First Time Inside the House!

We met with the Project Manager today, who by the way I think I love (more on that later), to look at a finished master bathroom in a Florence model. After reading so many blogs about the new home owner not liking the single sink/one cabinet master bath, we were worried. After looking at the finished bathroom, we feel better about our choice. We can live with it for now.

After meeting with the PM, we went over to our house, and for the first time, we were able to walk through! The electricians were there finishing up. The plumbing will be completed tomorrow and the insulation will be installed on Monday. We will have our pre-drywall meeting next week. The only thing we weren't happy with was the small window in the "girls' room". This is a result of elevation A.

Pictures:

(1)The small window in the "girls' room". Dislike. Oh well, this room has three windows so I probably shouldn't complain too much.

(3) Upstairs. Standing at the top of the stairs looking into the master bedroom.

(2) Hall bathroom.

(4) The recessed lighting over the fireplace that the sales rep said we couldn't do...hmmm...looks to me like we could do it!

(5) Standing in the kitchen looking into the family room.

(6) Standing in the kitchen looking into the morning room.

(7) Kitchen. The doorway is the mudroom.

(Blogger is frustrating me and I can't figure out how to put the captions next to the picture, so I think it's time for bed)

Oh and the reason I think I might love our PM: One, he is the first person throughout this whole process that hasn't made me walk away feeling like a cheap date. He seems sincere in wanting to make us happy. Two, he seems good at his job. I like people who do their job well. Three, he's young and kind of cute (I've already discussed this with Scott). :-)

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.