One More Day!

One day till closing! Had our walkthrough today with our pm. Everything is looking great. Going to be a long weekend of moving....forgot to take pictures during the walkthrough but I will get some before the house gets too full of stuff.

Stone Up

The stone on the exterior was finally installed! A couple parts look rushed, but overall we are really happy with how it looks. It was getting dark when we arrived so we will need to get a better picture.

Hard surface floors are in.

Here is one of the ledges outside. The sill is not straight. It's as if they rushed and just slammed it in there.

The finished basement from the front.

From the rear

Dishwasher and disposal are in.

Two more weeks

The kitchen is coming along! The dishwasher is delivered and te countertops are in. We went with caledonia granite.

Really like the recessed sink. Will make it easy to clean up!

Water heater is in. I though we were getting gas, it is electric. 50 gallon with mixing valve.

The is the entry to the basement. In the model there is a door. They changed the model so there is now no door.

3 weeks until closing

We have set our close date, Jan 15th. The trim work was finished this week for the most part. Cabinets are in, light fixtures are in and the utilities are completely up and running. Things are looking great other than a few small issues.

There is damage to the garage door, I'm guessing them can just replace the panel.

This wall is "finished" ... It appears the drywall was not tightened to the stud. Maybe something was stuck behind the wall keeping it spaced. The nails are popping and its very bowed.

This door was supposed to open the other way.

This drawer.

Now for some of the good news

Drywall is Done

PreDrywall Meeting

So we had our pre-drywall meeting with our PM. Overall I think it went very well. He addressed a few concerns that I had without me bringing them up which was a relief. There were some chunks out of the floor and a few studs that were not plumb, neither of which were tough fixes. I had reviewed prior to our meeting the placement of all of the low voltage runs that we drew up with guardian. Two of them were not in ideal locations but they were moved without any hassle.

This is the time to make sure you have all of the extras that you paid for in and installed. We were very close to getting everything but did actually get a bonus were weren't planning on. They did not install the outlet above the fireplace that we paid for. It was fixed and installed so no big deal. However, we chose to forego the eyeball lights above the fireplace and get a credit for four total cans in the living room, but they were installed anyway. We have a ton of lighting in the living room!

The biggest concern I had was with the rough in for the plumbing of the basement bath. As I mentioned earlier, we chose the rough in to save some money and then finish the bathroom later. I made sure to take notes in our pre-con meeting so it did save me in the end. When I asked about the rough in, it was explained that it was a three piece rough in with shower drain, sink drain, toilet hot and cold water runs. At pre-drywall there were no water lines run. I notified the pm and he told me it was not in the plans to have them run. I asked him if he could do it and he said he would have to ask. I stopped by the model and talked to the SR and he looked it up and said that it was not in fact included. I would never have agreed to this and this is where my notes saved me, I had it written down that it was included. The frustrating part was that the SR was really not helpful in addressing the problem. He just told me it wasn't included and said he would talk to the PM about it. They were not able to resolve the problem, so I contacted the divisional manager about the issue. I explained the situation and after a few days the problem was finally resolved. He sent me a change order to have them run at a cost of 350. They ate the cost. Though it was a hassle, the problem was resolved and we can move on. Document everything!

Last time visiting before pre-drywall

Our pre-drywall meeting is coming up and I wanted to stop by to see progress and to take pictures of all the walls uncovered. All of the wiring and plumbing is in, and most of the havoc is installed. Taking pictures is advice I received prior to building so I can reference what is behind each wall later.

This is from the garage into the living room.

Ceiling fan rough ins