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