Trim and Cabinets!

June 1st, 2015

We finally have trim and cabinets!  I was so excited to see some movement this week and what the kitchen might look like finished!  We only have a few weeks left until closing so I am a bit nervous about our timeline for completion.  They still have quite a bit to do and not much time.  The siding is still not up and the stone is on back order of course.  We got out closing information and should have our new home orientation on the 24th and closing on the 26th.  If they can get some things done this week we should still be okay!

Siding FAIL

May 18th, 2015

Started this week out on a great note and so excited to see the siding go up!  It stopped about half way through and I wasn't sure what the issue was.  Got a frantic call from our sales rep saying that "some one" screwed up and our color choices are against the HOA since someone in our community right on either side of us had the same choices.  Sigh.  This means siding had to come down and new choices have to be made.  I was very disappointed as we were so looking forward to the colors we had chosen.  I was however, grateful int he end because I like the new colors even more!  We ended up going with a light gray and irregular stone instead of the Thistle and stacked stone.  Excited to see the end result!  This photo is of the old siding...

Dry Wall Installation

May 15th, 2015

Finally got to the drywall stage!  All of the framing issues were corrected and we now have drywall and tape done!  A few things that we have noticed already.  They dry walled over the small smurf doors in the attic, one of them where the upper HVAC unit is housed.  I have not mentioned it since the installer will be back to turn on the HVAC, it will be figured out.  The drywall ws being brought into the house in the rain so we have been back over several times to insure that drywall way not damaged or wet.  Mold is a huge issue with our son and an uninvited guest so we will keep a close eye on any potential moisture.  On to siding this week!!

Pre Drywall Meeting Stall....

May 12, 2015

We have been moving along over the last few weeks!  Framing done and the windows installed as well as roofing finished.  The pre drywall meeting got a little derailed when dates and times were confused and we showed up when our PM wasn't ready for us.  He had a meeting so we walked around the house on our own for a little bit before having to reschedule our meeting for Thursday the 14th.  A piece of advice that was given to us by another Ryan home owner was just to pay attention to details.  Things can be missed and you are the second set of eyes needed to make sure your home is constructed the way you want and what you paid for!  While walking around our framed home there were several things we noticed that will need to be addressed.  They are framing issues so can be fixed now but could possible slow us down by a few days or so.  The following issues were noticed by just quickly walking through.

1.  The basement has a finished media room that was framed in as a hybrid of the finished and the unfinished version.  It has doors where a door should be (found on the unfinished floor plan) and the correct door as well.  The hallway has been framed in as it would be if it were unfinished.  The storage room has the door frame int he incorrect spot and will have to be moved.

2.  The attic has a Jack and Jill style bathroom connecting the common area to the finished bedroom.  The bathroom currently has no access to the bedroom with only one door in the bathroom.  The electrician has placed an outlet where the door should be so once the framing is resolved the electrician will also have to move the outlet to the other side of the wall where it was supposed to be according to the Ryan plans.

Needless to say we were disappointed but mistakes happen and how they rectify it is the real issue.  Hopefully we will be full steam ahead once these have been taken care of.  We will have our pre drywall meeting on Thursday and go into more detail with our PM about anything that needs to be addressed that we may not have seen on our quick walk through on our own.

Onward and Upward!

April 23rd, 2015

It has been a long last month but we finally have movement with our house!  The lot was cleared and then some weather slowed things down a little bit.  Now that the "April Showers" have subsided we are moving along quickly.  Basement footers were poured and we did a little recon once the walls were cured.  It was strange to stand in what will be your finished basement in several months!  Once the basement had cured, wood appeared for the framing process to begin.  I was amazed at the speed in which they get the framing going.  I drove by the lot on Wednesday April 22nd and then again on the 23rd and the difference was amazing.  They had laid floors in the earlier part of the week and then went from one wall completed to an entire first floor by Thursday! Of course making sure things are done correctly is always a concern but they seem to be thorough and have about 10 people on site working.  I have been advised by a few people to keep watch and make sure things like optional windows have been installed.  Sometimes options can be overlooked.  So far everything is going along smoothly!  Looking forward to the rest of the framing and on to the pre drywall meeting.

Breaking Ground!

We were finally able to break ground now that the crazy weather seems to have left the area!  There have been many warm days with some rain but hopefully the process will begin to really move along.  The lot was cleared and then excavation began for the basement and footers.  The footers should be going in Tuesday the 31st and then the real fun begins!  Make sure to check out the progression photos tab to see all of the changes!

Moving Forward!

The process is moving along.  We don't have a firm date for breaking ground but with selections and contracts ratified we are steps closer to that date.  In Stonehaven (our neighborhood) there are seven or eight houses to be built and are racked and stacked based on closing dates.  Ours is still a little bit out (June 23rd), so we will be put into the cue for dates.  Our most recent meeting was the electrical meeting where things are discussed such as additional outlets, where to place cable, phone lines etc.  We added a few connections and also had our box moved to the basement storage room instead of hall closet.  This will make is easier for Chris to work his magic, mounting racks, servers, wireless etc.  More room and a cooler temp for computers down there, not to mention leaving us with a hall closet!  Needless to say he is very excited to plan out our home access with all of the newest goodies ;-)  Our next meeting should take place int he next few weeks and be our pre-construction meeting.  This will include us, the project manager (lead contractor), and sales associate to again go over everything.  We will look at the lot together and hopefully have a better idea of where it will sit on the land so that we may begin to think about back yard, etc.  Once that meeting has taken place we are "go for launch"!  Expecting that we make break ground in March or so.  I will have pictures of every step of the way!