Week 8 - Fireplace

It isn't because of the record-breaking cold we had here in Cleveland this past February: this fireplace ROCKS!!!!  Seriously, this was our priciest upgrade but sooooooooooooo worth it. This is one of our favorite features of the house and when we looked at already built homes (model and for sale), we really noticed the fireplaces, or lack thereof, so we knew we had to have it.  

As you can see, it is not entirely finished.  Note: the raised hearth was an additional cost as well.  Also, the granite and light fixtures were supposed to be installed by the end of this week, but got delayed.

Week 7 - Kitchen Cabinets & Exterior Stone

Look at that BEAUTIFUL wooden cabinetry!  Ryan Homes offers a really nice selection of kitchen cabinetry. However, the knobs are an extra cost, and we did not like what they offered.  We also didn't love the backsplash offered, so we are adding these items after we move in.  



When I first started looking over the cabinets (checking for dents or scratches of course), I noticed the cupboard doors were uneven and didn't line up correctly when shut. Thankfully, the PM was right there and assured me someone would come back and level it all out. Phew, my OCD almost went into overdrive. 

Exterior stone is complete!

Week 6 - Trim, Spindles, & Hardwood floors!

Post-stain spindles

Pre-stain spindles

All of the trim is done and WOW what 
a difference it makes!  

Hardwood floors are also in -- you can see
a sliver of them up along the trim in the 2nd pic, 
but the rest of the house has cardboard
covering the floors so they are protected.  We could not be happier with our color selection - all of the pondering was well worth it! 

The spindles -- oh, these just make me swoon.  These were an upgrade but we just had to have them. They really complete the look and feel we are going for throughout our home, and being artsy people, we felt this splurge was well worth it. 

We also went back and forth on the stain selection and even went back to Rite Rug to make changes.  Again, more than happy with our final selection!  The railings going upstairs and in the basement were also installed this week!

Week 5 - A leak?!?

Well, all the dry wall was up by the end of this week, and we were really able to see the house starting to come together!  But, we did have one scare when we were poking around one weekend...As you can see in this picture, it looks there is a water leak somewhere in our bathroom basement !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, as our PM explained to us, this is just the concrete 'sweating.'  The ground was so frozen when the concrete was put in, and then you have the wood which not too long ago, was outside collecting water when it would rain.  The elementary explanation for this 'water stain' = The concrete and wood are adjusting to their new temperatures.  

So, a dehumidifier and thermometer was placed in the room and this 'stain' went away in just a couple of days.  Note: this is perfectly normal for a new home and happens all of the time.  In addition, it speaks to how important it is to have a dehumidifier running not only in the basement, but in other parts of the home, for the entire first year!  This is due to the changes in temperature/seasons and the house settling.  If you are in the building process, I'm sure you've heard the term 'as the house settles' a lot.  Panic attack successfully avoided! 

Week 4 - Drywall walk-through

Week 4 - Drywall walk-through

Hard to believe, but we had our drywall walk-through!  This is a very important meeting, as it's your one and only chance to add a can light, light switch, cable line, phone line, fan pre-wire, etc., before the drywall goes up!  Our PM was so great in making sure every little thing was perfect.  Everything was done correctly -- we had our extra large master bath shower and linen closet instead of a soaking tub (best decision ever by the way), Jill & Jack sink, light switches right where we wanted them, and rubbed-bronze finishes in the bathrooms.

What I was most impressed with was their efforts in getting our pendant lighting as perfect as possible.  This was about $800 to add in to our kitchen, and because of the placement of the canned lighting, our PM wasn't sure if the pendant lights would align where we wanted them to be over the island.  Additionally, he wasn't sure if we'd want the 2 canned lights that we'd have had we not gotten the pendant lighting, as it might be too much light.

So, they mapped out the exact placement and size of island, then used a laser to align to the ceiling area for the electrician to make the outlets RIGHT where we wanted them! We decided not to add on the 2 canned lights as it seemed it'd be too much light when the lights are on!

A couple days later, we went back to see the dry-wall put up and it really is starting to look like a home!

A bedroom filled with drywall 

Master closet

Week 3

Week 3

We paid to have a gas line added so that when we buy a
gas grill someday, it will be easy to hook up and right where we want it.

A pic of our morning room.

Blueprints

Fireplace - the raised hearth was an additional cost

Week 2

We completed Week 2 of the build process and are thrilled with the progress and communication from our PM Sam.  First, Sam was able to get our sump pump drain to connect with the city drains which was awesome -- it all depended on the topography once they completed the excavation.  In addition, he was able to make the water drainage pipes be underground, so when we mow our lawn or play cornhole out there someday, we don't have to step over it or worse, trip over it! This is something you probably wouldn't think of, and we only knew of asking about because when we were looking at homes, we saw a home that had the pipe above ground in its backyard, and really didn't like how it disrupted the mobility of the yard.  PMs can't always make the pipe be underground, but if you specifically point this out and ask them to try very hard to make it work (it might take them extra time to work with the topography of the land and the grade), they will.  

This was the final product at the end of Week 2

Sam also called us and asked us if we wanted the 2 basement windows to be in the finished part of the basement, or the unfinished part.  When he called he said we had an hour to get back to him before he would be forced the make the decision for us, and I called him right back to talk through it. He pointed out that though it'd be nice to have that natural light coming into the finished part of the basement, if we were to put a deck up, that view would be blocked by the legs and framing of the deck, making it more of an eyesore.  In addition, say we didn't do a deck, we had selected our cable to be on the wall directly across from the where those windows would be, making for bad TV quality if the sun was shining in.  Since we definitely plan on putting up a deck, we decided to put the windows in the unfinished/storage area of the basement.

This picture was taken at the start of Week 2













These pictures were taken just 10 hours after the picture above

Our plumbers hard at work....

The framing

And then a couple days after the framing was done, we drove up to our HOUSE, not just our lot anymore!

Front view of our house...we LOVE all of the room we have on the sides of our house! More privacy, and more room for a garden, more trees, and someday, a place for Greg to play soccer with our little ones!

This is the side/back view of our home. As you can see, the morning room (or as some call it, sunroom) looks right into the woods!