Pre-Drywall

Well, I am definitely overdue on posting. My bad y'all. 


We had our Pre-Drywall meeting Thursday, April 28. Everything went pretty well. The inspections already took place that morning, and they were good to start insulation. We noticed a couple issues. More on that as we go. Let's just dive into some pictures...

Here's the front. We have some garage trim.

Our beautiful recessed lights.

Half wall in the morning room. Can't wait to put a couple stools here.

They fixed our morning room window! Yay!

Door off the morning room. 

Vents and plumbing in the ceiling.

I really don't know why this is so fascinating, but it is.

Standing in the family room looking towards the front of the house. (through the staircase)

Standing in the family room looking towards the front/our center stack of HVAC returns

Here we have issue number 1. 

This was supposed to be a 28" network panel. I didn't have a measuring tape, but I assure you it was most certainly not 28". Luckily, I brought our paperwork for Trinity and our house options. This came in handy here. I showed our PM the paperwork. He agreed it was wrong and called up the guy who did our Trinity stuff right then. This will be taken care of. Fantastic! Way to get right on it! 

Master Bedroom. We are definitely going to need some blinds right away. 

Entrance to our Master closet. We requested the light switch to be outside and our PM delivered! 

Standing in the Master looking into our master bath and laundry room. 

Our shower and tub. This is a beautiful sight!

Whole home fan. Super cool. 

My husband was super happy to see wired smoke detectors! 

Laundry Room

A view into the master.

Standing in bedroom #3, looking into bedroom #2

Standing in bedroom #2, looking into bedroom #3 and the master closet

Our subfloor graffiti. I'd like to think this was done with the best intentions to mean that our house is being built with lots of love. :)

Those are all our pictures for now. We had a few more issues with some of the wiring. Some of it is our fault for not paying closer attention to the locations. Some of it was miscommunication. Some of it was being told the wrong stuff. (not on purpose). 

We are not thrilled with the location of the outlets in the master. This was something we just did not pay close enough attention to. We are disappointed in ourselves, but it is something we can live with and aren't going to make a fuss over it. Oh well. 

We also were concerned about the family room outlets. We paid for an extra outlet to be centered on the wall we will place our TV. It seemed at first that all they did was shift some outlets to give us the right location. However, after asking and reviewing the plans, we did get all the standard outlets and our extra one. We thought the outlets would stay where they were and the one we wanted to add would just be added in the location we wanted. This was not the case. This isn't really a big issue in the long run. We're just glad to be getting what we paid extra for. 

The final and biggest issue was the outlet(s) in the island. Some of you may remember that I had an issue with the island. Because of this issue, I asked so many questions in regards to this island. I also know (with the advice of many blogs) that I asked about how many outlets there were on the island. Our sales rep pulled up the plans to show us and said there were 2. At our pre-drywall meeting, our PM said 1. At that time, I just asked if he was sure because I thought there was 2. He pulled out the blueprints and showed me 1. I let it drop because he was showing me more info about the island dimensions and things that I hadn't previously seen. Later talking with my husband, we both felt that 1 outlet wasn't what we were told. So, today my husband went and spoke with our sales rep. He pulled up the plans and it showed 2. Well, It was finally realized that he was viewing both the small island and gourmet island on the same blueprint and the other outlet he was showing was not for the gourmet island. Our SR was really honest and admitted he made a mistake. He told us to contact our PM and tell him what happened. Our PM got back to us and told us that he will put in the second outlet in the island for us. I am so relieved. It really paid off for us to just go back to the source and find out what the disconnect was. This was a genuine mistake, and I am not upset over it. I am very happy that Ryan did work to give us what we thought we were getting and rectify the situation for us. Great work Ryan! ( and our PM and SR!)

All in all, we are very happy with how things are coming together. We are getting very antsy to get in there and get moved in!

We had our insulation inspection today. It passed, and we are ready for drywall! 

Also, last week, we locked in our rate, and we have our date for settlement. YAY!! June 13 is our final walkthrough/house demo, and June 17 we go to closing! It's getting closer!

On another fantastic note... We worked with our current apartment, and we are actually getting out of our lease early! This is super helpful to reduce the overlap of mortgage/rent. They had tenants that were moving in after us that wanted to get in earlier than our lease end. So both parties win, and we don't have to pay a fee to get out early! 

Things are starting to fall into place!! SO EXCITING!!

We have a basement-ish.

Progress, sweet progress. Yesterday the forms came off. Our foundation/basement exists! We're on our way to an actual home!! Here are some pictures:

Looking straight at our house. Garage on the left.

Our front door. Sort of. Soon.

Standing at the right corner of the house

Check out that view from the basement slider!

Welcome to our basement.

Standing in our basement, looking towards the front of the house.

The back of our house from the backyard.

Not sure if this will work, but here is a link to a 360° photo sphere of our "basement":

https://goo.gl/photos/1tqnyUkRSGEhQhn19

Concrete Has Never Looked So Good!

I drove by on my way home from work today and saw a big cement mixer with the big long arm working away. This was some seriously exciting cement! My husband and I met and drove over there after he was off work and my meeting was over. He took pictures. I brilliantly wore flip flops. (Oops) 

Here is our lovely cement:

Looking straight back from the road

Have you ever seen a more beautiful hunk of concrete?! I sure haven't!

FINALLY!

We broke ground thursday! Finally! It's starting to seem real. I'm hoping to have more pictures soon, but here's the morning sun.

Just imagine that sun shining into our morning room! WE CAN'T WAIT! 

Papers, and Floor Plans, and Plots, Oh my!

Long time no update. Whoops! We haven't had a whole lot of updating to do.

We had our wiring appointment and our 30-day appointment. We didn't get a whole lot from Trinity. We upgraded our package to the Advanced Technology Package. They make it sound all fancy. However, this just gives us 5 dual ports instead of the standard 4 ports- 2 cable and 2 phone, and it gives us a larger network panel, a network switch, and enhanced technology feed (for Fios). We could have gotten security systems, surround sounds, whole home Bluetooth sound stuff (very technical terms here), and more. However, we just weren't interested in paying the overpriced costs or having a 5-year security contract. 

Today we had our preconstruction meeting. It went pretty well. It was a little overwhelming with all the big papers, floor plans, and plots to look at. However, it was a lot of fun to see it. We're so excited! Plus, we really like our Project Manager. He seems knowledgeable, honest, genuine, and interested in making sure we're happy. He said communication is important to him, and this makes us very pleased. We're looking forward to working with him.

All that said, we are both a little disappointed about our gourmet island issue. In every picture and model we have been in the gourmet island looked something like this: 

We were good with this. We liked this. We weren't originally going to get the morning room or the gourmet island, but at our 14-day meeting, we changed our minds and added the morning room and gourmet island. It was then we were told there was a new island design. It was described to us as a straight rectangular island with cabinets. Okay, that sounds good. We'll move forward. Maybe this wasn't the best thing to do without seeing it, but we had faith in our rep (and still do) and were feeling a bit rushed. We had to meet with our loan officer immediately after, and we had to get to work. Afterwards, I spent a great deal of time searching the internet for any details, pictures or slight clue to help me get a better idea of what this island design would be. That's when I found out it would look like this: 

I. DON'T. LIKE. IT. The legs bother me really bad. I don't think the island design is terrible, but it is not our style. I feel it is too 'country kitchen'. Please forgive me; I hope no one is offended by this. It is simply how I feel personally for my own home. This design isn't terrible. In fact, I think it looks very nice. I just don't think it fits our style and decor.  

This island is truly the one thing that I pitched a fit over. I feel that I tried everything to get them to not add the legs and just put supports under the counter. I sent them pictures of the island without legs from another Ryan community. However, today at the preconstruction meeting, our PM told us he could not do it. He said due to quality inspections and being liable for it if anything happens to it, he did not feel comfortable doing it. 

I thought I was going to cry right there. I didn't. (Big girl panties for the win!) I understand his perspective, and I am not angry with him. He gave us a fair reason why he won't/can't. Also, he did offer to have his people give us a free estimate on the costs to remove the legs and add the extra supports for after we close. He's not going to receive any negative reviews or feedback because of this. I just feel like a toddler pitching a fit.

I know it might not seem like a big deal or worth getting upset over, but this is my house and my kitchen. It is hard not to feel upset and disappointed after spending so much money. However, we have no choice but to accept it and keep it moving. Maybe I'll learn to love it?We'll see. 

On another note, we're still waiting on our loan.This has been so stressful. However, they did give Ryan Homes the green light to start construction. 

BEST INFORMATION OF THE DAY:

WE ARE SCHEDULED TO BREAK GROUND NEXT WEEK, MARCH 23!!!!

We are so excited to really get this thing started!

Look for more posting next week!

Here It Goes...

Well... I'm a little late to the game with this blog. At this point, we have already picked all of our options and finishes and have done our flooring appointment. We just have our wiring appointment with Trinity and our 30-day meeting. We are waiting to figure out this financing mess. My husband's job is commission based and has thrown a wrench in the mortgage, but our loan officer is awesome. Things seem to be headed in the right direction.

So, I figure I had better catch you up on what our selections are so far. In case you weren't sure, we selected the Venice floor plan. Our community offers the Florence, Venice, Brentwood, and Rome. One story wasn't an option for my husband, so the Brentwood was out. The Rome felt like WAY more space than we needed. It's just he and I and our french bulldog for now. The Florence was okay, but we didn't have one to see. However, when we walked through the Venice, it felt like home to us. The bedrooms all felt like a good size. The laundry was on the second floor. There was a nice little mudroom. Plus, there was room for us to grow with the unfinished basement. We truly feel that this could be a long-term home for us. So, the Venice it was. 

Here is the floor plan: (ours will be reversed of these renderings)

Pretty isn't it?

Our Options:

We chose Elevation B. Which looks something like this:

It doesn't have any fancy stone or brick, but that's okay. I wanted to spend most of my money on the interior. However, the gable overhangs were a must. Our siding, shutter, and door color choices are different. We picked Irish Thistle siding, black shutters, and a Marooned front door. Here are the color swatches:

Like it? We do. The Irish Thistle is not quite green and not quite gray and was a good compromise for us. We both like the gray siding, but we weren't super excited by the shutter and door choices that came with it. I liked the Spanish Olive green, but my husband wasn't quite digging it. The tan options weren't really exciting to us. So, I showed him the Irish Thistle option, and we haven't looked back. Plus, I really like the Marooned door! (It's much prettier in person.)

For the interior:

We (after much debate and agony and torture and sleepless nights and back and forth and debate and agony and torture) decided to get the morning room. Our sales rep was super awesome and got us in to see a Venice currently being built without the morning room. It sealed the deal for us. While it is still nice without the morning room, it just didn't feel as big and open. Plus, the layout for the family room, dining room, and kitchen are the exact same in our current apartment and would only be 2 feet longer in the house. This just didn't really seem like much of a step up for us in a house we plan to live in for a very long time. We stretched our budget some, but it just feels worth it. 

We want the gourmet island, but they changed the design from the curved look you see on the floor plans. So right now we're kind of not sure what is going to happen with that. We'll keep you posted on it.

We chose to have a 13x9 deck added now. We decided that a deck was really important, and the price seemed reasonable for the Trex Deck. We also talked with my brother who works in the carpentry/home remodel/contractor realm, and he said it really would be much easier to just have it put in now. Plus our basement is a walkout so the deck is definitely higher off the ground.

This leads me to the next option. The way our lot is, we were able to have a walkout exit from the basement so that's what we chose. Works for us and for down the road. Better than the alternative "escape hatch".  We also have the bump out in the basement since we got the morning room. 

In the master bath, we got double sinks. We chose the separate soaking tub and shower and opted for a seat in the shower. Love it!

Those are the major floor plan options we chose. 

Now for our kitchen....

We chose the Scottsdale Maple Espresso Cabinets. They are a beautiful dark brown. I have always really liked dark cabinets so this was an easy pick. This is what they will look like:

I found the photo in a google search, and I believe that it is from another Venice. So thank you to the wonderful blogger before me!

Then I picked Santa Cecilia Light Granite. I originally selected the Santa Cecilia, but I was worried it would be too dark. With the dark cabinets, I want to keep the rest of the space light. Here is a close up of the Santa Cecilia Light:

I think it will also work better with our style than the more gold-toned Santa Cecilia. 

We also picked the Santa Cecilia Light for our Master Bathroom counter top. The Maple Espresso cabinets will also be in both bathrooms upstairs, but the hall bath will have a white top.

As for the Master Bath....

We opted to get the floor, shower surround, and bathtub surround tiled. We stuck with the gray family. Here are the photos of our selections:

We stuck with a sort of light grayish tile for the floor and surrounds. Then I feel like the accent tiles tie in the gray and dark brown cabinets. I can't wait to see this finished.

Now for our flooring...

If you're still with me, hooray for you. I promise this is the last thing!

After much consideration and reading many, many blogs, we decided not to spend a ton of money on flooring. They didn't really offer many options, and they were way over priced. As much as I wanted hardwood throughout the downstairs, we decided we will just add that later when we have cash-in-hand. We upgraded the carpets one level to get the stain protection, and we upgraded the padding upstairs for durability. It pained me a little to pick vinyl for the kitchen and morning room, but I will survive for a year or 2 as-is. Here is a look at the vinyl with the cabinets. I'll survive.

The carpet we picked is a 'greige'. The gray-beige love child. It really works for us. It's made by Shaw and called Seattle Mist. Here is a sample: 

The vinyl we picked for the upstairs second bath and laundry room is a lighter version of the kitchen vinyl and will carry us through until I can afford to tile them. I somehow forgot to take a picture of it, but it's very similar to what is in the kitchen. However, It's a little lighter and has a bit more gray in it.

We decided to pay an extra $25 to upgrade the hardwood in the foyer because that gave us two more dark wood options. This wood determined the stain on our banister on the stairs, so the darker woods were definitely important for when we put hardwood in down the road. I don't want to rip out or re-stain the banister. Here's a look:

Here's a look at our options all together:

While I would love to just have hardwoods and not the vinyl, it was a smart choice for us to wait. I can live with it. For now...

That's all we have for you for now, but we will be updating regularly. Thursday we have our wiring meeting with Trinity and our 30-day meeting to finalize all our options with Ryan Homes. We are hoping to have some kind of resolution to the gourmet island issue. I don't want to go into too much detail because I am trying not to let my emotions get the best of me and allow Ryan a shot to work it out for us. 

Thanks for sticking around this long!

-J