More details!

So the girls and I took a little drive to check out the house tonight.  Of course, they wanted a milk shake on our way there like Daddy got them before he left.  After getting them a chocolate malt to share, they were ready to take on the world.  

The garage door was down today, so we could really see how it will look on the front of the house.  We both really like the look of the door with the window and hardware details.  And look, there's stone!  On Monday, it looked prepped for stone, but the PMs didn't mention stone work this week.  What a pleasant surprise!  I also saw some forms and rebar on the porch just waiting for the concrete to be poured. 

 There's a coat of stain on the interior railings now.  It isn't finished as you can see stain on the balusters, but I like what I see so far.  I can't wait to see the flooring and compare the stain to the floor finish.  
 











Tile has been added in all of the bathrooms.  We opted to do a larger master bath and forego the tub.  We opted to have some stainless steel soap dishes installed in the corner now as we couldn't easily do that later.  After settlement, we will be removing 1-2 rows of tile and adding a feature using mosaic style tile instead.  I was impressed with how high they tiled each of the showers in relation to the ceiling.  Considering how tall Luke is, this is a definite bonus for us!  I can't wait to see what gets completed next.  - Ashleigh

Cabinets, vanities, doors, gutters, and a coat of paint

Things are really starting to take shape within the house.  I was surprised to see the kitchen cabinets installed when we came in today.  I checked, and the drawers are dove tailed and have the soft close feature. This was important to us because it was a "new feature" that wasn't going to be offered until Spring contracts.  But, we convinced them to honor it for our contract since we would be settling in the Spring.

Imagine how these cabinets will pop once we put some color on the walls!  Color suggestions anyone?!

The doors have been installed on the interior.  If you look closely, you may see little eyeballs peering through the door handle hole.  The girls couldn't help but play hide and seek all throughout the house!


















If you look closely, you will see that gutters have been installed.  The crew was working on these when we got there.  They were incredibly efficient and had already moved on to another house before we were finished checking on the interior.                                                                                

 One coat of paint is on the walls.  We still wish Ryan Homes would offer a selection of paint choices.  We think it would be very reasonable to have 3-5 shades of paint on hand.  From those shades, the client should be able to choose one for the interior of the house.  This would go a long way in helping the home feel a bit more personalized and would really allow the finishes to pop.  As it stands now, we will have to paint almost every room ourselves.  We knew this going in, so we are not complaining, but it is definitely an area where Ryan could improve.

    Master Bathroom vanity with cultured marble top.  We opted for upgraded vanities due to water resistance, real wood as opposed to particle board, etc.  Vanities have been installed in all of the bathrooms.  We did not pay a fee to upgrade the basement full bath cabinets.  But, for whatever reason, we were able to select the matching vanity to the kids' upgraded bathroom vanity upstairs.  I'm curious about how quickly things will continue to take shape.  But, this was a ton of progress in less than a week's time!   -  Ashleigh

Picture updates...we have drywall!

We have drywall!  It didn't take long after our "pre-drywall meeting" to actually have drywall.  We were told it can take over a week for the drywall process, and we are happy for this part of the process to drag.  Drywall is such a pivotal piece in how the home will finish.  So, we are happy for the crew to take their time hanging, taping, mudding, sanding, etc.  We probably won't go too much this week to give them some space to work since they will be spending so much time inside.  (I did take a peek in the garage and saw that cabinets have been delivered...they are still in boxes, but it's so exciting!)   -Luke and Ashleigh

Interestingly, this heater is on full blast.  We think it is helping heat and dry the house to a certain point so the drywall can dry well in a more controlled environment.

One more time...

Some of our friends wanted to get some ice cream and see the house, OF COURSE!  So, just two short days after our pre-drywall meeting, insulation is already installed.  EVEN IN THE GARAGE CEILING! It's crazy how something as simple as insulation can change the sound and appearance of the inside.  It was even a little warmer!  Random: I like how they foam everything.  I mean there is spray foam anywhere insulation couldn't fit: drill holes, cracks, window jams, etc. The house is tight!

On a personal note...I have to leave the country for work.  So, today and tomorrow will be my last times to see the house for awhile.  I'm leaving it to my girls to hold down the fort and make sure progress is being made.  I don't know if I'll have enough service to blog or check anything, but Ashleigh will keep you updated as best she can.  Here's to hoping the baby stays in and house keeps coming along!   -  Luke

Pre-drywall Meeting

Today we got to have our pre-drywall meeting!  This is a huge milestone in the building your home schedule that Ryan Homes prints off and gives you.

Since we have been to the house every few days, nothing came as a shock to us during this meeting.  But, we were able to use the running lists we've been keeping from our visits to make sure the meeting went as we needed it to.  Over the last couple of weeks, we already got them to move a few simple things and change/ fix areas of concern.  We're believers in catching and fixing things early to save everyone a headache in the long run.  

We met another neighbor last week (hey Brian!) who gave us pointers and hints of interesting items to look for. Although not life changing concerns, there are some things that can be easily overlooked or forgotten.  For example: blocking for the kitchen cabinets and mounting TV's, finishing the basement closet, subfloor on main level, and garage insulation.

The meeting started upstairs and we worked our way from top to bottom going over all our selections and 'what's where', 'why this', and 'how come'.  We asked questions as we came to things and felt that the PM's responses were reasonable.  

The main level's subfloor was a concern for us.  We are going to have nice, upgraded hardwoods running throughout most of this floor and don't want issues with noise/ buckling/ replacing in the future.  We've heard that others needed it to be replaced or repaired within months of moving in.  Most of it is due to the floor sagging or buckling causing the wood to warp.  The remedy would be to replace and/ or reinforce the subfloor after the fact (what a mess that would be) .  We were reassured that the wood we chose doesn't usually have this issue and we should be fine as they treat and inspect the floor before installing anything (supposedly the wood that had the issue was a different brand, size, thickness, etc).  We'll see!

Next was garage insulation.  We think we know what's code, but what's actually done?!  Brian told us that they didn't insulate the ceiling of his garage causing the rooms above to be cold and loud.  We are not sure if it was an oversight by someone or laziness by the installers but it was missed in his home nonetheless.  We were told that it's standard to install it on the outside of all "livable space", it should be there!  So, we were right to know that it should be there, but we are glad we asked instead of assuming.  We also filled Brian in on this "standard" installation technique so that he can work with Ryan homes during his first year of ownership.

We left feeling comfortable and confident that our expectations are clear and will be met.  We are excited about the progress to come.  Final walk through/ demonstration set for May 16!   -   Luke and Ashleigh

Roofing, Plumbing and HVAC

On to roofing, plumbing and central air… things are moving fast so keep up.  Friday, 11 March 2016, was a busy day at our house.  Roofers continued the momentum the framers came and went with, done in one day and coming back to finish the roof vent and pipe collars. 

HVAC was nearly completed on Friday except a few things in the basement.  I really like the trunk style runs in the attic and the glue/ filler they use to seal the pipes from letting air escape.  One issue, not really a problem, but something to be moved….  In our basement they placed an air return in the center of the wall where we want to put a wet bar, it would interfere with the cabinets and overall layout.  RESPONSE from Project Manager: I’ll meet with HVAC contractors to move it over a bit.

Plumbing did their thing and nearly completed as well.  A few more pipes to connect in the main level and basement.  Another little concern about rain leaking down the roof vent pipe, but this was fairly normal due to what I mentioned above.  Roofers are to install the pipe collar on their next available stop. 

Us being nitpicky and having great PMs!  We were told on our initial pre-construction meeting that the basement sometimes comes with a closet under the stairs.  It’s not a standard option, but typically comes prefabbed when they are framing out the house, it wasn’t installed nor a header where we thought it should go.  RESPONSE from PM:  The closet isn’t a standard option, but we talked about it at the pre-construction meeting and I have it noted to add for you guys! The framers will frame it out when they’re in the house for their “punch out”. 

Lesson learned:  It doesn’t hurt to ask and it pays dividends to have a great relationship with the people working on your house.      -Luke

Pre-Drywall Scheduled for 3/21

We just got another email updating us on the progress of the build and told “I hope you are doing well and enjoying this beautiful weather! We’ve had great spring weather since the start of construction on your home, so you guys must be lucky!”  Lucky…. that is how I feel going through this build and experience it with my family, BLESSED!

Pre-Dry is set for March 21: Our HVAC contractors and plumbers have been working this week and electricians will be following early next week. After that, we will be focusing on getting ready for your county inspections!

In the meantime, below are a few pictures of the inside progress thus far:     -Luke

   

Basement Bathroom 

Upstairs Hall Bathroom

Master Bathroom

Laundry

The Difference a Day Makes

FRAMING DAY 1- We are so excited!  Our weekly PM update said they would try to start framing next week.  So, we were ecstatic to see that it had already begun today.   The crew was working hard when we got there and then took their lunch break.  It was cold, so we were happy to see them take a break and warm up in their cars.  We wish we had thought to take something warm with us, like coffee or cookies.  We decided to try to do that sometime in the next week to let them know how much we appreciate their hard work!

 

Their quick break gave us a chance to walk down into the basement and really get a feel for what the layout is like.  It was also exciting to see that our windows and doors have been delivered.  We are so excited about the progress that Luke wants to drive by everyday this weekend.  Hopefully we can!     -Luke and Ashleigh

FRAMING DAY 2- I wasn’t joking when I told Ashleigh that I was going by everyday this weekend.  It’s not all too often that someone gets the opportunity to build a house and enjoy the newness.  Or is it part of my controlling personality that I can’t let go?  Either way, I’m going to enjoy this process and no one is going to stop me/us!

Seeing one wall yesterday got us excited, imagine the feeling of seeing/ watching the entire first and second floors go up!  It’s amazing how fast the puzzle pieces go together and build what we’ve been trying to envision. 

I took a moment and snapped a picture of the girls attempting to do their part in building the house.    -Luke

FRAMING DAY 3- Things are really taking shape.  The roof gives the house its character and overall size.  There is more to be installed on the roof, but I think what they've done in 3 days is great enough.  -Luke and Ashleigh

FRAMING DAY 4- These pictures are towards the end of the day and we didn’t bother attempting to get in the house.  As you can see, waterproofing has begun (which we are thankful for considering it may rain in the next few days). There were almost 10-12 people working on house so we kept our distance.    -Ashleigh

A PM Update

 Naturally, we plan on driving by our home tomorrow since Luke has the day off.  But, that doesn't take away any excitement from hearing from our PMs Maggie and James!  Below is the email update we received today:

Good afternoon Luke and Ashleigh!

We’ve been busy this week and Brookside, and if you take a look at the picture I’ve attached, you’ll see we’re finishing up the work on your foundation! This week, we were able to finish the waterproofing and drainage system around your foundation. We backfilled, and the past couple of days we’ve been working on the concrete slab prep work! Your lumber has been delivered to the jobsite, and depending on the weather, we’ll be starting framing tomorrow! The framing process will take about a week to complete, but will be a great time to see the structure of your home start to come together.

Please let me know if you have any questions and have a great rest of the week! Thanks     
   

We are so excited at the prospect of being able to see our home really take shape.  Since we are in VA, the weather seems confused as to what season it is.  Should it be Spring and warmer, or Winter and snowy?!  We have a chance of snow tonight, but 5 days later it's in the 70s!  Here's to hoping for dry, warmer days and tons of progress!   -   Luke and Ashleigh

Marching On...

Today was Super Tuesday in Virginia, so after we voted, we decided we should continue on to the new house and see if we could see any new progress.  We know...we've been driving by a lot lately...we just can't help it!  We seem to find an excuse to drive by every time we are out and about.










Today we were happy to see that even more work had been accomplished.  We have officially been backfilled.  The huge hole that was our garage is now filled to ground level, as is the perimeter around the foundation.  They also worked on completing the drainage system.  It was fun to actually be able to walk around our property without feeling like we could fall into the hole around the foundation!

 



And finally, the most SUPER part of this Tuesday...our wood has been delivered!  This was a milestone we have been anticipating and anxiously awaiting.  We may or may not have made spectacles of ourselves when we realized it had our lot number painted on it.  We can't wait for our update from our PMs to see when they plan to put the wood to good use!  
 -   Luke and Ashleigh

Family Time!

This weekend was fun and busy.  My best friend (basically sister) and her son came to visit.  Then, Luke's mom and dad stopped by on their way back from Florida for a quick visit (and I had an open house/work).  We took a little drive on Saturday so that we could show them the progress that had been made made. Since I'd just gone by on Thursday, we didn't expect there to be a huge difference.  But, it was great to see that they had started the waterproofing process.  It was also nice to be able to show others how excited we are about our new home.

As a bonus, our awesome neighbors were home and came outside and visited with us for a little while.  They even let the kids run and play in their backyard since our yard isn't back filled or leveled yet.  It's nice to see how excited the kids are to have that much space to run around.  We can't wait until we have a play set in our back yard for the girls to run around and play on!

Our first family pic by the house...baby girl #3 in the belly.  She should arrive around the same time our home is ready (who/what will be delivered first...baby girl or the house?!)  
 -Ashleigh

Septic Lines, Pipes, and Drains...Oh My!

So I took a drive by our new home on Thursday.  We had some massive storms and tornado warnings in our area the day before, so I just wanted to see how everything looked.  I was impressed to see that people were still out there working.  They had boots (and mud) up to their knees, but they were not letting the weather keep them away.  Today was a day to add some of the underground pipes, sewer lines, drains, etc.  So, although it doesn't look too exciting, it is just another step in the right direction!  








Luke was especially happy to see that they were draining water away from the foundation.  

Next up is waterproofing.  Another step that won't seem huge, but means we are one step closer to seeing our home take shape!      -Ashleigh

Wise people built their house upon a ROCK

DAY 5: Digging complete and footers poured

We got our first update from our project manager:

 It is time for your first construction update! We started construction on your home this week, and even with the snow we were able to make great progress! If you take a look at the picture I’ve attached, you’ll see that we have finished digging your foundation, and we’ve already poured the footers for your foundation. Next we’ll finish the foundation walls, and our plumbers will get started on your below slab sewer and water lines!

DAY 8: Foundation walls are up!

Now that construction has started, we attempt to make it by a few times a week just to keep up with the progress.  Trust me, even in the early stages things are changing daily.  To our surprise, we were greeted with more than footings.  The actual foundation has been poured!  It’s the first time we can make sense of the layout and picture where everything is going to be. 

Better yet was watching the girls run in the yard and get excited of all the space the play!  That made us realize all the anxiety, stress, and frustration is worth it.

Next is plumbing in the sewer and basement slab.     -Luke and Ashleigh

GROUND BREAKING

Time to play in the sandbox.... that’s basically the extent of what’s been completed this far, don't laugh at my excitement!

We heard on Feb 13, from our awesome new neighbor, that digging has begun.  You could call it pushing dirt around but progress is all we seek at this point. 

So we drove by over the weekend and took a gander.  It was hard to see past the newly snow covered mounds, but progress had been made. We have lift off!     -Luke

BADA BING - BADA BOOM ---- We Had Our Pre-Construction Meeting

I feel that it’s been while since we last had an update on the house, but we projected not hearing anything until the beginning of February. Plus we’ve had a lot going on that steered our excitement and anticipation in other directions.  We had several doctor visits (baby and sick), holiday celebrations, a birthday, and just returned from DISNEY- what a joy to take some time away and enjoy 'the happiest place on earth'.  During the middle of our trip, Feb 1, we received an email for our pre-construction meeting.  So without fail, we scheduled it for the day after we returned as to not delay anything within our control.

We met out sales rep, who is due to have her first child in 2 weeks, and were introduced to our project managers, Maggie and James.  First and lasting impressions are professional, organized, and enthusiastic.  Why are there two?  Who knows and who cares… we had good feelings about both and two people filtering our questions and concerns, the better.

The meeting started with typical introductions, expectations, and who to contact at this stage of the process.  It almost felt like a transfer of responsibilities from our sales rep to project managers.  We combed through all our sections and options that come with our model.  We chose locations for everything and presented modifications/ adjustments to some areas of concern:

Utility door location in basement: Is it able to move closer to the exterior wall to make the space more usable? Due to the panelized construction, it will come in its typical location but will be moved to our specifications shortly after the wall is set.

Wet Bar: We were able to put the hook-ups wherever we wanted, the location of utility door effected our choice, hence the question above.

Lighting in the basement: bedroom side has a light in the center of the ceiling and the main side has standard 4 recessed lights (we also added a ceiling fan in the center)

Closet under the stairs: Not typically standard, however they have been coming already installed lately.

Location/ configuration of the bathrooms: unable to change the layout or positioning

We didn’t have any surprises with this meeting as our thoughts and changes came earlier in the process.  It was reassuring that everything was correct and communication between all parties has already been happening.  They are getting the final permits tomorrow and plan on breaking ground next week, yup NEXT WEEK!

We look forward to updating everyone as progress happens in the weeks to come!     -Luke

Oh, Baby!

We are having a slow week regarding construction, which we expected.  They are pulling permits and we are waiting patiently for our pre-construction meeting.

In the meantime, we thought we would take a TIME OUT and take it to a personal level.

Our home delivery is likely to happen at the same time as our baby delivery.  That's right, we have a third, sweet little girl due in May. She is a surprise blessing and we couldn't be happier!  She is one of the reasons we are building now, so we can gain a fourth bedroom. Another key reason is because one of our daughters will start school and we want to start her off at the correct school instead of moving her mid year.

Yes, the new home and construction is amazingly exciting.  Our second daughter has already claimed her room and calls the house the tea party house (the model had a tea set in the bedroom she chose).  But, as exciting as it is, it can also be stressful.  We don't want to let that overshadow the sweet little blessing that is on the way.  Thanks again for going through this journey with us...hang on for the ride!     -Luke and Ashleigh

Let the Good Times Roll!

All too often you fight for something so long and so hard that it becomes almost impossible to relish in the good news.  As you read, we've had some great appointments and received amazing finishes, only to get confronted by continuous hurdles.  We have been plagued with ups and downs throughout this process and are ready to move forward.  

Well.... right now lets bask in the good news! 

We have been waiting on a response regarding the location of our welled-exit (stairs coming out of the basement from double glass doors). Engineers and management (and us) have been discussing the option to have it exit out the side of the house.  This would allow us more space for a deck/patio and not interfere with the morning room.  If it came out of the normal location, it would walk out right near/under our beautiful morning room.   We actually got this idea from our neighbor (shout out to Stephanie!) who has this option and didn't have near the trouble that we are having.  We want this exit, just don't take up half of our yard and back of the house to do it! Turns out we have an easement for storm water management going alongside our property line that could interfere with this.  Note, we were not informed about his easement until we began asking about the exit.  This was frustrating and not a best practice).  Regardless, GREAT news...our lot is large enough that the easement doesn't really affect this step: APPROVED for the side welled-exit!

A few days ago our sales rep referenced changes for 2016 to their 'gourmet kitchen upgrade' and we may be able to participate in the new features (this was at our meeting to pick cabinets and exterior colors).  We were all hoping we could qualify because even though we signed in 2015, we're breaking ground in 2016.  We already have the Kitchen Cabinet upgrade 2, but the new changes incorporate dovetailed drawers (much more durable) and soft-close drawer slides (slam it shut and it still closes slowly- that will help the kiddos not lose a finger) After a few emails, headaches, and great work by our sales rep: APPROVED for the soft-close drawers!

At our flooring appointment, we were told that our selections do not include a tiled back-splash.  I'm sure we saw it somewhere buried within our selections, but we couldn’t find it nor talk with someone at the sales office to confirm.  We proceed at the design studio and opted not to tile the back-splash because we didn't like their selection for the extra cost.  Sure enough, my awesome wife found it once we got home and contacted the sales office: APPROVED for the tile back-splash credit!     -Luke

We are FLOORED

Talk about an awesome experience, options galore...if you have the bank account for it!  We think this appointment goes one of two directions based on your preparation and personality/decisiveness: you are either overwhelmed and likely disappointed, or decisive and somewhat content.

Walking in we are greeted by a wonderful lady who knows the showroom and options inside and out.  She has a sheet pre-filled with pricing for every option imaginable. This took what little anxiety we had and crushed it.  She was very open with the pricing, which we appreciated. We literally walked around with the sheet (and took a screenshot of it) for a reference as we shopped.  We knew our overall budget would be dictated by these choices, so we were very mindful of price.  For us, the quality difference had to be significant for us to spend our money on "options".  Otherwise, we were saving our money to do after market upgrades.

First up was flooring for the entire main level.  Standard (meaning included) for us is:

Level A hardwood in the entry, half-bath, kitchen, pantry, and garage entry
Resilient in the morning room (despite the morning room being almost $17K, NO wood) Level A carpet in the living room and family room.  

ZERO of these options worked for us.  We’re not snobs (promise!)...just people with reasonable sense of quality and durability (read we would like our finishes to last more than a few years).  Ryan could do a much better job having relevant standard options.  We knew going into this appointment that we probably wouldn't love the standard options. But, the carpet was so thin and stiff and scratchy that we wouldn't have ever used it as indoor carpet in our house.  The consultant also let us know that the standard option had a stain fighter that would last through one cleaning and then be worthless.  Also, the standard padding left a lot to be desired because it basically felt non-existent.  So, we upgraded our carpet one level (both upstairs and on the main floor).  We upgraded our carpet pad one level for the main floor only.
Carpet (upstairs and main level):  Greystone, Cold Water
Carpet (basement):  standard carpet Baseline/Rockport

The wood was very narrow planked (2" I think) with a high gloss sheen on all of it.  To be honest, it felt very 1990s, not 2016! We had done some research and even asked our sales rep to pull some figures for us regarding wood.  So, although we felt like many of the prices were inflated, we didn't have sticker shock.  We opted to upgrade our wood to the 5" plank option.  You can see on the pricing sheet that it was a (relatively) minimal cost to change from standard to this upgrade. However, there was an increased cost to add this to the morning room.  If we had not added this option, it would have been beautiful wood flowing into a 1970s resilient piece of vinyl.  I did bring up to our sales rep in the model home that resilient was really an outdated standard when compared to other building companies and that it didn't make sense !
Wood:  Armstrong, Rural Living, hickory, misty gray, 5" plank, hand-scraped look

Next it was time to think bathrooms.  The option included as standard for flooring was resilient.  The standard material for shower wall tile is 6x6 tile, white or almond in color.  After that, you had to pay huge sums to try to find a tile you liked.  For the inflated price point, we could not find a single tile that justified the price.  It wasn't that we despised all of the options, we just despised paying exponentially higher prices than necessary.  So, we opted to keep the standard flooring and standard wall tile in white.  We will put some sweat equity in and take care of the bathrooms later (we plan to tile the floor ourselves and take out 1-2 rows of tile in the shower and put in an accent tile of some sort).  We did add 2 corner shelves in the master shower because we knew they would be difficult to install after the tiling was done (stainless steel look, about $120 for the pair).  

Side note:  We were told we had a $300 tile backsplash credit that would cover the standard backsplash.  This was (again) the white or almond tile.  Neither of those blended with our cabinets.  Our paperwork had not been sent to the design center, and the allowance was not listed on our original purchase agreement (it came in the form of a change order later).  So, we opted to call our sales rep and take the $300 in the form of a credit (it basically just came off of our overall price).

***Check INSIDE INFORMATION ALONG THE WAY for the price sheet***     -Luke and Ashleigh