WOW! What a difference a week makes

Hi everyone! 

I hope everyone is well and Happy Belated Father's day to all of the wonderful fathers out there!

What a crazy week it has been.  I have been trying my best to keep up with all the blogs and everyone's progress and I am so happy to see all of the changes!  On top of all of work and attention to detail it takes to build a home, I am also planning our daughter's 21st birthday (YES, I said it out loud, I have a 21 year old!  :))  She is a fourth of July baby and yes, I have heard just about every joke there is about giving birth to a "firecracker" baby , but please feel free to pass on a joke a that I have not heard  :)  I am so proud of her and just want to make this day extra special for her.  She is  a senior in college, works 2 jobs, and is extremely responsible.  I love you Princess!  Muwah, Muhaw, Muhaw!!  Being that her favorite color is Pink, we are planning a Pink themed party, right down to the signature drinks (which is taking the most time, trying to find just the right two pink drinks.  Trying to find a drink that pink that is not too sweet has been quite the challenge!

Back to house news!

Nothing new to report :(  We still have not had our "final changes" meeting yet, this is due to our schedules.  I will be traveling out of out town all next week so hopefully we will be able to schedule it next weekend.  I can't believe that we still have not been able to agree on final selections!  What is wrong with us, is it really that hard or are we just making it that hard!?!

Question about finding new Blogs:
So I am very new to all this so I hope someone will excuse my ignorance and be able to provide some insight.  How do I find new blogs about Ryan Homes? Are there key words that you type in somewhere to search for new blogs?

Thanks!

Interior Paint Color and Other Questions

Hi again,

I have a couple of questions and hopefully I can borrow from your vast knowledge base!  :)

1.  I thought I read somewhere that Ryan offers three different shades of white paint for the interior is that true?  I was thinking about this today and realized that we did not pick an interior paint color with our SR.

2.  Did you received a Road Map to Home Ownership from your SR?  Not sure what this is.  We received our ratified sales contract electronically today and it mentioned this.  I have no idea what this is.

3.  How long after finalizing your selections was your Pre-Construction meeting schedule?
What determines this date?

4.  Anyone with a truck and a van or 2 wide vehicles?  Can both fit in your garage at the same time?  Is it a tight squeeze?

Sorry for so many questions!

Oh, we're building the Taylor...House Details!

Hi all!

I don't know about you, but boy am I'm glad it's Friday!  This has been a stressful week trying to finalize all of our selections.  This process has been so overwhelming and I keep second guessing myself!  Why can't I just make up my mind?!?

One thing that did want to mention about Ryan Homes is that we have found them to be very accommodating when it comes to making custom changes to their floor plans.  They have been very flexible with our request and so far they have been able to accept all of our requests.

I thought I would detail our selections thus far in the process in the hopes that seeing our selections all in one place would help me with making our final choices.  We still have not had our final selection meeting yet so we still have time to make changes  :)  I don't know if that is good thing or a bad thing!  lol!

 Model:  Taylor 2808 Sq Ft Standard, just over 4,000 with additions:  Link to virtual tour:  http://www.ryanhomes.com/community/maryland/villages-of-urbana-traditional/taylor

Sorry but  I can't seem to find a picture of our model with siding  :(




Elevation C - No Porch  - siding instead of brick
5 Bedrooms 3 1/2 Baths - Converted Media Room to a 5th Bedroom with a private bath
Finished Basement with Walk Up Welded Exit - Basement is in ground
Upgraded Trim, Crown Molding, and Chair Railings in the Foyer, Living Room, Dining room and  Stairs
Egress Window in Basement Bedroom
Morning Room with Sliding Glass Door
Sitting Room in Master Bedroom
Fireplace with Blower Remote in Family Room - Side location
7 Ceiling Rough-In's
Garage Door Opener

Flooring:

Hardwood Floors:  Foyer, Half Bath, Dining Room
Tile:  Kitchen, Morning Room
Carpet:  Living Room, Family Room, Office, Bedrooms, Basement

Vinyl:  Laundry Room

Kitchen Upgrades/Changes:

• Level 2 Cabinets
• Stainless Steel Appliances
• No Microwave
• Gourmet Island
• Double Wall Ovens
• Moved the the Microwave to the Pantry - included a 110v outlet
• Tile Floor
• Recessed Lights 
• Upgraded Fridge to a different model:  Still waiting on pricing

Possible Changes:
Adding Tile Back Splash
Under Cabinet Lights
May change fridge from 25.9 to 28 cubic ft

Dining Room

• Removed one of three Columns to open up the room

Possible Changes:
Add Bay Window

Family Room

• Fireplace with blower remote
• 2 Recessed Lights above the fireplace
• Flat Panel TV Pre-Wire

Possible Changes:
Upgrade carpet to berber

Basement Upgrade/Changes:

• Recessed Lights
• Welded Exit
• Added a wall and door where the morning room extends into the basement to a private room.  We call this room the "Lab".  Cheap to do and it gives us 3 private areas in the basement.
• Added a walk in closet in the 5th bedroom

Upper Level Bedrooms and Bathrooms:

Upgrades and Changes:

• Bedroom #2 - changing closet to Walk-in
• Master Bath - Changed Tub to a heart shaped tub instead of oval
• Hall Bath - Tile, Granite and double bowl sinks 
• Added 110v outlet in Master Bedroom Closet

Possible Changes:
Add Tray Ceilings in the Master Bedroom

Also considering adding the following:
Wet bar
Patio
Front Porch
Stained Glass Front Door - Thanks Noey!  Our SR wasn't even aware that this was an option!  

Adding 15 window treatments through CTI.

Freebies: - (not really) lot premium!

• 2 extra windows in the living room - included with the lot
• additional landscaping on the side of the house - included with the lot

I think that about covers it.   More post to follow with questions! 

What are your plans for your morning room?

Hi All!

Well over here at Camp "I can't make up my mind" we are having a debate as to how to furnish our morning room.

Team A thinks the room should have a medium sized table kitchen table with a few other accents.

Team B thinks the room should have a couch and coffee table and a few other accent pieces.

Below are pics of the morning room with a table and with a couch

Morning Room with Couch

Just curious...how do you plan on using your morning room?

Meeting with CTI and Guardian

Hello everyone and Happy Hump Day!

I thought since our meetings with CTI and Guardian were so close I would wrap these up into into one post.

CTI - We had our meeting with them on Saturday, this was a tough day because our daughter had her SAT's at 7:45 and our meeting was at 9:00.  Needless to say we were a tad bit late  :0

Our Rep was nice and patient.  In all honesty, I was just a little disappointed because they did not have the darker floor that we wanted, but no big deal.  The only thing decision we made was to upgrade the carpet padding throughout the entire house and choose our carpet colors for the basement and the upper floors.  We are still debating on whether or not to upgrade the carpet in the family room to Berber.  Pics below:

Light color is for the upper 2 floors, darker is for the basement.

 

 

 

 

 

One other thing that they offer are window treatments, blinds etc.  We are definitely considering having CTI handle a few our windows for us especially all of the windows in the bedrooms, MB, and office.  We found their prices to be reasonable and one less thing that we have to worry about when we move in.  We still have not decided on what to do with the other rooms in terms of window treatments, but we have time to figure that out.

Guardian - Meeting was last night.  our SR was very nice and even changed is hours to accommodate our schedule.  The meeting started off very well until I asked him when did we have to get back to him with our final selections and he told us that we had to make our decisions right then and there!  Really???? We don't have time to take this this all in and come back with our final choices?   So with that tid bit of info, we kindly provided the locations of our 3 phone lines and 3 cable hook ups and called it a night.    Sorry buddy, but we are not going to be pressured into making any decision tonight!  We went to the meeting with intentions to purchase the Alarm System, and Surround Sound, but we passed on both.

Oh, I forgot, we also got the pre-wiring for the our flat screen above the fireplace, a whopping $440!  The poor guy kept saying so "I'll write up this order for $440.00 right? and we kept saying yes, if we have to make our final decisions tonight, then yes, our order will only be for $440.00. He kept telling us that Ryan told them that they have to have the final decision the day of the appointment, etc.  I have never heard of this. The bad thing is that we budgeted $4,000 for this but thought we would have time to work out the numbers at home.  So in the end we saved a total of $3560 in options that were not in our Top 5 must have's anyway!  Now maybe we can apply those funds elsewhere or no where at all....either way this works for me!

That was easy! (insert Staples Easy Button Here)

Sorry, I need to vent...here is a little background...

A couple of weeks ago we asked our Sales Rep if there was a model of our future home anywhere in the area and she told us that she did not think so but she would check with her manager, or the person that updates the internet sites for this region.  At that time, I recalled a conversation that we had another Ryan rep about a model being in Chantilly, VA and also I checked the Ryan website and it stated that there was a model in Chantilly.

So time moves on and this got pushed to the lower end of my priority list but about a week later we stopped into the Sales office to go over a few other things and I asked if she had heard back from her manager about the model and she said that she did and unfortunately there used to be model there but not anymore.  We left a little disappointed but definitely not the end of the world...I really wanted to take pictures of each room prior to our meetings with CTI and Guardian to bring with us on our appointments.

Anyway, for some reason, her answer was just not sitting well with me so I decided to call Ryan's Corporate office and ask if they did have a model in either MD or VA and low and behold they do...and guess where?  Wait for it....Wait for it....












Bam! Chantilly, VA!
Now let me tell you just how much this chapped my cheeks!  We really wanted to have a reference point to refer back to when we meet with Guardian, mainly in terms of placement for pre-wiring.  So needless to say our meeting with Guardian is today and it would have  nice to bring those photos along with us.

This may seem like a small insignificant issue, but try telling that to my case of OCD!  LOL! 

I really try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but in this case I am finding it hard to believe that both my sales rep and her manager are that misinformed about the location of a model that they sell!?!   If she simply forgot about my question, (which I can see happening, we are all human, and things happen) and admitted it, I would have respected her for being honest, but I knew the minute she gave me that answer that she did not look into it.  Now what bothers me is that if I feel you are being dishonest about  such a small thing, what happens when we get into the really big stuff????

So my"Lesson Learned" from this experience is to do my own research and not depend on the word of someone else...

Signed Pictureless in MD

Out with the old and in with the NEW!

Hello everyone,

So the fun, exciting, crazy, nerve racking, indecisiveness has begun!  Last night we met with our sales rep to pick out our options!  I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed in the selections (carpet) available and where the selections were located.(basement of the model)  I guess one of the things that the other builder did offer was an actual design center with actual full size offerings of their selections which was really helpful in making our choices.  They had  full kitchen models with different granite, cabinets and flooring, along with multiple sink options, a full ceramic bath, fireplaces and multiple mantel choices, washers and dryers, faucets, knobs, you name it, if they sold it there was an actual example.  I really liked the kitchen, because we were able to pull out the drawers, and compare this granite with that cabinet against this floor etc, not to mention the most important thing...natural light!  I am sure that if we never saw the design center the "basement" would have been just fine.  But it did feel like going from driving a BMW to a Yugo.  :)  The good thing for us is that we did have that experience to lean on when making our new selections!

Ok, now that I have gotten that off my chest, let me tell you a little bit about the Old.

We really like our old selections and hoped that Ryan offered similar choices, I guess that's why I named this blog the way I did!

Kitchen cabinets, granite, tile for the kitchen and MB Tile, carpet for Family Room

Close Up - Pic does not show detail in tile. 

I really loved the HW Floor and Granite!  :(

Close Up, MB Tile

And now, on to the NEW!

Brick and Siding

HW Floors, I really wish they were darker!

Kitchen Cabinets, Tile and Granite

MB with Cabinets, Granite and Tile

Hall Bath

5th Bedroom Private Bath

Differences?
1.  Darker Granite in Kitchen and darker tile
2.  Lighter HW floors - Does CTI have more options?  (crossing fingers!)
3.  Added Granite to all baths
4.  Added tile to hall and 5th BR bath

Still Pending:
1.  Meet with Carpet Company
2. Meet with Guardian
3.  Pick out fireplace (just could not decide!)

Any and all feedback is welcome!  I have pretty tough skin!!  LOL!

Adding pic of MB Sitting Room

...and then there was 1

First let me begin by saying Happy Memorial Day and a special THANK YOU to all of our amazing military vets for your service!  We spent our day honoring our vets at the WWII Memorial in DC.  It was extremely hot, but well worth it!

Secondly, thank you to everyone blogging about their experiences with building with Ryan Homes.  I came across this blog site while researching  and the information here has been invaluable!!

Our journey to build our home started November of 2010.  We were going back and forth between 2 builders and honestly could not decide on which builder to go with.  We compared lots, models, options, lenders, etc and finally decided on a builder that was not Ryan, (shocking I know!)  We signed our contract in January of 2011 with a scheduled start date of Mid March and completion date of Mid July.  We were notified in March that there was now a three month delay to our start date due to energy efficiency standards.  This should have been our first clue of things to come!  Then we received a phone call from our sales rep stating that there was issue with our lot, we would either have to remove the sunroom or not have a walk up basement entrance because the city would not issue the permit.  (Neo-Traditional home, walk out would hit  about 2 feet from the garage)  So at this point, that little voice inside of was no longer whispering but screaming RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN.  Thankfully, we were able to get out of our contract!

Now back to Ryan!  So here we are back at square one.   Originally, we were looking at the Michner II in the same community, but after this happened, we decided to take a look at another model that Ryan had called the Carol II.  We absolutely loved the layout of this home and it had every we wanted so we priced it out and it was well within our budget.  Just to be sure we were making the right decision regarding the model, we decided to check out another community that Ryan was building in.  We looked at 3 models, the Jasmine, Chantilly and the Taylor.  While all the homes were very nice in their own right, the Jasmine had a very large morning room with beautiful windows and the Chantilly had a 2 story great room that was just amazing but in the end we decided on the Taylor.  We loved the layout and it had everything we wanted in a home without having to make any concessions.  When we walked through it we just had that feeling that this was the one!  We spent the next three weeks going back and forth between the two communities going through the plus and minuses of each community, visiting each community, pricing out the homes with options and we finally settled on the Taylor!!  We are very please with our choice. 

So this where our journey begins, I look forward to sharing it with all of you!  More to come...

Below are some pic from our trip to the Memorial...Enjoy!