Trim and Cabinets

Today (03/06/2014) I went by the house. The crews were installing the trim and kitchen cabinets.

I have to say, the house is looking good. There were two major issues that are going to have to be fixed.

1) The box for the whole home audio on the exterior of the house is still located above and to the left of the kitchen door. The project manager told me he will make sure it is moved. Though it will involve opening drywall and pulling siding off the house.

The "box" to the right and top of the sliding door needs to be to the right and slightly lower than the railing outside the door, for future speakers mounted to the deck railings. 

2) The drywall on the stairs has a bow and a bad corner where it has completely separated from the studs. He had caught it and pointed out that a drywall crew would be out to repair and replace the bad spot. He did not prioritize the repair because it would have delayed the first coat of paint and the trim crews. I appreciate that. However, I have no clue how it happened. I did not ask. I did not take a photograph.

The vinyl floors have been installed in the kitchen, the laundry closet and the living room powder room. It looks good, especially with having bronze hardware for the doors. The kitchen cabinets were in the kitchen, along with the bathroom vanity. The kitchen cabinets look great with the vinyl floors. I am hoping that the granite will coordinate just as well.

Unboxed, and awaiting installation. 

This is going to do a great job of concealing German Shepherd Dog paw prints.  Also it will tie in well with my furniture and the kitchen cabinets. In fact, this will look better with my change order cabinets than the original ones I selected.

The exterior siding is straight, and has no visible bows. The siding crew did a great job. Washington gas has installed the gas line, and has it aligned reasonably with the meter. Some houses the gas line is 3'-5' off from where the line into the house is. Then there is this long gas pipe between the meter and where the gas goes into the house. It looks really bad. Mine, while not as perfect as it could be is acceptable.

And finally, there is the issue of job site mud. I made a bad footwear choice, and below is the end result. My clutch petal got it worse than the gas and brake.

eeeeeks, mud! My poor clutch petal.  

Pre Drywall meeting

Yesterday was my pre-drywall walk through on the house. I asked for the door bell chime and transformer to be moved to another wall, since they were located where I was going to hang a painting. I asked for some of the recessed lights to be moved around. Those were granted. I asked for one of the electric outlets in the owners bath to be moved. It ends up that it can't be because of the mirror. I can respect that. However, the requests for a flexible conduit run for the FiOS transformer/battery back up wire and the interior wall insulation requests were denied, as Guardian and Ryan do not offer these as "options". I offered to do the work myself. I was told that was not permitted. However, I have been reading blogs about others who have built homes with Ryan and their requests were granted either by the project manager getting it done, people paying the sub contractors out of pocket directly, or doing the work themselves. I do have respect for the project manager staying on point, however reading that others were able to be worked with in accommodating some specialized requests does not set right. Granted, I have a couple of non standards that are installed in my home (the deck level hose bib being the main one), along with extra bracing and framing in some key locations. But many others have been able to push the envelope much further. A family member that had a home built by Ryan last year even was able to "bypass" Guardian and run their own surround sound wiring, because they could do it better and cheaper. Their project manager knew about it ahead of time and did not explicitly "bless" it being done, but a blind eye was given to it happening. I paid Guardian to run mine. I would have preferred to have run my own 12 gauge in wall speaker wire as opposed to the 16 gauge in wall speaker wire that Guardian installed my home. But in order for it to be done, I went the honest route and worked with what Guardian offered and paid the price of admission. If I had tried to bypass Guardian, I would have been left in the cold. They offered the option, I paid for it. I can understand not offering the option to insulate between interior walls, or run flexible conduit, but if it is not being offered, why is there a problem with this? If I want these things, they must be done after construction, with a substantially higher cost AND opening up the drywall in the home.

Beyond that rant, I will say, homes are not being built the same way as they were ten years ago. One source of information about energy efficient building is here. All of the features mentioned in that article are present in my home. The whole home fan system is something fascinating. It sucks the air out every 15-20 minutes to make sure any exterior doors are closed tighter. Spray foam insulation is applied liberally though out the framing, and the fireproof (pink) type is sprayed around where wires come out of any electrical boxes. Air leakage is now considered a major thing. Sixty years ago when my dad was a journeyman working on new houses, there was an expectation that homes should have some air loss. Now, the goal is none. I was also present for the testing of the ductwork. To meet Energy Star 3.0 standards, a total duct leakage shall be ≤ 6 CFM25 per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area. Ryan Homes target is 2.5 CFM25, my home was 3.4 CFM25. While I was higher than target, my house was well within standards. My current house does not even have tape around the duct seams, my new home has mastic cement around every joint. These are things that do make a difference in heat/ac bills, and something to pay attention to. I was very glad that I was present for the testing so I know my duct work was done right from the start.

As far as the incident on Friday. My real estate agent and my sales representative are both aware of it and are going to take the appropriate steps. I am staying silent as long as it is addressed.

Here are some recent indoor pictures.

Wall where my big screen TV will go.

Owner's bedroom and bath wall.

Owner's bedroom looking towards the stairs.

And here are some recent exterior pictures.

I am very happy with the exterior brick details. I wish I did not have to have fake shutters on the brick.

I have asked for the dormer windows to be closed. I have not checked in the past day or two to see if they have been.

I think I have the best elevation on the row.

Not a happy camper.

Everything with the actual construction of the house is going fine. I have my pre-drywall meeting on Monday morning. However, I am not going to go into details, but my real estate agent is trying to address an "incident" that happened over the past few days.

Guardian, Electricians and Sprinklers

Over the past few days, there has been substantial progress on my home.

I met with Guardian on Monday morning (02/17/2014). They wanted to meet in the afternoon but I explained that I work midnight shift and the rep told me he would make a point to have an early appointment with me, before his meeting, and then the appointments with the other people in my row. I moved my phone jack and future charge and play locations within the kitchen from between the fridge and stove (tight fit) to above the dishwasher.

I noticed on Tuesday morning (02/18/2014) when I went to the house the electricians started to locate boxes within the house.

I went by the house later in the day on Tuesday, the electricians were finishing up their work for the day and asked me a question about where to put the fifth recess light in the recreation room, I have a fan box where there normally would be a recess light.  I also saw that the sprinkler system technicians had put in their system today (they were not there at 7:15 AM nor at 2:30 PM, so they got that system in quickly)

Tomorrow the electricians are going to be finishing up, and Guardian is scheduled to come in and do their wiring. The bricklayers are starting the brick front of my house.

I am scheduled for my pre-drywall meeting for Monday. I guess this will be purchasing some insulation for some strategic locations (between Bedroom 2 / Bedroom 3, around the half baths, around the washer/dryer closet, around waste pipes) to cut down on unwanted noises around the house. I hope they give until Wednesday (when I am off work) to get this done.

I do plan on posting some new pictures, but have been kind of quiet on this point.

Have a good one everyone.

This weeks wild weather.

Since I last posted, the plumbing trades and HVAC trades have finished their work at this stage, though I noticed one issue that is going to have to be brought up at the walkthrough, unless I catch my project manager head of that. I had put in a request to have a hose bib at deck level. It was located next to the patio door. I don't think it will be a big deal to have one run at this point.

On Monday morning I am going to be meeting with Guardian to finalize the rough in locations for my multitude of wiring I paid for. I also know the electrician is going to be starting my house either Monday afternoon or on Tuesday morning. I do have some concerns about them getting the spacing right for my ceiling lighting in the living room and recreation room, otherwise everything is pretty standard, except for adding a few dedicated circuits and electrical outlets.

The masonry trades were starting to the brick on the end unit of my row. However, it was slow progress for them due to the amount of snow. Hopefully with the warmer weather this coming week, we will start to see the outside of the home really shape up.

Lennox MPD40 Fireplace.

Gas line runs straight front to back, then over for the fireplace. Good to know if I want to make my grill natural gas.

Tonight's update

Earlier today (02/10/2014) I went by the house twice, once after work, and once around 5:00 PM. The trades were starting to install the plumbing and had installed the HVAC equipment. I also got a chance to talk to my sales rep, and the issues with the specs sheet are in the process of being addressed (they were working off an old copy at the site). He is e-mailing the project manager to make sure they do not put almond bathroom fixtures. He also told me that he got a call from the project manager about the bronze hinges and door knobs. The electrical issues are just due to the old build sheet, he showed me the most current copy, and everything was correct on that one. Below are pictures of today's progress. I hope that the impending major snow event does not slow us down too much.

HVAC hoses in the attic space.

More detail of the framing for the tray ceiling.

top floor HVAC in the attic space

Plumbing contractor parked in the future front yard.

I now have shingles (not the disease)

This morning on my way home from work, I stopped by the house. I now have shingles on the roof(s)

`

Now with the shingles installed, I am hoping they have a only a few more minor things before the mechanical technicians can start really rocking and rolling to get things roughed in for drywall.

I also am starting to enjoy the view out my living room window too. 

Other than the single family home to the left, it's just a view of woods. Which will fill in nicely when there are leaves on the trees.

I am also glad my real estate agent talked me into getting the tray ceiling option. I think it will make the owners suite more interesting than a standard flat ceiling.

This can't be added later.

I did notice a couple concerns on my spec sheet for the house though, I plan on discussing this with the project manager, especially since these "issues" were brought up to my sales person. I wanted to have white tubs, toilets and vanity tops. They are still coded on the list as almond. Secondly, my light fixtures and knobs and hinges are still coded as brushed nickel. (My change order paperwork shows I had changed everything to oil rubbed bronze, except for the kitchen faucet and kitchen cabinet hardware) Third, my recess lights for the living room were not listed on there (I have my change order paperwork showing six (correction, five :-( ) extra were purchased, along with the two extras for the bedroom and the two over top the fireplace 

(the two for the bedroom and fireplace were on the master spec sheet) ) Otherwise everything was spot on. I will talk to my project manager on Monday to make sure that those things are addressed before the heavy trades get going inside at full blast.

Everyone, have a great weekend.

Progress is starting to show. And more following up, per the usual protocol.

Yesterday (02/06/2014), I went by the house twice to check on progress. I brought a friend of mine with, though he did not go inside the perimeter of the property.

The workers were framing the top floor out. There was more progress on the garage, it's under plywood, and has some trim details installed.

I also had to meet up with my sales person, who is in another community, to initial some changes to the lot transfer, the internal community codes needed to be changed over to the legal lot descriptions. I took a closer look at my cabinets, and noticed that they had the crown molding atop the upper cabinets. I wonder how it would look with a bulkhead? The model had open space over the cabinets. With an internal unit townhouse, a bulkhead had to be installed to allow for venting the OTA Microwave, and must be externally vented because of having a gas range. Plus when range hoods recirculate, they do not make a substantial difference in odors or moisture control when cooking. I talked to their project manager about some random things, and he complemented me on my "long term" vision with my home.

Garage framing and finishing coming along very nicely.

From another angle. I like the keystone over the top center

Top floor framing coming along.

As I had discussed in the last post, I did not purchase a washing machine, a dryer, or an upgraded refrigerator from Ryan Homes.

I am strongly considering this refrigerator:

This Samsung 28 Cu/Ft French Door Refrigerator looks promising. It has a decent amount of space in the freezer, the refrigerator compartment has a good layout, the ice maker does not eat up a lot of space, and of course the ice dispenser is located in the door. It's not as fancy as some of the other Samsung models that are stainless steel, but it's got a solid feature set. Home Depot is selling this one for $2298 right now. I am expecting that there will be sales on a regular basis for this one, keeping the price around that amount.

Samsung washing machine.

This Samsung 4.0 Cu/Ft front load washing machine has great reviews at Best Buy, Lowe's and a decent score in Consumer Reports. I am noticing the price of this washer is hovering around $850 or so. I plan on getting the available pedestals. 

Samsung dryer with steam cycle

This Samsung 7.4 Cu/Ft electric dryer is the considered to be the other pair to the washer pictured above. It offers a steam setting, however, Consumer Reports has stated that it does not make a major performance improvement. It's price is also hovering around $850.

Here is a rant I have. I wanted a gas dryer. An electric dryer costs around $120 a year to operate. However, a gas dryer only costs around $30 a year to operate. Ryan Homes does not offer a gas dryer hookup option at any price for the Mozart. Something about code issues. The cost recovery period for the added cost of a gas dryer (typically $100) plus adding the plumbing for gas, is around 3 years. After that the gas dryer will save a large amount of money for a typical household. In some Ryan Homes, they do offer a gas dryer hookup option, and I highly recommend going that route. 

Bosch Dishwasher, 800 series with front controls

This Bosch 800 series dishwasher has great ratings with Consumer Reports, and reviews on Best Buy and Lowe's tend to be in the mid 4 star range. I am not a fan of the controls that are concealed, and those dishwashers tend to cost around $50-$100 more. I am definitely more of a fan of the recessed handle style. This particular dishwasher even has a light inside the tub, is rated Energy Star with a estimated operating cost of $23 a year with gas hot water. My family also has purchased Bosch dishwashers for my mom's house, my mom's former rental property and my brother's house. They have been rock solid reliable, and run very quiet. I probably will not purchase this D/W until I am in the home for at least a few months, with the clothes washer and dryer getting first priority, then the refrigerator getting second priority.

I am planning on putting in my wet bar at some point in the next couple years. I used the KraftMaid Hanover Square maple with a Praline finish, in the remodel of my mom's rental's kitchen. My sister and I selected a great slab of Butterfly Verde granite. I selected white appliances, and the final product was very elegant. 

For the sink, I selected a Moen Brantford pull down faucet, in stainless steel to coordinate with the sink. For the wet bar, I would keep that theme going, and use a 14x16 sink, just large enough to do dishes, but not so large to take up a large amount of space.

Moen Brantford full pull down faucet in stainless steel.

So for the wet bar, I plan on staying within the same idea span. The only possibility is to go with a blue colored granite, because of the slate on the fireplace. However the wet bar and fire place are a good distance apart.

I want a full size Refrigerator with an ice maker and a dishwasher. I saw the GE Artistry refrigerator at Home Depot when I was ordering the appliances for my mom's rental property remodel. I loved the retro look. And it was sized right for a second refrigerator. It's energy star rated. The price is on the high side, but is unique.

GE Artistry series refrigerator in white.

As far as a dishwasher is concerned, I plan on reinstalling the one that I am getting with the house to the bar. I don't see it being used more than 10 times a year, and the cost to benefit of purchasing another one just does not make sense. If I had to purchase a new one, I probably would go with an entry level Bosch or the GE Artistry model (despite the hidden controls on the Artistry D/W)

As far as flooring around the wet bar, I probably will go with a neutral tan tile, or look at continuing the engineered hardwood from the foyer throughout the basement. I plan on getting a custom neon sign made to go over the sink (deep red and teal), under cabinet lighting, and recess lights above the bar. I probably will get glass doors and shelves for the upper cabinets, so show off glassware and liquor. The bottom cabinets are going to be used for storing things for entertaining, such as hot plates, crock pots, platters, etc. 

Well, tonight I go back to work for the week. I do not plan on stopping by the house today, since I have cleaning and packing to do here. I typically go by the house when I get off work in the morning. There is more snow in the forecast for this weekend, with the possibility of a major snow event next Wednesday. I am sure this will slow the crews down for getting the home fully under roof. However once that happens, the progress speeds up because weather does not affect the crews. (they bring in portable propane heaters and generators, until the heat and electrical are operational in the house).

More random details, plus some answers

 This morning (02/06/2014) I am going to go into a little bit more detail about flooring selections, tile selections, appliances, and discuss some of the requests made to my project manager.

When I went to CTI, I picked out carpeting and vinyl flooring. As I had stated in an earlier post, I went with a Level "B" carpet, and Level "A" padding. Everywhere in the home where carpet is present, I went with the Collinsville Sahara Buff, pictured below:

This is the carpeting that is going to be throughout the house, however this sample is darker than it is in person. It's a perfect complement to a black and tan German Shepherd dog.

The vinyl floors, in the kitchen/dining room area, the powder room on the first floor and in the washer/dryer closet, are "Initiator 66182", which is manufactured by Armstrong flooring, and also known as Glenville Mesa Tan, pictured below:

I liked the "dirty" look of this patern, so it will conceal paw prints well.

The hardwood that was included in the foyer, basement bath, and by the back door is an engineered hardwood, 3" wide. It's manufactured by Armstrong as part of their Bruce line, sub line of Turlington. I selected the Cherry stain.

This is the same color as the
hardwood in my brother's
house, the main exception
is his is solid hardwood, as
opposed to engineered
hardwood.

This is from the Armstrong website of a dining area with the flooring
I think it will coordinate very well with my furniture, and look timeless
The hardwood stairs and railings will be stained to match this.

While I prefer solid hardwood as opposed to the engineered hardwood, I know when wood floors are placed on concrete, they must be engineered. This is the basic level "A" hardwood. I believe to get solid hardwood, that is a level "B" product. The level "A" hardwood though Ryan was around the same price as the solid hardwood my brother has in his house, so I plan on going though our local flooring shop my family has been doing business with for the past few housing projects.

When I met with the tile representative for M&R Flooring, I had planned on upgrading my owner's bath tile surround, since seeing the "sample" at the model where I signed my purchase agreement. I was not informed that I would also be getting a tile floor instead of the vinyl, if I upgraded to a "B" "C" or "D" package. The owners bath package, a "D" level, that I selected is as follows

This is the glass accent that will be 4" wide though out the bathtub area. It's part of the Circuit collection by daltile, the color is Lento (CT 25)

This is the main tile that will be installed though out my owners bath on the walls and floors. I asked for  a broken joint pattern, which I am paying an extra $460 for. The tile is by daltile, it's part of their Castle DeVerre collection, and the color is grey stone (CV 12)

This is the "Pewter" grout that I had selected to go on both the floor and on the tile surround. I had to pay extra ($175) to get colored grout on the tile surround. However bright white grout shows everything and added too much "pop" to these wonderful tiles I had selected.

Between the broken joints, and the colored grout, I won't have a surround like any one else in the neighborhood. I can't wait to photograph it once it is completed so everyone can see.

This is the Moen Brantford collection faucet in oil rubbed
bronze. While a brushed nickel would be better for my
tile selection in this bathroom, I wanted ORB in the other
three bathrooms, plus the hinges and door knobs, so for now
this is what it will be. If it looks decent I will keep it, if
it clashes, I will just change them when I get a granite vanity
top.

This is the vanity I selected. I originally had
selected this as my kitchen cabinet, but
decided to go with a better quality kitchen
cabinet instead. I decided to keep this in the
owners bathroom because it went especially
good with the tile and grout.

Eventually I am going to replace the stock white cultured marble tops with a Blue pearl granite top. I was able to see this at the design center, with my tile and vanity combination, and I was very impressed with the combination. Unfortunately, Ryan Homes did not offer blue pearl as an option when I signed my purchase agreement. Otherwise I would have jumped at it. 

For the hall bathroom, I kept things a lot more simple. First, I went with a "B" level tile package, just to get tile floors. I selected the following options:

This is the 12"X12" floor tile.

This is the 6"X6" wall tile. It's a much
brighter white in person.

This is the accent tile in the shower
surround.

This is the grout color I ended up with
when the magnolia was discontinued
by the distributor. 

The basic, included in the price of the
house, bathroom vanity. I did not
feel compelled to upgrade to a better
vanity. It's not like I am going to be
using this bathroom.

Again, the ORB bathroom fixtures
are included in this bathroom.

For the kitchen, I have ultimately settled on these appliances:

GE 30" Convection gas range - JGB690DEFWW

This is the least expensive GE range to offer convection options. While I wish Ryan Homes had selected the next one up the model line, this one does offer a fifth bridge burner. 

GE Dishwasher with Front Controls - GDF520PGDWW

This is a step up from the Feature series dishwashers that most Ryan homes come with. It includes a delay timer and is rated to be slightly less noisy. It's still a pretty low end dishwasher. I plan on relocating this to the wet bar I am going to install in my basement.

GE 1.9 Cu Ft Over-The-Range Sensor Microwave Oven - JVM7195DFWW

This is actually one of the better performing GE over the range microwaves. However, longevity of over the range microwaves is poor, so if I get five years out of this one I will be ahead of the game.

GE Energy Star 18.1 Cu. Ft. Top-Freezer Refrigerator - GTH18GCDWW

This is just a baseline placeholder, included with the house for a credit applied to other features within the house, to meet local use and occupancy requirements. I am giving this one away.

In a later post I will discuss what appliances I plan on purchasing to replace, or in the case of the washer and dryer, to provide for my house.

These are the Cherry Spice cabinets, they are upgraded to have solid hardwood doors, dovetail hardwood drawers, hidden hinges and glides, and soft touch close. I wanted a better quality cabinet so that I don't have to worry about them wearing out. While I wish they offered this cabinet in a maple cognac finish, this cherry spice is not too far off, and does coordinate with my vinyl floors and hardwood stairs. 

My countertops are going to be Uba Tuba. While I would have preferred Butterfly Verde, it was not available from Ryan Homes (and is considered to be a substantially upgraded granite). When I purchased granite for the remodel of my mom's rental property, I was able to get Butterfly Verde at Lowe's for the same price as Uba Tuba. The slab my sister and I selected was amazing. I am hoping the slab that I end up with has more green than gold.

This is the kitchen faucet I am getting. I wanted a single hole faucet. I am surprised that Ryan Homes does not stay within the Brantford collection for their kitchen faucets. I used a stainless steel Brantford faucet for my mom's rental, high arc, and it looked great, and was less expensive than the Aberdeen collection.

Also, despite the fact I did not want stainless steel appliances at all, and bronze knobs and hinges, I went with stainless steel for the kitchen faucet. First, I wanted the faucet to match the sink. Secondly, I have some kitchen electrics that have a stainless steel finish. I wanted there to be a tie in. Plus the chrome faucet that was "standard", would have a base plate, and the bronze was an extra $100. I split the difference.


Wow, this took a lot of time to assemble this post. Also, all images are obtained from the manufacturers websites, in accordance with fair use.



Now to follow up with some topics brought up with last nights post.

The project manager has put into writing that they will be adding in extra bracing under the washer and dryer room, extra 2"x4"s in a few select locations (above the fireplace, by the tub surrounds, and inside the wall by the dishwasher). He was not able to get the higher ups to go along with an opaque finish for the dormer windows. So my mood lighting idea is struck down, or will require a lot of labor I don't feel like doing later on. The door orientation to the study will be slightly changed, so the functioning door is the one to the front of the house, so if it must open inward, it won't bump my bookcase.