Saturday, January 22, 2011

A Little Disappointed

Life has been COLD here in Columbus Ohio. Today the high was around 19 degrees and lows have been near zero. Thursday night we received about 5 inches of snow. Jackson had a snow day on Friday partially due to the snow and partially because of the bitter cold temperatures. Whatever put Whitehall City Schools over the edge was fine with me. It was SO nice not having to pack up all three kids, in the cold, to get Jackson to school.


So, the disappointment: The house.


The builders are making great progress. No complaints there. The roof has shingles, the garage door is hung, the gas lines are in and the plumbing is in as well.


The problem is the elevation we chose. Now, I do not want to sound like one of those uninformed consumers that blames the company for everything because he failed to read the fine print, but Ryan Homes and our ex-realtor have not been helpful. We were told we had to choose elevation A (the elevation is the outside appearance of the house, i.e. 5 windows v. 6 windows, porch v. no porch, things like that) because our soon-to-be neighbor had elevation B. Ryan Homes doesn't want our cookie cutter neighborhood to look anymore like a cardboard cut-out than it already does, so it will not allow two homes with the same elevation to sit next to each other.


We decided that we really wanted the Venice so we opted for elevation A. Well....elevation A is stupid ugly. Stupid because the bottom left window is not a double window like all of the other elevations and ugly because of the window, no porch, and a very small peak. Now it is totally our fault for not seeing this blemish, but I also fault our worthless realtor for not speaking up and saying "hey, these guys really want elevation B and can't afford elevation C, so how about they move down one lot so that they don't have to build the stupid-ugly elevation A, because, let's face it, honey-my husband-the builder, we've gotten over on these guys way too much already, let's throw them a freaking bone". Seriously, a freaking bone!


Now, I know that we will love the house when it is done and maybe the single "Vicki window" on the bottom will turn out to be a blessing, but as virgin home builders, we trusted her to help us out and she totally has left us face down in the mud. So that is the disappointment. I am going to try to beg the project manager to throw us that bone and help us out, but chances are everyday for the next ten years of my life, I will sit in my office and stare out of the "Vicki Window". But then again, maybe I'll love it.


Lots of good, I know, but this journey has not been fun. If anyone EVER tells you that building a home is fun check their breath for evidence of alcohol because they are either drunk or sleeping with the builder.

4 comments:

  1. Hi! I understand your disappointment with elevation A. We almost chose it too because I didn't realize you could get elevation C without the brick. We are near Cleveland and in our area the model home and almost every Venice that was elevation C had partial brick. Luckily we drove around several other Ryan Homes neighborhoods and saw it without brick and made a change before it was too late. For us, elevation C w/o brick was cheaper than elevation B w/o brick. We had to do the research on our own because no one even suggested that option to us! That being said, I have seen elevation A with partial brick and I think it looks good...much better than with just siding. I think you will like it better once the brick and siding is on and you will love the inside of the house! You are lucky you are getting the large morning room. That wasn't an option when we built. Also, I'm anxious to see how the office looks with the french doors. I don't think that was an option either when we built and I've never seen the front room like that before. Here is a link to my album on facebook of my house if you're interested in looking at pictures and I have more pictures of different models that I can email to you if you're interested. Good luck with the rest of the building process!

    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=7711668&aid=2413155

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  2. OMG! Thank you for sharing your pictures. Your house is beautiful! The outside is so cute and the inside is decorated beautifully. I love the kids' playroom in the basement. I have three kids, so this is a great idea for us (we aren't having the basement finished).

    I really hope the elevation will look better with brick. We have found that there have been many things we could have done, but no one mentioned. I just asked about the office and the rep said "ok". A lot of my disappointment is with our ex-realtor who didn't inform us of all the options we could have done. But if our home turns out like yours, we will be SO happy. Thanks again.

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  3. Megan u are hilarious!!!! love the breathalyzer check.....im gonna add u to my blog list....Im building a venice in Waldorf, MD...im from Akron, OH

    http://theryanhomesexperience.blogspot.com

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  4. I agree with you on the 'fun' aspect of the process. It's fun seeing it come to life, but the drudgery of spending countless days researching and pulling information out of people is daunting.

    We chose an elevation we love - with one caveat - we have no porch and not even a covering over the little stoop. Each elevation should/could include a porch or covered stoop option. The idea you have to take an elevation you overall hate to get the stoop or porch you want is crazy.

    We took the elevation we most liked and I hope to add a porch (or at least a little cover for the stoop) later.

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