...LIFE GOES ON...

Hello all, it's been awhile since my last post.  We have been very busy getting the old house cleaned out and cleaned up.  So much to do, so little time. 

Dishwasher is still not fixed.  We should have received the new control panel last week.  Today, we called GE to check on the status; however, we were very disappointed to find out that they couldn't find a record for us and GE recommended that we contact RH.  We contacted the PM, who informed us that the part is on back order and we should receive it later this week. 

Pre-settlement follow-up - The PM stopped by last week to follow-up with us on the items from the pre-settlement walk-thru.  There are several items that need to be done...the garage floor still needs fixed, the landing to the family room stairs didn't meet our satisfaction and the PM is going to have someone take a look at it.  I think there are a few other items, but I can't remember what they are at this time. 

Irrigation system is currently being installed.  They started to install the system last week and it should be done either today or tomorrow.  However, we probably won't need it until Spring.  Our grass is coming in very nicely and we plan to mow the grass for the first time sometime this week.  At the 30 day inspection, we will talk to the PM about re-seeding some of the bare areas. 

Trees ... around mid-October they plan to start planting the trees.  8-10 trees are from the township and RH provides us with 7 trees.  The 8-10 trees from the township will be planted along the community sidewalk in front of the house.  The PM stopped by to give us 7 red flags for us to let RH know where we want the trees planted; however, it is very hard for us to make a decision when we don't even know what type of tree we will be receiving.  We are waiting for the PM to get back to us. 

30 day inspection... is coming up next week.  We have a list of things to go over with the PM.  So far, nothing major.  A few squeaky floor boards, 1 window is giving us some problems, 1 air vent is making noise from the attic, etc. 

We plan to have a house warming party in a few weeks, so we are really trying to get things in order before then.  We hope to post some pictures very soon.  

Until next time....happy building, happy moving, happy living!!!

DISHWASHER ISSUES

Since we moved in to the house, we have not been able to use our dishwasher.  At first we thought we just couldn't figure out all of the settings and the user manual is a joke.  We contacted the PM who took a look at it and couldn't figure it out either.  So the PM contacted GE who stopped by the house on Friday (09/16/2011) to tell us that they will need to replace the control panel.  The good thing is we are not as dumb as we thought, the bad thing is we will be doing dishes by hand for at least another week.

DIY PROJECT #1

At the other house in the kitchen we had tip out drawers in front of the sink, which we kept the stopper, sponges, rings, etc.  However, this option was not included in with the kitchen cabinet package in the new house.  So we bought a kit and installed them ourselves. The install instructions are very easy to follow and in 10 easy steps you are done.  It only took about an hour and it probably would have been faster if we could find our power tools. LOL!!!  We plan to install the trays in our bathroom vanities as well. 

Next time we will take some before and after pictures.

  

It was really easy to remove the front panel, which was
attached to the cabinet with the above clips.



Hmmmm....wonder what our next DIY project will be.  Maybe we will finally hang the shades on the windows.

Additional information:

Rev A Shelf website - Tip-out trays

Our Yard and some other random pics...

We are settling in quite nicely and we are still unpacking and organizing our stuff.  Here are a few pictures that we took in the past few weeks. 

from a neighbor on moving day (09/07/2011)
Thanks Mary, it was very YUMMY!!!
and the flowers look very lovely on the front porch.



Our daughter playing as we unpack...



...and enjoying every minute of it!!!  Love her!!!!

As our daughter was going up and down the family room staircase, we realized that there was a large space at the top of the stairs and that our daughter was able to put her head through it.  After examining it a little closer we discovered that a baluster is missing.  We even went to Mike's blog (another Waverly owner) to take a look at his stairs to make sure we were correct. We notified our PM and he had it fixed ASAP. 

Family Room staircase - missing baluster

picture taken from Mike's blog to share with the PM

Family Room staircase - fixed

Since the inside of the house is not ready to be revealed we took a few pictures of the yard. It has been too wet to put the irrigation system in; however, with all of the rain the grass seems to be coming in very well. We are scheduled to have the irrigation system installed next Tuesday (09/20/2011), weather permitting.




front yard



front yard

left side



left side view of front yard (taken from street)



right side view of front yard (taken from street)




right side of yard (taken from street)

panoramic view



front yard (taken from porch)




front yard (taken from porch)



left side of yard (taken from 2nd story window)
Note: landscaping at top of picture is the neighbors property,
she is doing an awesome job!!!



left side of yard (taken from 2nd story window)
Note: landscaping at top of picture is the neighbors property,
she is doing an awesome job!!!



back yard (taken from 2nd story window)
Note: the fence is in the neighbors yard.



back yard (taken from 2nd story window)



WE ARE BACK ONLINE...

One week from today we closed on our house and the following 2 days we moved into our new house.  The house is AWESOME!!! and we have soooooo much space.  Our 22 month old daughter has adapted very well; however, we wish we could say the same for our 2 cats.  The calico cat (Maizy) hid under the furnace for the first night and the black cat (CC aka Crazy Cat) meows all around the house starting at 2 AM to 5 AM and then she hides under the couch to sleep all day.  Every night it gets a little better, but it has made for some very long nights. 

We have been soooo very busy for the past week...

We had a few issues with our Spa Shower, which was not hooked up correctly; however, the PM was right on top of things and got it all worked out for us. 

Rusmur (flooring company) was at the house today to fix the soft spot in the foyer...he thinks that prior to the floor being laid, someone might have dropped a very heavy object from the 2nd floor to the foyer.

The PM wants to look at our garage floor to fix the erosion problem; however, we need to clear out some of our stuff so he can get to the floor.

Guardian stopped out to finish setting up the system and showed us how to use everything. 

DirectTV stopped out to set things up...TV is working great.

Our daughter's bedroom and playroom are done...now we are focused on getting the rest of the house organized. 

With all of that going on, we took Saturday night off to check out a BUCCO's game and to enjoy a really nice evening with some family and Sunday was dedicated to cheering on the STEELERS. 

We will post some pictures very soon.

KEYS IN HAND...

Closing took only a little over an hour and everything went well. 

• PM called and gave us a status update on a few of the issues found during the walk-thru
• roof - inspector will be out this week
• HVAC - leaking issues have been addressed and fixed
• Garage, floor - working on it
• Garage, leak in ceiling - they found a leak in the master bathroom shower and fixed it
• Spa Shower unit - the company sent the wrong replacement part and we are waiting for the new part; they located the remote control
• Foyer, soft spot - they had to order vinyl flooring and will fix the soft spot
• Solarium - caulked the outside
• Garage door opener will be installed this afternoon. 
• LiftMaster 3280 - 1/2 HP Belt Driven Opener
• Henefeld Garage Doors Inc. installed the garage doors with RH and we had them price out the opener, which was only a few $$ more expensive than purchasing the opener and having Home Depot or Lowes install.  Also, since they installed the doors and opener, if we run into any problems there will not be any finger pointing on who's fault it is.  Hopefully, we don't have any problems, but you never know. 
• Packing is complete --- We packed a lot of our stuff over the weekend, so the packers only were at the house for a few hours.  Tomorrow we move the stuff from the current house and on Thursday we move the stuff from our storage unit. 

By Thursday night we will be all moved in to our new 'HOME'.  Wow, that feel good to say...it took almost 4 years and now we can move onto the next chapter of our lives.  Hmmmm....what's next?

ONLY A FEW MORE HOURS TO GO...

We are a few hours away from closing and we wanted to take this time to show you a few final pictures of our 'HOME' prior to moving in. 

driving up to the house

side view of house

front view of house

our mailbox
It's going to take some time to get used to having to
leave the house to get the mail.

foyer looking at the family room



Study



main stairs

foyer

foyer from living room

Solarium doors

Solarium

Dining room



Kitchen and Morning Room



Morning room

Morning room



Kitchen

Cook top
Finally, they got it installed

Pantry

Kitchen

Gourmet Island

Kitchen

Family room

Family room
view from 2nd floor

Family room
view from 2nd floor

Laundry room

Finished Basement

Finished Basement

Finished Basement
under Morning room

 

Finished basement
under Solarium
Daughter's play area



Unfinished Basement
Storage

Basement
rough-in for future shower

 

Garage

Some fun facts about our house: According to our apprasial, the living area (first/second floor) is 3938 square feet and non-living area (basement) is 2121 square feet and (3 car attached garage) is 688 square feet. 

We will try to check in after closing and after we move.  Thanks to everyone for all of your support, advice, and words of wisdom that made this an enjoyable journey.