People Planning to Paint - Please Read!

Hi everyone!

I know a lot of people are thinking about painting their homes once they move in, so I wanted to share something that our PM told us in case you aren't aware (since we weren't until yesterday). Apparently, if you paint your walls it voids the warranty on all of the walls that are painted. Our PM said it wouldn't cover ANYTHING that happens to those walls including nail pops and warping. Even if your drywall mysteriously ripped in half it wouldn't be covered.

I know this sounds completely ridiculous, but it's definitely something worth looking into. We even asked a friend of ours who built a Ryan Home in a different community and he said they told him the same thing. It's definitely possible that this is only true in certain communities but I'd just check with your PM directly.

With that said, we will not be painting unless he tells us he was wrong about this for some reason (but he was REALLY confident in his answer). Some of you are aware that we bought paint, and I know some other people bought paint as well, and the good news is, is that unopened paint can last 10-15 years as long as it's stored in normal temperatures (no unifished basement areas, garages, etc where it can freeze and fluctuate a lot in temperature). At least, that's what several Google links told me.


In other news:

My boyfriend headed down to the house yesterday to meet up with our PM. We had seen a few problems here and there so we wanted to address them with him. Here's a list of some of the problems we saw and his reponse:

• Crack in molding above big window (exterior of house)
• He ordered a new piece and it's already on site. They'll replace the broken one
• A big cut in the ceiling of the basement
• Noticed that there was a lump in the floor -  they realized the beam used in the floor has a small bump in it so they had to cut the drywall, cut off that bump, and installed another support beam)
• Vent on outside of house still crooked
• He'll have it fixed - siding crew was supposed to do it but they didn't
• 4 footers for deck (we thought there would be more than that since a friend of ours had 8 for his)
• We only need 4 footers
• I thought we were getting recessed lights on our porch??
• Admitted they missed this on the blueprints. This was already corrected yesterday.
• Drywall looking bad on one wall in the basement
• Because they were cutting and removing beams in the basement ceiling they had to cut the drywall tape on a wall connected to it so it would relieve the pressure. If they didn't do that then the drywall could rip. This will be fixed
• Cabinets - some drawers look pretty crooked
• These will be fixed towards the end - he explained the last two weeks are used for the detailed work so everything is perfect
• Mudroom door - looks like it was installed incorrectly according to the plans of the house.
• It was - he'll fix it

Our PM also let my boyfriend know that the deck we were going to get was out of stock and wouldn't be available in time for the house to be finished. Now they're giving us the highest tier of trex decking which is pretty awesome! So now we're getting the Transcend tier in "Tree House" with white railings. In a perfect world I would like a little dark of a color but I really can't complain. We're getting a really good deal on this deck (For a refresher on price see this Blog post). We're still paying the same price but now we're getting actual Trex (not GeoDeck - see this post), and now we're getting their best tier of decking which not only is better with fading and strength, but it has a nicer grain with more depth! Saaweeet!

Tree house (Source: trex.com)

Our vinyl flooring was also installed (foyer, kitchen, morning room) yesterday. As many of you know, we are planning on replacing the vinyl with these beautiful laminate planks when we move in:

They're a little darker in person

Now we're concerned that these may void some type of warranty (like the paint does with walls). I'm REALLY hoping it doesn't, or it would only void the warranty of the vinyl, in which case, we obviously wouldn't care.

Overall, things are going well! We love our PM and I love that he admits to things that he misses. I have much more respect for someone who says "We missed those recessed lights, but they will be fixed," than someone trying to play it off and make an excuse. Nobody's perfect, so little things like that don't botter us, especially because he gets the job done and gets it done well and fast.
 

The End Is So Close I Can Taste It!



We went by the house again on Saturday. When we got there, there was only one guy painting some exterior trim. We asked if it was okay to go inside and he didn't care, so we did! These guys move sooo fast!

 

Here's a list of the stuff we got to fully see for the first time (not threw a window)

• Cabinets
• Cabinet hardware (most of it)
• Counters
• Railings (all stained)
• Painted walls
• Trim
• Tile floors in all the bathrooms
• Shower doors
• Doors to all the rooms
• Fireplace
• Light fixtures
• Toilets
• Sinks
• Some mirrors
• Porch
• Sidewalk
• Walkway
• Faceplates installed on a lot of the electric sockets (fan rough-ins, speak rough-ins, etc)

This all happened in a week people! That is insane! So far we are LOVING everything we picked out. I'm obsessed with our cabinets and really like our counters (they're not granite but they look pretty good to me!). We also really like all of our tile selections.

A nice surprise was that we have open railings on the basement stairs too! We definitely thought we were getting a capped wall "railing" so that was awesome!

All in all, we are SO excited about everything! Everything looks amazing and I CANNOT wait to move!! We're so close!!


Here are some pictures!

Center - You can see our porch, walkway, and sidewalk have been poured!

Right

Our BEAUTIFUL cabinets! So happy we went with the white!

Another view of these beauties

Our island sitting in our Great Room. I'm guessing they're waiting to put floors down in the kitchen but it looks funny!

Fireplace - slate - I LOVE the slate and it flows well with our kitchen counters

Morning Room

1st Floor Powder Room - Like the tile we chose!

1st Floor Railings (very happy with the stain) and a light fixture!

Another view of the railings

Upstairs

Secondary Bath - Love the gray tile - So happy we got a double vanity there

Secondary Bath shower - stuck with the basic white. We'll have a shower curtain there anyway!

Master bath - It was dark so it was hard to take a picture

Expresso cabinets

Check out this sexy ass shower! I was worried about the dark tile but I realy like it!

Basement railing! A pleasant surprise!

Basement - painted, trim installed, and recessed lights

Other Updates:

Kitchen Table - I will be building this bad boy with my dad this weekend. All I need to get is some 4x4's (which apparently, no one sells .. Lowes, Home Depot, and Lumber 84 totally let me down). I'll probably have to go down to a nice lumber yard but not thrilled with paying their prices for just some 4x4s .. Oh well .. If any one has any tips on where to get these I would appreciate it!

Ugly Couch - The ugly pink couch has been stripped of the ugly pink fabric and is currently sitting naked in my parent's living room. My mom (who's a nurse and practically lives at the hospital) has had time to sew and cut some of the new fabric. That's all so far so it may not get done until after we move ..

Appliances - We went shopping this past weekend! After a ton of research we ended up getting a Samsung fridge and Samsung washer and dryer from Best Buy. We also got Best Buy's 5 year protection plan on all of them (we both used to work at Best Buy and they have really good protection plans for a really good price). They were having a sale so we got about $1000 off the fridge and about $200 off washer/dryer. Then we saw that Lowes is having a huge sale on appliances so we checked their prices and they were cheaper than what we payed ($323 less) so we went back to Best Buy and had the price adjusted! Good stuff!

Tip: Most retail stores like Best Buy (I'm guessing it's the same for Lowes and Home Depot) will price match! They'll even price match places like Amazon (but it has to be sold BY Amazon and not a private seller or company you've never heard of). You also normally have a certain amount of time after your purchase too! For example, if you buy something at Best Buy, you have 15 days (or 30 days for Silver Card Members) to price match if it goes on sale there or anywhere else. I would check out Lowes prices since they're having that sale right now. If ou see that someone is selling it cheaper now, you just bring your receipt back to your store, and they pull up the prices online on the competitors website and you go from there. It saved us over $300, so I'd check it out!

Fridge - We got this goliath of a fridge. Do we really need this HUGE of a fridge? No, not really, but it was the same price as the smaller one we liked with slightly better reviews. Plus it has two ice makers and ice does not last long in our house! I'm SO excited to have a fridge that will allow my food to last! Our apartment fridge is probably a million years old (I may be exaggerating) and sucks at keeping food fresh. I also can't wait to have a bunch of room so I can actually see what's in there! I can't tell you how many times I find something in the back of the fridge and I'm like "What?? That's still in there?? I was looking for this tupperware container!"

 

Samsung - 31.6 Cu Ft - RF323TEDBSR

Washer/Dryer - Pretty excited about these babies too! We looked comparable LG's and they had similar reviews. We just got a better deal on the Samsungs. Plus, we got a protection plan on both. I can't tell you how tired I am of putting money on a laundry card to do laundry! Having our own washer and dryer is going to be amazing!

 

Samsung Washer - 4.5 Cu ft - WA45H7000AW

Samsung Gas Dryer - 7.4 Cu ft - DV45H7000GW

My fabulous dog bowls also finally came in the mail! I feel like I ordered them 5 years ago. but they're finally here and they  look beautiful. They sent me these pictures via email and they're just as beautiful in person! Gotta love hand made stuff and supporting small businesses!

 

I hope everyone else is as excited about their home as we are!


Up Next:

• Grading
• Flooring
• Deck (will probably be in two weeks)
• I'm not really sure what else they have to do!

 

Drywall Done - Up Next: Siding

We stopped by the house on Sunday to check things out. All of our drywall is up already! I really can't believe how fast they move sometimes! At first I was a little dissapointed when I saw that the outside of the house looked the same, but then we walked in and I was pleasantly surprised by the drywall!

They still have to put on the spackle and finishing touches, but it's pretty much all done! It was so cool to see walls up and to really see what the space will look like. I fell in love! It made everything so real! I can see where I want my couches, and I can picture what it will look like with cabinets, furniture, curtains, etc.

I was also really happy to see that they used screws for our drywall and not all nails. This should grealy reduce the amount of nail pops we have! Oh, and we decided we are definitely painting when we move in. We may regret it but whatever. Lol!

TIP: If you are painting your house any time in the near future - Sherwin Williams is having a 40% off sale this weekend (September 19-22) so it's a good time to stock up! You don't even need to have your paint tinted. You can just go and buy the buckets of paint and then bring them in later to be tinted once you decide on a color.

Up Next:

This week our siding should be going up! I can't even tell you guys how excited I am to see our color choices! I'm also a little nervous. What if I don't like it? I'm sure that won't happen but if it did I would cry.

I'm also going to get started on calling power companies, water companies, cable companies, etc. so we don't run into any last minute delays. I am SOOO ready to be out of our apartment so if the power company holds us back I'm not going to be happy!

We also started looking at appliances. Originally we were going to do this REALLY last minute but we changed our minds. Both of us used to work at Best Buy so we know some of the people that work there still, so we're going to go there and buy everything (if you buy a ton of stuff from big stores and ask a manager you will likely get a discount .. just an FYI). We need a TV, Fridge, washer, dryer, and speakers. Will definitely be a fun shopping trip until we see the total price!

Without further adieu here are some pictures!

Kitchen/Morning Room

Taken from Moring Room - Hallway, basement door, pantry, dining room

Great room (and office door)

Stairs

Biggest bedroom (other than Master)

Master (Horrible picture but hard to take a picture of)

Basement

We're so excited! We're still on schedule to close on October 22nd. I pre-settlement meeting is scheduled on the 19th.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and saw some great progress on their homes!

Pre-Drywall Meeting

This past Friday we had our pre-drywall meeting! Everything is moving so fast! It's crazy! We're only 6 weeks away from our expected close date!

The fact that we're only 6 weeks away from our new home is:

a) Exciting!! - I cannot wait to get out of our apartment! The smallness of our apartment just makes everything cramped, cluttered, and messy. I was cooking this past weekend and I was getting so frustrated with having no room, but then I got even MORE excited for our new home and new kitchen with counter space and cabinet space and storage and I could go on and on!

b) Nervous! - You know how much stuff we still have to do? A lot. I'm supposed to be whipping up a kitchen table from scratch, and I haven't even bought the wood yet. Oh, and that couch? Still stripped down to the bare bones sitting in my parent's living room! Oh, and have a mentioned that I work full time and I'm also in graduate school? Oh, and I'm taking two accelerated courses versus my usual course load of only one course! I'm going to be a lunatic!

We've been trying to get prepared though. We've started packing a little bit here and there. It's a little difficult, because you don't want to pack up stuff you'll need in the next 6 weeks. I didn't think I would need my vegetable peeler, so I packed it. Guess what? I've needed it twice!
We also looked into cable providers. If you have a really new development, I highly recommend looking into this ahead of time. The only provider we have is Verizon Fios and then a local small cable provider. We'll actually need them to come and dig a line in our yard for the hook-up so I'm going to schedule that ahead of time. Our PM said it's probably best to do it ASAP after closing before the sod is established so you can just lift up the sod instead of them having to dig up the yard.
I also got some folders and dividers and I'm going to try and organize all of our paperwork. I want to have all of our medical stuff, house stuff, and pet stuff organized so important stuff doesn't go missing during the move.

Meeting Details

We had our meeting at around 1:30PM on Friday. My boyfriend got there around 1:00 and so did the Guardian rep so they went through early before I got there. One tip I have is to make sure you know where you want all your cable, data, speaker hookups. For example, if you're having cable hookups for TVs in bedrooms think about where you're going to put the bed so you know where you might want the TV. Once I got there I corrected some of the places my boyfriend put the hookups! Lol! He just kind of plopped them on random walls.

Once that was done we went through the house with our PM. It wasn't as thorough as I thought it would be. It was more just a time for us to ask him about stuff or tell him about anything we saw. I think he normally walks through with people more carefully, but since we had our own inspector coming it wasn't really necessary to make us walk through everything twice. We noticed a few things like the second fan in our master bath wasn't installed, but he already knew about it. It was sitting downstairs in the garage waiting to be installed. We couldn't think of much else so then we just waited for the home inspector to come by and he told us to just give him a call once that was over.

Our inspector showed up a little bit later. He was a really nice guy. We started in the basement and worked our way up. He looked over everything very carefully and very slowly which was good! I'm glad he took his time. Overall, he noticed a few things but everything looks pretty good! Once we were done our PM came over right away and we showed him some stuff that we found. Here are some things he noticed and our PM's response:

• Wonky looking wall in the basement. This isn't a structural wall but would definitely affect how good the wall looks cosmetically once drywalled
• PM will definitely have this fixed
• "Sleeve" on gas lines should be longer
• He'll check in on the code and ask the plumbing guy to look at it and confirm
• Flex duct seemed to be too long (14 ft)
• Code recently changed in our county to allow flex duct longer than 14 ft
• Missing nail plates (these are metal barriers they put on the wall where beams are close and there is wiring - this helps prevent someone from accidentally puncturing any of the wiring or gas lines when putting up drywall)
• He'll have them installed no problem
• Recommended we get more insulation downstairs near the HVAC system in foyer - apparently it gets really loud in Ryan Homes, which I have heard about before.
• Apparently, they started putting insulation inside of these ducts a few years ago to help with the noise. He said he'd ask if we can have more put in.
• Gap in lumber making up the peak over our garage
• He'll have that fixed
• Uneven roof on the side of the house
• He said this was fine because everything is tight from the inside.
• Crooked vents (dryer vent on the outside of the house was crooked)
• These will be fixed
• Return and supply of HVAC system too close upstairs. Right next to each other - doesn't make sense
• He's not sure why this happened. He said he'd look at the blue print to see if they were installed in the right spot. If they were, then he'll ask why it's like this on the blue print, because it doesn't really make sense.

Overall, everything went really well! We even have a garage door installed! Yesterday, after my boyfriend and his cousin were done "celebrating" an Eagle's victory, I picked them up and we went to look at the house. They had all of the cable and data wires hooked up already. The only issue we saw is that they put the rough in's for the rear surround sound speakers too far up. We want them behind us when we're watching tv, and right now they're positioned above where the couch will be vs behind the couch. Technically, we're not supposed to go into the house so we shouldn't know this yet, but I feel like we should say something about it before the drywall goes up.

Front - Garage door, window trim decor, and wrapping added

Right

This week they'll be putting in drywall and our PM said our siding should be up by the end of this week! Sooo excited! Oh, I also asked him about sod care and if he had any tips and he said he gives us a whole manual on house stuff, including a section on sod, so we should be all set! He's been really great with everything. We definitely had a few hiccups during the entire process but our PM has been wonderful.

 

House Bones!

We went by the house on Friday evening after work to see the progress and they have most of the first floor already framed! Pretty exciting! They said they'll be working on framing for the next week to week and a half.

It's funny how small it looks right now. I know it's not small, but I was looking at the area that is going to be our Great Room and I was thinking "Crap ... Am I going to be able to fit all of my furniture in here???" I guess we'll see!

We were going to talk to our PM again about the deck and the Trex situation on Friay, but when my bf called him he was at a company picnic and he could hear his little girls trying to get him to come play with them. You don't mess with a dad and his daughters so he just told him he'd talk to him on Monday. Hopefully, it gets resolved soon because I'm tired of talking about it and thinking about it.

Helpful information for those getting a GeoDeck with Ryan:
We called the actual decking company on Friday and it looks like they're a really small company. So small that an actual person answers the phone when you call. They were helpful and very nice. We were told that Ryan used their second highest Tier of decking material. We told them we were having a hard time finding enough information about them to compare them to their competitors. She explained that they don't spend much on marketing so they can keep their costs down and focus on quality and costomer service. The main difference with their decking is that it is hollow composite material. Their competitors products are basically lumper covered in composite material (this is how she desribed it). GeoDeck materials are hollow so it cuts costs and they don't have to use any type of woof filler that often causes problems (this is what caused problems for Trex in their lawsuit a few years ago). She admitted that Trex is a stronger deck than GeoDeck, but it's strong enough to easily hold people because it's built and designed to disperse weight so it's evenly distributed across the deck. However, if you were to drop a dumbell off of your roof on to a GeoDeck (or a tree fell on your deck) it would go right through, while a Trex deck would stay put. In the end, we're okay with their product. Oh, and she said their product NEVER fades unlike competitors. She attributed this to the fact that they are hollow and completely composite. Our problem now is that Ryan Homes thinks they can get away quoting a more expensive product than they're actually giving you.

Interest Rate News:
My boyfriend was sent the "Cost Analysis Worksheet" from our rep at NVR. Interest rates are at 3.75% right now! We can't lock in our rate until 2 months away from Settlement (I think) so I hope they continue to stay that low! That would be awesome!!

In other news, I bought a few things over the last few weeks for the home. I got curtains for our bedroom, the great room, and the morning room (HomeGoods - If you've never been to one, find one, and go). I also got the fabric for the couch I'm reupholstering. I went to an art show this weekend too and got this super cute metal frog for the garden. Kind of a frivolous purchase but he was so cute and pretty cheap ($25) so I couldn't resist! Plus, he's handmade by the artist I met there and one of a kind!

Bedroom Curtains - I'm adding blackout material to these too

My frog for the garden! Love it!


Oh, and remember that Ethan Allen piece I posted a few weeks ago? Well it was really badly scratched and I kept hearing about this natural way of fixing scratches with Vinegar and Oil (3/4 oil, 1/4 vinegar combo). I was pretty skeptical but figured I'd try it because I know it wouldn't damage the piece at all. It works INCREDIBLY well. It was seriously amazing! I used it on my mom's desk that used to be my grandfather's (really scratched up over the years) and the diffence is like night and day. So, if you like to re-do furniture like me, or have an old piece that's kinda scratched up, try this! All you do is rub it in (don't have to use a ton of it) and then let it soak into the wood. I let mine soak into the wood for about 6 hours and then rubbed off most of the excess (I put a ton on it at first) and then just let it sit for awhile. I used Apple Cider Vinegar and Olive Oil but you can use whatever you have on hand (Canola oil and regular white vinegar is cheapest). You see the effects immediately though. It's magic. I don't know how it works, but it does. I'll try and post before and after pictures next week. The pieces are at my parent's house so I'll take pics next weekend when I'm there trying to tackle that ugly couch.

And here are pictures of our beautiful first floor all framed up!

Left

Center

Right

Back

Left side - Foyer, Bathroom, Dining Room / Right - Kitchen/Morning Room & Great Room

Left - Great Room / Right - Office

Basement!

Doors and windows! We're one of the only one's who have the little windows on the side of the door which I like! I need an easy way to look outside to make sure it's really the pizza guy at my door and not some creeper!

Side Note: When looking around we found some "Cerveza" cans on the ground. I'm really hoping they're waiting to drink a beer or two at the end of their day and I don't have a bunch of tipsy people working on our house! Kind of weird to find beer cans hanging around your house that's under construction. Thankfully we only saw 1 or 2 cans but still odd, and a little bit concerning. If you're gonna drink on the job at least get rid of the evidence! Rookies.

 

A Pile of Wood

We went by the house this past weekend and right now it doesn't look much different than last time, but everything done was very important.

This past week they water proofed the foundation. Pretty boring to look at but very very important. They also filled in our porch and our basement floor with concrete. This also means we passed our first two county inspections on schedule! Woo!
The most exciting thing we saw at our homesite was the giant pile of wood! Wood = Framing. This is when it starts to get exciting and look like a house! So pumped!

We also creeped in some of our neighbors yards that are mostly done. We noticed that they give us a lot of trees (unless our neighbors paid for some hefty lanscaping package). It's awesome that we get some trees, but the placement of the trees? That's a different story. They're planted in a perfectly straight line, all about 4 ft apart. It just looks unnatural to me. I know some people like lanscaping like that, but for me, I like trees to look like they naturally popped up where they are, AKA I like when nature looks natural. Hopefully, he'll let us choose where to put our trees because if not, I'll just be digging them up and moving them right after we move in.

The model in our community will also be done next week. I'm pretty curious to see what it looks like all finished so that will be cool. The sod at the model home is already dying though .. this scares me. Sod scares me. I'll probably be researching "how to keep sod alive" for hours, like a crazy person, closer to closing. If anyone has dealt with sod and has any tips I would love to hear from you! No one I know has ever had sod. All we heard is that it has to be watered non-stop, but also not too much or it will die. lol!

Our PM told us earlier last week that he would be off on Friday so we didn't get a call from him last week. I'm guessing he should be calling today on updates/schedules. My boyfriend will also be making his argument for pendant lighting or their need to commit to using Trex decking since that is what we have in writing. I'm hoping they're willing to just throw in some pendant lighting (I highly doubt they would pick using/paying for Trex, a brand name, before they would throw in some lights), but who knows. Most companies would do it no problem for customer service reasons, but Ryan Homes? Not always that easy to convince. I don't really understand their resistance to this type of customer service. If they had just said "We quoted you the wrong brand, and we really appologize. Can we throw in some extra outlets or lights to make up for our mistake?" we would be much happier and much more likely to recommend them as a builder to people we know. I guess they do fine without that word of mouth marketing, so it's not that important to them. As someone who works in marketing I find this odd, but whatever.

Anyways, here are some updated pictures!

Right

 

Left

Center

 

Basement & Pile of wood

Our Pile of Wood! AKA Our House's bones!

PAINTING

Quick question for everyone: Is anyone considering painting before their 10/12 month inspection? I know they recommend waiting a year until you paint because there will definitely be nail pops and repairs made to the wall over the first year. We were talking to family this weekend and they were just saying how much easier it is to paint before you have a bunch of stuff in the way and you're unpacked, so we were thinking maybe we should paint now and then just touch up the areas that are repaired? What are you guys planning to do?
 

Fan location in the Master Bath - Tip from a Ryan Home friend!

I feel like this deserves a post of its own. It's a big deal to me, so I'm guessing it may be a big deal to others as well!

A friend of ours built a Ryan Home about 6 months ago and one of the things he really hates about the house is where they put the fan in the master bath. In the Palermo, and many other models, the closet is located by walking through the master bath and the toilet has a little room of its own in the bathroom.

Well apparently, they tend to put the fan in the little room above the toilet, which really doesn't make sense since all the steam is in the room with the shower. So our friend said every time he takes a shower he has to always make sure the toilet room door is open and closet door is closed. It's just annoying so we spoke to a SR about it and he said that the PM should be able to move that fan into the main area of the bathroom or at least offer you the option to add a second fan in the bathroom.

This may not be a problem in every community but the SR we talked to from our friend's community said he's gotten a few complaints about it so I felt it was worth mentioning. It's something small that you wouldn't even think about, but  it would be really annoying to live with every day.


UPDATE:

So after a comment from another Palermo building (Thanks Erin!), and through our final changes meeting I got some clarification on this.

Apparently, there has to be a fan above the toilet because of code. Since there is a door closing in that room they are required to have some type of ventilation.

We are getting two fans automatically because of the layout of our bathroom. The upgraded shower bathrooms get a fan above the toilet AND in the main area of the bathroom (I guess because the bigger shower makes more steam?). The other layouts, with the tub and shower, only get one above the toilet. You can ask to get a second fan but make sure you have your SR talk to someone about this before your final changes meeting because it would be a custom change so they need to get a price to add into your final selections list.