Wednesday, May 30, 2012

First Impressions

First, the disappointments:

  • The wire shelving is very flimsy.  It also has dividers for the hanging part, so you can't just slide everything down the rack.  Disappointing!
  • I found a clump of drywall mud under the carpet in the study.  I had specifically gone to the house the day that they prepped the floors for carpet because I was concerned about all the clumps stuck to the floors.  There were still quite a few after they had sanded.  I spoke with my PM and he said that he hand scraped them all before carpet went down.  Well, he missed at least one.  It's about the size of gumball.  Don't know what they'll do about that or if it's worth it.  It's about a foot from the wall and I could probably put a piece of furniture there.  It's just the fact that I had specifically mentioned that room as being particularly bad.
  • The paint in the house is still tacky.  If you even touch a wall or a door, it leaves a mark.  Now that we have a dehumidifier running in the basement, I'm hoping it will dry faster.
  • The dishwasher is small and noisy.  They didn't even finish putting the spinner arms in place.  I did that myself and all of the silverware basket covers and other parts were just put in a drawer.  I found those a couple days later.
  • The kitchen sink is very small.  While it is 8" deep, it's too small to even fit a standard dishpan.  The stainless steel is also very rough.  I'm hoping in time the grain will wear down and be smoother.

And now, the things I love:

  • I really like the range and microwave.  I've been using a builder grade range for the past 8.5 years, so I'm loving the upgrade.  
  • I love the upgraded laminate.  Everyone that's walked into the kitchen comments on how much it looks like granite, but it's not cold and hard like granite.  The ogee edge is just the icing on the cake.
  • The house was actually cleaner than I expected.  I've mopped all the hard floors and the water wasn't very dirty.  The cabinets had been cleaned out from all the sawdust that was in them.  
  • I'm so glad we went with the oil rubbed bronze fixtures.  That was our last change order and I'm so happy we went for it.  They are beautiful!
  • It may seem silly, but the garage steps are several inches deeper than our current home which makes it easier to go up and down the steps.
  • I love all the space.  
We've met several of the neighbors, and they all seem very nice.  There are a lot of families, so I'm hopeful that the kids will find friends soon.  I would post pics, but we were so busy moving boxes in that we really didn't take many.  I will post more pics as we move in.

17 comments:

  1. congrats on being in.
    -The carpet can be pulled, clump removed, and re-stretched no problem. Hold em to it.
    -You can buy an attachment and bar for the wire shelving. What you are dealing with is standard.
    -The paint isn't tacky (or shouldn't be). The marks are because it's flat paint. Flat paint is GREAT for touch up, but HORRIBLE for attracting and cleaning dirt.

    Put a piece of paper on the fridge and write down everything you spot. We got our PM out at 30, 60 and 90 days for a bunch of stuff.

    Good luck and congrats

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    1. I will definitely address the carpet issue since I made sure to point it out ahead of time. The paint on the trim and doors is more of an issue than the walls. It's as if they put a second coat on before the first dried (been there, done that). I have a notepad that I've kept track of everything for the house. It sits in a drawer in the kitchen and I have a feeling it's still going to get a lot of use! PM has already addressed some grading issues that I talked to him about yesterday, so he's still taking good care of us.

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    2. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100173466/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=closet+maid+universal&storeId=10051

      That't the thing you want for the rail kit. Plus the rail of course, it will be somewhere in the area at home depot. I think there are instructions on the packaging about how many hangers you need per how many feet.

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    3. That is a good idea James. Easy conversion using the existing shelves.

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  2. Oh...how exciting! I can't wait till we get there!

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    1. It's amazing how quickly it goes. We broke ground on March 1 and closed on May 23.

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  3. Congrats on moving in and thanks for sharing the good ... and the not-so-good. Super helpful for the rest of us to set realistic expectations. And especially ugh about the sink! =/

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    1. the sink must be different regionally or by house plan. We got a double 9" deep steel sink. I thought I would hate it coming from a cast iron sink, but I am good with it. Not sure why some get 8" deep and others 9".

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    2. The depth of the sink doesn't bother me. My issue is the distance from the front edge to the back edge. I'll have to measure next time I'm there. It is several inches smaller than our current one. I'll learn to live with the size and I really hope the texture wears down because it's like fingernails on a chalkboard whenever you wipe the sink with a cloth. But, I do love my upgraded faucet :)

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  4. Thanks for the good and the bad...helps those of us building to know what we might expect. The house looks amazing!

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  5. That is awesome!! Congrats!! Hey at least with laminate you can change the sink out I believe.

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  6. Congrats! I've read a couple places now about sink disappointment. I'm hoping it won't be too small for us. I wanted a single bowl anyway though so maybe down the road we'll change it out. I'd love a farmhouse sink but I don't think that would work since we got laminate.

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  7. Just bought a tape knife to take with me to the house to check for clumps.

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  8. Damn were late on this one, looks like everyone else came to the rescue :)

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  9. ravennadwelling.blogspot.com/

    Hello, I am building a Ryan Home and found your blog. There are very few pictures of completed Ryan Homes on the web so I was happy to stumble on yours. We close next week! We have also had our disappointments and then the high points too. I have posted many pics with some of the things we love and don't love. I think what I've seen overall is that Ryan builds a nice home but I need to live in ours for awhile before I truly know. Glad to visit your blog!

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