Building Our New Home

January 16th, 2006 - Pre-Contruction Meeting

Our next meeting was our preconstruction meeting. Basically, what this means is that the builder is almost ready to break ground. Before breaking ground, they meet with us to verify all of our selections and set our expectations on the process. It's also a transition from working with our Ryan Homes sales rep, to working with the Ryan Homes builders.

It was a pretty straightforward meeting. We met our PM (project manager) who first went through the process first. First off, he said that they are expecting to break ground either the first or second week of February. This was actually about a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. The first part of the project is to break ground and lay the foundation. Once the foundation is in place, expect that the ground be muddy for a while.

I may be missing a few steps, but after the foundation comes the framework. After the framework, we'll have another meeting which is the pre-drywall meeting. That meeting will entail walking through the property before the drywall is put up. We'll be able to take pictures of the piping and the lines...and get a good idea of where everything is. That's a good thing, 'cuz I know some builders that just keep on building and you pretty much have to visit everyday or you'll miss your opportunity to take pictures of the inside.

For safety reasons, he said to call if we ever wanted to visit the place. I'm assuming he meant to call if we want to actually walk in/on the lot. Not that I'm planning on visiting everyday, but I do plan to stalk the house on a semi-regular basis. So that will probably entail at least driving by and taking a few pictures.

Anyways, moving on...we then stepped through the plans on the house. We verified all our choices...while our PM gave us more of what to expect. While we were going through the selections, there was one item number that needed an adjustment...i think it was the style of one of our ceiling fixtures.

He said certain things in the place would be different. (I think he mentioned something about the doorstoppers on the kitchen pantry...he did mention getting more space in one of the bedrooms though.) He touched on a number of different things:

• Paint - It would probably be a good idea to paint, because the stuff they used recommended washing with a light damp cloth (aka cheap paint).
  
• Siding - It's possible to have siding "blowoffs" before the sealant has settled...and not to freak out by it, 'cuz it's normal.
  
• Sump Pump - He basically explained how the Sump pump works and that a battery backup would probably be a good idea if we went out of town.
  
• AC Unit - He showed us the location of our AC unit and how it's on the side, rather than the backyard in case we want to build a deck.
  
• Wiring - Because of what we're doing with Vector security, he'll have Vector meet with the electrician before any of the wiring gets done.
  
• Plumbing - When the house is complete, he'd give us contact names for the plumbers that they used for the house...that way if we plan to finish the basement, we can use a company already familiar with the building.
  

Our PM was actually very personable and really made us feel at ease with the whole process. One thing that surprised me was that he planned to call us once a week during the entire build process to give us an update on the place. So basically it's now a waiting game until they break ground...

posted by blimpy @ 1:09 PM