Oh My it's a House

Went to the house for the pre-drywall walk through and the house has changed a lot.  The roof is on, the garage is looking like it should and the porch is close to being in place.  It is really starting to look like the house we have been waiting for.  Looks like the new completion date is 1/30/2014.  About a 2 week difference from the first date due to house size.

 

 

Here it is!  The house wrap and things are starting to really take shape.

 

 

We got to go inside of the house as part of the pre-drywall walk through.  It was great to see the actual rooms, yet strange to see them without insulation or drywall.  Oh.. and it was COLD that day so we were in the house with hats, gloves and shivering :)  Here are some pictures of the rooms.

 

 

 

Here is the front door.  To the right is the dining room and the left is the formal living room

 

 

Part of the dining room and the garage 

 

 

Part of the formal living room.  *side note.. lots of blinds and curtains to buy

 

Kitchen (straight ahead while we stand in the family room).  To the right is the morning room  See how bright it is there.. oh... and that means more blinds and more curtains

 



3 windows in the morning room



 

Sliding glass door in the morning room.  The deck will be located when you step out this door

 

Fireplace in the family room.  The fireplace wall will be stone (the same stone that matches our house exterior)

 

 

Stairs to go up (these will be hardwood instead of carpet)

 

Upstairs hallway

 

Part of the Master Bedroom (yes more windows... 3 in there)



 

Master bathroom (that big block there is going to be where my soaking tub goes)

 

 

Peeking into Asia's room

 

 

OK, so there are 2 more bedrooms upstairs, another bathroom and a laundry room but no point in adding more pictures of that.  Especially when I have to show pictures of the basement :)

 

 



 

Basement (the Kingdom of Rob and Chino the Beast) very large window is the egress window

 

Exercise Room in the basement

 

 

There is also a storage area in the basement and the HVAC area.

 

 

Next up:  Finishing the plumbing (the plumbers had come in when we were having our walk-through), and the electricians.  We are having the house inspected by an outside company and our Pre-drywall inspection with them will be 12/2.  Hopefully there are no issues.  

 

 

It will be a while before we have another blog update since most of what is happening inside the house right now isn't anything to photograph.  Once the drywall is up we will be back in to visit.  And of course, once the siding and stone are on the front of the house there will be photos. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



It is Starting to Come Together

The framing has started and we can actually see the start of the shape of the house.  It is amazing how quickly this all comes together.  When we pulled up to the lot on Saturday, it was a shock.  It feels so real now that we see more than just dirt and concrete. 

We took what pictures we could.  The lot was quite muddy with product laying around and we did not want to end up tripping over something and laying in the mud.  So we did not get any photos of the back of the house.  There were also workers at the house diagonal from us and we saw windows and a door laying around on our garage slab so figured they would be back over to ours before the day was over.

Here is the front of the house (on the left is the garage pad.. no walls yet, then the kitchen and behind that is the morning room.  Above those is the master bedroom.  On the right side we have the dining room (to the left of the front door) and the living room (to the right of the front door).  Upstairs in the front are 2 out of 4 upstairs bedrooms. 

 

Standing on the sidewalk in front of my neighbors house.  Another shot of the master bedroom two side windows (there are 3 total).  Near the back of the house you can see a piece of the morning room

 

Windows and a door sitting on the garage slab. 

Other side of the house you can see the extra window in the living room and the basement egress window.  And all that concrete that will need to be painted so I don't have to look at a grey blob.

 

 

Next up... continued framing including the roof and the shingles.  Next weeks visit will be more fun because Asia is home and will get to come along.

 

Our pre-drywall meeting is scheduled for 11/25.  Things are moving along.  

 

 



 

Started from the Bottom

The work continues.  The foundation forms have been removed, waterproofing completed and the water and sewer lines completed in the basement.  The powder room plumbing has been installed and we now have the garage poured.

 

The basement is graded and the walls are buried (to the point it can be since our lot is on a slant)

 

 

There is gravel in the basement now

Back of the house.  This part of the basement won't be under ground

Plumbing for the basement powder room

  

 

The start of the garage

 

 

 

The week of 11/11 we start framing!  

 

 

Our wood is at the lot waiting for the framing

 

 

So, we are still on schedule to be done by the end of January.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  It won't be long before it actually starts to look like a house :)

 

 

Woo Hoo We are Digging It!

OK yes that title is corny, but a little corny every day keeps the smiles :)
Well, we did not start on 10/14 as anticipated.  The work started on 10/24.  The foundation has been dug and the next step (which was to occur on 10/28) is to add the footers (have to have that reinforcement to keep the house standing!)

The photo isn't great because of the sun glare, but you get the idea.. it's a hole.  When I saw it I kept saying it's small, why is it so small?  Forgetting that it's the foundation and not really the footprint of the house. 

___________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:
Much work has occurred during the week of 10/28/13.  We now have foundation walls.  The walls being up makes the footprint look much bigger than it did when it was just a hole.  Within these walls are the storage space, the Furnace/Water Heater storage space, the powder room, the exercise room and the finished basement space (man cave).

Egress Window in the basement

 

Foundation Walls

 

 

Peeking in the egress window at part of the basement

 

 

Next week will be a busy week.  On schedule are:
Removing of the forms for the foundation, do waterproofing, install the water and sewer lines, install powder room plumbing.  Weather permitting, the concrete for the garage and driveway will be poured... then the week after starts the framing. 

 

It's getting exciting!



And the Countdown Begins

We had our pre construction meeting on 9/30/2013.  During the meeting we met the project manager and reviewed all of our selections adding any clarifications as needed.  We also reviewed the blueprints.  Funny to see the house drawn up in such small scale.  Overall with the morning room and the finished portion of the basement we will have approx. 3,700 sq. feet.  See we didn't need that bonus room after all!

We also went to the lot to walk it and learn about the grading.  I suppose I must confess.  Rob walked the lot, I went about half way... the grass and wildflowers were up to my knees and all I kept thinking was that if any of natures creatures jump, slither or land on me I'm going to fall out right on the spot! So... It was best that I refrained from moving in any further.

Our neighbors house is almost done and he doesn't have any windows on the side of his house so that's a nice perk.  The neighbor on the other side is about 2 weeks behind us in schedule so for the most part once we move in we won't have to deal with too much construction.

Since we are getting our build now, the season impacts timing of many things.  If it is cold then our driveway will be gravel until it is warm enough for the builder to come back and do asphalt.  Same with exterior painting.  Landscaping wouldn't occur until the spring.  So when we do move in (sometime in January or February) there will still be exterior work required in the Spring.

Current start date of our build = 10/14/2013

Once we have our stakes in the ground and the building begins the blog will be updated with photos.

Guardian Appointment

Guardian is a contractor that does many things like home theatre wiring, sound system wiring, security, central vacuum, and the wiring for phones, internet and cable. 

This is where all of the internet searching and blog reading came in handy.  Many bloggers were discussing how their meetings with Guardian went, what options they got, what they didn’t and if it was a hard sell or not.  So, Rob did some research to determine what we would need to ensure that the internet connection works well on all floors of the home (I work from home so that is a necessity) and to determine if Comcast Xfinity security would be cheaper or not.  We were ready for whatever hard sell would come our way.

Interestingly enough our Guardian rep Howard was great.  No hard sales tactic at all.  In fact he said there is a lot to review if there is something that you know you do not want just tell him when we get to it and we will just move on!  Perfect because there was no point in listening to a long speech about a central vacuum when we do not want it (have you seen our beast of a cat?..we will just take our chances with our Dyson vacuum). 

We did not opt for the home theatre system (the speakers are in the ceiling) or the sound system (again speakers in the celling).  Why?  Well boom boom boom of speakers from one room interrupting others in our house isn’t our idea of fun (We deal with that now in our townhouse with the crappy next door neighbor) and Rob decided that if he wants some kind of surround sound for the Kingdom of Rob he will just order something from Amazon that goes up on the wall.  As for the sound system that too wasn’t necessary because we all have and use iPods with ear buds.  And we have various iPod compatible players with speakers so it seemed wasteful adding what just wasn’t needed.

In the end we kept it simple:
Outlined all of the locations for cable connections (all bedrooms including first floor, family room and basement)
Phone connections = 2
Internet data connection = 1
Security system was added with keypad, pet motion detector, smoke detector, door contacts, and Voicelink with Digital Cellular Communications.  Voicelink allows us to talk with the security company as needed and Digital Cellular Communications means that the system isn’t tied into a land line so if the land line is down there is no issue communicating with the service.

Next steps…

Our next meeting will be the 2-3 hour pre-construction meeting where we go over the blue prints, confirm everything that we selected, view wiring locations, warranty info, roles and responsibilities of the team involved, learn how to schedule meetings to visit the site (there will be many because you all know that one of us is a control freak and the other is nosy .. wait those descriptions are just me.. but the wonderful spouse Rob will go along with my need for weekly visits to keep me happy J)   We will also get a tentative settlement date during the meeting.  We won’t put too much stock in tentative since weather could impact the build cycle so we have to be patient.

So, we will be silent on the blog for a few weeks because there isn’t anything else to tell.  Once we have the pre-construction meeting we will share how it went and of course once we break ground there will be many pictures to share.

Meeting with Creative Flooring Company

Ryan Homes contracted with Creative Flooring of Newark Delaware for the floors in the house.  That meant a trip to Delaware to pick floors for all spaces.  Most of the selections weren't very difficult.  We had already fallen in love with the wood floors we saw in the model home and the carpeted areas well tan, brown, taupe whatever you call it it's nothing exciting. 

Here are the choices we made with Creative Flooring company:

These are the hardwood floors that we fell for in the model home.  They are hand scraped so it gives it a nice distressed look.  The line is Armstrong Legacy Manor and the color is Tortoise Shell.  These floors will be in every room on the first floor with the exception of the first floor bathroom.  The color on the stairs will also match these.

Now do you see why we selected the light colored cabinets for the kitchen (if you forgot what they look like.. go back to the Kitchen selection page)?  And if you look at those cabinets, they have a faint line of brown around the edges and it matches these floors :)

 

 

All of the bathroom cabinets will be in the Timberlake Fairfield Maple Honey color.  We would have preferred maple spice.. but it wasn't worth the extra $.  We also went with the standard white marble counter tops because $575 per bathroom for granite was silly when I know granite doesn't cost that much and bathrooms can be updated later.

Above is the ceramic tile that we selected for the 1st floor bathroom and the 2nd floor hall bathroom.  Daltile is the company and the color is Dal Gres dg30.  

Above is the Resilient Vinyl Flooring for the basement bathroom and the second floor laundry room.
Armstrong Initiator 66159 in taupe blush.
 

 

Shown above is the basement carpet. It is made by Shaw.  The color is called Thornwood.   You see... carpets would be some shade of tan or taupe or brown!  We did not upgrade the carpet in the basement because we plan to change it to stained concrete sometime in the future.  We did however upgrade to the level 2 pad (it was a tad thicker) because this carpet needs to be able to last until we do move forward with the stained concrete.

 

For whatever reason, the photo above is coming into the blog in tiny form, but it is the upstairs carpet that will be in the hall upstairs and the bedrooms.  It is by Shaw and the color is Amberwood.  (there is that tan, taupe brown thing again).  We upgraded the carpet padding upstairs to level 2 (a bit more cushion)

The Master Bathroom floors, shower and tub will have this tile.  Daltile is the company and the color is Fidenza Café number Fd02.  This was an upgrade because the bathroom would have had standard white tile and we did not want that. 

With the Master Bathroom tile selected, there is decorative accent trim that will be in the shower and around the tub.  This is the one selected.  It has stone and glass squares in it.  Of course... in the beginning of this post I said MOST selections were easy.  This is where things were difficult.  This decorative trim is nice.  I like it, but there was one that I liked better.  Rob being the sweetheart that he is tried to convince me to go for the one that I really liked (of course that would have been the next level and more money... what can I say I have my mothers expensive taste).  I decided to stick with this one because we had not had our meeting with the security/wiring company (more to come on that meeting) yet so needed to make sure we were not getting caught up in the less practical things.

*  Side note:  As my family you are most likely wondering why we are listing company names and colors in this blog.  Well, others who are building with Ryan may find this blog and want to know so names are being added.  Confession.....I have been on other blogs of folks who have built/are building their houses with Ryan and there has been a ton of information on these that we found helpful.  So if there is some tid bit that somebody picks up from our blog out there in the cyber world.. so be it.

 

 

 



To Bonus Room or Not to Bonus Room... that is the question

There are countless options with a new build.  So many that it would make your head spin.  Things like the color of the door knobs can change in price.  Things that I took for granted such as having crown molding in my current kitchen cabinets, is an option with a price attached to it in the new home.  So we had to think logically about the options and be certain that we were not adding something to the mortgage that was over priced and we could get cheaper ourselves (e.g.. Fridge, Washer/Dryer) or could do later cheaper with a contractor (e.g. granite counter tops in the bathrooms). 

Some things were mandatory... I refused to have a kitchen that was less than the kitchen I have now and that morning room was an easy decision. 

Where things got a little fuzzy.. was the Bonus Room.  Ryan offers an additional room on the second floor next to the Master Bedroom called the Bonus Room.  The purpose of the room from the pictures is a TV room or a play room, craft room or whatever the homeowner wants (even an additional bedroom if needed). 

When we first started looking at Ryan Homes I thought that would be a nice room.  But then I thought but what then would we do with a Family Room and Basement?   So, I never expressed interest in the Bonus Room to Rob.  I just ignored that option. 

One day while we were driving, Rob says.  I have been thinking about the Bonus Room.  I want it.  I like the way it changes the architecture of the house.  So, although I had thought about it, I played the opposition.  I confessed that I had thought about it but was certain that it is costly and a space that will not be used.  Meanwhile all I hear in my head is make it another closet... closet... CLOSET!!!!!!

Although it was difficult we have come to our senses and recognize that there really isn't a use for that room.  We are not a growing family and extra space means wasted space elsewhere like the Family Room or Basement. 

The Exterior

We chose the Verona Model Elevation C.  We wanted the elevation for two reasons: 
1.  We liked having a porch (for all those Amazon deliveries)
2.  We liked the idea of stone on the house (ok so our current house has stone, so maybe we just like the look)

 

Roof shingles  (weathered wood color)



 

Ply Gem Variform Siding in Graphite Gray. No yellow available...(that's a bit of an inside joke for Rob's mom who likes colorful houses)

Shadowledge Buckingham Stone for the exterior (and the fireplace)

 

Sherwin Williams Roycroft Copper Red for the front door

The shutters will be black
The trim will be white

The Kitchen

For the kitchen we added the peninsula, island, double wall ovens, and morning room.  Now many of you know that we redid our current kitchen in 2010 and added a ton of counter and cabinet space.  Looking at houses has been a challenge because none seemed to have the same amount of cabinet space.  Adding the peninsula and island helped with the counter space... and we finally have double wall ovens.  The Thanksgiving cooking should be less stressful for Rob (less of me saying get up and help!) and Christmas cookies should run like a factory.

The selections:

 

Kitchen backsplash (Baja cream tumbled Travertine) Looks like the tumbled marble we have in our kitchen now J



 

Kitchen Countertops (level 2 granite Giallo Fiorito).  Rob chose the countertop since he is STILL to this day reminding me that he made the selection of the granite in our old kitchen. 



 

Kitchen Cabinets (Timberlake Rushmore Painted Maple Hazelnut Glazed).

OK, those who know me are looking at this cabinet and thinking.. really?  Kim made this choice?  Where is the cherry?  Well, originally we selected the Cherry Bordeaux cabinets.. but we went into another model and saw these in the kitchen along with really eye catching wood floors (more to come on those) and I was sold on the floors and the cabinets.  Rob is still asking me to this very day if I'm sure.. but let me tell you the floors and the cabinets together were eye candy.  So goodbye Cherry Bordeaux hello Painted Maple Hazelnut Glaze!

The Verona Model

 

 

 

The model that we chose is called the Verona by Ryan Homes.  It starts at 2,822 square but we added a morning room and finished basement for more square footage. 

 



 

Added: fireplace (with stone), optional window in living room, 1^st floor bedroom (it was a study and half bath before).  The kitchen the kitchen the kitchen... did I mention the kitchen? :)
Did not add: optional windows in the morning room, or garage and did not add garage side door.  Sadly, the side garage wasn't available due to the lot size (1/4 acre), but hey it's a two car garage so nobody here is complaining!

 



Added:  Optional 2^nd sinks in hall and owners bath
Did not add:  tray ceiling in master bedroom, optional windows in bedrooms (too much wall space taken up when there are already two windows in each room), did not add laundry
room sink (don’t have one now don’t need one later), also purchasing our own washer/dryer instead of getting the one the builder offers

The basement level.... also known as the Kingdom of Rob and lets just say details are a closely held secret and revealing any of those particulars is punishable by an attack from Chino the guard beast. 
*side note... due to color blindness and 1980's taste all décor will be supervised by the females in the house!

Chino the guard beast