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! 

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

Lot & Grading Review Part 2

Today we went over to the lot and met again with the Project Manager, General Manager, and Sales Manager.  Plan - discussing the lot and grading once again.  Although we've seen an improvement of the lot it's still not anywhere near what we were initially led to believe.  It still does not currently meet with what I see as a functioning yard for our family.  Not only is it about the yard but the additional stairs that will be necessary for entry and exit.  This is not what we expected when we signed on all those lines agreeing to sign away the next 30 years of our life.

back right corner of our lot - severe slop ahead!

not much flat space to speak of!

I've accepted the fact that we've been dealt this card and now we have to live with it, however I firmly believe that Ryan Homes should be partially responsible to help us make the space work for us.  I'm not sure they share that opinion with me but I'm determined to stop dwelling on the crappy hand we've been dealt and making this our dream home again.

Day 12 - Underground Plumbing & Backfill

Today we got underground plumbing.  I can't show you a picture of that, obviously! LOL.  I can show you the backfill/initial grading of the lot.  It's not as bad as it could be but it still doesn't satisfy me.  It's still pretty far from the expectation set when we moved forward with the Homesite Reservation and Purchase Agreement.  Lots of pictures to follow!

Day 11 - Forms Removed, Egress Window Well, Water Proofing, & Sewer and Water Rough-Ins

Today's activity consisted of the foundation forms coming off, the installation of the egress window well, and the walls being water proofed with some nifty mar-flex geo-mat.  They also did the sewer and water rough-ins.  Lots of photos to follow!

The waterproofing used in our development

I'm concerned about the slope of the driveway :-S

Yes, I got in the hole!

Side shot of the egress well

Looking into the well for the depth of the window

I HATE the well but they wouldn't let me buy a different one

Backside - livingroom and morning room

Livingroom and morning room

You can see some of the piping

View from the side street

Garage

Days 9 & 10

No progress to report for days 9 & 10.  It was the weekend, everyone deserves some time off! :)  Here are some dryer (but not by much) pictures of our foundation forms filled with concrete.

Lot & Grading Review

I've probably re-written this blog entry 6 times already.  I've postponed posting for days.  I can't seem to put into words the frustration I have felt over the last few days without seeming to be completely negative.

When we signed our Purchase Agreement we were under the impression that the lot offered to us through the Home of the Month would be graded relatively flat.  That was a huge deciding factor for us.  Our priority list consisted mostly of the ease-ability of our home.  We didn't care what the outside of our house looked like as much as how much work would be needed to manage the yard, the size, and the usability of it.  We didn't care so much that we didn't end up with the initial model we wanted because we would be able to finish a portion of the house we initially thought we wouldn't be able to afford.  Up until the Pre-Construction meeting we were given the impression that this home fit into our dream home.  We budgeted based on the impressions we were given.  To find out the day before ground breaking that one corner of our lot was nearly 5 feet or more higher than the other and that we would not have a lot close to flat was shocking.

APEX Survey

Our Concerns:
Initial impressions given were to a flat lot
Unmanageable severe sloping grade in the rear and side of house
Unmanageable sloshy swales after rain in the rear and side of house
Planned concrete patio off morning room

On Tuesday morning I met with the SR, PM, the Sales Manager, and the General Manager with Ryan Homes on the lot.  I expressed my concerns with the grading of the lot.  I didn't believe that we could manage the slope of the lot nor did we want the proposed swales that we were going to need in order to drain the water that appears to flow from all of the surrounding area to our lot.

They all tried their best to re-explain the grading of the lot.  The issue, however, was not that I misunderstood the information that was given to us during the Pre-Contruction meeting, but that it was never even hinted that we would need the lot graded in the manner they were describing.  I found it almost unacceptable.  The image I had in my head dashed away.  It was quite emotional for me.

They explained again and I again assured them I understood what they were saying.  There was a suggestion made that a retaining wall could be built in order to level out the lot.  I said we would consider it but that had it's very own concerns like it being half way between the house and the property, essentially cutting the usable space in half.  It would be 5 feet at it highest point, which doesn't seem appealing to be half way between the house and property line.  Ug.

When it came down to deciding... and there was a LOT of debate.  Some of it quite heart wrenching.  We sided on the lessor of the 2 evils.  I'm still suffering a huge disappointment with the lot.  We have to re-plan and try to budget in a deck now I believe since the yard will have such a height difference from one side to the other, but I will revisit that with the PM.  We are adjusting to the new image and hopefully we'll soon be ok with it.  I'm looking forward to seeing the big popsicle sticks turning into a house, trying not to let the disappointment take away from my dream house.