Pre- Construction Meeting!

So we had our pre-construction meeting yesterday, April 11th.
We FINALLY got to meet our PM, Russ and discuss OUR home.  Our SR, Shelli, was supposed to be there but was out sick, so it was just us, Russ and a new guy named Greg.

I know I've been waiting SO SO SO long for this meeting.

Our meeting took about an hour and a half.. Two hours if you count going out to the lot in the pouring rain to check out our layout and how everything will look.
So worth it.

I had a TON of questions.  I waited until we were finished with the meeting to ask anything I had, just in case they were already answered along the way.  I scoured the internet for any question I could think possible to ask.  Experiences from my fellow bloggers, and photos I have found for things that I had questions for.

Russ was great during our meeting.  Went over lots of stuff, gave us some good news for some of the questions I had, and we are SO excited to start this building process {finally}!  We went over our plans for each floor of the home, made sure our selections were all "right", and then went over the plot plan showing how our home will sit on the lot, elevation stuff and size of the lot.

It was a ton of information, but I feel like I  learned a lot.

Gonna list out questions and answers so I can reference them later, and so this little corner of the world can check out potential questions for pre-construction meetings if ya want :-)


THINGS TO DOUBLE CHECK:
We asked these just to make sure we are getting them with the house.  These are things that came up looking at floor plans and such.

• Double vanity in the hall bathroom.-- YEP! It's on the plans!
• Door for morning room and walk out door. NOT sliding doors.-- YEP! No screen door on the door for the morning room and only one side opens, but it's an actual door for both.
• Grout colors for the master bath.-- I saw this on another blog and realized that we never chose our grout colors.  I forgot to ask this at our meeting and will ask our SR about it.

KITCHEN ISLAND QUESTIONS:

So, I have fallen in love with a kitchen island that we can't get in our home.  Read all about it here and then the disappointing news that we can't build it here.  Silly silly rules that say it can't be done. *sigh*.  Anyways-- I asked a few questions about it to try and start making a game plan for a potential build after we move in...

• Design (layout) of island-- saw this on the floorplans when going over them.  We got the "smaller" kitchen island, not the gourmet.  The cabinets will face the stove. Outlet on the other side of the cabinet openings.
• Will there be flooring under the island?-- didn't ask this, basically because this is seeming like more and more of a feat that isn't going to happen with the island that I want.
• Can we get information for cabinet and granite companies to hopefully obtain the same materials to make the island that I "want"?-- this was a bit more difficult than I though.  The answer was "maybe".  I think because I originally asked about potentially getting a separate piece of granite cut that will match the rest- that threw this question off-- but essentially, we will get the information anyways for the cabinet and granite companies.  So if we want to work with them to build the island I want, then we can do it from that point.

BASEMENT QUESTIONS:
Pretty cut and dry here... just a few questions in this "category"

• Do we get balusters in the basement?- YES.  We upgraded the balusters in the main part of the house to the white spindles and stained rails, and they will be the same in the basement.
• Will there be a window in the exercise room?- YES!  This one was a surprise as I have seen different answers from different people on their blogs.  We do get a small window in the exercise room, even though that room is to be unfinished.
• What type of lighting do we have in the basement?-  recessed lighting.  In the exercise room you get a pull chain and in the media room it's a switched light (not recessed)
• Is there a concrete slab at the walkout?- yes.  a 3x3 concrete slab at the walk out door.  There will also be a 3x3 slab at the foot of the deck stairs.
• Is it possible to have the basement finished with the hallway at the exercise room for a future finishing of the exercise room?-- I know this sounds confusing.  And I didn't even bother asking in the meeting.  I was getting too many "that would have to be a change order" answers that this one just didn't seem relevant anymore.  But basically, I wanted to have the wall wrap around to a small hallway that went to the door of the exercise room so that it was all the same when we went to finish the exercise room.  I'm sure that'll all just happen once we decide to finish that part of the basement anyways.

PM QUESTIONS:

Researching brought up a few questions to ask the PM.  I'm glad we did this because it let us learn a little bit more about him and he liked these questions a lot.

• How long have you been doing this?-- Russ has been doing this about 19 years.  He started out with Drees, came over to Ryan Homes, left to start up his own business and has been back with Ryan Homes since November (I might be wrong on the coming back part. I don't remember for sure).   The part about his own business, he liked it, but he was basically doing twice as much work and making the same amount of money.  I totally get that.  He is local to our area, told us about his college and bragged on himself for a few minutes, which was fun.
• When can we visit?-- pretty much whenever we want, as long as we let him know we are coming so that he can be there with us.  No shenanigans of visiting when he's not there as it's a liability if we step on a nail or fall two floors to the basement floor if there's temporary railing and it's not secured right or something like that.  Who wants to start their new home with memories like that?  Agreed.
• What's the best way to get in touch with you?-- He gave us email, cell phone and said the best way is to call.  If it's a few words, just shoot an email or text but if it's paragraphs, phone calls are best. Easy enough.
• When/how will we get updates?-- as anything big happens, he will contact us to let us know. He said that it's a fun process and the more involved you are the more fun it is, but on that same note he's had folks that have come to the pre-construction meeting and then not see them again til the pre-drywall meeting and then the final walkthrough.  That's craziness.  And I told him that we would definitely be visiting as much as we could.  We are too excited about this to miss anything.
• Do you have any planned vacation during our building process??  -- He does.  The beginning of July.  But he was confident that Greg, the guy that was at the meeting with us, will help us if we have any questions or anything while he's away.

Other things I liked:  He said that he always wants our satisfaction to be at a 10.  If at any time he's not meeting that, to let him know.  If we see something while visiting that's bothering us, mention it then.  Don't brood on it and let it bother us.  In some instances, it might not get fixed right away, but he promises it'll all be fixed by the time we are ready to close.  He really seems like a great guy and we are excited to work with him.  The smart ass in me wanted to tell him then that he was only performing at a 9 1/2 because we were standing in the rain talking (we had just finished our lot walk through) and he didn't have an umbrella.  But who am I kidding? I was really happy we were out there talking about our lot and what everything is gonna look like.

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS:
This is just a hodge podge of questions that I collected from internet research, curiosity and blog reading.  Some I ended up not asking and some really don't make sense, but I figured I should ask just in case it does come up later or make sense later on. haha! But rest assured- the majority of these are legit questions that I wanted to know the answer to!

• Hose bib placement-- we have one on the side of the house (non-garage side) and then one on the back of the house.  The back of the house makes me happy.  We do have a TON of yard to water and try to make grow.
• Light switch locations
• porch lights-- switch in the foyer hall.  I also like that our porch lights are recessed.  Fancy.
• garage lights--controlled by the switch in the family entry.  Kinda wanted this to be controlled by the same switch as the porch lights, but it's not a huge deal.
• Thermostat location-- in the dining room
• Can the thermostat be controlled by floor?-- forgot to ask about this, but figure our house probably isn't "big enough" to warrant this.  Would be cool, but that's okay
• Outside lighting- what's included?- Garage coach lights, recessed porch lights, light at the door of the walk out and light at the door to the morning room on the deck.  We might explore the option of a flood light later to light up the back yard, but we'll see. 
• Deck- do we have options for what type of deck?--no options on this.  You basically pick your deck size and you get the pretreated deck wood.  Was hoping this was an option and we could do a super bad ass looking deck.... but no such luck.  However, I am loving the size and layout of our deck.  It's gigantic.
• Layout and stair location?-- comes off the morning room.  The stairs will parallel the morning room and the ground will kinda slope to meet the stairs at a point.  There will also be a 3x3 concrete slab at the base of the stairs.  The walkout door is below the deck.
• Garage- is it pitched for drainage?-- didn't ask.  But I feel pretty confident that it'll all be good after talking about drainage and all they do for the  home as its being built either on the lot or the home itself.
• Painting- if we paint before our 10 month inspection, does it void the drywall warranty?-- nope. It pretty much works like this:  you paint when you want.  Just realize during the 10 month drywall inspection, they'll repair any part of the drywall that needs fixed which means you'll have to paint back over it after they repair it.  Still on the fence whether or not I want to wait or start painting as soon as we are in.
• Fixtures- are we getting brushed nickel?- brushed nickel fixtures and door handles.  Chrome for the bathroom faucets and kitchen sink faucets.
• Attic access location?-- it's in Bedroom #2.  This pretty much can't be changed.  It's decently out of sight, but I was hoping it could go somewhere more discreet.  It can't be done like that because you need to allow access if WE ever need it, but also if there's ever an emergency and firefighters or someone need to get up there.
• Are there sidewalks on our streets?- yes
• Termite treatment done during the build?-- didn't ask.  This question was at the bottom of my page and I just forgot.
• Locations of outlets?  If we need one where one isn't placed, or if we want one moved, how does that work?-- I'm pleased with the amount of outlets we get.  I don't THINK we will need to move or add any, and really- I don't know that it's an option without it being a change order.
• Are there outside outlets?-- yep.  We have one outside outlet on the front porch and one on the deck.
• Are dimmer switches an option?- negative Ghost Rider.  We can, however, "easily" install them ourselves once we move in.
• Is the garage dry-walled?-  didn't ask.  I personally HATE the way garages look that aren't finished.  I'll probably want to finish this once we move in just because I'm like that.
• Epoxy- is it okay to do right away?-- forgot to ask this one too.  We want to epoxy and figure it's best to do it once we first get in that way the garage is clean and we actually tackle this project.  
• Can we run a pipe under the driveway for a future lamp post?-- the location of our electric box kinda gave this one a "no".  It would be easier to just trench a hole and put it there yourself.  Are solar lights an option for this?  We might go that way.  And I really am not 100% sure that I want a lamp post, but figured I would ask anyways.
• Morning room-- does it come with the light in the ceiling?- nope. It does not.  This was a huge deal for us.  I just assumed it did.  I THINK we will probably make the morning room the room where we do most of our dining.  I don't want to dine with just a table lamp or something of that sort.  So, Russ told us that this would have to be a change order.  I told him we absolutely HAD to have this one.  He added it onto our plans so the electrician would see it, and made a note to talk to our SR, Shelli about it.  I was able to chat with Shelli and we got it taken care of so that we can add it on.  Change order complete and ceiling fan rough-in added.  We went with the ceiling fan rough-in because if we want to hang a chandelier, it'll need the added support.  Yay for getting this taken care of and added!!  And props to our SR for being on top of it after being out sick.
• Ceilings- are the smooth or textured?-- didn't ask.  Being observant, my guess is textured.  This is one of those questions I saw on EVERY blog I read.  I don't really understand the purpose of it, so I'm not concerned that I didn't ask.. And besides, if it is textured, can they change it?  Probably has to be a change order {haha}
• Is there lighting over the shower?-- There is!  and it's recessed lighting.  There is one in the hall bath over the shower and then in the master, there's a recessed light over the shower and over the tub.  I like this a lot and glad it's not an added extra we have to purchase.
• Is there tile above the showerhead?--  Yep.  I've seen Ryan Homes where the tile stops before the showerhead, and I've seen Ryan Homes where the tile goes above the showerhead.  I prefer the latter.  And I was prepared to argue to get that my way so it looks nicer.
• Dryer vent hookup- can it be placed higher or flush with the wall so the dryer backs all the way up to the wall?-- Nope.  There's a 4 inch "pipe" for your vent to go.  In the future we can do one of those magic box things or whatever if we want it flush with the wall.  Interesting though, our PM mentioned that when we move in we may have to buy a 4-prong plug for the dryer and that we should also buy new hoses for the washer.  Wrote those notes down so we can remember that months from now.
• Are there screens on all the windows?- There are.  Glad for this as I've noticed in the model homes we've visited, there are NOT.  I love to open the windows when it is cooler outside.   There will not be a screen on the morning room door or front door.  I might explore the option of a screen contraption for the morning room door at some point.  Maybe.
• Vent fan in the master bath-- location, and can it be moved?- nope.  The vent fan in the master bath is in the water closet.  I get this, but I really wish we could add one inside the bathroom itself.  Not an option.  Well. Wait.  Yes it is.  With a change order.
• Can we keep all the leftover materials?-- Yes.  There won't be "tons", but any leftover hardwood, tile, paint, etc, they'll leave for us.
• Sump pump- do we have one?-- We do not have a sump pump.  I like this.  Know why?? Because I have no flippin' idea what a sump pump is.  This girl is born and raised from Florida.  We don't have basements.  Our lot will have a gravity drain that will take water from the home to the slope of the back yard.  I am pretty sure this also has to do with the fact that we have a walkout.  But yay.  We don't have to spend several hundred dollars on a sump pump backup battery. 
• Is there a weight limit on the driveway when its first poured?-- they say not to park anything over XXX pounds or tons or something like that for 28 days.  We asked this just because we heard about the whole don't park the moving truck on the driveway.  Our PM also mentioned that we would want to seal our driveway as well.  He also said that we would go over all this again at our final walkthrough stuff.  But, I had no idea you should seal a driveway.
• Granite "lip"-- is it possible to not have this installed?-- yes and no.  I don't want the "lip" of the granite there so that there's a smooth transition for backsplash later on down the line.  Apparently, it's removable if we don't want it there.  He advised to keep that "lip" because there's a chance that if we remove it that there might be a gap in between the wall and the counter and it won't look right.  It makes sense, and we'll probably just leave it there.. I just hope it looks good with backsplash.
• Polar bear and/or cheetah enclosure- what's your experience with building one of these along with the house?-- I ended my questions on this.  It was a total joke and after they realized I wasn't serious, I got some laughs.  Let me explain.....  The Columbus Zoo currently has a sweet little polar bear:
  

• And then the Cincinnati Zoo has this sweet little set of Cheetah cubs:

I frequently joke that I "need" these cute little furry things.  And of course, they'll just always stay this small.  So I figured I'd let our PM know that we are easy going and hopefully easy to deal with by making a cute little joke at the end of our meeting...  The new guy that was with our PM, Greg.. he laughed and said we might not be able to get the right permits for them.

All joking aside-- our meeting went well.  We went over our plot plans after I asked all of my questions.  Our PM made copies of everything we signed from the plans and gave them to us.  Is it weird that I really love the electrical plans?  I'm not into any of that stuff, but it's so neat seeing all the squiggly lines and know where your lights are going to be, where your light switches are and what they control and where your outlets are going to be. And just having all those plans and know they're for YOUR house.  It's kinda cool.

Our plot plans were pretty easy to go over.  We were shown where our house would sit on the lot, how much yard we have on each side, where the deck sits, and where things like water and gas will come in.

Then, we braved the weather and went out in the chilly-ness and pouring down rain to see our lot.  It was muddy and pouring, but it was really nice.  To know where everything sits, the elevation our house will be on.... it's getting real.

OHHH!!! And one more exciting thing that we found out.. because of our elevation and where the porch is, we will be getting porch railing!  I had never thought about it, kinda wanted it, but knew it wasn't gonna happen if I asked.  But- because we will have a "drop off", essentially, from where the front porch is to the yard (it's like 30 inches or so) we will have porch railing!  It makes the porch look so nice and I am soooo excited for it!

And, if you've made it to the end of this post, you get a bit more fun news.  The plan is to break ground next week.  I know the dates could change, and things will probably happen... BUT-- one of the first things that our PM mentioned, was that on paper, and based on our start date and timeline, our house should be finished by mid-July!!!!!  Yes!! MID JULY!  I wanted to get up and hug him right then and there!  I've been so stressed about our rent with our apartment complex and how things are going to work out when we are nearly finished with the house and with everything else that will be going on during that time.  But just the possibility that we could be finished and closed before the end of July-- I'm ecstatic!

And finally, a photo of our lot all staked out!  We actually visited it on Saturday evening after our Reds game.  We also stopped by the model that day just to get a refresher on things and to help out with any questions I potentially wanted to ask.  I gotta tell you... seeing OUR lot with stakes on it- it was such a great feeling.  Like, brought tears to my eyes.   And then, after we officially figured out what our stakes were on the day of our pre-construction meeting, we went to Logan's Roadhouse and had us a steak "lunch" to celebrate our stakes.  

Steak dinner.  Just a side note-- I'm not much of a steak eater.  But, this was delicious and a great way to celebrate our stakes!!

So there ya have it!  Our pre-construction meeting is done and it was good.  Everything is so real and exciting and we are anxious to get a hole in the ground!!!