Siding Snafu!

I pulled on to our street today and was SO excited to see the siding was done on the house. Our PM didn't make his weekly update with us so I had no idea this was done. The more I looked at it I thought boy this looks lighter than I thought and lighter than the house down the street that I like. The siding crew was at another house so we asked what color ours was and they said Stone Mountain Clay which is what we picked. So I drove to the model to ask why ours was a tad lighter then I thought it should be. Come to find out..the color I really wanted and saw on previous homes is called Khaki. Which was discontinued in June 2011. So I thought when I picked the darkest color out of the options (Stone Mountain Clay) I was getting the darkest that I kept seeing on homes already built. Obviously there is nothing we can do, but it still bothers me because I like the other color way better!!! I guess lesson learned, don't ASSUME anything!

Our House -Stone Mountain Clay

Model Home - Khaki

Paint Colors!!!

Considering I work for Sherwin Williams, I have picked out most of my paint colors for the house already!

SW 6228 Refuge - Morning room accent wall and also the living room

SW 7065 Argos - Kitchen, some of family room, hallways and spare bath upstairs.

SW 7068 Grizzle Gray- Powder room and Accent wall in family room (wall with fireplace)

SW 6710 Melange Green - Accent wall in Master Bedroom

SW 7067 Cityscape - Other Master Bedroom walls and Master Bath

SW 6486 Reflecting Pool - Laundry Room

SW 6270 Soulmate - Spare Bedroom "Guest Bedroom"

SW 6011 Chinchilla - Office

Pre Drywall Meeting

We had our pre drywall meeting yesterday (12/12/11) It went well. It was nothing special even kind of pointless but I guess they must have it to make you feel good. The PM just walked us around the entire house showing us where all the outlets, plumbing, light rough ins, sump pump, electrical box, furnance, etc are. It was freezing in the house so we kind of hurried through it. Drywall starts this Thursday 12/15/11. Pictures coming soon.

Family Room Drywall

Morning Room/Some of Kitchen Drywall

Master Bedroom Closet Drywall

Moving Fast!

Project manager just called, framing is officially complete! Roof will be done on Friday 12/2 and Saturday 12/3. Concrete will be poured for the basement floor, stoop and garage floor on Monday 12/5! Tuesday 12/6 the plumber will come. On Friday 12/9 the electrician. Pictures to come as soon as I can get there this weekend in the morning when it's light out!! Pre drywall meeting will be scheduled next week, for the following week. We can't believe how fast it's happening, but we will take it!

Framing

To our surprise, the framing began 4 days earlier than expected! Got to love the Amish! I'm sure the entire second floor is up, I just didn't have time or enough day light to get back there to take more pictures. It will be raining the next few days so not sure when the roof will go on.

Appliances and Furniture, the FUN part!

We got a great deal on a 28.5 cu ft stainless steel Samsung french door refrigerator. List price $2699.00, but Lowes had an early black Friday special and we got it for $1599.00 plus 10% off!

http://www.lowes.com/pd_350526-149-RFG298HDRS_0__?catalogId=10051&productId=3364414&UserSearch=350526&Ntt=350526&N=0&langId=-1&storeId=10151&rpp=48&AID=10926682&PID=4485850&SID=u0t3522534f9fp0dd0c0s1256&cm_mmc=AFF_CJ-_-Slickdeals+Inc-_-1122587-_-10926682

Here is the kitchen table we got for the morning room. I think it's perfect. Our cabinets are expresso which is very similar to the color of this table.

Here is the couch we purchased for the family room. I am having it custom made in black microfiber. I currently have the same couch in chocolate brown but the theme in our new home is greys and blacks. I wanted the same couch because it is the MOST COMFORTABLE couch I have ever had!

We ended up getting this on Black Friday! Love it!!!

We got two of these bar stools for the gourmet island. They match the chairs that go with the kitchen table, they are just taller!

Storage bench for the mudroom

We have a foundation!

Project manager just called with his weekly update. The foundation has been poured! Stripping and waterproofing(brown dimpled plastic around foundation) will start Monday 11/21, Tuesday 11/22 the lumber will be in. Wednesday 11/23 backfilling the dirt. Monday 11/28 the framing will begin!!! Finally moving along. Pictures to come soon, I am going out there tomorrow! Have a nice weekend :-)

Upgrades!!!

I cannot believe I forgot to mention which upgrades we went with! We cannot wait to see them in person!

Elevation B
Morning room
Granite counter tops - Pearl Gray
Upgraded 42 inch Expresso cabinets with crown molding in Kitchen
Expresso cabinets in spare and master bathroom
Recessed lighting in kitchen and basement
Stainless Steel Appliances
Fireplace with absolute black marble
Gourmet Kitchen Island
Ugraded carpet in the whole house with 10 pound padding
Upgraded Master Bath with Double sinks, seperate soaking tub, all glass/tile shower with seat.
Finished Basement w/ recessed lighting
2 ceiling fan rough ins
2 piece rough in for bathroom in the finished basement
4 pre wire switched outlets upstairs, 2 downstairs.
Garage floor drain
Laundry Tub
Washer and Dryer

Granite - Pearl Gray

Maple Expresso 42" cabinets - This is a picture from a model home.

Soft Soil/Clay?! Worried!

We got the news last week when they finally broke ground, the soil/clay is to soft. They will have to dig another 2 feet deep to compact stone down before they can put the footers in and pour the foundation. We have mixed feelings about this. We hear it's a great thing because your home will be "sturdier" but it still leaves worry in the back of our minds? Any opinions on this?!

Flooring Part 2!!!

We decided on our flooring, finally! We are getting the upgraded 10 year warranty carpet in a light gray(sterling) through out the middle floor and all of upstairs. The basement will have the same but a darker grey(coastal breeze). We went with the 10 lb padding, which I am happy with. For the kitchen and morning room we are sticking with the laminate flooring(dove gray) that comes with the house, I'm actually pretty satisfied with that.

We are just waiting for our pre construction meeting which is in a week and a half, and hopefully after that they will break ground! Keep you posted!

This is the carpet through out entire first and second floor.
Shaw Floors -Collinsville: Color - Sterling

This is the carpet in the finished basement.
Shaw Floors - Collinsville - Coastal Breeze

Kitchen floors, bathroom floors and laundry room
Armstrong - Bridegton - Dove Gray

Flooring!!!

We met with the flooring company today (which we thought would be so easy) We are STILL undecided on which direction to go. Maybe it's because they put you in this small room with so many options and you feel overwhelmed in having to make a decision that very moment. We asked to meet back with them so we could have a few days to think about what we would want. There are plenty of upgrades but with those upgrades comes a price $$$!!! We wanted to do our own research to make sure we are getting the best bang for our buck. I'm pretty sure we are going to upgrade the carpet to a 10 year warranty, that has more color options as well. We also heard it's best to upgrade the padding. So we are going to choose the middle upgrade (8 lbs) As far as tile, wood, or a laminate floor, NO CLUE!!!! I think we may stick with what comes with the house and tackle that project on our own when the time comes.

Finding a Development!!!

After many days of driving through different areas and doing as much research as possible, we finally came to a decision on where to build at. It is a smaller development that will only have about 200 houses in it. The price was a little higher then the others in the area but we did not like the fact of living in a develeopment with 2,000 homes in it and different builders. It's more of a quiet area and that was a big plus.

HERE IS THE MODEL AND ELEVATION OF THE HOME WE ARE GETTING

The First Steps

After much reading and research on the internet we decided to blog our purchase of our Ryan Home. Sure there are plenty of bad posts out there so we decided to take the steps of letting people know exactly how our process is from start to finish. There will be posts about every little step that we take. We hope you enjoy our blog and hope it helps you with some of your decisions you might face in the future.