FLOORING IN PROGRESS and PICTURES (taken 08/06)

Saturday, 08/06/2011 marked 30 days until we close; so we had to make a visit to see the progress on the house. 

We were very excited to see that the master bathroom floor was almost complete.  We were both very pleased with how it looks; however, we couldn't walk on it.  That was a bummer.

The vinyl floors were delivered, which will be replaced with hardwood floors after we close. 

Our daughter had a blast going from room to room...we wondered what she was thinking. 

check'n out her bedroom walk-in closet

check'n out the bathroom

check'n out the neighbors

look'n for mom/dad

The electric water heater arrived; along with the toilets and facets.

We were driving away...

 ...when we realized that the cement floor for the porch was poured...

...and the solarium trim looks complete, but we need to confirm that with the PM.

We received our weekly call from our PM....next week they will continue the ceramic floor in the master bathroom and the trim on the solarium will be complete; asphalt driveway will go in on Tuesday and the vinyl floors will begin on Wednesday. 

We are hoping to make a visit this week.  Until then...happy building everyone!!!

WOW...so many decisions were made today

We had an amazing busy day; however, we got so much accomplished.  Please note: Pictures are located on the Picture page.

LOT MEETING
We started our day on the lot - we met our PM and Sales Rep. to discuss the location of the home site.  We agreed with the PM to push back the house an additional 12-15 feet, which will decrease the slope in the front yard.  It will take away from some of the back yard, but there is still enough space to add a patio and eventually an in ground pool.  However, we found out today that we have an easement that runs through the far back part of our back yard (close to the conservation area) to accommodate the sewer line.  We were a little disappointed to just find this out today and plan to do more research to make sure that this does not affect us with our plans to put in an in ground pool in the future. 

Also, today we found out that we are currently 7 weeks out before we break ground, which will be around May 22.  This makes us a little nervous because we already have plans to go on vacation on June 4th-12th.  We are afraid we are going to miss so much of the building process and to get pictures.  We are hoping to get a family member to take some pictures while we are out of town.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS 
We met with our Sales Rep. and made the following selections.
Brick - Madrid
Vinyl siding - Heritage Grey
Trim - White
Shutters - Grey
Door - Plum Jam
Counters (Kitchen) - Red Montana (3470) Formica (we went with this option because we know that we can get granite counters a lot cheaper and we didn't really like any of the options; so we plan to replace the counters with granite shortly after we move in)
Cabinets (Kitchen and Bathrooms) - Wyoming Square Cherry Bordeaux Timberlake

ELECTRICAL
We ran out of time today and need to schedule an appointment with Sales Rep. to discuss the outlet and wiring option.

RUSMUR - This meeting was 2 hours long and very productive.  We are pretty confident that we will stick with our selections; however, we have until 04/28 to make any changes.

Hardwood - Manchester Plank 3 1/4 Cherry
Foyer, Living Room, Dining Room, Solarium, Kitchen, Morning Room, Powder Room, Study

Carpet - Collinsville 101 Sisal w/ 6 # pad
2nd floor hallway and all bed room (upgrade owner's suite 10 # pad)
Basement, except Powder Room (upgrade padding Karastep rubber 21 # pad)

Carpet - Top Talent 123 Straw w/ 6 # pad
Family Room

Tile - Salerno SL 83 Marrone Chiaro, installed on diagonal
Owner's Bath

Vinyl - Initiator 66177
Laundry Room

Vinyl - Initiator 66200
2nd floor Bathrooms #1/#2, Basement Powder Room

Stairs/Bannister - Direct Set White, Oak, Cherry Stain, No Carpet

GUARDIAN
This meeting was an hour long and very informative, but not as productive as we expected.  We discussed the security system, phone jacks, cable/network outlets, and audio speakers (inside/outside).  Once we receive the quote via email from the rep. regarding the selected options and pricing; we will schedule a follow-up meeting to finalize the selections.

LOOKING FOR ADVICE...

UPDATE ... We fixed the comments to allow for comments from anyone.  Please let me know if you continue to have problems.  We were wondering why we were not receiving comments.  Thanks Shara for letting us know about the issue and for the advice.

We are meeting with the electrical and flooring contractors tomorrow.  We have an idea on what we want; however, we are always open to hear what others have to say.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.

BTW, love all of the blogs....it is nice to see we don't have to do this alone.

CHECK OFF ONE, ADD TWO MORE...

As we check off one item from the endless "To Do List", we seem to add more items.  However, the entire process is very exciting and is going very well.  Everyone has been very helpful, friendly, and accommodating to our schedule.

NVR APPROVAL
We received notice that our financing is approved.  The next step is to get on the construction "start" schedule, set-up a formal meeting with the Project Manager, and schedule the pre-construction meeting. 

ELECTRICAL
We are scheduled to meet with the contractor on Friday, April 8th to discuss the wiring for the electrical, cable, and phone jacks.  We have already decided that we want additional cable and phone jacks; as well as, electrical boxes for either a ceiling light or fan.

FLOORING
We are scheduled to meet with the contractor on Friday, April 8th to discuss the flooring options.  We have an idea on what we would like to do; however, it is subject to change based on either us changing our minds or cost.

HOME LOCATION PLAN (PLOT PLAN)
We are scheduled to meet with the Sales Rep. and PM to discuss the placement of our house on the property.  The PM is suggesting to push the house back from the road an additional 15-20 feet, which will allow for less of a slope in the front yard, but takes away from the back yard.

WHAT WE SIGNED UP FOR...

On 03/29/2011, we met with Ryan Homes to review the options and sign papers to move forward with building the Waverly model on lot #5.

Waverly without the solarium
We will update with our house with the solarium once it is built.

Waverly
Premium lot - .77 acres
Elevation D
Front - Brick Veneer, Side/Back - Vinyl siding (need to choose a color)
Shutters (need to choose a color)
Front Door (need to choose a color)
Garage - 3 car side entry garage

Main Floor
Kitchen - added gourmet island, Wyoming square cherry Bordeaux Timberlake cabinets, laminate counter tops, stainless steel appliances (includes double oven, microwave, and gas cook top) and ice maker line (we will purchase a stainless steel refrigerator later)
Morning Room - added optional side windows
Family Room - added side wall stone fireplace (Aspen) and optional side window
Dining Room - added tray ceiling and optional bay window
Living Room
Solarium
Laundry Room - (we will purchase a washer/dryer later)
Powder Room

Second Floor
Owner's Suite - upgraded to Luxury Owner's Suite, includes extended bathroom over 3 car garage
Bedroom #2 - added optional full bath
Bedroom #3/#4 - jack/jill full bathroom

Basement
Finished w/ powder room
Media Room - Opted not to finish this room; we plan to finish it later
(2) HVAC - added humidifier (main and solarium) [Update: Confirmed that we will have 3 HVAC units (attic unit controls the 2nd floor, basement unit controls the basement and main floor, and solarium unit controls the solarium)]

Additional standard/options
Crown and chair molding
All brushed nickel fixtures

Outstanding (TBD) options
Flooring
Electrical (wiring/outlets)
Drain in garage
Columns (Dining/Living room and Owner's Suite)
Inside/Outside lighting

Incentives
Finished basement (credit) - $15100
Front Brick (credit) - $10000
Sprinkler System (credit) - $5000
Transfer tax cash discount (RH pays half) - approx $6391

We have 14 days from 03/29/2011 to finalize structural plans and 30 days to finalize the electrical and flooring plans.  We will provide updates as we finalize the plans.

The following is the Waverly floor plans, elevation D; however, the plans are opposite of our layout.  Our house will be built "reverse plan".  The driveway/garage will be on the left-side and the solarium/living room/dining room will be on the right-side.

Waverly - Elevation D - First Floor
(with optional 3 car garage, gourmet island, morning room, solarium)

Waverly - Elevation D - Second Floor
(with optional full bathroom, jack/jill full bathroom, luxury owner's suite/bathroom)

Waverly - Elevation D - Basement
(finished with powder room)



 ***Thanks to all of the other bloggers for some really great suggestions and ideas.***