We didn't make it out to the house this weekend and are sooooo looking forward to seeing the progress on the house on Thursday. Our pre-drywall meeting is scheduled for this Thursday at 9:30 AM. We plan to meet the home inspector (that we hired) at the site at 9:00 AM so he can begin the inspection prior to the inspection with the PM. We want to make sure that we don't miss anything because we feel that after this there is no turning back. What if we miss something...something BIG that will cause us problems and possibly money in a few years. This is the first time that we feel that we have to totally trust the people who are building our house that they will do everything in their power to make sure it is done right.
For those of you that have been through this before, any advice on things we should focus on is greatly appreciated.
8 comments:
Heather,
Pre-drywall:
Look for any crooked studs or gaps in the studs. See this picture:
http://ourwaverly.homestead.com/Emerald_011410_Guardian_walk-through_010.jpg
Notice there was a vertical gap in the studs to the right of the fireplace? We had them fix that. You can see it's fixed in this later picture: http://ourwaverly.homestead.com/Emerald_020310_Insulation_015.jpg
Think of having them install a small access panel above your electric panel(s) in the finished basement, so that if you get a pool, the electricians have easier access to the panel in order to install another breaker.
Note the location of all the electrical outlets in all the rooms, pre-drywall, in the event that they accidentally cover an outlet with drywall and you'll forget there was supposed to be one there.
Check the operation of any multi-switch panels, to make sure they operate the proper devices and are not crossed. For example, in the Family Room, there's a dual-switch set up to light the eyeball lights over the fireplace and the sconce light at the base of the back staircase. Make sure that the left and right orientation of the dual switch activates the proper device intuitively, i.e. the switch closest to the fireplace should be the one that activates the eyeball lights, and not vice versa.
These items are more for final inspection, not pre-drywall:
I would recommend checking the alignment of all the interior doors and look at the doors when they're closed and examine how the door mates with the door frame, as well as how well the door latches work. We eventually had a problem with BR #2 where the door would stick and not latch correctly, and I noticed it was not hung as perfectly as some of the other BR doors. I eventually fixed it as good as I could, but that's one thing to check for.
I bought one of those inexpensive testers that you plug into all your electrical outlets to test for whether the wiring was done properly (all of ours were fine). Easy to do.
Check the "shoe" mouldings around the bottom of your kitchen island to make sure you like the color, if it properly matches/compliments your cabinet color.
Check the cabinet knobs to make sure they're not installed lopsided. The cabinets have a lot of alignment built in and they can be adjusted if they're off a bit too.
Check the ceiling drywall around your recessed kitchen lights to make sure it's nice and smooth.
Check that your screens fit as tight as possible. We had a Ryan handyman install little white clips in each side of each screen, that hold them more flush so they don't move, and they seal a bit better (little bugs still find there way in we've found).
Check the alignment of the garage doors to make sure there's no overly large gap at the sides.
If I think of more things, I'll post.
Regards, Mike
Wow, I am not sure I can add anything else that Mike didn't mention, that was quite a thorough list! The only issues we had during our pre-drywall were a crooked stud and part of the floor board was cracked in one corner. Don't hesitate to take pictures so you know where wires, plumbing, etc. is located in the future. Enjoy!!
You might find it is easier to video tape everything...especially where all the plumbing and electric is in the walls...then burn copies of the video onto DVD for future use.
I think Mike covered most things. Since I am about a week behind you, I am not sure when things like sealing around windows happens but that is something else to look for. We are also getting our own inspector and I am relying on him to focus on the actual construction and code items. I am gradually learning about things like point loads and crush blocks, but I would have no idea if a truss was tied in correctly or not. Look for the cosmetic problems and hopefully your PM and your inspector will catch things that aren't to code. I too am nervous, especially because I have trouble focusing my eyes on a single room or set of studs because you can see right thru to the next room...my wife is good at it so between the two of us, our inspector, and our PM I think we will be pretty good, plus our inspector told us that Ryan Homes is excellent.
Thanks everyone for your advice. We feel so much better that we hired our own home inspector. We will update you to let you know how it goes.
We took pictures of each wall before drywall was hung and have found them very useful. It helps verify where wiring and ducts are if you're putting something in the wall. I would also verify that any lighting or electrical additions are in place.
1. Look for flooring cracks
2. Look for cracks in and around windows
3. Look to see that the outside of the windows is taped well
4. Look for bows in walls and joints (inside and out)
5. Piping going in and out of house should be caulked and insulated. As well as some of the pipes from upstairs to downstairs.
6. Make sure all the beams are straight
7. Make sure no wood looks rotted or too torn up
8. Make sure stairs don't squeak
9. Double check any extra outlets you added are there
10. Make sure EVERY room has a HVAC vent (including morning rooms)
11. Make sure no day light is visible through from around any door into the house.
That's the best I can think of for now. GL!!
Good info! Thanks, we are supposed to have our pre-dry wall this Thursday, but I am waiting to confirm that with our PM. can't wait to hear about how it went! :)
That last post was from me (Remy92, i was accidentally under my brothers account! lol :)
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