Done and Done

WHEW!!!!  What a day today has been.

Started off at the Title Office bright and early at 9AM.  Everything there went really well.  The only "glitch" if you could call it that was that they didn't have all the paperwork sent to them from NVR when we began the signing process, but after a few trips to the copier as we were signing, they had it all.  We were in and out in under an hour.

Since apparently you have to something out of the ordinary happen, my email indicator went off during one of the Title Officer's trips to the copier...and it was our Loan Officer asking how closing went, and that they needed a copy of my wife's latest pay stub!  Found that to be rather humorous.

After the Title Office, we went to a local furniture superstore but could find absolutely nothing that caught our eye enough to buy.  We had shopped at another furniture store in our area, and had a pretty good idea of what we wanted from there, but we thought we would try the other one just so we did our due diligence for furniture shopping.

Next we headed to furniture store number 2 where we had planned on getting our stuff, and found out the sales rep we had been dealing with was off.  I'm the type that if I have had any sort of dealings with a salesperson I will do my best to go back to that person on return trips.  And since up until this point we have only looked at things, I felt like I should do business with the sales person who had taken so much time to help us out.  Given the nature of the sales business, I wanted to make sure our original salesperson would get her due credit for this sale, and once that assurance was given we detailed what we wanted to the new person.  By this time it was time to go to the walk-though, so we said we would be back afterwards.

Got to our house and our PM was there with everything ready for us to look over.  This took about an hour and a half, and he was very through and answered all our questions, and even though there were some minor touch-ups that needed done, we felt comfortable signing off on our sheet.  We had been there enough during construction that we feel everything out of the ordinary was caught, and the little things WBTCO.  And for that matter, we got an email from our PM at 7 o'clock that he was done for the night, and locked the house up, but had one last thing to do and wanted to know what time tomorrow someone would be there since we now had the keys.

Next it was back out to the sis-in-laws to retrieve our daughter, and then back to the furniture store.  All the paperwork was done, items located and we added a couple more things just for good measure.  So now we have some new furniture headed our way on moving week.

Then it was off to Sherwin Williams for some paint for our daughters room, and Home Depot for the supplies, which is a project for tomorrow.

So, I AM BEAT!!!  And its not a good tired like from a hard days work or a gym workout and run.  No, this is a mentally exhausting beat and its time for bed.

Have a good-night everybody!! 

Time To Make Like A Baby And Head Out.

To the Title Office that is. 

Will post more tonight on how that went, along with our settlement demonstration at 1PM.

Later!

Counting Down Hours Now.

So here we are at signing week.  Allegedly Thursday at 9 AM, we are to be at the Title Office to sign for our house.  I say allegedly because until we are there, I am of the mindset that things could go wrong, and we will be delayed.  So we will see.

Today the cleaners were there, and tomorrow our PM said he will have workers there all day for last minute fixes.  Seems kind of counter-intuitive to have the cleaners come in while there is still some(in my eyes) some rather big fixes, but I will keep the faith that it will all come together.  For my money, they can keep working until our walk-through at 1 PM Thursday.

So today I took some pictures of our almost-finished product, and here they are.

5 ft shower instead of tub.

Still loose exhaust fan.

MBR closet.

Master Bedroom

Looking down hall from MBR.

4th bedroom/Multi-purpose room.

Daughters Room.

Guest Room

Daughters/Guest Bathroom

Laundry Room

Full railing instead of capped wall.

Railing going upstairs.

Entering front door.

We will make this a living room.

Foyer

Family Room from Kitchen.

Kitchen from Family Room.

Morning Room from Kitchen.

Kitchen from Morning Room.

Top of stairs to ManCave

Stairs to ManCave

Basement 1/2 Bath

Office Area

Looking towards Entertainment Area

More of Entertainment Area

Laundry Tub in unfinished area.

Rest of unfinished area.



So you can see there are a couple things that still need attention.  The Master Bath exhaust fan, and the carpet in the office area where they had to cut to access the drain.  The hole in the ceiling in that area is where they have to put an access cover for the hose bib shut off.  That didn't get cut out when they drywalled.  I also discovered today that there IS a floor heating/cooling vent in the powder room, but it got tiled over and never cut out.                                                                                                              

And just for the sake of full disclosure, when I was taking pictures today, somehow I forgot to take some of the Foyer area, so the ones I included are ones from a previous visit.



They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Thanks to Gina K. for the inspiration.

"On A Cold Ohio Morning, Everything Is Gray"...

..."And there you are, bringing back some sunshine".

Well in this case the sunshine is metaphorical, but it was a good feeling to see our house with all its exterior trappings in place.  Our "winter" landscaping grade is done, along with the driveway and walk that will have to do until spring.  Getting up that gravel and into the garage may be a bit of a challenge when the snow and ice come, but we will see.

Interior-wise everything is coming together.  For the past few days the drywallers have been there doing the rough finish in the garage, and all the places inside that needed attention.  The carpeting in our daughters room was pulled up to isolate a floor squeak and is back in place, but I think it needs secured a little better around the baseboards.

A plumber was there a couple days and had all the toilets up and it looked like all my drains were getting colonoscopies, since they had things running down them.  There must have been some sort of issue, as they had to cut the carpet in the basement to get to the drain pipe in the floor.  Have to find out what that was about.

The window they have to replace is in the garage, along with the cabinet door face, and drawer on the island that needed replaced.

The painters need to come back and do some touch-up work, and the one thing that needs done that is catching my eye is at the front door.  There is a piece of quarter-round where the wood laminate meets the door frame that has nails is it, but lifts right up. I also noticed light coming around the the door when its closed, with a nice little draft playing accompaniment.  I don't know if the remedy for that is insulating felt, or they adjust the frame...

All-in-all I am comfortable where we are in relation to our tentative close on Thursday.  Our PM says the cleaning crew will be in Monday, and then his workers will probably be there all day Tuesday catching  the last-minute stuff.  He said the final inspection is scheduled, which I assume is on Wednesday.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas if you choose to recognize the holiday.  But if you prefer another variation of the season, enjoy that too.

And Coming Down The Stretch It's...

So here we are 11 days before close, and things are almost finished.  It looks like its down to touch-ups, setting some appliances, getting utilities on, and inspections.

We got the key from the sales rep a few hours ago and went through taking pictures and making notes.  There are more pictures to share, but its time to head out for a family Christmas party so I will post these for juxtaposition.

October 4, 2011

December 18, 2011

The spray-painted spot on the front is where the address stone is going.  Somehow we still got the numbers on the side of the garage...thinking about keeping them.

I didn't ask for THIS upgrade!!

My wife stopped by during her lunch break today, and took this picture.  Obviously, the plumbers were in today.  Also the electricians, and the stone guys were back.  I stopped by after work and the stone guys were wrapping up, the electrician was gone, and the plumber was still there.

It looks like all the electric has been done, and they did unearth our hidden plug on our wall going into the family room.  From the looks of it, they misjudged their initial attempt, so some drywall repair is needed.  All the lights are in, up to and including the infamous "boobalier".  All the plugs and switches, and our outdoor plugs and lights.

The plumber had most of his work done, except for two toilets, and the actual hooking up of the lines.

The garbage disposal was in, and our over-the-range microwave was installed.  The stove and dishwasher were still in boxes in the morning room.  This is probably a stupid question, but does the laminate flooring get put in before they set those, or will they go before the flooring?

We ordered an address stone, but that wasn't put in nor was there a place left out for it on the front of the house.  I assume when it comes they will have to use some sort of stone cutting apparatus to cut out a place for it?  Any input here would be appreciated also.

The window treatment measure will take place tomorrow, so I am looking forward to seeing what will happen.  Better pictures tomorrow, the one above was a cell phone pic.

I did get a call from our loan officer tonight, and we talked about VA appraisals.  I guess they can't be ordered until the home is 95% complete, and then there is about a 7-10 day wait for it to be done.  So basically the call was to see if need be, could we close the first week in January.  He said that he has never had one cause a closing delay, but there are 4 VA loans closing from his office at the end of the month, and he was told by his boss to call everyone and let them know what might happen.  The only real problem a weeks delay would cause is with our refrigerator delivery, which can be rescheduled if need be. 

So we will see.

Another Lost Weekend

Well, not really I guess...we did finish our Christmas shopping.

House-wise, wasn't as much action as I would have hoped.

I know there are only so many "nice" days left here in Northeast Ohio, and I hate to see one go by when there is stuff that could be accomplished on our exterior, and that needs done.  Our shake siding has yet to arrive on-site, so I guess that part can't be helped.

A stone guy prepped on Friday(afternoon), and on Saturday they got in front of the garage done, the side of the garage on the porch, and about 1/4th of the way on the house front itself.  Today there was nothing done.  I see as of right now there is only one day of rain on the forecast for Thursday, so maybe I am overreacting, but with closing coming up fast and a good portion of interior work to be done, also the aforementioned Christmas coming...

We have gotten all the doors painted and re-hung, the sills and baseboards filled and sanded and ceiling/wall painting done.  I guess I should check to see if there will be more coats applied or just touch-ups if needed.  Any input here would be appreciated.  The hardware was put on the doors, along with the springy door stops...got tired of that "sproing" noise real fast as my daughter went though the house.  I checked each door to make sure it closed and there were only two that didn't, but the hinge pins were not all the way in, so maybe that was the cause.  Also our coat closet door in the foyer, and master bath door have brass hinges, while all the others are nickel.

We did go to Lowe's last night to set up an appointment to get our windows measured for blinds, and a panel-track shade for the slider.  Apparently the installer will call me to set up the appt and then send the measurements to the store once he takes them and they will get with me for our choices.  I think a step or two could be eliminated there for efficiency's sake.

Until next time here are some various and sundry pictures.

"Empty-Garage" Syndrome

My wife got an email from our PM this morning that had a picture of our fireplace in it.  Apparently it was finished last night.  Here it is.

Since I could see some trim and railing and spindles in the shot, I thought that today might be the day that the carpentry people might be in.  I went there right after I picked our daughter up from school, and I got there just as a crew of 7 guys were getting ready to leave.

I took a quick tour to see what was done, and boy was it a lot!!  All the doors and their framing in the basement, first and second floor.  All cabinets in the powder room, bathrooms, and the kitchen.  The counter tops in the kitchen, and the sink.  Window sills, all the baseboards, and the stair railing.  And our porch column, and step from the garage.

I wanted to take more pictures, but didn't want to keep them any longer so I only took pictures of the stair railing for now, but more will come soon.

The only things I saw left in the garage were our lighting fixtures(at least the boxes said lights), our mailbox was there, and a few other things I couldn't determine.

Our shake has yet to arrive, and our stone needs put on the front so those "big ticket" things still need done, but I can see how this is all starting to come together.

Siding - Check!!

I went to our house this morning, and our siding guy was there finishing up the siding portion of our house.  I chatted with him a couple minutes and he told me that the shake siding hadn't arrived yet, but should be in this week, and he would be back to put that on.

From the conversation my wife had with our PM, next week things will start to happen quickly, but he suggested not coming by so often and we would see more progress when we did stop by.  I think he was a little concerned that we were perceiving little to no progress with drywall week going on, and he wasn't implying to stay away, but if each of us are stopping by daily and 4 hours apart it would look like nothing was getting done.  Sound advice, but since this is the only house I will ever have built, I am coming by alot!

Our drywallers have finished what they can, and are ready to go onto the next step.  I think the stone guys will start on Monday(fireplace and front), and I think painting will begin too. There was more but I can't recall it right now.  I will have drywall pics soon, but for now here are some siding ones.

We have stuff!!

Hello Readers!!

Well, again I must apologize for a prolonged absence, but this time it is for good reason.  I have had to spend the last 4 days digesting a hat after my bold proclamation that I would eat said headgear if my siding guy didn't show up last Sunday.  Well, not only did he not show up last Sunday, he hasn't been back since!  I am giving him the benefit of the doubt, as our Ohio weather has been rainy and even a little snowy today.  But the next couple days seem like they will be dry at least, so hopefully our siding will get done.

On the work related front, the mudders and tapers have been busy working and from what they told my wife, they will be done tomorrow.  I stopped by after work and they were gone but I could see some progress and they have gotten almost all the ceilings done with whatever that texture stuff is.

Our refrigerator receptacle has been uncovered from its drywall burial, but I am concerned over a couple other outlets that may be covered.  On our wall next to the cold air return going towards the Family Room, it seems there should be a plug, as its a big enough area to put something, but there is nothing there.  Any fellow Venice readers got anything there?

On Monday our counter tops showed up in our garage, and today when I went there it was like Christmas!!  Cabinets, doors, hardware, mirrors, and other assorted goodies were stashed in there.  Also there were two pallets of stone in the yard for our elevation and our fireplace.  Yay!!  I am looking forward to our weekly email from our PM to see whats getting done on what days next week. Sadly, I think we will be locked out soon, and my after work stops will come to an end if the workers aren't there, since our community doesn't have a full-time sales rep in the office to get a key from.

That's all for now, but here are some pictures.

Getting Caught Up

Well, it sure has been a long time since I posted.  There has been a lot going on at our house, so lets dive right in.

The Friday after my last post, 11/18, when our PM said they would begin insulating, nothing happened.  I emailed our PM as I was a little concerned that my late change on the basement plug may have set things back.  He got back to me and said that wasn't the case, they would begin on Saturday.  All was well. In fact, later that day the insulation was delivered to the house so they could begin Saturday.

Drove by a couple times on Saturday, and there was zero activity!  This got me a little torqued, and I wanted to email our PM and see what was up, but my wife told me not to or else I was going to become a pest.  It took me a little while to get behind that idea, but once I figured when I drove by on Sunday and saw nothing going on, that would bolster my email beef.

So Sunday rolled around, and on my morning drive to our house as I came around the corner, sitting smack dab in my drive way was an insulation company truck!  The two guys were busy getting after it, so I left them alone, and at the end of the day the house was done.

Come Monday(love Jimmy Buffet), the drywall was delivered.  I was at work, but my wife drove by and got to watch the unloading in progress.  It sounded like quite the event, and she took some pictures which I will post soon.  To get the drywall upstairs they took out the closet window and loaded it in through the hole in the house.  Also the siding, shutters, soffits and trim were put in the garage.

Tuesday the drywall hangers were there, all 8 of them, and by the end of that day the drywall was all hung.  Something I didn't know, on the outer edge of the drywall sheets it was nailed to the joists, but inside the sheets they used screws to hold them down.  I thought they used nails only.

Wednesday had the arrival of the mudders and tapers.  This was a crew of two and they said they would be there Friday and Saturday, and I think Monday. 

Thursday of course was Thanksgiving, which we hosted at our current house for my wife's family.  After we ate, we loaded up a couple cars to take them up to give them the 50 cent tour.  Well...much to our surprise when we rounded the corner there was a guy working on our siding!!  Its a little Oriental gentleman somewhere in his 60's at least, who I recognize from one of my many drives through the community, when he was siding another house.  I couldn't believe he was there working, I was happy to see that, but surprised nonetheless.  He has been there every day since, just him, his ladders and scaffolding, and power tools.

Friday I took the mudder, taper, and siding guy some coffee and doughnuts.  They worked throughout the day and made good progress.  But since this is a multi-day job on both their ends, its a pretty uneventful trip to our house.  It is nice seeing the siding go up though.

Saturday, repeat Friday.  More mudding and taping(this time just one guy, apparently Friday night got to the other one), and the siding is coming along nicely.  I am guessing no drywall work on Sunday, but I will eat my hat if I go there tomorrow and I don't see my siding guy.  He only has the front to do, then the shake and stone(which I assume is a different crew)and a little on the back and side of the morning room, and he will be done. 

One thing that caught my eye on  our Turkey Day tour, was our refrigerator area.  I saw the ice maker rough in, but noticed there wasn't a plug cutout in the drywall.  I saw the plug when they did the insulation, but it must have been covered by the insulation when they did the drywall.  I emailed our PM and he got back to me and told me that they usually have a plug or two on EVERY(his caps) house they have to find.

On Black Friday my wife and I went out to get our refrigerator that was on sale.  Since we are getting GE appliances, we kept it in the GE family(the green lights will match), and picked up this model.
GFSS6KKYSS

Then it was off to find a rug to put under our dining table in the Morning Room.  We have an idea of the furniture we want to get for the Family Room, and Living Room(we decided not to make the front room a Dining Room, but rather somewhere to sit), and we hoped to find a rug that would tie all the colors of furniture together along with the cabinets, flooring and counter tops.  This is what we decided on.

It looks a lot better when its not so fuzzy, but the Kohl's website wouldn't let me copy a bigger picture.

So that's where we are now. Hope everyone had a great holiday, and happy building!!