Yeah, Siding!!

Finally starting to look more like a home. They started siding the house yesterday July 30th and finished today.  Our PM told us that they drywall was going to be started today as well but the drywall is still laying on the floor in the same place where it had been dropped off last week.  Hopefully we will see the drywall go up by the weeks end.  Now we can't wait to see the outside with our black shutters, stone and our wine colored door. 

Insulation installed, stone and drywall has arrived!!

On July the 27th, we had our pre-drywall meeting and the PM took us from room to room where we were able to voice any concerns we may have had. My husband and I both had some questions for him regarding some things we were not quite sure about. We had done a walk through prior to the insulation being intalled and saw that we had a six by six inch square cut out of the ceiling plywood in the breakfast room and we could see the shingles were the only thing covering this space. I asked the PM about it and he assured me that he would have the framer to pull up the shingles and have it covered.  I felt this would create a problem if the shingles were ever to be damaged or blown off during a storm. Im afraid we would have found out about it a little too late when the breakfast room ceiling was dripping water.  He assured me that he felt it would not cause any problems but that he would take care of it anyway because he knew it would make me feel better.?? He told me he would be more concerned if someone were on the roof that they might step on that spot and have a foot come through it.  Either way, I want it covered with plywood and sealed. We also noticed that the steel beam in the garage was completely exposed along with another small open space in the corner of the garage and we could see down into the basement in both places. We also took a picture of the sliding glass door because the door would not open all the way because the track was not laying flush.  He did advise that the beam showing and the hole in the corner of the garage were normal and that they would be what he called punched out, filled and taken care of.  He told us that the track in the door would need to be put back in place and that if there were any problems with the door opening after that, he would have another door ordered to replace it.  Our PM has been wonderful and answered all of our questions putting our minds at ease. This is one great thing about building a home through Ryan Homes. I had a home built years ago through an individual contractor and not once did he ask if I could come through the home to look through prior to insulation or drywall being installed. Below are some of the pic's I took of issues that I was worried about, and

also some pics after the insulation guys got done.

Hole in breakfast ceiling

Beam in the garage

sliding glass door with track not laying flush

Hole in corner of the garage

Kitchen and breakfast room with insulation and drywall

Family room

Stone delivered

Our PM told us that our siding was suppose to arrive on the 27th and that they should start siding that day or the next.  We were excited and drove back to the house on the 28th hoping to see our siding but it had not yet been delievered, so hopefully on Monday.... We walked through the house again and saw that insulation had been installed and that the drywall had been dropped off.  We are excited and can't wait to see the progress made this week!! :)

We have a roof and windows

This week they finished framing and installed the plumbing and duct work, the PM said we should have the basement floor poured by the end of the week.  Today they poured the garage floor.


Tuesday July 17th, we have shingles

Framing complete, we have windows

We have progress

Framing started on Monday July 9th. On Friday we stopped by the house and here is what we got to see, the house is almost completly framed and we have a roof.

                                                                  Front

                                                          The morning room

                                                                 The back

                                                                

 

 We are getting excited now and cant wait for drywall.

July 2nd, lumber has arrived, now let the framing begin

Our lumber arrived today and we can't wait for the framing to begin. Our PM says that the framing should start sometime this week but also advised that the underground plumbing was finished today. Here's some pic's. We will take more as soon as the framing begins!!!

Ground breaking and we have basement walls!!

Ground breaking on the 20th of June

June 20th, the backhoe operator saw me taking pic's and asked if he was digging

the hole for my house. When I told him that it was our home he was digging for,

he told me to come on over at which time he asked me to get into the backhoe and

he would take my picture so it would look as if i were digging my own hole. I

thought this was so funny and also very nice gesture on his part!

Ready for footers

June 21st, we have footers

June 25th, basement forms put up and cement poured

June 26th, forms removed

June 28th, waterproofing complete

PM says that lumber drop and backfill on Monday July 2nd.  We will be so excited to see

the framing begin!  He could'nt give the start date for that but says he will know by the

weeks end or on Monday when the lumber arrives. 

Just getting started

Ok, so we are trying to play catch up.  On May 17th we picked out our flooring, cabinets, carpet and all the other good stuff.  We decided to go with the morning room and also are having our basement finished. Also we did go with Venice elevation B with Stone Mountain Clay siding, Bucks County stone, Black Shutters and the front door color being Fine Wine.  The following is what we picked out for our flooring, cabinets and countertops...

1. Kitchen Cabinets: Scottsdale Square Maple Expresso
2. Kitchen Counter Tops: Level 1 Laminate upgrade Antique Mascarello
3. Fireplace Surround: Tropical Brown Granite
4. Hardwood floors: Manchester Oak Strip Saddle
5. Carpet on the first and second floor: Intuitive Pebble
6. Upgraded Stainless Appliance Package
7. Carpet in basement: Coastal Breeze
8: Guardian Home Security System
9: Pre Wires for two flat panel Tv's
10. Kitchen tile tumblestone back splash
11. Owners bath: Castle de Verre Turret Beige tile and wall tile
12. Owners bath: Andover Square White cabinets and standard white cultured marble
13. Secondary Bath: Fairfield Square Maple Spice with standard white cultured marble
14. Banister Stain: Chestnut

This past Thursday we had our Pre Construction meeting, everything went really well we were told they should start digging on Wednesday the 20th, hope all goes well. The PM was very nice. He answered all of our questions and told us that he would be in touch often.

Im really pleased with all of the choices we made.  I origanally had wanted granite countertops but because of the higher price, decided to go with the upgraded Antique Mascarello because I wanted to get the kitchen backsplash and upgrade the bathroom.  We found out that upgrading the bathroom tile in the owners bath also meant that we automatically were upgraded to an 80 gallon water heater from the 50 gallon standard.

several days prior to meeting with PM, We have rock and stakes!

Intuitive Pebble carpet for first and second floor

Manchester Oak Strip Saddle for kitchen, breakfast room, half bath, foyer and hall

Scottsdale Square Maple Espresso cabinets and canvas backsplash.

We did chestnut stain banisters with white spindles

Andover Square White bath cabinests with standard white cultured marble duel sink top

Owner bath upgraded to floor tile and wall tile "Castle de Verre"

Owner shower also "Castle de Verre

We also chose the glass panel door for the the entrance to the basement,

we felt this would really dress up the wall and make it feel more open and spacious

Bucks County Stone for partial brick front of our home

Secondary full bath, Fairfield Square Maple Spice cabinet with standard white cultured

marble bath sink

Tropical Brown granite surround for our fireplace

This is the Antique Mascarello counter with the wood floor and cabinet sample

I was a little nervous about the countertops and how they would look with the Maple Expresso cabinets until our Sales Rep Ashley took us to another Ryan Venice where it had been installed. My husband and I were extremely pleased with the look.  I also had picked out level II Shaw simple touch capri but later went back to where I had first picked out the flooring and changed my carpet to Intuitive Pebble.  I had asked around about the carpet that I had picked out and was told that because Ryan homes only allows you to choose from a certain selection that it would be wise to pick out a carpet that was made of nylon over polyester. I was told that the nylon would hold up better for longer. I went home and immediately looked up the design center where I had picked out the simple touch capri and found out that it was 100% polyester so I changed the carpet to the Intuitive Pebble which was also a level two but was intead made of nylon.  It also had a longer warranty and my husband and both liked it much better then what I had originally chose.