Dig day!

Today was dig day!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was -20 degrees in Cleveland today, but that didn't change a thing for our dig date!  If you look closely at the picture, you can see how they dug out our basement!

My fiance and I met with our PM Sam on Friday for 3 hours for our Roadmap meeting.  We were so, so, SO impressed with our PM. He was so organized, passionate, knowledgeable, and SHARP as a tack.  He had plumbing items highlighted in pink, electric items in blue, and so on.  He is a great communicator and made us feel so comfortable with everything, while also reassuring us that the fun was just beginning and he wanted our experience to be top notch.  "Simply put, my job is to make you guys happy with this beautiful home you've designed."  Yes, he makes sure things are scheduled out, done correctly, etc., but he said he really is there to make sure our every need and want is taken care of along the way.  He would have given us even more time if we asked for us, it was like it didn't seem to matter that it was almost 8 o'clock on a Friday!  Additionally, he went through the details of how Ryan Homes comes back in 10-12 months post-build to address nail pops and all those little things that arise with a new house as it settles.  

It was amazing to see all of the blueprints and the details/notes that accompanied them.  Sometimes you might hear Ryan Homes being criticized for offering a cookie-cutter home (which most builders do have cookie-cutter homes, and that's why custom builders exist -- however there is a MUCH smaller market for custom-built homes because of the significant rise in their cost), as well as for putting up their homes so quickly.  Attend a Roadmap meeting with Ryan Homes and you will see how they do it so quickly.  They have EVERY last detail down to a science -- it truly reminded us of the efficiency of an assembly line.  Every structural detail, every possibility, and every concern has already been identified with each model and elevation.  They can put these homes up so quickly because they have established such an efficient process with having built so many of the 'x' style of home.  

We are also very happy to hear about how stringent Ryan Homes is about meeting their deadlines -- for every day that goes past our hard move-in date (which we won't know for another month), the PM 'pays the price' in that cost variance by taking a big pay cut.  It just doesn't happen with Ryan Homes -- the lumber, carpet, flooring, pipes, stone, cement, wires, drywall, insulation, etc., is all ordered and delivered down to a precise science.  

We definitely agree with our PM so far, the fun has just begun!