Seeing red

I stopped by to check on the progress. We still have a giant hole in our yard. 

There was a delivery truck in front of the Hammond model. I sent Susan a text to tell her she was getting furniture. Apparently she had just left and she told me to go in and meet the interior designer.  She also let us know our framing package will be delivered tomorrow and framing should start by the end of the week, weather permitting. 

Let me just say that I absolutely love the design of this Hammond model. I told their interior designer she has fabulous taste and to stop stealing my design ideas lol. 

They also seeded the entire development. There is hay lying everywhere. They poured half of the sidewalk at the front of the development as well. Things are moving along nicely. 

Did something explode?

I went by the house hoping to catch site of a giant pile of lumber. Boy was I wrong.  

Something exploded all over our lot!  Or so I thought. Turns out they are just connecting our plumbing to the water lines. 

At least we know exactly where the utilities and water run through our yard. 

I was able to accomplish something though. The landscapers were at the Hammond. I stopped by and got their contact info so we can add on to our landscaping package. It looks like they do good work. 

Saturday at The Bluffs

The crew came by and used a saw to score the concrete. It's how they minimize cracking as it dries, due to shrinkage. 

The utility guys were on our property putting together our little green cap. The giant green box is across the street. They spoke to us for a while. Asking about our "strange basement layout" so we explained it to them, as well as the odd shape of our lot. We asked them what utilities they were putting in. We have the cables for electric, gas and cable. The only thing they weren't doing was phone. What concerns me is they are covering up the trench as they get each section done. So does that mean when the phone guys come out they have to dig more trenches???  Very odd.  Another company has to come dig a trench to our house from the green cap to connect the house to it all. That will come after framing. 

The Pinehurst for sale across the street is getting her siding and brick. 

It actually sits right across the street from Cathy and Johns Bentwood. They poured the driveway, walkway and porch yesterday when they did our foundation. It looks like they have some trim work and the sidewalk to get done. Only 19 more days until closing. 

Next week they are putting in the landscaping for the model home and the common spaces. That should draw in some more buyers. 

Nowhere to go but UP!

The last of the thunderstorms rolled through around 3am. This morning the skies were gray and gloomy, but by the time I got out of work it was gloriously sunny. 

My boyfriend called right before I left work to tell me he had run into Susan at the Hammond model and to come by.   Susan was unloading lots of new goodies for her office. We could see two trucks over at our house. So we drove over and it was a wonderful sight to behold. 

Next comes framing!!!  I'm so looking forward to that step. 

I came home to goodies on my porch as well. While reading other blogs I determined I would need a no soliciting sign. I also saw great address markers for mailboxes so I found them on ETSY, among other things, and they arrived today. 

Deja Vu

I pulled into The Bluffs today and the first thing I noticed was JPs truck. He was parked at the model home. So I instantly think to myself, "I'll kill two birds with one stone. Get answers from JP AND a peek inside the Hammond model."

My boyfriend is still concerned about the amount of backfill and grading. JP will be using the dirt from his next basement dig to flatten out our backyard. 

I also got a better grasp of our timeline. We are in a holding pattern due to the weather. It has rained every day since our inspection and is supposed to rain every day next week. So, again, we are delayed. I asked when he feels we will get done considering all the weather delays we have. He feels like the end of June is still attainable for us. I was very happy to hear that. I did let him know that we won't freak if it runs into July, but anything later becomes an issue for us.  I asked him to just shoot us an email when they are ready to pour. 

Then came the fun part. The model home is flat out gorgeous!!!  It is MY house. It's the color and design I chose for my home with some small tweaks. I seriously need to meet their designer. We would totally hit it off.  Two words for you. Trim - Work!  There is a reason my boyfriend received a miter saw for Christmas. 

This is the Hammond great room. Similar to ours but a bit smaller and less windows. I love the color. Their carpeting is the SAME carpeting I chose!! I love the trim on their massive walls. It fills the space so nicely. I'm getting ideas!! 

In the sneak peak from Susan I knew it had a similar kitchen, just opposite coloring. We have the dark counter and white cabinets. That's MY backslash though and it's stunning. Those are MY dark floors. Sigh! 

They even added a window to their nook. It wasn't even an option. We had to special request it. Did they literally read our choices and copy them??!!  I love how it brightens it all up. So much light. 

Their dining room, what will be our kids study. I am in love with the trim work.

The hall bath is almost identical to what we have. The dark cabinet, white counter. Our flooring is just a tad lighter version. 

The tray ceiling in the master. We chose a sloped tray but I like how they used color. 

They are still working on the master bath. This is my bathroom. SAME counter choice. SAME cabinet choice. SAME flooring. What the heck?  At least I know it all works together. My home is going to be gorgeous, just as this model is. 

Susan should be moving in soon and now I can take paint samples, drapery, etc. over to see if it will work in my home. I'm so excited!

Plumbing concerns, electrical and a looming inspection

My last post on plumbing I mentioned the pipes coming up in what will be our finished basement.  We were concerned they were placed mistakenly on the wrong side, so we sent an email to JP.   We also went to visit Susan and bring her up to speed on our progress. We then found out JP is on the Appalacian trail enjoying spring break with his family. I assumed that meant we wouldn't hear from him but he responded fairly quickly. 

Well these two pipes are meant to be here. They exist in the model as well, though the model doesn't have a finished basement. I honestly have no clue what these are for but one will be enclosed in the wall and the other will be boxed around. I think I can live with that. 

Today was prep day for pouring the foundation. They smoothed out the gravel in the garage and put a vapor barrier in the basement. Tomorrow is inspection day, then time to pour. Slowly but surely getting there.  I think it would seem to go faster if I didn't stop by every day, but I do love seeing each step of the process. 

The electrical is now on our lot. It's right at the property line between us and our future neighbor. We still want to know where the electrical panel will go, but since JP is on vacation, that can wait. 

News from Susan:

The VP of construction doesn't like the stone on the model home. It's getting pulled off and being replaced. I had to laugh. When my boyfriend and I first saw it we shook our heads at the choice. The brick and siding are beautiful and the stone just doesn't mesh at all. 

Cathy and John our closing on their Bentwood on April 30th. Their driveway has forms to pour the concrete. Probably the same concrete trucks that will be at our house. I just hope this electrical work is done before they move in. Now time to put together some sort of housewarming gift for them. 

The Buchanans building the Camden had their pre-drywall meeting this past week. Their siding was just starting to go up today.  

Still no bites on the Pinehurst II house. They are selling it for $250k. I think once it gets far enough along for pictures it will sell quickly. It's a gorgeous house, even in the framing stage. So if you know any friendly people in Ohio looking for a new house, send them Susan's way. 

The Bluffs is moving along. Now bring on the inspectors!

The blogging world

I am still figuring out this whole blogging world.  I have no idea how to browse or find other blogs.  I actually just happened to be looking at kitchen design ideas on Pinterest and a link sent me to a blog of someone building a house by Ryan Homes. Citrus & Spice was the first new construction blog I'd ever read.  (She has FABULOUS taste in design, if you haven't seen her blog before)  I so loved the idea of documenting the entire process, not only for myself but for my family and friends to follow along.  When we finally made the decision to build, I started my blog right away.

I still haven't grasped the concept of how to browse and find blogs, so I just log on and check out the blogs followed by the people that I'm following.  In turn, I mainly only follow along on the journey of Ryan Homes builds.  We chose to build with a more local builder Inverness Homes.  They are significantly smaller than Ryan Homes, but the process seems to be about the same, albeit a little slower, as I'm assuming they don't have as big of a crew. If anyone could school me in the art of finding blogs, I'd love to see if I can find someone building with Inverness as well.

Anyway...  while scrolling through a newly found blog I read an interesting post about finding your subdivision plat on your county website.  Though the instructions for my own county were a bit different, I did find some interesting information.

All I had to do was go into the property search and put in my address.  It came up with a page with all of our technical information, including permits, inspections, etc.  What I most enjoyed was finding the map.  It mapped out the entire subdivision on top of an aerial photograph from 2014.  It even has the dimensions of each lot.

 

I find it interesting that how much of the treeline they pushed back to make room for lots.  Cathy and Johns lot was completely forested.  

 

The map function has several options to choose from, such as the topography.  What I found most interesting is a map of the soil types.  I clicked the tab and zoomed into my lot.  

 The majority of my lot is listed as MoC2.  Listed as what?  Yeah, that's what I said too.  What on earth does that mean.  Hello, Google?? 

So my lot will drain well, as it has a slope it wasn't really a concern, but good to know.  It does tend to mention erosion and erode a couple of times, with is a tad worrisome. "Areas scalped during construction should be re-seeded as soon as possible to prevent severe erostion losses and gullying."  Good to know! "The good natural drainage of this soil is favorable for building site development."  Well, if Google says so, it must be true. 

My inner nerd was very happy with this find.  The more you know....

The plumbers have arrived

The plumbers were at the house yesterday.  I didn't want to take pictures while they were working, so I stopped by before work today and snapped a few.

This is where the powder room will be in the lower office.

This is where the hvac and water heater will be, in the unfinished portion of the basement. 

This is where the full bath will be in the finished portion of the basement. 

This is under the kids study. I'm assuming it will be used for the kitchen, etc on the main floor. This is the finished portion of the basement so I'm not sure if they are boxing off a part of this. I don't remember this from the model. Time to email JP. 

In the very back corner is where the sump pump sits in the unfinished portion. 

I love being able to capture each step of the process. We'll have a visual reference if anything ever comes up later. 

The electrical has been dug all the way down my road.  (The long trench on the opposite side of the road)

Now they are using equipment to bore under the road and string it to our side. 

It looks like it will come across right at the property marker between our house and the next lot. This means the electrical will come to the house on the kitchen side. Now we need to know from JP where the electrical panel will be placed. 

On the opposite side of the road across from our house. 

And where it comes out on our side. 

Yep, The Bluffs are still a giant mud pit. We told Susan to tell her boss they need to get the landscaping done so people will be more apt to come look at sites. Nobody wants to drive on muddy roads and tramp through the mud. Time for a big cleanup after these electrical guys are done.