Sunday, August 26, 2012

And now we wait.

We just sent over the last change order to our SR...all decisions have been finalized and there will be no more changes made.  I inquired about the timeline, and if the permits come back in the usual amount of time (our county is apparently very good about that) we should be breaking ground by the end of September.  Surprisingly, our SR seems to think we could still make a November delivery date!  I had thought there was no way we'd close before mid-December at the earliest.  Optimism aside, I just want to be in the new house before Christmas...while we asked the families to avoid lots of gifts this year (we requested assistance with a play structure for our boys instead of toys), I really don't want to have to move extra stuff!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Selections are written in stone

I've been working on this post for a long time, but I wanted to have all the details nailed down before listing things.  As it is there's still one thing we're waiting on but I got tired of holding on to this post...it was pretty much finished on Saturday.

We're building a Rome, Elevation E, with side entry garage, per plan (not reversed).  As far as I can discover this exact format hasn't been blogged about yet, so here is the brochure drawing:

Elevation E - drawing

We are doing all siding in Irish Thistle, with Island Pearl as the accent shake siding in the upper middle.  Shutters and Doors will be Black; trim, garage door, and gutters will be white.  We have brick to grade in our community and we picked Grand Caramel, but I don't have a picture of that.  Apparently our roof color is Weathered Wood, whatever that means.  Here is my artistic rendering of what our house will look like:

elevation E - colors
Obviously that's not going to be EXACT, but it's roughly what it'll look like on the outside.  Only more three-dimensional.

Inside is pretty standard for the Rome...elevation E does have extra square footage in the loft (2 foot bump) and bedroom four (1 foot bump).  We upgraded the master bath to the shower stall with a bench and put jets in the tub, and did the double-bowl vanity in both bathrooms.

Top floor:
27
Non-standards: raised the dryer vent three feet above plan (no charge), centered the laundry room door on the wall (on the version we first saw it was centered, but the version when we signed had it all the way on the end - $200)

We got the gourmet island, 42" cabinets, morning room, extra windows in morning room and family room, recessed lights in the kitchen (plus a couple extra for pendants down the road), double-patio door on morning room (instead of slider), 12x14 wood deck (not pictured because I'm not sure what it'll look like).
Main floor:
23

Non-standards:  put a single oven in the island (more on this in another post - $2250), removed mudroom closet ($200), put the laundry tub in the garage (apparently we can no longer get it in the laundry room for some reason, so no charge beyond the cost of the tub itself), extra coach light outside garage (standard is we only get one on one side, $300).  We're getting the gas range, so we also have the alternate microwave location, which is fine with me because I don't really want it above the range anyways.  Here's the alternate location for the Rome (this is a home we walked through when deciding our floor plan...I think that might be our cabinet choice, too):

IMG_7954

We got a finished basement as part of our incentive package (along with $7500 towards upgrades), and put in a powder room and recessed lights.  Since we have a walkout, we don't have to have a sump pump, apparently.  Basement:

24

Non-standard:  moved walkout door from the side of the morning room to the back (no charge).


Inside finishes:
Manchester Gunstock hardwood flooring (base level hardwood)
2nd level carpet (beige pictured, but I might be changing the upstairs to a light gray)
6lb carpet pad
base level vinyl
upgraded master bath tile (not sure what level...2 or 3, I think)
black appliances
Blue Storm laminate countertops
Wyoming Cherry Bordeaux cabinets (bathrooms will have the basic maple spice)
oil-rubbed bronze everything (the only metal thing not ORB should be the kitchen sink)

FLOORING

We're getting ethernet ports put in 4 rooms, wiring for surround sound in the basement (this is what we're waiting on...they didn't include it in our original quote, so we're having to jump through hoops to get pricing), and a central vacuum.  The low-voltage appointment (we don't have Guardian here) was actually the easiest out of all the appointments we've had yet, but the follow-up has been disappointing.  Flooring wasn't all that hard either since we pretty much stuck to what we'd budgeted for, but it did take a while to nail down colors and such.

I THINK that's everything...let me know if I left something out.  :)

Sunday, August 12, 2012

I've had some time on my hands lately.

So I decided to take all 156 blog subscriptions I have for Ryan Homes blogs and list them by model.

What?!?  I said I had some time on my hands!

Of course not all of these are current, and not all of them are even helpful, but after 156 I gave up on finding any more Yorkshires for CMM.  ;)  I'll keep this updated indefinitely, so if someone new joins the fray or you know of one I don't have, let me know and I'll add it in!

***This post is not kept updated.  For the most up-to-date info, click on the page listed in the tab up top. ***

AVALON
Building a Ryan Home: Avalon
Building a Ryan Homes Avalon
Our Avalon Journey

COURTLAND
Journey to our Courtland (w/ryanhomes)
Moving to the Country...
The Incredible Journey
Lot 106 (Courtland Gate)

FERNCLIFF
Building our Ferncliff
Where the Ferncliff Grows

FLORENCE
"Florentine Tales"...Memoirs of building our first home
Building Our First House - With Ryan Homes
Building with Ryan (Charlie R)
Building with Ryan (ThriftyAmy)
Building with Ryan Homes - Florence
Building With Ryan Homes : Akron Ohio
Dreaming of a Ryan Homes Florence
From House to Home: Building a Ryan Home
Meegan's Family: Building a Florence with Ryan Homes
Our Florence by Ryan Homes in Twinsburg OH
Our Ryan Home: A Florence Dream
Ryan Homes Florence in Buffalo
Ryan Homes is where the heart is...
Sell. Move. Build.
The Newlyweds Build a Ryan Home!
The Ring's Florence by Ryan Homes

JEFFERSON
Adventures in Home-Building
Building a Jefferson with Ryan Homes
Building Our Jefferson
Building our Jefferson with Ryan Homes

MILAN
Building 221
Makin' Milan Memories
Mickie Ds Milan: Building with Ryan Homes
Our 1st New Home: Building a Ryan Homes Milan
OUR NEW MILAN
Our New Ryan Homes Milan
Our Road to a New Home: Building with Ryan Homes
RVA City Milan.....Building a Ryan Homes Milan in Richmond, Va
The Milan - Our New Ryan Home!
The Milan Journey

NAPLES
Building A Naples in PA
Home Sweet Home...
Moving out of Alaska and building a Naples with Ryan Homes in SC
Rosemont with Ryan Homes

RAVENNA
A Majestic Ravenna-Building with Ryan Homes
Albaeck Army Adventure
Building a New House Ryan Homes Ravenna Model
Building a Ryan Home
Building and Blogging
Building House #2 With Ryan Homes "The Ravenna"
If You Could See What I See
It's all about my Ryan, home
NkyRavenna
Our Ryan Homes Adventure!
Rants and Raves of Ryan's Ravenna
Ravenna Speed
Road to the Ravenna
Stark Ravin' Ravenna
The Ravenna Rant

ROME
Building with Ryan Homes
Give Us a Home...And Call It a Rome
Home Sweet Rome
Moving on up: Home in a Rome
Our Rome by Ryan Homes
Our Ryan Home: Kind of a Big Deal
Rome wasn't built in a day: Ryan Homes
Rome-ing In Richmond
Ryan Homes Take 2 - Rome Model 2012
The Adventures of Building our Rome with Ryan Homes
the rome is our new home
We're building a Ryan Home:Rome
When in Rome…our journey with Ryan Homes

SAVOY
Home Sweet Ryan Home
Our Ryan Home
What's Buzzin? We're Building a Savoy with Ryan Homes!

SIENNA
Building Sienna with Ryan
From Knot to Nest
Love.Marriage.210
Newlyweds: Building the Sienna With Ryan Homes
SIENNA-Ryan Homes
The Baileys are Building with Ryan Homes!!!!!!
three angers in ohio

TAYLOR
Building our nest with Ryan Homes
Building the Taylor with Ryan Homes

VENICE
A Ryan Homes Venice for our Duo
A Blog following building a new home from the ground up
A Home for the Morris'-Building our Venice
Building with Ryan Homes and my Love
countdown to my ryan home
Flerchinger Dream House - Venice
My Journey to Venice
NEO Venice
oh hello venice
Our Building with Ryan Homes: Venice
Our First Home
Our Journey With Ryan Homes
our road to venice (SC that is...)
Our Venice Dream
Our Venice in PA
Ryan Homes - A Bit of Venice in the Country
Ryanhomes Venice Model - Pittsburgh
That's so Venice!
The Stevenson's Venice
Venice Adventures
Venice Evolution
Venice in MD

VERONA
"Castle Townsend"
Bahay Kubo In America (Verona)
Building Our Verona
Building Our Verona with Ryan Homes
Our Journey to Verona
Ro's Road 2 Ryan
TA and Brian's New Ryan Home: Verona
That's right, it's another Verona!

VICTORIA FALLS
Builder's Blog
Building our new home, the Victoria Falls at the Berkshires Community
Building with Ryan Homes - Victoria Falls
Home Sweet Victoria Falls
Journey to Victoria Falls on Tall Woods Way
Love... Life... And Our Dream Home... Here We Go.
Our journey in building our Ryan home..Victoria Falls!
Our Journey to Victoria Falls
Ryan Homes Cobblestone - Building Our Victoria Falls

WAVERLY
172 Waverly
Building Our Home
Dave and Venora's New Home
HOME SWEET HOME
Namma Waverly
Our Waverly
Ryan Homes - our Waverly

YORKSHIRE
Building a Yorkshire
Building our Yorkshire with Ryan Homes
The Yorkshire Endeavor...


OTHER SINGLE-FAMILY
Armstrong - Yes! We're building a Ryan Home
Bainbridge Hall - Our Bainbridge Hall Adventure
Dorsey Hall - My Chaotic World
Highgrove  - High Hopes For Our Highgrove
James Joyce - Building Our James Joyce with Ryan Homes
Michener II - Building a Michener II
Oakmont - The Oakmont
Palmetto Grove - Ryan Homes Palmetto Grove
Pisa - Brandi Land
Shakespeare  - Shakespeare, Here We Come!!
Zachary - Simply Stavish
Zachary Place - Bonds - Zachary



TOWNHOMES/CONDOS
Hepburn - Home Sweet Townhome
Inglewood - Our First House - Building with Ryan Homes
Mozart - Building a Mozart with Ryan Homes
Odessa - Its True!!! I Am Building MY Ryan Home
Picasso - Los Fregadero's Ryan Homes Condo
Picasso - YES!!! We Are Building a Ryan Home CONDO!!!!
Rosecliff - Ryan Homes Nest Newbies
Roxbury - My very own Roxbury @ Amberleigh
Roxbury - The Journey Starts here...
Strauss - Our Strauss House 
One Life, Well Traveled (colonial style townhouse)
My Ryan Townhome Adventure


BLOGS THAT DON'T HAVE MUCH INFO
Building the Savoy with Ryan Homes
Dreaming of a Ryan Home
I Dream of Beech Tree
Journey to Venice, by Ryan Homes
New Crib with Ryan!
Our New Adventure
The T's Courtland Journey
Here We Come, Ryan Homes!


BLOGS THAT EITHER DON'T EXIST ANYMORE OR REQUIRE AN INVITE
Building With Ryan Homes In Baltimore
From Queens To Cobblestone
JEFFERSON (RYAN HOMES)
Love.Marriage.Home!
Let's build a Verona
On building our New Ryan Home
The Zuk's are building a Venice
There's No Place Like Home..
TheRyanHomesExperience
Building a Sorrento
Our Ryan Home Venice

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Hardwood vs Laminate

I see that quite a few bloggers have chosen laminate over hardwood.  While I imagine that at least in some cases it's a question of cost, I'd really like to hear from people on why they chose one over the other.  Three of our friends have told us NOT to get Pergo, because if water sits on it for any amount of time you're SOL.  As any of you with kids or pets know, liquid on the floor is pretty much a given!  And considering that my boys are clumsy and I have a cat who takes perverse pleasure out of knocking over any drinking vessel he can get to, this is definitely a concern.

Here are the pros and cons of each as far as I've been able to discover:

Hardwood
Pros:
Adds to value of the home
Can be refinished
"Softer" underfoot
More character from wood variations

Cons:
Expensive
Fades
Scratches easily
Susceptible to moisture problems


Laminate
Pros:
Cheaper
Doesn't fade
Scratch-resistant

Cons:
Not as realistic-looking
Susceptible to moisture problems
Can be loud
Not as "soft" underfoot

***edited to add:  I should have mentioned, our plan was to do one flooring throughout the downstairs except the family room...I'm worried about this decision mostly for the kitchen, which is obviously a high risk area for moisture damage.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Conundrum solved!

I want to thank you all SO much for your help with the cabinet conundrum!  The comments and links to pictures were a huge help, and gave me the bright idea to check online for some pictures of local Ryan models.  After all my searching I think the combination that makes me most happy is the lighter cabinet with the cherry-like floor, similar to the kitchen in  *collette* 's old house.  I borrowed her picture to show here:


Now this is not a Ryan Home, so obviously I can't expect to match it perfectly, but using the handy website that Rachel mentioned it would seem that there should be cherry-like flooring options we can choose.  We made our appointment with the flooring company for next Friday, which will leave us three days to change our minds on the cabinets before our 14 days are up.  (Which reminds me...did some of you get to change cabinets penalty-free after 14 days?  That's what it sounded like in several of the comments.  Our SR was very specific that cabinets are 14 day items.)  So right now, the plan is the Andover Maple Spice cabinets (one step up, with the extra detail, but the same color as the base cabinet) with a blackish laminate counter and the cherry floors.  I'll have to go back and make sure my counter choice will work with the cherry, though it's not like it'll be near the floor!  We picked Blue Storm, but the Corbeau Montana looks pretty nice too...so now I'm second guessing myself again!  AAHHHHHH!!!!  :)

My husband and I went over the numbers, budgeted out what we'll be able to afford on flooring and our non-standards, and tomorrow we'll be doing the "final" pricing thing.  Both of us have to sign that one.  There will be at least one more change order going in, but I don't know whether to do it now or wait until after our flooring meeting...I'd hate to have a ton when we could just wait and have everything on one piece of paper.  In any case, the sooner we finalize the sooner they can draw the blueprints, the sooner they can apply for permits, the sooner we can break ground!  Let's get this ball rolling!