Brick..Brick...Brick

Yesterday we received our first supply of the brick (Savannah Moss). The Savannah Moss (Brown) brick is new to our area and we didn't have any existing houses with this brick to look at. Also, given the fact that the brick color changes with the plant, the lot number(brick batch) and how long the bricks are baked for, we were very skeptical as to how it would look on the wall. Today they installed the bricks and the looks have exceeded our expectation. we are happy that we have made the right choice and it looks great on our Waverly.

Some Pics

This picture is closest to the actual brick color.

Concrete and Concrete Walls

The day before yesterday they finished casting the basement wall. When I visited the lot yesterday late afternoon, the workers were watering the wall casts, the concrete pouring truck was being positioned, few others were finishing up some last min work. I also noticed that the county inspector was onsite making sure everything is being done according to county standards. they were still waiting for the concrete mixer so I couldn't wait any longer to witness the pouring of concrete...When I visited in the evening again, the concrete work had already been completed.

Today they were supposed to waterproof the walls. Looks like they didn't complete it and they have just removed the concrete casts...need to check with the PM tomorrow.

Below are some pics from yesterday and today..

The concrete opening that you see in the middle is where the service garage door will be.

Garage walls

The First window in our home. This will be part of the Exercise room.

Second Week's Schedule and Updates

This week it looks very busy. So far they have done footings and putting up the walls. I went in the evening to see if they have completed the work and found that it was still going on. The worker bees had completed completed putting it up and they were working on securing them. Hopefully they will finish it today. Tomorrow they will pour the concrete, on Thursday they waterproof it and on Friday they will complete the plumbing work.
I also found that the lot next to us has also started the construction process and today was their first day. Good thing is that we don't have to listen to all construction related noises after we move in.
Photo Session:
Footings

Putting up the walls

Stakes and Basement Hole

we had a meeting with our SR yesterday afternoon to discuss the layout of kitchen appliances because of change in county's building code. Our lot is very close to the model home and we decided to walk our lot after the meeting. There were two guys who were working on surveying the lot and marking the lot boundaries and house boundaries. They marked our lot while we were walking the lot and they showed us our boundaries. It was surprising to see our lot boundaries were bigger than we had thought.. we are happy.

When we asked them what their plan for the day was, they pointed us to a big bulldozer and said they were going to start the grading the lot and digging the basement.

visited the lot in the evening again and found that they had graded our lot and stakes were in.

Today's Photos..

It is happening and happening fast.....!

During the pre-construction meeting, it was decided that our constrcution will start from today, the April 24th. From our past experience we were little skeptical about today's construction. I spoke to our PM yesterday and he mentioned that clearing should start from 7 AM. Out of excitement, I couldn't sleep through the night and drove by the lot in the morning. To my surprise, there was no one other than two bulldozers which were there from past one week. I sent an email to our PM in the afternoon to check if the lot clearing is happening or not. He replied back saying it is happening and it is almost towards the end. I couldn't wait to get out of the work to see the difference. I left few mins early to find this...

Lot Photo in the morning

Lot photo in the evening
the dirt pile that you see in the pic, is where we are going to have the Basement exit.

Lot Photo in the evening

Pre-Construction Meeting - Update

We had our pre-construction meeting on Monday. We found some discrepencies in the RH documentation for selections that we had made. There were also a few decisions that we made during the meeting.

Discrepancies:

• Brick Color
• Cabinet Type in the Kitchen and all the baths
• Fire Place stone type
• fixtures type

Decisions Made

• Move the small window in the basement located by the basement exit to the excercise room
• Flood Light at the backyard to be loacated in the middle of the back wall.
• Wet bar rough in the basement to be made in the morning room area.

Pleasant Surprises

• Ours is a walkout basement lot and as per the PM, the rear wall upto first floor level will be brick wrapped. It kind of makes it look like a 4 sided brick house. Voo Hoo
• The PM also mentioned that he will move the tankless water heat to the Garage. In case it needs any future repairs, it will be lot easier to get it done in the Garage compared to basement mechanical area. If it leaks by any chance (I know 99.9% it won't happen) we will see it right away and it would not flood the house.

In the end we walked the lot and expressed our interest in keeping as many trees as possible. Did I mention earlier that our lot has a lot of trees? There are quiet a few huge old trees. The PM has agreed to retain as many of them as possible and just remove dead branches if there are any. Hopefully all this should  be done by the 23rd and work should start from the 24th.

Pre-Construction Meeting

Tomorrow we are have our pre construction meeting....Wow! We were growing impatient waiting for this day..It's finally here.

We were called by our SR this past Friday to let us know that they have gotten the permit to begin the work. Hoo Hooo

He preferred that we take the pre-contruction meeting appnt. either on Tuesday or Wednesday because of the two other pre-cons meetings that our PM has on Monday. We were so excited by hearing the news that we didn't want to delay (according to SR, having pre-construction meeting either on Tuesday or Wednesday wouldn't delay a thing in the construction process) the process further. We got an appnt. for Monday. Even though we haven't met our PM, we have a feeling that he is very co-operative.

For the pre-construction meeting, we are taking all our paper work related to various options that we have chosen and the change orders that we have placed so far in order to cross check and to be same page with everyone.

We are so ready to have this meeting.....looking forward for the construction to begin.