Our New House!

Will I ever get any sleep tonight?  I doubt it.  Closing on the house is set for 1:00pm tomorrow.  I signed off on all of the touch-up work today.  There were a few more things to cover but the builder got right to work to get it all done today.  I signed off on all the repairs but, really, it’s no big deal if it’s not all finished because the house has a 1-year “bumper-to-bumper” warranty that will cover anything we find that we may have missed before.  I signed off on everything because we need that form for closing tomorrow.

The builder also left me a sink faucet wrench so I can swap out the existing kitchen faucet with the new one we bought.  I told him yesterday that that would be the first project I get to when we move in so he left it for me today.  I’ll have pictures of the new faucet tomorrow.

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Our walk-through was done with our builder, whom we are very familiar with by now.  I can’t say enough what a great guy he is.  This visit was much like some of our past visits – walking around the property and marking everything we would like touched up.  This time, we did a top-to-bottom, inside and out inspection.  If anything didn’t look top-notch, 10 out of 10, then it was marked for improvement.

Also, during this visit, he showed us how everything works, how everything was built, where our owners manuals are and reiterated all the warranties.  He gave us a portfolio to keep all warranty paperwork in, including claim forms for KB Home warranty coverage and emergency phone numbers.  Also, because KB Home only uses Whirlpool appliances, we get a special deal through them of a second year of full warranty coverage for free. Continue Reading »

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We stopped by today to find they have completed all of the landscaping.  The sod has been installed on both sides of the driveway and the shrubs have been planted along the entryway and under the kitchen windows.

The left side of the driveway is all set with rocks and sod and the wing fence and gate has been installed.  Henry joined the shot for perspective on the size of this side of the yard.  Continue Reading »

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A couple weeks ago, I had swayed the builder to get the landscape going so we could have sod before the cut-off date for this year.  Otherwise, we’d have nothing but dirt and rocks until next Spring.  So, yesterday they got everything started.

The front yard is skirted by river rock and they’ve graded out the area for sod.  The tree in the front is called Autumn Blaze Maple.  The tag says it’s an oval shaped tree with rich green leaves that turn red and orange in the fall.  It has silver bark and will grow 40′ – 50′ tall and up to 40′ wide.  Here’s a picture I found online.  That’s going to be a very big tree in ten years.  This will also be a very good afternoon shade tree.  Facing West, this side of the house gets all the afternoon sun, especially in the summer.  Then, in the winter, the leaves will fall off and give us warmth in the winter afternoons. Continue Reading »

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Final grading of the front and back yard has been done and is awaiting approval.  Following approval, the landscapers will come in and set up the front yard.

The AC condenser has been dropped in place and needs to be shored up with lumber since it’s on a slope.  The plumbing portions are installed but not the power to the unit.

The builder did a walk-through on Tuesday evening to mark everything that needs touch-up.  We came in at about 5:00 and added a few things of our own.  I was amazed at all the little things he found that I never would have noticed.  He marked things like the recessed light not being 100% flush with the ceiling, crown moulding on the cabinets is a little loose, some of the wall trim around the carpet did not have a 100% flush joint, a few nicks in the paint that I didn’t notice, things like that.  On a scale of 1-10, he really is shooting for a 10! Continue Reading »

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Took a panoramic series of pictures of the main floor and put them into a single, large image.  It’s a pretty large pictures, so it’s not dial-up friendly:  Main floor panorama

I also took a better picture of the exterior with full paint.  Of course, someone left a ladder here, but I’ll grab another picture when it’s down.  I may even take a movie series walking through the house.

Last night was our KB Home Workshop, an hour and fifteen minutes with two reps, Customer Service and Customer Care, to explain a little further about KB Home warranties, manufacturer warranties and how to enter claims.  It was a good meeting, but could have been two hours to cover everything.  We got a pack of things to take home including a maintenance checklist, contact phone numbers for various people, and a coupon for movie tickets and concessions as thanks for our time.  They also sent us home with a couple of 12″ x 12″ Corian cutting boards.  A good meeting overall.

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Yep, we have a new addition to our family.  Ann has been plotting for years to get a little shop dog she would name Henry and we have finally found him.  It all started a couple years ago when we puppy-sat for a friend who had a miniature chocolate poodle.  He was smart, cute and didn’t set off Ann’s pet allergies because poodles have hair, not fur, and so leave fewer allergens behind.  Since then, Ann wanted a little poodle or poodle mix of her own.  She spent months looking over all the small breeds and how they might cross with poodle.

Now, I’m a medium to large dog person myself.  The thought of taking a poodle for a walk would surely plummet my testosterone levels to nil.  This led to a long period of disagreement until we decided that Ann could have her ideal dog if I could find a more masculine breed of my own.  Continue Reading »

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Visited the house last night to find that the painters have finally completed the outside and a cleaning crew was there since before I got there at 6:30 and after I left at 7:45.  A team of 4 people were cleaning all the construction dust off of everything.  The yards have not yet gotten their final grading and I’m not sure when that’s supposed to happen.

All of the carpet, appliances and door hardware are installed, which means that everything is basically in place!  The next 30 days will comprise a series of walk-though inspections by a variety of groups and touch-up work as needed.  Tonight is the KB Homeowners Workshop at a hotel across the highway from us.  There we should learn what to expect at our Orientation and Closing meetings.

Orientation is scheduled for Oct 18 where we walk through the entire home with the builder and he explains how everything works and should be maintained.  This is also our opportunity to inspect for anything that needs to be touched up or fixed.

Our closing is scheduled for Oct 25 where we sign the final paperwork, hand over a check and get our keys!!!

Here are some additional pictures taken…  Continue Reading »

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Not a whole lot has been done in the last few days.  The plumbing trim included adding sinks, mirrors, toilets, faucets and the master shower doors.  Heater vents have been added and thermostat installed as well as attic insulation.  They even put in a basic doorbell for us.

The faucets all look very nice except for the kitchen sink, which is rather plain.  Of course, I’ve found out only too late that nice kitchen sink faucets run in excess of $180.  Guess we’ll have to plan for a later upgrade on that one.

Here are some pictures of all the new additions:  Continue Reading »

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Lots of new pictures here today.  They have mounted all but one of the countertops and put in all of the light fixtures.

I’ll start here in the kitchen.  The countertops all all set here.  It’s a standard laminate countertop.  Nice, but not fancy.  Corian and Granite are way too expensive but we did pick out a nice pattern that picks up all the colors of the house:  walls, trim, vinyl and cabinets.  It’s Formica called Sand Crystal with a matte finish.  Here’s a close-up of the pattern.  All countertops in the house have this same pattern (kitchen and two upstairs bathrooms).

The kitchen has 3 banks of recessed lighting (4 main kitchen, 1 over the sink and 2 over the Breakfast Nook).  The living room has one back of 4 lights around the circumference, 1 at the front door, 2 for the entryway, two for the stairs going up and two for the upstairs hallway.  Basically, the house is full of recessed lighting with soft flood lights, everywhere except in the bedrooms.  They were nice enough to also provide plain glass-dome lights in the laundry/mud room from the garage, in the master closet and Megan’s big closet.  Did I mention that she wants to put her bed in the closet?  It’s wide enough for her full size mattress.  And, even though it’s an extended length mattress, there’s still another 2′ of space at the foot.  Continue Reading »

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