scheduled to be asphalted by the city tomorrow. Our driveway and porch concrete was in place and drying. They will do the sidewalks in two days. Our sod and landscaping will be done this week (yeah! don't have to pay 2.5 weeks worth of watering!).
We've really lucked out with everything thus far. Another lucky thing is that the 2nd PM is a PM-in-training and has passed everything except the final stage. This means that he is going to do our pre-settlement with us. In addition, the top guy from Ryan in charge of the PMs is going to fly in to grade him during our pre-settlement meeting. If the PM misses one thing, he fails. Talk about pressure for him! This means our house is going to be in amazing condition! (which is why we agreed to do a pre-pre-settlement meeting a few days beforehand...give him a chance to practice and another chance to go over the house with us before his big "test").
Sunday, October 2, 2011
3 Weeks Until Closing
We were able to get the key and walk around inside our house today! It looks amazing! They've added some of our outside lights (garage and back deck). Microwave is in place. Floor in front of fireplace is in. Shelving is up in all of the closets. The towel bars and toilet paper holders have been added in the bathrooms. They've stained the banisters. They've layed the first layer down to prep our driveway and sidewalk. We have a few issues we will be bringing to the PM's attention tommorrow. They include:
1. Almost all of the outlets and some of the light switches are crooked
2. One piece of hardwood flooring has a 1/2 inch gap from it to the wall/trim
3. The master bathroom does not have an exhaust fan while the rest of the bathrooms do
4. One of the deck rails has a huge sliver of wood hanging (the rail needs to be replaced)
5. One of the walls in the basement actually bows out and then bows back in...to include the trim.
6. The stairs going upstairs have huge gouges and chunks removed along the wall/wood frame of the stairs.
7. The texturing of the ceiling...multiple issues with this especially in the basement (we've never noticed before because their was no light until now). To include, large amounts of texturing just gathered especially around the edges of wall and ceiling. It needs to be sanded down and repainted. Also, large texturing dripping (globs just hanging). The various elevation changes in the ceiling throughout the basement need to be sanded down on the edges and repainted as the globs are present and look really bad.
8. The stair handrails have been stained but are very rough. To the point you can't slide your hand down because it hurts.
9. One of the upper kitchen cabinet doors is incorrectly hung...it makes a woody squeaky sound when you try to open it. Reminds me of scraping nails on a chalkboard and produces a nice chill up the spine.
10. One corner wall in the laundry room bows in and is uneven in the edge, to include the trim.
11. Cracking along some of the corners between wall and ceiling (between 1/2 inch to 1 inch).
12. The master bathroom shelving was agreed to be hung 1 foot higher than normal (we agreed on this at the pre-drywall). This is so we can add an additional lower level of shelves.
13. No caulk behind one of the sinks in a section
Question for those who have finished their Ryan home: The shower rod just sits on the wall. I touched it and it fell down. Do they not securely attach it to the walls on both sides? If not, it'll be one of the first things on my list when we move in. I'm just imagining it falling right on my son's head when he takes a shower and tries to move the curtain.
We understand the house still has quite a bit to go to make it complete. However, we just want to make sure the PM is aware of our concerns and to insure they have plenty of time to fix the problems.
1. Almost all of the outlets and some of the light switches are crooked
2. One piece of hardwood flooring has a 1/2 inch gap from it to the wall/trim
3. The master bathroom does not have an exhaust fan while the rest of the bathrooms do
4. One of the deck rails has a huge sliver of wood hanging (the rail needs to be replaced)
5. One of the walls in the basement actually bows out and then bows back in...to include the trim.
6. The stairs going upstairs have huge gouges and chunks removed along the wall/wood frame of the stairs.
7. The texturing of the ceiling...multiple issues with this especially in the basement (we've never noticed before because their was no light until now). To include, large amounts of texturing just gathered especially around the edges of wall and ceiling. It needs to be sanded down and repainted. Also, large texturing dripping (globs just hanging). The various elevation changes in the ceiling throughout the basement need to be sanded down on the edges and repainted as the globs are present and look really bad.
8. The stair handrails have been stained but are very rough. To the point you can't slide your hand down because it hurts.
9. One of the upper kitchen cabinet doors is incorrectly hung...it makes a woody squeaky sound when you try to open it. Reminds me of scraping nails on a chalkboard and produces a nice chill up the spine.
10. One corner wall in the laundry room bows in and is uneven in the edge, to include the trim.
11. Cracking along some of the corners between wall and ceiling (between 1/2 inch to 1 inch).
12. The master bathroom shelving was agreed to be hung 1 foot higher than normal (we agreed on this at the pre-drywall). This is so we can add an additional lower level of shelves.
13. No caulk behind one of the sinks in a section
Question for those who have finished their Ryan home: The shower rod just sits on the wall. I touched it and it fell down. Do they not securely attach it to the walls on both sides? If not, it'll be one of the first things on my list when we move in. I'm just imagining it falling right on my son's head when he takes a shower and tries to move the curtain.
We understand the house still has quite a bit to go to make it complete. However, we just want to make sure the PM is aware of our concerns and to insure they have plenty of time to fix the problems.
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| Part of the basement |
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| Basement powder room |
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| Coat closet |
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| Front door |
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| Fireplace with floor put in |
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| Laundry room with shelving |
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| The piece of wood on the deck that needs to be fixed |
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| Kitchen in progress |
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| Recessed lights in kitchen |
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| Stained railing and another recessed light |
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| Deck from morning room |
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| Morning room from kitchen |
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| Linen closet |
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| Master bedroom with our view |
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| Stained railing |
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| Realized I never put in picture of our kitchen countertop. It's Jamocha |
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