Day 20 (Sept. 6th)

More pics of progress.
It was in the 90's yesterday, and humid.  I bought the guys some Gatorade as a little thank-you.

Pre-Construction Question Sheet

I created a question sheet for our meeting.  I know that I will have more to add to this list before tomorrow.  One of the main things we want to discuss is the possibility of getting a seamless/frameless shower.  We've been told no, but I never take the first "no" at face value.  I can be awfully persuasive :-)
I will have my seamless shower when all is said and done.

Living Room

• ·      How many outlets?
• ·      Dimensions of windows of room?

Family Room

• ·      How many outlets?
• ·      Switch for ceiling fan- can we request it be put to the left as soon as you enter the room.
• ·      Dimensions of windows in this room.
• ·      Floor vents- Can we request placement?
• ·      How many outlets?
• ·      Thermostat placement- can we pick?

Kitchen

• ·      Island- how many outlets?  Can the outlet be put on the side closer to the stove?
• ·      Extra outlet in cabinet (paid for- for underneath cabinet lighting)
• ·      Can I pick location for master switch (lights)
• ·      Can I pick my own granite slab?
• ·      No granite backsplash!!
• ·      Is there a vent for the stove?
• ·      Pantry- shown in the online version of floor plan- can this be a special request if not included (make it look like the linen closet on the second floor).  I can live without the shelving. Please make this happen!
• ·      Does granite need to be treated/sealed?
• ·      Height of the counter/island (for stools)
• ·      Height of counter in morning room (for stools)
• ·      What type of sink?  Gauge?  Single/double? 
• ·      Faucet- What type?

Powder Room

·      Please do not hang towel rack or toilet paper holder.  Just provide.

Morning Room

• ·      Can I pick switch location for lighting?
• ·      Will any rooms where we roughed-in for ceiling fans have lighting until we can get the fans installed (will there be the standard lighting included with the home)
• ·      Can door be placed on the side facing the street, not the neighbor

Mud Room (walk through)

• ·      Is this hardwood?
• ·      Can switch for garage lighting be located here (or move it to right outside the door of mudroom)?

Master Bedroom

• ·      Can I make a special request and have the two supplied shelves moved to one side of the closet, making two levels of shelves, leaving the other wall bare?
• ·      Will closet have lighting?
• ·      Vent placement- can we have a say-so in this?
• ·      Outlet placement
• ·      Make sure room is wired correctly for cable.

Master Bathroom

·      Can I get any leftover tile, flooring, etc.?

·      Shower- discuss option of leaving the frame out if possible

·      Shower door- swinging door?

·      Where does ventilation go?

·      No towel racks or toilet paper holders installed- just provide please

·      No soap dish in shower

Bedrooms

• ·      Vent placement- why above doors?
• ·      How many vents?
• ·      Make sure the one bedroom is wired for cable.

Basement

• ·      How is basement protected from flooding?
• ·      In the storage area, can all of the utility mechanisms be grouped together in case we want to finish this portion of the basement off at a later date?
• ·      Can Electric panel be placed in the unfinished portion of the basement?
• ·      Closet under the stairs? As seen in model home.
• ·      Can one of the light switches be placed at the top of the stairs?  Is there stairway lighting?
• ·      Is there an egress window in the storage area of basement?
• ·      Will egress windows be in the way of any future patio or deck?

General Questions

• ·      Left over flooring, tile, paint, etc.- can we keep?
• ·      Insulation around water pipes.  We do not want to hear running water throughout the house.  Do you provide soundproof insulation?  If not, can we provide?
• ·      Make sure there is an outlet for the garage opener in the ceiling
• ·      Bib locations
• ·      Thermostat(s)- how many?  Can we select wall placement?
• ·      Can we move the hose bib OUT of the garage?

• ·      Outdoor outlets-how many?
• ·      Outdoor lighting- how many, what kind?
• ·      Lawn- seeded or sod?
• ·      Smooth ceilings?
• ·      Height of rough-in for morning room?
• ·      Please put extra floor supports in high traffic areas.
• ·      Adhesive and nails in subfloors (nailed to joists?) What type of nails (ring shank?)- want to eliminate future squeaky floors
• ·      Are windows screened?
• ·      What type of light fixtures?
• ·      Lot grading- need to know about any issues- need to discuss fully, don’t want any surprises.
• ·      Rock removal
• ·      Can I pick foliage?

• ·      Camouflaging the utility stuff in the yard
• ·      Property lines
• ·      Total square footage of home with finished basement and morning room
• ·      What inspections will happen at what stages?
• ·      Placement of home on the lot- we want to maximize our yard in back of the house
• ·      Length of driveway?  Can we get it slightly wider?
• ·      Will some outlets have switches (meaning, if a lamp is plugged in, could I turn off/on with the switch on the wall?)

• ·      Pipes/hot water heater insulted?
• ·      How big is the water heater
• ·      Tonnage of the AC?  Is it enough for the entire house?
• ·      Warranty info on water heater, AC, garbage disposal, all appliances, roof (is this information in the binder already given to us?)
• ·      Location of AC unit, water meter, gas meter
• ·      Floodlights?
• ·      When will we get updates?
• ·      Can we review all optional upgrades (for everyone’s peace of mind)
• ·      Can we review cable/outlet placement?

• ·      Review distances from each house around us
• ·      What will our address be?
• ·      Can we get an outlet in the back of the house close to the sliding door (for use with future deck/patio)
• ·      Any attic access?  If so, could it be in the laundry room, as opposed to one of the bedrooms or hallway?
• ·      In all bedrooms- can we get a switch to control outlets for lamps in addition to the overhead light switch?
• ·      Outlets in storage area?

I hope my SR and PM aren't too put off by this list.  I really just want a nice home and be involved in the process as this is coming to fruition.  Let the fun begin!

Cabinet Curiosity

Inside of the cabinets of the model home, in case you were curious about the shelving inside, as I was.

Lazy Susans!

It's Been A While

Since my last post we got our loan approval letter.  It had one stipulation in it that I know we will not be able to meet.  My student loans are on deferment until October of 2015, as I am in grad school right now.  NVR stated that we must close by October 20th of this year, because they did not count my student loan payments in our debt to credit ratio.  It's already very low, so I do not know why they would see a $200 a month payment as a hardship for us. But anyway, per our SA, the earliest that our house will be ready is in November.  So we called NVR to tell them this.  We simply would not be able to meet that part of the agreement.   We have not heard anything in over a week from NVR, but our SA scheduled our pre-construction meeting for the end of this month knowing this.  We also have a date for breaking ground, so I guess this whole loan thing is not a big deal(?).  I will feel much more comfortable when we hear from NVR stating that they have retracted that stipulation of the loan.
Anyhow, I snuck into one of the Venices that is being built across from out lot.  There are two being built on the same small corner across from us.

Hubby in the kitchen.  I like these cabinets, but am glad I went with the all white choice.

This house has the optional morning room windows.  I am sorta regretting not getting them :-(

Double sink in master bath.  We chose this option, just not in granite.  Kinda wish we had the single sink now.  I need counter space!

Exterior of the house.

Another view of the kitchen.

Are these many recessed lights standard?  I hope so.

Various Pics of Our Voyage

Here are some miscellaneous pictures of our voyage.

Front door area of model home (Venice)

Side view of Venice model home

Wish I could get this type of sink as seen in the Venice model home.

Living room, model home.  We decided to upgrade to hardwoods in this room as well.

Upstairs, second bath.  We opted for the additional full bath in the basement as well.

One of the bedrooms.

We're getting two of these for the family room. They are automatic and sooooo comfy.

I'm almost 90% sure that this will be the table in the morning room, aka my dining area.  I will get these chairs as well, but will quickly replace with white ones and some wing backs for the ends.

Another view of the table.  I really dislike these chairs, but they come as a set with the table.