The electricians and plumbers were at the house today. Lights, switches, faucets, toilets, towel bars, toilet paper holders, closet shelving, laundry tub, etc. were installed throughout the house. The powder room toilet and pedestal sink will have to wait because the laminate flooring will not be installed until next week.
Speaking of next week, Monday will be registers and more finals, Tuesday will be the first clean and floor prep, Wednesday will be the laminate flooring install, Thursday will be carpet and Friday will be drywall touch-ups.
PM has already been busy with the blue tape, so there may be some in the pictures.
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| From the spot |
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Columns and trim have been painted.
Can't wait to see the front door painted! |
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Powder room mirror sitting face down on the kitchen counter.
Someone was kind enough to write, "I'm glass. Don't brake me."
Too bad they don't know the difference between brake and break:) |
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This is the first time we've seen the door from the house into the garage.
We thought it would be a 6 panel like the front door but were pleasantly
surprised to see that it's a 2 panel to match the interior doors. |
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Absolutely love the oil rubbed bronze enclosure!
A big thanks to Tammigirl for posting the pics of her bathroom which
convinced us that we needed this upgrade! |
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| Soaking tub (amid all the blue tape) |
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| Oil rubbed bronze faucets |
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| One of the secondary bath's fixtures |
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| Dining room chandelier |
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| Pull out chrome faucet |
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| Powder room light |
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Kids bath
Will be asking PM why the shower curtain rod is chrome
since we paid to upgrade "all" fixtures to oil rubbed bronze. |
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| Kids vanity and light fixture |
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| Laundry tub |
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| Basement bath |
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| Basement bath |
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| Missing phone jack in the basement |
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| Even the floodlights are brown! |
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| Coach light and service door from garage |
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| Lamppost |
I was pleasantly surprised to see how much of a contrast there is between the paint color on the walls and the trim. Because the trim is a bright white, it makes the walls look a bit creamier. I was afraid it was going to look too "white on white," but it's really not. Though I didn't inspect things too closely because we were on a tight schedule, I'm also really pleased with the painting. The walls were sanded down in areas where they had been quite rough and they seemed to have cleaned well before painting as I didn't notice dust or any particles caught in the paint.
While we have been making these Friday night visits, I realized this week that we only have two more of these visits left. That third one will be the first night we spend in our new house. I can't believe how close it is!
I am curious, how much communication do you have with your PM? I get the once a week phone call. I am not allowed to have his cellphone#. Email is hit or miss.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am confused on the tub access panel. Is that panel needed only if you get the jets?
Our PM calls every Friday to follow up on what was done that week and give me a schedule for the following week. I usually send an email on Monday with observations/questions from our Friday visit and he calls on Monday to answer my questions. I have his cell phone and email and he is always quick to respond to email. I find it odd that you are not allowed to have your PM's cell phone number. Where does he call you from?
DeleteThe access panel for the tub is to get to the water shut-off valve if needed. We did not get the jets (although I often kick myself for that).
You're not allowed to have your PM's cell phone number? That's kind of crazy! That was one of the first things our PM gave us. We haven't even broken ground yet and I've already texted him and he responded immediately. I wonder if its a decision made by each PM personally?
DeleteOnce a week, that's it. no contact, no cell phone, no texting. I am really bothered by this. Typically Saturday I already have a concern and I am a week away from my next call. I feel like a burden to my PM. That's just wrong. Yes, he has done some cool tweaks, and I am appreciative, but I'm spending a fortune on this house, I deserve a little more.
DeleteI would be bothered by that too. Our PM made a reference to his working hours during the pre-con meeting, so I thought that was his way of letting us know when we should contact him. I respect that, so I only call or email during work hours. He always says to call or email with any questions and he gets back to us right away.
DeleteIf your PM is not responsive that is a valid concern. I would work with the SR too if your questions/issues are not being addressed adequately.
DeleteLove the sink in laundry room, did that too!
ReplyDeleteWe initially asked for just a plumbing rough in so we could add our own sink (something a little nicer looking) but our SR said it would probably be the same price, so we just had them install the sink. We can always replace it later if I get tired of the utilitarian look of that one.
DeleteSeeing your master bath shower makes me so happy I decided to upgrade that (and was approved for it and not charged for the late change)!
ReplyDeleteSo Rachel, I assume I need to ask about this access panel. The model did not have one so I was assuming it wasn't a concern for me. I will try and find out...
ReplyDeleteDid you hear anything about the access panel?
DeleteI was at the house today and forgot to ask but I am pretty sure that must be a regional issue. I haven't seen any pictures of tubs with access panels here in NC. My current home doesn't have one and its the same style tub but I will confirm. I do know my PM is doing the fire access panels in the garage though. I think the fun part of the build is over for me. I spoke to my PM today in person expressing my concern about the fact that I am not allowed to call him directly, nor will he share his phone # with me. I heard excuses about too many phone calls and dead batteries and too much email... It really sucks. I would NOT have built this house if I had any idea of the limited contact I am allowed with the person building my 30 year investment. And the icing on the day was I hired an inspector who found a significant issue on the gable which I may or may not post on the blog. They will need the framers to come out, assuming they agree to fix.
DeleteI'm so sorry you're having to deal with all of this. Your PM's lack of communication is not acceptable. I hope they will fix the gable issue and perhaps your PM needs to know that unless he improves his communication, those coveted 10s on the survey are long gone. Good luck.
DeleteI like how all your colors come together on both the outside and the inside, good choices!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm so relieved that it all works together after picking everything from such tiny swatches.
DeleteI really could not handle it if I could talk to the PM only once a week. I visited almost daily during the build. I verified at the Pre-con that he takes texts. So most of our communication to date is done through text. That being said, he did not do the whole "weekly update" that many get. That would have been nice.
ReplyDeleteYou can't even imagine what it's like to have no communication with the PM. I sent a note to the SR (who is awesome, btw) today about my frustration. I didn't know about this once a week call till I was at the pre-con meeting. I would have walked away from Ryan had I known this in advance.
DeleteI love the oiled rubbed bronze bathroom enclosure and faucets! I'm a little jealous because they said we don't have a choice in that color so ours will just be the stainless (but our light fixtures and door hardware the bronze). I might have to bug them about it again!
ReplyDeleteAt our pre-construction meeting, our PM didn't know that they did the bronze enclosures. So, DH pulled out his iPhone and showed them Tammigirl's shower. He called to confirm that we would get the bronze enclosure. Perhaps your PM is unaware because no one has selected that on any of his builds. I would definitely ask. It certainly can't hurt :)
DeleteWe checked again with the sales rep and he said we could get them! He said it was an expensive upgrade (boo!). I was actually surprised how much they charge for it. It was only a few hundred to upgrade our doors and free for the lights. I might see if they'd be willing to just do the master bath since it's so expensive.
DeleteIt is an expensive upgrade! But, it was our last change and by this point, we were saying, "What's another couple bucks a month in our payment?" I will say, though, that I am so glad that we did it.
DeleteWhen you did change orders did they make you come up with that $ at closing? The reason we don't want to add it is they didn't put our flooring on our original price estimate (since we didn't pick it yet). So when our loan was approved it was approved for that original price estimate meaning we'd have to come up with another 4,000 at closing (instead of adding it to the mortgage). I'm hoping they'll just try and run the new number through instead but we had to show we could come up with that extra $. I'd totally do this option if I knew I didn't have to come up with another 1200$ in the next couple months!
DeleteWe were able to add it to our mortgage. We knew that we were approved for more than we were mortgaging, so we were ok. I would just ask your loan officer if it could be added in. We never were asked if we wanted to pay for anything out of pocket at closing.
DeleteHmmm our loan seems a little different I'll have to ask for details. They didn't approve us for a max amount. They approved us for the exact amount on our paperwork and said that's what we were approved for. I'm not sure if that means we wouldn't have been approved for more or if they didn't try to approve us for more. Guess I'll have to ask for more details.
DeleteThree weeks!! That's fantastic!! Doesn't it feel great to be getting close?! Everything is really coming together and looks very lovely. I have a small regret in not getting the ORB fixtures and doorknobs - they look very nice! Maybe we'll update the bathroom fixtures as we paint and decorate, but I probably won't go through the hassel of the doorknobs and hinges.
ReplyDelete