Basement Photos!

So our basement is pretty much a mess right now... but I got a request to show off the layout of our basement!

We only finished the main part of the basement with hopes of finishing one of the other two sections later on down the line...
We have a walk out door for our basement as well.  We love it and haven't really used it too much... but we think once we get the basement all set up, we'll use this space, and the walk out A LOT!

So some photos!

This first set is standing at the walk-out basement door looking into the basement.

Door across the basement is to the unfinished "media room" which sits under the front of the house.  Our electric box is stored in the unfinished part.

Crosley <3
Again standing at the walk out door looking across.  Same door to the unfinished "media room", stairs and a mess all around.

Standing at the walk out doors.
Looking towards the stairs.

Standing at the walk out doors.
Looking to my right at the second door.  This leads to another unfinished part.  This unfinished part is under the morning room and the kitchen.  All of our house guts are in that unfinished part (air handler, hot water heater, etc).  I have pictures of this unfinished part farther down.

panoramic view standing at the walk out door

Not sure why the lighting looks like that. haha!
Another view standing at the walk out door looking over to the first unfinished basement section (media room) with the stairs on the right.

Standing at the walk out looking towards the second unfinished basement area (under morning room) and the stairs on the left.

standing at the second unfinished basement spot (to the right of the walk out door).
Looking towards the wall opposite the basement stairs

standing at the second unfinished basement spot (to the right of the walk out door)
Looking towards the basement stairs, and the door is the first unfinished basement spot (media room)

standing at the second unfinished basement spot (to the right of the walk out door)
Looking directly at the basement stairs and the door (unfinished basement part 1 "media room")

standing at the second unfinished basement spot (to the right of the walk out door)
looking towards the walk out door

standing at the second unfinished basement spot (to the right of the walk out door)
Looking towards the walk out door

standing at the second unfinished basement spot (to the right of the walk out door)
Looking towards the wall that faces the basement stairs

Basement stairs, standing at the first unfinished basement door (that houses the unfinished media room)

Basement stairs, standing at the first unfinished basement door (that houses the unfinished media room)

Standing at the first unfinished basement door (that houses the unfinished media room)
Looking towards the walk out doors.

Panoramic shot
Standing at the first unfinished basement door (that houses the unfinished media room)

Unfinished basement under the morning room/kitchen

Unfinished basement under the morning room/kitchen

Unfinished basement under the morning room/kitchen

Unfinished basement under the morning room/kitchen

So there's the basement.  Albeit a mess, that's how ours is laid out.... And we love it! We can't wait to have it all organized with all of our Reds stuff and make it a fun space to hang out! I'm sure I'll be posting photos as soon as it's all finished!

Bad on you, Rite Rug and Ryan Homes.

So, this whole deal with our vinyl flooring has left a terrible taste in my mouth.

I can't tell you how many tears have been shed and how much frustration has started over the damn vinyl in our laundry room and hall bathroom.

Wanna know the full details?  Check out this blog post:   The Great Flooring Debacle of 2016.

I am sure you can catch up with what's going on with this post here.

First off, I don't think our PM gets it.  It's a lighting issue he says.  He doesn't realize that I feel the COLORS of the two vinyls are way different and what was installed is more BROWN when I feel like the sample from our selections meeting was more GREY.  He swears up and down that the flooring that has been installed is most definitely the correct flooring.  He had the 2 flooring samples in question at the model for us to look at.  He said that it even looks like the vinyl sample matches our photo we took back in December as it has the same pattern.

On paper, he's right.  We signed off that the sample of vinyl, "Station Square 2080" is the vinyl we wanted.  And yes, it does have the same pattern. BUT! I am not convinced or confident that we chose this vinyl.  And who is to say that the vinyl sample hasn't been changed because Rite Rug realized there was an issue with it?  It has been six months since our Rite Rug appointment.  And, unfortunately, according to our PM, the sales rep we had at Rite Rug is not longer there and so he can't confirm if samples were changed.  That part makes not sense to me.  Any sales rep should be able to tell you that.


Our PM left the 2 samples in question at the model home, and we were able to go up and take a look at them over the last weekend.
I had a FIT.  A damn FIT. As soon as I saw the two samples next to each other, I knew that I would have never in my dreams picked the 2080 vinyl that is in our house.  It's so brown and drab and just NOT what I wanted.  I definitely would have picked that 2082 that I THOUGHT should have been put in.  It's more grey and has a lighter tone to it.

That fit made our SR tell me I need to calm down {in a joking way that she knew wouldn't offend me, btw... and it didn't offend me}. She told me she'd have a talk with our PM and see what we could do about it.  She tried talking me into the brown vinyl that's already installed, as she likes it better.  But, this isn't her home.  This is OUR home.  She even mentioned that the grey one that I think we should have in our home has more green tones in it along with the grey.  Once she pointed that out, I also noted that in our original selection photo, that's what it looks like to me too.  Grey with some green tones.

Here are a series of pictures, the captions will explain each one.

Let's just say, before you look at the photos of both vinyl, that THIS is what I feel like:

Do y'all remember this darn dress?
Is it blue or is it gold?  I seriously feel like after I look at these photos of these two vinyls so much, that I can hardly tell the difference in the two.  You would THINK that would be a good thing, right?  But no. I am so frustrated over the fact that I feel like what we picked isn't what's in the house.

So photo time.

To start off, here is OUR photo from our selections meeting.  According to our documents from Rite Rug, the vinyl we chose is "Station Square 2080". I do agree that it's definitely what we signed off on getting.
But to me, Station Square 2080 is brown.  I feel like the vinyl in this photo is more GREY. It even has undertones of green in it like our SR mentioned of the samples that were brought to the model home for us to look at.

The photo is a bit washed out looking from the lighting, but this to me isn't brown, and it's NOT what we would have picked for our home.

Sorry this photo is a bit blurry, it must have been from my frustrations.  But, this is the 2 samples (the brown on the left, the grey on the right) in natural light at the model home.

This is the Station Square 2080 (brown) up against the cabinets that we installed in the hall bath.  The lighting is natural light from outside.  This photo drives me bonkers because it DOES look grey here. Blue Dress/Gold Dress feelings are happening for me with this photo.

The Station Square 2082 sample (grey) up against our cabinets.  Our SR pointed out the more green undertones.  Here's the thing... I plan on staining our cabinets to be the darker maple espresso color eventually.  To me, this vinyl would look WAY better than the brown one.  And not only that, as SOON as I saw this vinyl in the model, I KNEW this is what I would have chosen for our home.  

This is a photo of the grey (Station Square 2082) up against maple espresso cabinets in the kitchen.  So here you have INSIDE lighting, along with my thoughts on cabinetry {eventually}.  This is what I envisioned.  HANDS DOWN, no question in my mind, this is what we picked for our home.

This is a screen shot of the photo our PM sent to us when he got both samples in.  He says that the pattern in this one matches the pattern in our sample photo from our selections meeting.  He didn't bother to send over a photo of the other sample, as he's certain this is what we chose.

And this is our vinyl installed IN our home.  We got electricity this week, so this is what the vinyl is going to look like in our home if it stays there.  

Okay.  All caught up?  Here's the thing... I don't HATE the vinyl that is currently in there as much as I thought I did.  I have a huge issue because it doesn't photograph well at all.  While at the house, I have a feeling of relief come over me because it isn't that bad.  Do I like it?  No.  Do I think it is what we chose for our house?  No.  Do I feel like it should be replaced?  Yes.  But, I have to deal with it.  That's been made pretty stinkin clear.

I have an issue too that we tried telling our PM that it appears like the neighbors across the street from us have the incorrect vinyl installed as well.  His answer to that was "I don't care if they have an issue". {modified to not say neighbor's names, but the words I don't care were used}

And then, the final verdict came on Monday.  I had to text our SR, as I hadn't heard from her or our PM, and she told me that she'd talk to him...

Her answer to me asking if she had talked to our PM:

"...he did call the office to check if there were any options...but unfortunately since everything was signed off on, we cannot make any changes at this stage of construction.  So sorry, Russ & I really tried"

Here are my issues with this:

1. They can't make any changes at this stage of construction?!?!  It's VINYL. Our PM was very willing to change it if it was incorrect when this issue was first brought up.  So what's the issue now if we want it changed?  They all of the sudden can't rip it out?  We are more than willing to pay for a different vinyl if we have to.  But the fact that we as the customer think it's a mistake, I feel something should be done.
2. Y'all wanna know how much the upgraded vinyl cost for us as the homebuyers???  $125.  Yes, a whole whopping $125.  And that is in BOTH the hall bath AND the laundry room.  To me and you, that's a decent bit of money to not be getting what we want.  But, how much is that really to Ryan Homes?  Or even to Rite Rug?  How much does that vinyl actually cost THEM?!?  My guess is not that much.  So why is this so difficult to just have changed so you make us happy, even if what was on paper APPEARS to be the right thing?
3. Our PM called hubby on Thursday and made a comment that he wants us to be happy with what's been installed.  Ummmm.... but you can't fricken change it, so why does it matter if we are happy with it or not?!?!!?  Hubby told him that he felt we were stuck with it, and if we have to change it ourselves, that's just what we will have to do {and then be pissed that we have paid for an upgrade that we feel isn't correct, and now have to pay to have something we LIKE put in}.

At the end of all this, it's just vinyl.  I do hope that six months from now it doesn't even matter to me.  I've completely dropped the subject at this point and have just conceded that we are stuck with the vinyl that's been installed and will deal with it when we have the means to deal with it ourselves.

And then there was the "issue" with our rail stain.  We felt that even the stain on the rails isn't correct (which would be a Rite Rug issue again).  I let our PM know, and he offered to have the rail sample brought out.  We have since nixed this because of two things. One, we like the rail stain the way it looks, and two, after being out to the house yesterday and seeing it under lighting, it looks like it may in fact be the right thing.

But I have an issue with that.  Let me show you pictures first and then tell you why.

Selections meeting photo of our rail stain.  We chose something that closely matched our hard wood flooring.

Here's our installed hardwood flooring.

Here's our upstairs rails stained {no polyurethane though}.  Natural light is coming in through the loft windows.

And here is our railing in the basement.  Photo taken Thursday. This is under DIRECT light in the basement.

So looking at this, it definitely looks like the rail stain is correct.  For some reason, when it's not under DIRECT light (not natural light, but actual lighting from inside the house), it looks differently.  And I kind of feel like the flooring issue is the SAME way.

So, the rails stay this color.  And we are okay with that. 

And, why do I say "bad on you" for this post title?  Because I am upset.  I'm paying a LOT of money for this dream home of ours.  And I have one simple request.  Something that probably costs these companies PENNIES and would make me happy if they'd fix it.  All I want is for the vinyl to be fixed to what we THOUGHT we chose in our selections meeting.  And "bad on you" because I feel like these samples from our selections meeting are not accurate representations of what everything is going to look like once it's in.  Let's just hope when they install the carpet in the rest of the house that it looks right.......

But, I have moved on from the vinyl issue.  I know it doesn't seem that way reading this post, but I had to write this post as a follow-up to the original post.  

It's just flooring.  It can be changed later down the road.  I want to focus on what's amazing about our home, including the fact that WE CLOSE THIS MONTH!!!!!!!!!

Weekly update coming later this week. We have had some fun additions to the house this week!

The Great Flooring Debacle of 2016....

Okay, I wouldn't call it great.
It's not great.
Like, I've cried over stupid flooring.  That part seems so silly to me, but I'll admit it. I've cried over this stupid flooring.
And it's silly because I guess technically, we picked it out.  And I hate hate hate it.

I'll let y'all take a look and be the judge:

Let's start back with my post from Tuesday.

This is the photo I posted with my rant...

The photo on the left is from our flooring selection meeting with Rite Rug on 12/30/15.
The photo on the right is from our visit to the house this past Tuesday.

Now- I'll say it again.. I know lighting plays into this, but to me, that flooring looks WAAAAAAAAAAAY darker, and WAAAAAAY more brown.

So, I sent an email with this photo to our PM.  He thought it could be the lighting, and potentially the wrong vinyl installed.

I posted my woes on Facebook.  Lighting was mentioned again, as was wrong vinyl.
One of our neighbors chimed in as it made them notice that they chose the same flooring for their bathroom and it definitely looks more dark and more brown.  They showed us a photo of their flooring as well as a photo from their selection meeting:

Again, I know there's no lighting in their bathroom photo, but look how dark and how brown that looks.

Now, check out our selection meeting photos side by side:

To me, they're way more grey than brown, right? {And I know my photo seems a bit washed out}

Let me back that up with evidence....
Another fellow blogger (hi Ashley!!) commented on my Facebook post and directed me to the Armstrong website with all of the different Station Square options.  Because, you see... unknown to me..... there are different COLORS of station square vinyl!

Here's the website going directly to the Station Square section if you wanna check it out for yourself.

So now I'm getting a bit hopeful!  Maybe there was some kind of labeling issue at Rite Rug and we thought we were getting something more grey but they had it labeled wrong...

Here's a comparison of two Station Square vinyls.

Station Square 2080 is what we "chose" at our selection meeting.  It's the brown option.  It's most definitely what was written down at our meeting, as it's what's on our order form.

Station Square 2082 is the more grey version of this vinyl.  And what I feel we should have gotten in our home, and what I have a photo of from our selections meeting.

Station Square 2080

Station Square 2082

                      

Clearly a difference.  To some of y'all it might not be a huge one but it is to me.

And now more comparison photos.  These are from our selections meeting and paired with it is either the 2080 vinyl or the 2082 vinyl.  On the left sides of these photos are the selections from our meeting (top) and the bottom is our neighbor's selection.  Then, the photo on the right is the 2080 or 2082 samples pulled from the Armstrong website.

2080 (the more brown option)

2082 (the more grey option)

Huge difference to me.  Even if I've stared at these for hours on end at this point.

So now the follow up from our PM:

He went to Rite Rug and got the sample from them and compared it to what's been installed.

Take a look:

Looks like a pretty solid match, doesn't it?

When he sent me this, it completely deflated any hopes that I would get different vinyl put in the house.  I hate what they've installed.  It is most definitely NOT what I envisioned.

I envisioned a MUCH lighter, grey tones look.  Not this dark and dreary looking tile.

Granted, it's ONLY in the hall bathroom and the laundry room.

Our PM offered to keep the sample there so we could come take a look and verify that it is indeed what we chose at our meeting.  So, we might be going out there today to check it out.

I just don't know what I should do at this point.  I am afraid that even if we DO put that grey colored vinyl in there, it's still gonna show up way dark {because even looking at samples online, the brown option shows way darker once installed than it does on the website-- and yeah yeah, lighting factors in to this too. I know.}  And that's not what I envisioned for our bathroom.

I THINK our next course of action is to go to Rite Rug. Grab the sample that I feel we actually picked and see what it looks like and try and sort it out from there.

Our PM is trying to get in touch with them to see if anything has changed since December when we made our selections {which, btw... it really irks me that it's six stinkin' months before we even get to see our floors put in}.

If in fact we should have had the more grey option and something was just mislabeled on Rite Rug's end and that's why we ended up with this more brown colored vinyl, do we change it? I mean, it is what I thought we were getting.

And if it is in fact correct with what's been put in the house, and the sample we chose, then I feel like that's a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE mis-representation of what that vinyl looks like and I still want something else in there.

I just don't know what to do and can't believe I am so upset over stinkin' vinyl flooring. But, when it's all said and done, we DID pay for an upgraded vinyl and I should be getting what I want, right?

Sigh.

Rock, meet hard place.

Drywall video!

So, a short "mid week" post for you!

We've been out to the house a couple times this week.. We were hoping to see some siding going up as the weather has been fabulous, but nothing yet :-(

More updates will be done as usual on Sunday when I normally write the blog, but thought y'all might wanna check out the GoPro video we shot last night when we went to check on progress:

I'm a bit stuffy as I'm battling a sinus infection right now, so sorry if I'm a bit hard to understand ;-)

Enjoy!!

Pre-Drywall Meeting

Well... our pre-drywall meeting has come and gone.  It took about 45 minutes to walk through the entire house.  The main purpose of this meeting seemed to be pointing out all of our electrical stuff and what controlled what.

Insulation has been installed in about 98% of the house.  There's a small part of the unfinished basement that our PM pointed out still needed to be done.  Insulation inspections will be tomorrow and they'll start drywalling either Saturday or Monday, pending a passing inspection.

Our PM also went through and answered any questions that we had, as well as making sure all of our Guardian stuff was in the right place, and add-on stuff like ceiling fan rough ins.

So, the issues that we had were all addressed and easily answered, which made me happy!

We were "lucky" enough that we went out to the house last night and it was POURING down rain.  I really really hoped it would rain so we could see leaks in action and make sure they were addressed.

• The"leak" from the roof in the master closet because of what looked like a plumbing pipe-- that is most definitely a pipe connected to plumbing, and if I remember correctly, its basically a vent to make sure the plumbing pipes don't get backed up with pressure bc of toilets and such (use your imagination here-- and think gassy things, lol).  This was most definitely still leaking with the downpour last night.  Our PM says that they put a "boot" over it to prevent that from leaking.  We also noticed on EVERY house in the neighborhood, that they all have this pipe and all have the boot looking thing over it.  So I fully trust our PM saying this.

• The "leak" from the kitchen/morning room.... with the downpour, this wasn't leaking at all.  I'm not sure if this is because of the insulation being put in, but it all looked good even this morning.  Our PM mentioned that it could have been from the leak above where the eventual "boot" will be.  It's also frustrating me to no end that I can't find the darn blog where the people had the leak in this spot that they've dealt with over and over again.  I really wanted to show it to hubby.  My fault for not bookmarking it.  So, if you happen to read this and that blog belongs to you, or you know which blog I'm talking about-- PLEASE let me know, haha!!! It's seriously driving me nuts.

• Rough-in for the fan/light fixture in the morning room- Our PM knows this hasn't been done and will be making sure it's installed.  Because it was a late change order for us is why it's not there but he's fully aware it needs to be.

• Plumbing lines for the ice maker:  They run this through the basement.  That way the line isn't coming up through the floor.  Essentially, there will be a hole in the wall going from the fridge down to the basement and you just connect the line to the plumbing pipe and VOILA! Ice maker should work.

• Our Guardian cable dilemma:  It's been fixed!! They came out and installed another cable line for us where we wanted it between the two windows!  I thought they just moved the cable to that location, but our PM pointed out that the original spot we picked still had cable lines there, so yay!

And- with our NVR stuff-- I had sent an email out over the weekend to the new point of contact that we have as our loan processor.  She replied on Tuesday and set up a time to talk to me.  The reasoning for NOT getting in contact with me was because our loan was back with the underwriter and she was waiting to hear back from the underwriter before she contacted us, so that she could go over things with us.  Legit excuse, I guess... but why not email me and let me know that's what you're waiting on???

Oh well.  Things are good with our loan, we've been discussing locking our rate but will still be waiting a little bit it sounds like.  Depends on those rates. LOL.

And, the not so great news... and not that it's bad news-- after our pre-drywall meeting, we talked about closing dates.  Our PM has us scheduled to close the very last week of July.  

Sigh.

I was secretly hoping it would be sooner, so this was a bit of a bummer.  It works out, and as long as we don't have to extend our lease with the apartment we are in, I'll be happy... but I was secretly hoping for a sooner date than that.  This isn't the "official" word on closing though, and he'll update us on that once the drywall goes up.  But I'm just telling myself now it'll be the end of July like he says.

PM says that up next will obviously be the drywall, and then they'll start siding.  They'll do the siding before the stone.  They'll also be pouring our front porch soon (yay!).  The front porch is currently a series of like, 3 holes filled with dirt.  I can't wait to actually be able to walk in the front door!!!

Now for a few questions for anyone that reads our blog:

Appliances and other things that need to be bought before or right at move in:  When were you all told you could purchase them?? We will definitely need a fridge when we move in.  

I asked our new loan processor about this, as the 4th of July should bring some good sales for buying stuff.  She told me that we should be "ok" to buy and/or open a credit card (like with Home Depot or someone, for example) as long as we have the money saved (and are able to show we have it) for our closing costs and such.

HOWEVER--

Our loan officer and my hubby had a chat and he told hubby that we should, under no circumstances, do this.

These stores normally do "same as cash" for so many months if you get a card from them, and that was our initial thought, but we don't want to do ANYTHING that's going to mess up closing and getting into our home.  But we don't wanna miss a good sale either.

So what were you told?

Also- we are taking recommendations on refrigerators.  Stainless steel and side-by-side are our requirements at this point.  We *think* we prefer the ice maker to be inside the door and not taking up shelf space.  

We are debating this one:

I love the little door that you can open up to grab stuff from the door shelves.  I've read some reviews that don't make me too happy-- about the door not closing properly and having to slam it shut, etc.  Not sure if I wanna deal with that just to have a fridge that looks cool. No pun intended.

Here's the link to the fridge if you're curious about it.  I pulled it from the Home Depot website, but it can be bought at almost any retailer that sells refrigerators.

Thoughts?  Ideas?  Any help given is appreciated, haha!!

More updates on the house progress on Sunday! Hoping to have drywall to show y'all!!!

Building Our {ALMOST} Dream Home

Well, we enjoyed a great time away for a long weekend over in Eastern Pennsylvania/Baltimore/DC visiting my baby brother and his family.  I haven't seen my niece for about 6 months, and her and her mommy are about to move to Hawaii.  Long story short: they're in the military and that's where she is being stationed next.
My brother on the other hand... he won't be going to Hawaii. He is heading overseas to do another tour in Afghanistan.
So, a trip was needed to visit everyone before they leave for all different corners of the world.

On Thursday, when we left for our little excursion, we got an email from our SR.  She was super apologetic, but let us know that we wouldn't be able to do a change order to get the kitchen island we wanted in our home.
Cue the tears.
I did good reading the email, but as soon as I opened my mouth to talk about it, I was crying.  I haven't wanted something for the house this badly til I saw this island.

But, because all of our permits and prints have been launched, we can't change anything unless they are part of the proper print.  Essentially, our floor plan for our Milan is an "06" version.  The floor plan with the kitchen island I am in love with is the "07" version.

I'm frustrated.  I know they consider this a "structural" change... but seriously... it's a couple table legs and some extra granite.  How that's a structural change that requires our blueprints to be redrawn AND new permits is beyond me.  It's so silly.

All for a kitchen island change.

And I was SO ready to wait longer to make sure we got this island.  We were made aware that the permits and prints might need to be "redone" because of this change, which means waiting even LONGER for our home.  But seriously?  If it means we are getting exactly what we want, we were willing to do it.  Change order charges (of $1,000) and all.

So our "dream home" has become and "almost" dream home.  I'm definitely okay with this now, because at this point I am MORE than ready to just have our lot staked, and then holes in the ground, and then a home we can call our own.  Especially because the fiasco we have had to deal with with NVR has pushed our build date back because all of that took so long.

And, we have already discussed it, and since it can't happen, we will just look into having a contractor come in and build onto the island and make me the kitchen island I want {and hopefully for less money too}.  This option stinks since we are already paying for the island to begin with and will just rip it out......

Here's that photo of the kitchen island I can't have.....  All because we have an older version of the floor plan {which- now that I think about it.... the Milan is a brand-spanking-new floor plan to Cincinnati... .so HOW is it possible that we DONT have the newest version?!?!!?!?  The brand new model home that has been built before we even break ground? IT is the 07 version.....  Sigh.  So much stress and headache over one silly island that I can't have.}

Oh well.

Like I said, I guess we just have to build it after we get into the home. It is what it is, right?

Now- y'all keep your fingers crossed that we actually hear this week about our pre-construction meeting!  The wait is driving me nuts!