Thursday, September 29, 2011

Primer, Appliances, Light Fixtures, Deck

Our house is looking really good!  The trim was all in place and painted.  The painters were there putting another coat of primer on the walls.  Our fireplace mantel was put in.  All light fixtures were in place.  The deck was built.  Toilets put in place.  Fixtures put in bathrooms along with mirrors.  Dishwasher was in place and the oven was there but not hooked up yet (we didn't get a fridge through them).  No sign of our microwave yet.  We have stairs from the garage to the mudroom/laundry room.  Our stone was delivered, however, due to the rain we've been getting they haven't been able to put it up.  Guardian had come through and placed our security and intercom systems.  All outlet covers were in place.

One of the PM's was in the house and I was able to talk to him a bit.  He wants to schedule a pre-pre-settlement meeting a few days before the pre-settlement meeting to do a thorough walk-through of the house together so they have time to fix anything.  That'll give us time to review all the fixes at our pre-settlement meeting.  If a problem arises at that meeting then they still have the weekend to fix it before closing.

I, of course, forgot my camera.  My husband and I plan on stopping again this weekend so I'll definitely take pictures then.


We have finalized everything with NVR.  They only required updated bank account statements and pay stubs.  The last thing we are waiting on is our insurance company to call them with our homeowner's insurance information.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Flooring & Cabinets

Stopped by our house today to check the progress.  It's looking really good!  Workers were inside cutting trim and also putting up the cabinets.  Our hardwood floor looks amazing!  I can't wait to see the entire floor without the cardboard protectors.  The flooring we chose for the bathrooms and laundry room look even better than we had imagined.  The coloring matches our cabinet choices really well.  All the cabinets were in the bathrooms and most of them were in place in the kitchen.  They've put in the banisters (they will be stained later).  They had most of the trim glued in place.  The walls have been primed.  Inside doors have been placed (without hardware).  The outside decoration around our front door is in place.  Gutters were put on.

No big issues were noted.  We have cracking in our basement concrete floor which we have been told is to be expected and not a cause for concern.  The outside decoration around our front door is cracked on one side and our window-paned door down to the basement has a huge chunk removed (which will all be replaced).

Love the grey siding and the dark blue shutters

Our gourmet island

Worker putting up our cabinets

A peak at our hardwood floor

Basement powder room

Basement with sump pump, water heater, and AC/Heat

Part of our basement

View of the fountain from my son's room

Our unstained railing

View of bathroom cabinet and tile.  The picture doesn't do it justice

Front door (horizontal crack on right side)

Our Sold sign

Friday, September 16, 2011

Drywall and Siding

Stopped by the house today with my husband and one of our sales reps.  It's looking really good!  The siding team was there putting up our siding.  I really do like the look of the beaded vinyl siding.  The cabinets and indoor doors were in our garage.  Our PM called in the afternoon but we missed his call.  He was busy at a subcontractor meeting when we went to go see the house later too.  We'll call him back on Monday to check on the status of everything. 

They've layed down the roads and put the lot signs in phase II of our development.  It's going to be so fun to watch all the houses be built after we move in to ours!

We were excited to get clarification on the lot next to us.  It will be the last lot built on (estimated 5 years down the road, depending on progression of sales). 


Kitchen as viewed from morning room

Morning room

Family room w/fireplace

Looking at living room/front door/stairs from family room


Living room +my husband and one of our sales reps

In basement looking upstairs

Guest Bedroom

Picture of the detail in our ceilings

Caleb's room

Office (you can see the scaffolding the siding team was using)

I just love this tub

Master Bedroom and my husband talking to the sales rep

Cabinets and doors

Front view

The siding is starting to go up

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Locked our Rate

We locked our rate in at 3.5%....amazing!  Drywall continues on our house.  No siding still.  But we've had good weather the past few days so hopefully it won't be too much longer.  I have reservations about our color choices and stone.  No other house has the combination in our neighborhood (there are only about 10 homes built thus far).  It's hard to imagine the little color slabs on a big house. 

Friday, September 9, 2011

Pre-Drywall Meeting

We had our pre-drywall meeting today.  Everything looked good in the house.  The only issue was an incorrect placement of an intercom by Guardian.  They put it about 8-10 inches too high.  Easily fixable as the wire is long enough to extend it down that far.  On a good note, when we walked into the kitchen I noticed 5 recessed light boxes.  The electrician put them in instead of the standard lighting...his mistake = our gain!  That's a free $500 in upgrades!  Our PM said they would keep them in place!  I am so glad as I wanted recessed lights but it was on the "cut" list of upgrades. 

October 21st we will have our final walk through.  And on the 25th we will close! 

The first of two inspectors was at our house during our meeting.  If all goes well then drywall starts this weekend.  We will be in drywall all week long.  The next week will involve flooring, trim, and prime.  The following week will be cabinets, painting, and other misc.  We were slated to start siding today, however, due to the heavy rainfall the siding team is behind schedule. 

Friday, September 2, 2011

PM Update #2

PM called today to give us an update and to verify that our pre-drywall meeting will be next Friday.  Electrical has been put in, HVAC has been put in, water heater is in, fireplace is in (but not the slate or mantel), garden tub, shower, and bath/shower units are in place and hooked up.  They've fixed the flooring so it does not squeak.  The framers will be working over the weekend to fix the stairs and other misc throughout the house.  Guardian will be coming to place all of their items in the house too this next week.

We didn't bring our camera this evening.  We got the key and toured the inside of the house.  It looks great inside!  My son picked out his room today "I want it to be blue!".  He is very excited to have a view of the fountain and pond across the street.  We have an amazing view from the back of the house (short lived until they build the houses back there in the next few months...but we'll enjoy it while it lasts!)

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Shingled and Wrapped

We are now shingled and wrapped!  Good news about the squeaky floor and the upper part of the stairs...our PM already knew about it!  He was waiting on the framing and roofing to be finished.  They will be going through and screwing the flooring down to the beams and laying glue too.  He said it should erase all squeaking that could occur with the floor.  Even better news is that we got a preliminary pre-drywall meeting of the 9th!  If all inspections go well and there are no issue at pre-drywall then the drywall team is slated to work that weekend and all of our drywall will be in place by the following Monday.  Just amazing!


And we are now officially locked out!