Pre-Dry Wall Inspection and Observations

So we had our pre-dry wall inspection and walkthrough this week.  We did not take a 3rd party inspector with us on this walkthrough but I plan to do that in the next couple of weeks.  On the one hand I marvel at how much has been done and what a great house it is going to be, at the same time there have been a number of strange blunders that do not inspire tons of confidence.

For example, in the basement the framing for the bathroom rough-in was a foot and half off so that needs to be re-done otherwise we would not be able to have a bathroom.  Our construction manager caught this himself, but he said it was due to a plans and drawing error.  WTF?  One thing you assume when you buy a house like this from a big developer is that the drawings are pretty much cookie-cutter set in stone so this was a surprising revelation.  The second basement error is that the plumbing rough-in for our bar (something my husband wanted)  was accidentally put in the middle of the basement floor instead of along a wall in front of the stairs as we agreed.  Our construction manager assured us this plumbing error would also be fixed, but again weird.

I am attaching these two photos of the front of the house.  In the first you will see the house partially framed, but no windows over the garage or door.  My husband observed that we were missing windows over the garage and over the front door.  We sent a note to the construction manager and after a couple of days he said they just had not gotten to it and sent the second picture showing the added windows, but I really think they forgot or didn't realize the windows were missing until we sent a note.

Finally if you have seen recent pictures of the Avalon you know they have curved archways leading to the family and formal dining room and in the doorways leading to the kitchen and great room.  It appeared that these arches had only been done for the doorways leading to the kitchen and great room.  My husband pointed out that this feature seems to be missing from our home and our construction manager was not sure about it.  It was not until we took a quick look at the Avalon across the street that is closer to being finished that our construction manager could see what we meant.  Again weird that my husband needed to point out this very standard feature appeared to be missing from our home.

All of this just gives me a stomachache.  I realize that I liked the idea of building a house more than building it.  Building it puts you right in the sausage factory and I don't like hanging in the sausage factory - I'm not sure I want to see how it's done or in some cases pointing out how it is not being done.  But my husband has been really enjoying the process and stays on top of everything.

They are expecting to get the drywall delivered in the middle of next week, and while they rushed us to have this walkthrough, I suspect they will not be able to start the drywall process until closer to the end of the month.  That's my update for now.

Big Update and We've Been Framed!

So for a variety of reasons I have not been updating this blog, but that stops now.  So let's get to it!   At the end of June our house finally broke ground!!  And as most people know once Ryan Homes finally gets started things start to go really fast.

It took a couple of weeks for Ryan Homes to fully clear our lot and and start the foundation.  But once that was done they quickly put up the temporary foundation posts.

Then all of a sudden the foundation was in and framing began.

Our construction manager has been great.  He has been great about answering questions even though he is working on five houses at once.  Please see earlier posts regarding the year long delay in the start of this community and why Ryan Homes is working hard to get everyone in their homes by the end of the year.  My husband visits the site every Thursday and our construction manager always spends time with him.  He is organized and patient.  We are feeling very good about things so far.

Right now we are scheduled to have our pre-dry wall meeting on August 10.  As others have advised I will try to get a third party inspector in just to make sure everything is on track.  But so far we are excited, just need to pull my pennies together to pay for this thing.  I may do a post in the next week or so on the latest from NVR mortgage - always more exciting than it should be.