So at 9:30am we get a call from the moving company "We're sorry, one of your movers called in sick and we had to reassign the other movers to other jobs. We have to cancel for today. Can we come tomorrow?" Ummmmm, no. PODS is picking up their stuff tomorrow.
Honestly, the close and move could not have been much worse. The ease of using NVR is the only positive from this past week.
PM still sucks.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
We're in - Day 3 update
Day 3 and the frustration with Ryan Homes continues. At closing we had a list of about 60 things that needed fixed - some big, some small. About 4 of the small things have been taken care of. As we live in the house we continue to find things that need to be fixed so the list grows larger by the day.
Recently we added:
- more squeaky steps
- squeaks in the master bedroom closet
- glue in the master bedroom carpet
- leaking basement (unfinished)
- unfinished nail holes in the kitchen island
Now we have the problem of not having a working refrigerator water line. The PM told us at predrywall that the water line would be in a box in the wall. That didn't happen. The excuse given was that we couldn't have it because it was an exterior wall. So, instead they install the line through the floor about 4 inches away from the back wall. We warned the PM that the refrigerator would hit it but he said that the refrigerator should not sit back that far and it would be fine. The refrigerator of course hit the water line and bent it so that we can't use it.
Our PM sucks - plain and simply. He constantly reminds us that he's built over 500 homes and he knows what he's doing. Maybe that's right and he knows how to schedule but he procrastinated horribly on this house. Again, had he set the tone with subcontractors to do a good job or at the very least inspected what they were doing we wouldn't be in this spot.
I may have said this in the last post but we're tired of dealing with our PM on this stuff. It's honestly easier to do it ourselves. Our refrigerator delivery guy asked why the builder didn't move the water line as it's an easy fix? And our HVAC guy who came to move a register location was dumbfounded that Ryan wouldn't just move it before carpet was installed. In 100% honesty they both used the word "Morons."
OK, onto some good updates. Movers come today to unload our PODS at which point we can finally start living. Painting is going well and we've finished the powder room, laundry room and the boy's bedrooms. Next up is closet organizers and installing a new powder room sink and mirror.
It's rained here the past couple of days so we shut off the sprinkler system. Sod looks like it's taking and even getting some grass in the back where the seeded.
Hoping to get some more pictures soon!
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
And We're In!
Well, we did it. What seemed like a never-ending journey is finally over - sort of. Yesterday we made our final walkthrough of the house and then went to our closing. The closing process was very simple - sign a lot of documents and walk out with keys to your new house. Of all the processes we went through to get to this point NVR was the best. I know they get a bad rap on some websites but they were nothing but professional and courteous the entire trip.
Now for the house. We love it. We've waited a long time for this and in the end it was all worth it.
Now the down side. Very few of the items on our list were completed before we closed. In fact they're still going to be working on a few things on the outside while we live here. Our PM has finally broken us. Yesterday morning we just got to the point where we just wanted them out of the house and let us take over. We'll finish the minor blemishes and learn to live with a few things until the 30 day and 1 year fixes. It's just frustrating dealing with him and watching nothing get done. We liken it to asking a person to wipe off a counter but instead they wife off the wrong counter - and then they only wipe off part of the correct counter but spill their drink on the floor - and then they clean up their drink but leave the cup on the still dirty counter. "Just get out of the way and I'll do it myself!"
We started our move yesterday by moving all our personal belongings from my mother in law's house to our new house. Without much in the form of furniture we're still living out of totes but that's fine.
We also started the journey of painting rooms. So far the laundry room, powder room and one bedroom closet are finished. Will try to get the kid's rooms finished before the weekend so they can start living again. We'll get the rest painted as soon as we can but there is A TON of other stuff to get to.
When you get a new home don't forget to budget money for blinds, curtains, ceiling fans, closet organizers, etc. It adds up quickly. Luckily for my wife I'm handy enough to do most of this work myself. Luckily for me I have a beautiful wife who knows decor. We make a pretty great team.
Speaking of that, on the same day as we closed we also celebrated our 13th anniversary! Looking forward to spending the rest of my life with this woman.
On another down note, last night before bed I noticed a little water in the basement. It hadn't rained so the only water that could be was either from plumbing or the sprinkler in the back. PM came over this morning and cut away the insulation. Sure enough, foundation leak. "I don't know how this is happening; you have waterproofing." The leak starts right at the ground level mark so obviously the waterproofing is compromised. He's working on it. Will keep this blog updated on this issue.
Pictures will be forthcoming.
Friday, June 9, 2017
3 Days to go...
I lied - or just too excited to keep the promise of not visiting the house again. In either case, I stopped by last night as it was on my way home from sports. Happy to see some work on our list was done. Unhappy to see that some of the "work" is not what we would have expected as far as the quality of which Ryan prides itself. Quality is up to the PM you get.
So, the good. They added our garage door hardware and opener.
They added the handrail at the end of the porch. This is technically necessary by code because the fall is greater than 30" so it wasn't our of the goodness of Ryan's heart. I'm sure they would have much rather not done the work. In either case, we have the handrail and we're happy.
The bad.
We were told that sliding screens are not included with patio doors. I think it's something they just stopped doing.
The SR is checking with Production but we were told that the soft-close drawer slides for our kitchen planning desk are not included. This is entirely disappointing as we upgraded all our kitchen cabinets to get the soft-close drawers and the planning desk cabinets are otherwise exactly the same. The same layout and upgraded cabinets are in the model and, guess what - they have soft-close drawers. Hoping for a good outcome but not really expecting much give.
The wood flooring that is chipped in several places - mainly along the edge - was "repaired." I think to them that means that someone took a stain pen and colored the bad areas. Booooo! Not really the "quality" that we had expected for the amount we are paying for the house. We think the floor was installed using a tapping block that damaged the edges of several boards. We'll keep an eye on it and if any more chipping is seen we'll have a talk with Ryan and Rite Rug.
So, the good. They added our garage door hardware and opener.
They added the handrail at the end of the porch. This is technically necessary by code because the fall is greater than 30" so it wasn't our of the goodness of Ryan's heart. I'm sure they would have much rather not done the work. In either case, we have the handrail and we're happy.
The bad.
We were told that sliding screens are not included with patio doors. I think it's something they just stopped doing.
The SR is checking with Production but we were told that the soft-close drawer slides for our kitchen planning desk are not included. This is entirely disappointing as we upgraded all our kitchen cabinets to get the soft-close drawers and the planning desk cabinets are otherwise exactly the same. The same layout and upgraded cabinets are in the model and, guess what - they have soft-close drawers. Hoping for a good outcome but not really expecting much give.
The wood flooring that is chipped in several places - mainly along the edge - was "repaired." I think to them that means that someone took a stain pen and colored the bad areas. Booooo! Not really the "quality" that we had expected for the amount we are paying for the house. We think the floor was installed using a tapping block that damaged the edges of several boards. We'll keep an eye on it and if any more chipping is seen we'll have a talk with Ryan and Rite Rug.
Thursday, June 8, 2017
4 Days to go...
Getting down to the end but so much more to do. No pictures this post but some excellent info for anyone wanting to build with Ryan and still in the planning stages.
1. Dark engineered hardwood stinks. The wood underneath is light colored so any flaw stands out yugely. I think we had more tape on our floors than on the walls.
2. Non-sliding patio doors apparently don't come with sliding screens - at least according to our SR and PM. They're not expensive or difficult to add but would have been nice to have them included.
3. If you get the planning desk in the kitchen and upgrade your cabinets to get the soft close drawers, the planning desk drawers are not soft close. This REALLY pisses me off as they are the exact same cabinets and we paid for the upgrade. Still trying to fight for this.
4, If you use a buying agent (and I highly suggest you do) have them come out at all the inspection phases. Ours was quite direct about the house not being ready and needing a lot of work to complete. Wish we had brought her for predrywall.
Today we had our pre-settlement walkthrough with the PM. Again, the house was nice but not move-in ready or move-in cleaned. We came in with a list of about 90 items that needed to be addressed. We left with a list of about 80 but nothing structurally wrong. This doesn't include all the blue tape added around the house. Our agent suggested delaying closing a few days but we have already lined up movers, utilities and furniture deliveries and didn't think we needed to delay all of that.
So what's on our list? If you're interested I've included a PDF of our list below:
We made the list and our Inspection Report part of the presettlement document. Ryan is now legally obligated to fix what is on the list or at least provide a disposition as to why it cannot be fixed.
We're going to take a few days off the house thing. Neither my wife or I have been able to sleep much lately worrying about construction. At this point there is nothing more we can do but attend another walkthrough on Monday before closing. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well then.
On a positive note, NVR has been great to work with. They gave us some good incentives to use them for financing. The process has been entirely smooth and everyone involved personable and professional.
1. Dark engineered hardwood stinks. The wood underneath is light colored so any flaw stands out yugely. I think we had more tape on our floors than on the walls.
2. Non-sliding patio doors apparently don't come with sliding screens - at least according to our SR and PM. They're not expensive or difficult to add but would have been nice to have them included.
3. If you get the planning desk in the kitchen and upgrade your cabinets to get the soft close drawers, the planning desk drawers are not soft close. This REALLY pisses me off as they are the exact same cabinets and we paid for the upgrade. Still trying to fight for this.
4, If you use a buying agent (and I highly suggest you do) have them come out at all the inspection phases. Ours was quite direct about the house not being ready and needing a lot of work to complete. Wish we had brought her for predrywall.
Today we had our pre-settlement walkthrough with the PM. Again, the house was nice but not move-in ready or move-in cleaned. We came in with a list of about 90 items that needed to be addressed. We left with a list of about 80 but nothing structurally wrong. This doesn't include all the blue tape added around the house. Our agent suggested delaying closing a few days but we have already lined up movers, utilities and furniture deliveries and didn't think we needed to delay all of that.
So what's on our list? If you're interested I've included a PDF of our list below:
We made the list and our Inspection Report part of the presettlement document. Ryan is now legally obligated to fix what is on the list or at least provide a disposition as to why it cannot be fixed.
We're going to take a few days off the house thing. Neither my wife or I have been able to sleep much lately worrying about construction. At this point there is nothing more we can do but attend another walkthrough on Monday before closing. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well then.
On a positive note, NVR has been great to work with. They gave us some good incentives to use them for financing. The process has been entirely smooth and everyone involved personable and professional.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
5 Days to go...
Stopped by the house this morning to check on the work that was done yesterday and everything is looking better. Not perfect, but better.
All the blue tape is gone. Cleaners came in and did a somewhat adequate job. Third party inspectors expected later today. Seems like we're all set for final walkthrough tomorrow.
In just a quick visit I noticed a lot of things that still need to be touched-up:
- Laminate floors are iffy. Several are chipped. Lots of paint and drywall dust in the cracks and crevices. One spot where filler was used to cover where they had driven a screw through a board. Not happy.
- Trim is still a mess in several places. If you're not going to use a full length of trim along a wall then at least TRY to smooth out the joint. Several joints have wood filler gobbed on and not sanded.
- Drywall patches around some outlet boxes that were adjusted is terrible.
- Drywall patch on the master bath is hideous.
None of this will stop closing but it's highly likely they will be working after we close.
Anyway, pictures!
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
6 Days to go...
Missed day 7 but that's OK. So much going on right now that this process is a blur.
As a surprise - WE HAVE FREAKIN SOD!!!! Our neighbors who just moved in a week ago don't even have sod yet. Looking like a house...
Advice to those in this process - hire a home inspector. We're glad we did. My wife was feeling very overwhelmed at the amount of work that still needed to be done. The inspector reassured her that this is normal and that overall the house is in great shape. The minor stuff can easily be finished.
Even though our house is still a few days away from being ready we had our home inspector come in today to give it a once-over for major mechanical and semi-structural fixes. The idea was to avoid the cosmetic items that are still being addressed and instead focus on fixes that can't be covered with spackle and paint. There were still a lot of tradesmen around the house doing minor (and some not-so-minor) touchups but here is what he found:
- Refrigerator on the same GFCI protected circuit as the kitchen outlets. If the GFCI trips then the contents of the refrigerator can thaw before we have a chance to reset the breaker.
- Front porch needs a railing. Code says anything with a fall greater than 30" needs a railing. We're at 40" on the side of our porch. Highly likely that Ryan won't do it.
- A bad GFCI outlet on the deck.
- Brick weep holes missing netting material.
- Several doors and latches need adjusting.
- Missing deck flashing and lateral support.
- Rusting (already?) flashing material
- A bunch of minor stuff too numerous to list.
My wife had a list of her own - 5 pages that doesn't include all the blue-tape stuff that we considered cosmetic. Add that to our previous punch list and we're up to over 60 items. Ryan's third party inspector comes tomorrow and will have his list of fixes. In two days we go back for our final walkthrough before closing. That's where we'll break out the blue tape!
We love the house. There is a lot of work to be done but we love it and look forward to being able to call it ours.
As a surprise - WE HAVE FREAKIN SOD!!!! Our neighbors who just moved in a week ago don't even have sod yet. Looking like a house...
Advice to those in this process - hire a home inspector. We're glad we did. My wife was feeling very overwhelmed at the amount of work that still needed to be done. The inspector reassured her that this is normal and that overall the house is in great shape. The minor stuff can easily be finished.
Even though our house is still a few days away from being ready we had our home inspector come in today to give it a once-over for major mechanical and semi-structural fixes. The idea was to avoid the cosmetic items that are still being addressed and instead focus on fixes that can't be covered with spackle and paint. There were still a lot of tradesmen around the house doing minor (and some not-so-minor) touchups but here is what he found:
- Refrigerator on the same GFCI protected circuit as the kitchen outlets. If the GFCI trips then the contents of the refrigerator can thaw before we have a chance to reset the breaker.
- Front porch needs a railing. Code says anything with a fall greater than 30" needs a railing. We're at 40" on the side of our porch. Highly likely that Ryan won't do it.
- A bad GFCI outlet on the deck.
- Brick weep holes missing netting material.
- Several doors and latches need adjusting.
- Missing deck flashing and lateral support.
- Rusting (already?) flashing material
- A bunch of minor stuff too numerous to list.
My wife had a list of her own - 5 pages that doesn't include all the blue-tape stuff that we considered cosmetic. Add that to our previous punch list and we're up to over 60 items. Ryan's third party inspector comes tomorrow and will have his list of fixes. In two days we go back for our final walkthrough before closing. That's where we'll break out the blue tape!
We love the house. There is a lot of work to be done but we love it and look forward to being able to call it ours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)