23 February 2015 - Day 70 - Another day of siding

The siding is looking great. We checked on the property for a second time right before the community HOA meeting. By the evening time, they had put up half the shaker and finished up the front side of the first floor. I gotta say these guys so far are doing a great job doing the siding considering the cold conditions outside. 

Day 70 - late morning

Day 70 - Evening

Porch ceiling done with three recessed light cutouts. The other hole on the back side is for a CCTV camera.... Which is way too big for my liking. 

22 February 2015 - Day 69 - Insulation, Siding, and Sheetrock

I'm so glad I decided to get out of the apartment today to check on the house as I was going stare crazy... besides, the doctor wanted me to move around some after surgery this past Thursday. Since I'm not allowed to drive due to the medications, my wife grabbed her car and off we went. As we approached the lot, I was surprised to see that they had already started on the siding. We originally were not sure if we would like the color, however, seeing it on the house has put our mind to rest. 

Over the weekend, they must have dropped off the propane tank to warm up the house so that the Sheetrock would acclimate correctly inside the house. From my research, Sheetrock must be installed with a temperature of at least 55 degrees with about 60% humidity. 

Day 69

Day 69 Selfie - I look like crap. 2 days after surgery. 

Spanish Olive 6.5" beaded siding

The Deck rock speaker wires are placed too high. I had already let them know I wanted these lowered so that I didn't have any holes knee high in the siding. Should be a quick fix hopefully. 

Morning room also had a slight leak coming from the ceiling. I notified the PM right away about it, and he'll be looking into it. I'm assuming it's the melting snow off the roof, nonetheless, it shouldn't be leaking inside. 

Insulation is complete and some cabinets have already been delivered. I can't believe that we should be closing in about 31 days. 

Foggy conditions driving back. 

20 February 2015 - Day 67 - Pre-drywall Meeting, House Appraisal and a couple of other things

Hi all,

It's been a couple of days since I've posted anything.  Progress has been somewhat slow the last few days due to all the snow and very cold temps. The Hampton Roads, VA area seems to shut down at the first site of snow. 

NVRM must have already ordered the appraisal as I received it this week. Everything looked great and the house appraised for more than the purchase price. Great news. Last order of business is getting the home insurance squared away. My plan was to try out Westwood Insurance (a Ryan Homes partner) however after correcting the square footage from 3200 to 3263, the yearly premium jumped from $824 to $970. I can't see an increase of $150 for just 63sqft. Anyone recommend good home owners insurance company?

Anyway, so today we had our pre-drywall meeting, I wasn't sure if I was going to attend this as I just had surgery 17 hours earlier. Luckily I felt good enough to get out of bed to attend. As we got there, a flatbed truck was unloading a ton of Sheetrock. I also had a private inspector accompany us so he could inspect the premises. 

During the inspection we caught a couple of things. For instance a couple of loose 2x4s, footer hangers not nailed properly, CAT 5 cable was pinched bad-possibly torn, outdoor speaker wiring too high, Tyvek torn between loft and porch ceiling, ducting not sealed with adhesive, loose subfloor at second floor stair landing and some nuts missing off threaded rebar that secures the framing to the foundation. Nothing too serious and the private inspector did mention that they had done a great job building the house.... But hey, an extra set or two of eyes helps to catch things before it's too late. 

Day 65

Day 65 panorama 

Side garage entrance

Crawl space

Some of the missing lateral 2 x 4's that will get fixed up. 

Master bath sink plumbing. I think the 3rd water line on the left is to control hot water temp. 

Kitchen on the left, family room on the right 

Family room on left, morning room in the center, and kitchen on the right

Master Bedroom - sitting area on left leading to closet and master bathroom on right. 

Master bedroom - sitting area on right and master bath on left

Laundry room plumbing

Dryer vent duct

Ryan Homes sure does seal up everything. I just wish they would put some sound proofing or insulation around the plumbing in the facility room and kitchen ceiling. 

Anyone want a 25 gallon ice cube?

12 February 2015 - Day 59 - That's a wrap

Such a crazy day today. We started off with very nice weather late this morning which led to some nasty cold rain by 3pm.  By the time I ran into our apartment club house to print another rate lock agreement document and sign it for NVRM, it had started snowing. (Keep in mind, that NVRM will not accept digitally signed mortgage documents.  I had originally opened up the PDF document and signed it digitally on the iPad which was not accepted by their system) I gotta say that the NVR Mortgage team in the Hampton Roads area has been great with everything so far.

Anyway... After tackling the snow and dealing with a bunch of ridiculous drivers in town we had finally made it to the house.  It literally took us 45 mins to travel about 10 miles. 

So of course we had to take our usual pictures around the house and also a selfie in front of it all wrapped up. The structured wiring folks must have had just finished up as they were leaving for the day and someone else working plumbing, gas or electrical was left. Hopefully things will be squared away for a pre-drywall meeting early next week. 

Day 59

Day 59 Selfie

I'm glad the wrap went up before the rain and snow hit today

This must be the main water supply to the house. Hopefully they bury that pipe below the freezing point in the group to the main. 

11 February 2015 - Day 58 - Structured Wiring Meeting

Just had my structured wiring meeting this morning to go over the exact locations for 5.1 speaker wiring, deck speaker wiring, alarm sensor locations, cable TV, Data CAT5e, and Telephone jack locations. 

I also had them add some extra bundles of CAT5e and COAX cable from the panel to the attic for a future HDTV antenna, Dish TV and for potential future expansion since he couldn't do a conduit run.  I also requested a run of additional CAT5e cable to the front door and patio door to run POE video cameras. 

While on site the plumbers and electricians got a lot of work done. The PM was also very helpful answering all my questions. He also stated that we should plan on a pre-drywall meeting sometime on Monday. 

Day 58

Master Upgraded shower and tub

Spare full bathroom

Spare bathroom looking into Master Bathroom. All that plumbing goes to the sinks. 

Double master sink plumbing

Tyvek covering a portion on the loft flooring

Gas and water lines that will go to the tankless water heater.  That sprayed green stuff is a termite deterrent. 

Duct work

10 February 2015 - Day 57 - Gas Lines / Plumbing / Electric

Can't really tell much from the outside, however, I saw a guy in the garage working on the gas lines and some folks grabbing PVC piping and taking it inside.  It also looked like they have started the electrical wiring near the garage area and more than likely throughout the rest of the house.  I also noticed the bottom portion of the wood that meets with the cinder blocks has some kind of a green sprayed on coating... not really sure what that is for.  Gotta put it on my questions list.

I'm scheduled to meet with "Protection by Design" the structured wiring company to discuss the location of Cable and CAT5e outlets along with speaker locations and alarm wiring spots sometime  tomorrow morning.

Day 57 - looks the same as the day prior

Gas pipe feeding the house.

Left over ducting that needs to visit the dumpster

9 February 2015 - Day 56 - Duct Work

No activity on Day 55.  On Day 56, the framers were back out on site nailing down the same boards they put up.  Not sure why.... maybe the county came to inspect and annotated some things that needed to get fixed.  It also sounded like there were a bunch of people working in the house.  I heard noises coming out from every window.  It was evident that some duct work had started today and it also looked like the HVAC/Furnace was unpacked.  I also noticed new cutouts throughout the exterior of the house for venting.  Additionally, I also got a call from the low voltage installer and he wanted to meet with us on Wednesday at the property to confirm what needs to get installed and where.

Day 56

Three vent holes cut out

All kinds of ducting material inside the garage

White PVC pipe for plumbing and spray painted utility marks on the ground

Pallet of Vinyl Siding