One Last Visit...

We made one last visit by the house before our official walk-through with our Project Manager Brendan and his supervisor Zac on Wednesday.

While only five days before the "big one", we really wanted a chance to walk-around and get a feel for the place. I'm really happy we decided to do this as seeing everything put together for the first time is a bit of a shock and it takes awhile to soak in. 

Since we were able to take our time looking at everything, this visit provided us with an opportunity to walk around and catch some small things that needed to be fixed that we might otherwise have missed during our walk-through.  I took lots of photos of those items so I wouldn't forget. 

The most dramatic change was seeing our sod and landscaping installed in both our front and back yards.  The landscaping actually comes standard in our community so it's nice that we didn't have to worry about making any selections or paying an additional cost for this. 

Don't ask me what kind of sod it is or what kind of plants we have because I honestly have no clue.

All I know is that I like the way they look, and that all of the details on how to care for them are in a nifty thumb drive Ryan Homes gave us yesterday. More on that thumb drive when I put up a walk-through post later in the week.

For now, enjoy the fun "almost final" photos. (Ignore the doom and gloom background, it was raining on Saturday.)

September 3: Outside of our house with landscaping.

September 3: Close-up of the landscaping in front of the porch.

September 3: Our cute little newly planted maple tree.

September 3: They even did landscaping on the side of the house.

September 3: Follow the red brick road (up into our house).

September 3: View into the kitchen from the living room.

September 3: A closer look at the kitchen island. 

September 3: Finished backsplash with under cabinet lighting.

September 3: New GE refrigerator. 

September 3: So much fridge space with the french door style. 

September 3: Gas stove range with integrated griddle and oval fifth burner.

September 3: New microwave.

September 3: Fireplace and living room.

September 3: Recessed lighting in dining room.

September 3: Porch and front street view from dining room.

September 3: Master bathroom double sinks.

September 3: Finished master shower with added seat and bronze surround.

September 3: Close-up of the white subway tile and seat addition.

September 3: Meotorite stone countertop and bronze faucet fixture.

September 3: A view of the master bedroom.

September 3: Tray ceiling and recessed lighting in master bedroom.

September 3: Guest bathroom finished tile. Listello had a minor issue that is being fixed.

September 3: A closer look at the guest bathroom vanity.

September 3: One of the three upstairs guest bedrooms.

August 28: I forgot to take a photo of the stairs so this is an older shot before the cleaners came in.

September 3: French doors that lead to basement welled exit.

September 3: Mailbox has a new look with sod laid down. Also, another shot of our maple tree because I'm a little obsessed.

The Homestretch

We're a little more than a week out from our final walk-through.  This means that things are really starting to kick into gear as we near the finish line.

August 26: We've got (or can get) mail!

On Saturday (per our new routine), we drove down to the house to check out all the progress that had been made since last week. 

Both the front door and garage were locked for the first time in our house build process, so we had to sneak in through our walk-up french doors in order to get in. I'm guessing next time we visit we may not get so lucky as I hear they tend to lock everything down once the appliances go in.

When we approached the house, we noticed immediately that the crew had been hard at work on the exterior of the house.  We now have a driveway and a paved walkway that leads up to the porch and front door.  Things are bit dirty as it's still a construction zone, but I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together with the landscaping.

August 26: Freshly paved driveway. Grass still pending.

August 26: New brick paved walkway to the porch.

August 26: French doors outside basement walk-up stairs.

When we walked in, we were greeted with freshly painted walls and flooring. Everything was covered up in plastic for the most part, but I was still able to lift it up to take a peak of the hardwood, carpet and vinyl underneath. 

August 26: Hardwood flooring.

August 26: Wooden stairs and balusters.

August 26: Carpet is laid down in the bedrooms and basement.

August 26: Vinyl in the laundry room.

In addition to flooring, other final touches are being installed. In the kitchen, the backsplash tile is done, the island is coming along, and we now have a faucet and sink. We also have a near complete powder room on the main floor.

August 26: Kitchen backsplash is complete. Very happy with how this turned out.

August 26: The kitchen island now has legs. Granite to come.

August 26: Oil-rubbed bronze kitchen faucet.

August 26: Fireplace

August 26: Powder room on main level.

Upstairs and downstairs, the non-flooring progress mostly took place in the bathrooms.  All of the bathrooms now have faucets, lights, shower heads and more. The master bathroom also now has a shower surround, though it looks like it is still being installed as it wasn't steady when I took the photo.

August 26: Master bathroom double sink vanity.

August 26: Master bathroom shower with glass surround.

That's it for this round. Hopefully, next time I post we'll have some photos of a finished island, appliances and grass to share.

August 26: Exterior of the house

Happy building!

I Think I Spy Tiling and Granite...

After nudging my husband incessantly about the need for more photos, he finally caved and drove us out to the house on Saturday.

All of our previous visits were a shock, but this visit was especially exciting since some of the "fun" stuff is starting to get installed. Plumbing and dry-wall are great and all, don't get me wrong, but it's hard to compare seeing pipes and plain white walls, with seeing items like tiling and granite go in. 

Both changes are dramatic, but it's an extra level of excitement when you see the finishes you picked start to come to life in your new home. If you are a worry wart like me, it also alleviates any concerns you had about all those decisions you had to make in rapid fire succession back at the 14 and 30 day marks.

Now let's talk progress on the exterior of the house. We finally have railing on our front porch! Woohoo! Isn't it pretty? I'm a huge fan, and the porch is actually a really nice size with plenty of space for furniture, decorations, and more. 

Our carriage lights and automatic garage door opener were also installed since our last visit, and it looks like the final grading in our backyard was done.  As I understand it, that process basically smooths everything out so that water flows properly away from the house and also allows the grass and landscaping they put in later to sit nicely.

August 19: Our lovely new porch railings and street address numbers are up.

August 19: Carriage garage lights are installed.

August 19: Automatic garage door opener is in.

August 19: Freshly graded backyard. 

On the inside, it looks like our PM and crew have been quickly ticking through their list of to-dos. I actually snapped a picture of their notes and instructions as I found it weirdly interesting.

August 19: Making a list, checking it twice.

Walking through the first floor of house, we noticed new light fixtures, towel racks and toilet paper holders, partial granite in the kitchen, the start of our kitchen backsplash tiling, fireplace, alarm system panels, pantry shelves, and more. Our kitchen island remains a work in progress, but I'm beginning to suspect that might not be finished until the flooring goes in.

August 18: Our marble subway tile backsplash is a work in progress, but the under cabinet lighting is done.

August 19: Check out all that beautiful kitchen storage.

August 19: Pantry shelving. 

August 19: Remote controlled fireplace. This is going to be so nice in the winter.

August 19: Let there be (recessed) light!

August 19: Guardian alarm system panel.

Upstairs, we also noticed a ton of work had been done. Both the guest bathroom and master bathroom had tiling and flooring go in, as well as light fixtures.

August 19: Subway tile in master bathroom shower is almost done.

August 19: Close up of the seat addition.

August 19: Master bathroom flooring. Much prettier in person.

August 19: Guest bathroom

August 19: Close-up of guest bathroom tile on second floor.

August 19: Bathroom lighting. Will likely switch this out for something more modern later.

August 19: Oil rubbed bronze towel rack and toilet paper holder.

August 19: Light fixture above stairway.

There are officially two weeks to go before our final walk-through.  Hopefully we get some flooring and a finished kitchen island installed this week.

Till next time!