Day 62 - Exterior Lighting & Prep for Driveway

They seemed to have cleared both the driveway in front of the garage and the additional space we requested.  This is exciting!  Finally a way to get to the house without tracking through mud!  :)

We also got our exterior lighting today.  UG!  I hope they have a plan to hide that hideous wire that trails from the garage to the ground for the lawn light.  Seriously?  It wouldn't be very obvious on a home that's at ground level but ours?  Yeah, that's attractive.

We have a meeting scheduled with the PM tomorrow to review the front porch steps and some landscaping for the fail lot grading.  I've tried to remain positive but I believe I'm reaching my breaking point.  We went over a month without word on the plans or suggestions for the front porch, after being told they would work on it.  We were also told someone would reach out to us about landscaping to talk about solutions for the hill in the backyard, but that also didn't happen until we had to ask.  I hope I hear good news tomorrow.  I hope it's workable. 

I hope I can get into the house soon to look around.  I want to see something I like.  I hate being so negative.

Day 61 - Porch Poured

Today our front porch was poured.  I'm very concerned at the amount of steps to get into our home.  I feel we were mislead about our lot.  I've been trying to come to terms with it but it makes me so unhappy to think about the additional steps and lot grading.

I hope the next few weeks go buy quickly and we see more progress.

Day 60 - Cabinets & Doors

Well, I believe our cabinets and doors went in today.  They're no longer in the garage so that's my guess.   I haven't been inside in a while due to the horrible state of mud and sitting deep ponds of water on our lot.  OH, and the fact that I need a freaking elevator to get in the doors that are 3 foot above ground level.  Every time I see the house the ugliness of the exposed foundation makes me cringe.

They have also cleared the rocks for the driveway to be poured.  We're still missing a part to the right that will also be a driveway


I love the front door.  I can't wait until it's painted! 

Days 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, and 57 - Deliveries, Lot Grading, Painting

Sorry for the sporadic updates!  I've had a lot going on lately.  Some very exciting yet badly timed news is that I will be traveling to Poland for work soon for 5 weeks!  It was shocking news, to say the least.  But it's also a little disappointing.  I won't get to spend any time in my new home before I leave. 

So onto the house progress.  We've made some big strides but I'm beginning to worry it wont be finished on time, at least not at the quality I expect.  There is still so much to do!

First, maybe second coat of white paint

Not sure if you can see it here, but we have a pattern ceiling :(

Our hardwoods went in this week!

We got lots of deliveries

I can't believe the number of doors we'll have LOL!

The brick is all finished

Some more rough grading - it still SUCKS!

Day 50 - Brick

We're in the midst of getting our brick!  Isn't it pretty?  I believe they are continuing work inside, but I haven't had an opportunity to go in.  If I believe they are working I stay out!

Day 46 - More Drywall

Looks like they have all the sheet rock hung.  It's starting to look like a real house now! 

I counted no less than 15 bottles/cups/cans and fast food containers strewn inside the house and even more on the outside lot on my visit and photographed it for good measure.  I am quite bothered by this.  I understand that people have to eat and drink but I don't think our house is best suited to be treated like a dump.  They should either bring in a can for their trash or take it with them when they leave.  I'm embarrassed to even post the pictures that includes the trash, however there were some that couldn't be avoided.

garage

kitchen

pantry and fridge nook

looking into the family room

looking into the formal living room and stairs

powder room, closet, and trash

formal living room

basement

more basement

and some more basement

Day 44 - Drywall Started

Our drywall was started today!  We are so excited.  It makes the house more than a shell of bones!  I've just randomly taken some pictures.  It appears that all of the ceilings are done.  As well as most of the upstairs.  I'm excited to see the finished drywall.

I hope they insulate inside the closet... it is touching the "outside"!!

basement

kitchen ceiling

family room ceiling

more family room

loft

bedrooms

bedroom 1

bedroom 2

theres that tiny window again

master bedroom

Pre-Drywall Meeting

Today was our Pre-Drywall meeting!  It took approximately 1 hour and boy was it hot and stuff in there!  Equally - this will be a long post, sorry! LOL.

First stop - The Garage.  Due to the lot grading our garage had to be dropped below the house, which makes the inside bigger than it looks on the outside and adds additional steps.  I'm positive that this is going to mean an extra cost on my garage door installation but gives slightly more storage area up high for those pesky once a year holiday decorations.  All the switches and outlets seemed to be in their rightful places.  This is a good start.

We have all our drywall supplies ready to go!

Here's a good angle to show the extra space

Next stop - Mud Room.  Nothing too extensive here.  We have one set of our two washer and dryer hookups.  Everything seems on the up and up here.

Washer on the left?  Mine has always been on the right, hrm

Next stop - The Kitchen.  I was unhappy with the recessed lighting settings (set as per plan) but PM agreed to move a set slightly to make it flow a little better.  We're missing a Guardian cable jack in here.  I'll have to reach out to them for them to remedy.

The recessed is too crammed to the left I think

The missing jack should be to the left corner.  The shiny thing is the vent

This pantry is exciting and it has its own light

Next stop - Morning Room.  It's so windowy!  I love it!  Oops, we forgot the light. My PM is very helpful though!

No privacy here! LOL.

Next stop - Family Room.  We opted not to get a fireplace, although gorgeous, we really didn't need it and couldn't justify the price. :(  Everything looked to be in place, however Guardian sucks at picking locations for jacks.

I don't like any of the places that Guardian decided to put the jacks

Next stop - Hall Closet & Powder Room.  Not much to discuss here really.  All the power seems to be in order and the extra pieces are marked to be removed.

Black wire in the middle is the temperature control location

Next stop - Formal Living Room.  Again, I just hate the Guardian jack locations.  Everything seems to be in order in here.  The outlets are good and we have switches for just about everything.

Notice there's no insulation between rooms

Next stop - The basement.  I'm unhappy about a few things here.

1. First, the electrical panel is in the finished part of the basement in a space I indicated that I wanted to add a kitchenette in the near future.  I very clearly stated I wanted to do this during pre-construction and asked that we try to put it somewhere else, but apparently there were NO alternatives.  What an eyesore and a disappointment.  
2. Guardian, again puts the jacks in some stupid places. 
3. The closet will be adjusted a bit for more use of the unused space under the stairs.
4. The second washer and dryer hookup is in the space that I noted during the pre-construction meeting that I would be finishing.  I was hoping they could have put it closer to the sump pump like I asked, but apparently not.  Again, another disappointment.  It's now in the location I planned on putting a closet.  I feel like no one listened or cared enough to accommodate my requests.

Fans to blow the basement dry.

I wish I could use ALL that space under the stairs

Love the egress - HATE the well - and HATE the trash the contractors have thrown in it

We have my friend Brittany's (lot 56) water heater!  Oops.

I found out that the black trash bag is holding insulation around the venting system - neat

Next stop - The loft.  Nothing special here.  Everything seems to be in there as it should be.  Guardian can't hit center if it had a bullseye on it though :)

I just liked this view :)  Look at all the sheetrock!

Next stop - The bedrooms.  Everything seemed to be in place at first in these rooms.  No insulation between the rooms.  My kids loved walking "through walls" LOL!  I found a problem in the owners closet.  I asked during the pre-construction meeting that the attic access either be moved or moved over to allow for a closet in the future if the loft was converted to a bedroom.  That didn't happen.  PM has agreed to move it to another location.  We will have NO useable space up there - it's just for spray insulation.

I would have liked to keep it in a closet but apparently it can't be

The house seems so much smaller than the model

Next stop - Owner's bathroom.  Nothing special here.  My window failed since it's not tempered but I'm told it's going to be replaced to pass inspection.

It was an itsy bitty teeny weeney square window *humming pokadot bikini*

And finally - The Outside.  Oh the punches keep coming.  I asked that the hose bibs be on the right side of the house near the front and on the left side of near the back.  I got neither.  Apparently there is a design issue that prevents the hose from being on the right side of the house?  Uh.  Eyes rolling.  Another thing I can do nothing about.  Yet again, we must change the plans for our home.  Sigh.  I'm disgusted.

This hose height is ridiculous.  I chuckled when I walked over to "test" it.  Seriously?  Careful, don't bump your head.

This one isn't as bad and liveable I guess.

Here's a close up of the brick.  I can't wait to see it on the house.  I think it's growing on me, very slowly.  It looks different in different lights and it seems that the frosty stuff has come off. :(

None of the house I've seen with the sugar creek look the same from one to the next, so it's hard to judge what it will look like

On a positive note - they fixed the water rushing back into the house - yay!  Now if they could just fix the waterproofing.  It's torn all around the back of the house too!

No more huge puddle sitting on the torn waterproofing