Our Honest Timeline (Dates Included)

Today-December 30, 2014

Well, we had hoped we'd be in by now.  We had pictured (and been told it was possible, but made very clear that there were no guarantees) ourselves spending Christmas and then New Year's Eve in our new house this year.  Looks like it'll be next year... we hope.  With Thanksgiving, Christmas, the new year, and some other setbacks, we are now hoping to be in the house early January, guess we'll wait and see.  The most recent tentative date we were given was Jan. 5, now it's Jan. 9...  Thank God we haven't had ANY snow, or that might have delayed us even more.  This timeline is based on no weather delays, only scheduling delays.  Subcontractors have stuff come up and get behind. 

Actual Timeline of Our Build   
(not too bad considering the three holidays and our field manager going on two week-long vacations!)

Original dig date was set for 8/28/14.  That morning on our way to the site it got called off.  The excavator had to go fix an emergency problem from his previous dig.  We were so bummed.  Fortunately, my substitute teacher hadn't arrived for the school day yet, so I didn't waste a personal day.
Dig Day got pushed back to 9/2/14.

Footers were poured on 9/4/14.

Our field manager realized that our elevation was not going to work the way it had originally been planned. There would be too much of a dip in the back that would collect water where our walk out basement door would be.   We'd need to raise the entire  house about four feet and fill in the front yard to the house with dirt to accommodate this change.  The field manager we were originally assigned (James Bailey) left Wayne Homes, so we were assigned Brant Brothers.  We're really happy he caught this, but we wish we had him working with us from the start.  This was an unexpected $3,500+ we had to shell out, and that's with Wayne Homes working with us to cover part of the extra costs to fill the garage with $5,000 worth of rock.

On a bright note, we did like that the land in front of the house was raised as it resulted in less of a dip in the driveway.  

Foundation went in on 9/15/14.

9/23/14 everything stopped when one of the Amish workers realized our footers were poured at the incorrect angle.  Amish noticed it, but it wasn't their mistake, it was the guy who poured the footers.  It was less than 10 degrees, so we figured it wasn't a major deal, and we didn't want to hold everything up, so we let it go, although Wayne Homes was willing to tear out the footers and re-pour.  This would have set us back a few weeks, maybe? 

30 Tri-axels of dirt had to be brought in.  $$$ Garage had to be filled with rock since it was now sitting about four feet higher than originally expected. 

Rough Grade of lot was 10/8/14. 

Framing went up 10/14/14.  We realized that they didn't catch on the CAD drawing that the window in our loft was entirely too big and would be too close to the built in bookshelf for the shelving to be usable.  We had to keep the window.  They keep moving it out of the way and now it's outside our house resting against the siding.  Anyone need a huge Anderson double window, double hung?  Never used!!  Our field manager, Brant, installed the new window himself to save us the $300 plus to pay the window installer to come back out and hang one window.  We still had to eat the cost of the the wasted window, plus the price of the new window.  Total cost out of pocket = about $350.

Roof installed 10/23/14.

Well was dug 10/29/14. 

Around this same time concrete was poured.  They hooked up two HUGE propane tanks to dry the concrete and keep the house warm, but it was unbearable to be in the house.  Our well guy could barely work the day he installed the pressure tank.  When we'd open the windows to walk around the house (truly it was unbearably hot) you could see the heat waves where the doors and windows were open.  Our metal posts in the basement were so hot, you'd literally burn your hands if you touched them.  We think the valve was broken because there was only one setting- SWELTERING.  Even with the gas turned down all the way it was still over 100 degrees inside the house.  Once the furnace was turned on, fortunately, the propane could be turned entirely off.  

Update:  We were luckier than a fellow home builder we know.  One gentleman visited us quite frequently during our build, and even brought us a bottle of champagne after we moved in.  He was also building a Wayne Home Jamestown model at the time, and he said the same thing happened with the heat in his basement, his was so hot that it melted some of his plastic plumbing, and it had to be replaced. 

Electric wired 11/3/14.

Electric inspection 11/5/14.

Drywall put up 11/15/14.  Not much else went on during this time.  It felt like about a month where nothing much happened except for drywall.  We heard from out field manager that the drywallers were a nightmare to work with- they were Mexicans who offered us food when we'd stop by.  We like the texture of the ceilings.

11/24/14 We called Wayne Homes to ask when we'd be receiving the gift card to put toward our appliances.  We were planning on doing some serious Black Friday shopping.  Greensburg manager, Scott Schnoover, was not returning our calls or emails.  Called our original salesgirl, Melissa, and found out that Scott was no longer with Wayne Homes-this has happened to us a lot.  Melissa did an amazing job at getting the gift card for us.  It arrived on Black Friday, and we used it the very same day!  

Siding installed week of 12/8/14.   One set of shutters was the wrong size, so we're still waiting on a few more shutters. 

Gas meter installed 12/9/14.

Cabinets, counter tops, and trim week of 12/15/14.  A few were stained poorly, so they're replacing them.  When we changed the layout of our house from one master closet to two, they removed the one closet and closet door, and added two closets, but forgot to add two doors.  We didn't notice this on the prints (our fault???) so instead of paying $400+ for Wayne Homes to install two bi-fold doors, Andor special ordered them and installed them himself- $100.  Only problem is we had to buy trim for around the closet doors, too, and Home Depot and Lowe's don't have the same exact that was used everywhere else in the house.  Fortunately, it's not too noticeable. 

Paint/stain week of 12/22/14.  Did not plan to paint whole house, but our painter gave us an offer we couldn't refuse, so we picked a neutral color we loved and paid him out of pocket- not part of Wayne Home allotment. 

12/23/14 Gas turned on.  Furnace turned on.  Finally the propane can be turned off!!!  

Stone on fireplace 12/23/14.  It looks like someone measured incorrectly.  Look at how the stone goes to the top of the mantle.  This is not like any of the pictures we've seen.  We're meeting with our field manager today to do a walk through and this is at the top of our list.  The mantle was also stained a different color than everything else.  Hope this doesn't set us back too far.  Andor says there is no way we'll be in by Jan. 9.

Soon we're hoping to have our excavator come out to do the final grade and spread the topsoil.  Unfortunately, part of building with Wayne Homes is that you get price quotes for anything outside of the actual building of the house.  Wayne Homes estimates costs for paint and plumbing and electric for you before you secure your loan.  It's hard to say what some things will cost, like well digging and installation and water treatment- who knows what depth of well and type of water you'll get, electrical upgrades, paint, and especially excavating.  We are thousands over on what we estimated our excavating costs would be.  So many trenches (well, electric, gas, sewage) **Hey!  At least Armstrong Cable takes care of their own ditch for the cable, internet, and telephone!  We'll take a freebie anywhere we can get it!!** and conduit for trenches and grading and DOT certified guy to install gas line in the trench, tree removal (after we removed about 10 trees ourselves, our excavator is getting rid of the stumps in addition to the 4 or so huge trees he tore out, trench with gravel where Wayne Homes had French drain run to, rain drains, topcoat of rock for the driveway since we won't be able to put in permanent driveway until spring, and, and, and....  They say to allow for overages, and they aren't kidding.  We planned to have all excavating come out of our loan, but we are now about to be paying out of pocket.

When building a Wayne Home we decided to pay out of pocket for appliances, garbage disposal, house numbers, mailbox, utility tub (install ourselves but have Wayne run the line), garage door opener (Liftmaster installs), laundry cabinets (install ourselves), garage shop cabinetry (install ourselves), garage bench and shelving to be used as mudroom (Andor will custom build and install himself), blinds (Home Depot will install), and in the spring a blacktop driveway/turn around area, concrete walkway to front door, grass, landscaping, deck, fence maybe if there's enough left???  None of this was included in our loan, but that was our choice.   

So what's still on the "to do" list before we can close?
* carpeting
* flooring
* gutters
* final touch up of paint and trim
* final grade, spread topsoil, run gutters  to back yard (we do all of this, well our excavator does)
* putting down more rock for the driveway since we won't be able to install real driveway until spring (our excavator does this)
* water treatment (we pay our well guy to do this, we might be over what we allowed for in our loan, so some might be out of pocket)
* install house numbers and mailbox (we do this)
* appliance delivery
* final electric (install plates and fixtures inside and outside)
* finish plumbing (install sinks and faucets and toilets and garbage disposal)
* Wayne Homes sends out a cleaning crew to make it spic and span
* fix fireplace, finish hanging shutters, fix problems with drywall, fix dents in front door, replace cabinetry that was stained incorrectly, sure we're missing a few things but those are the major ones...
* oh, and remove huge dumpster from front yard and port-o-potty.  Unless that's our housewarming gift, in which case we'll put it in the back yard, about an acre back, next to where we're planning on having our fire pit!  

And this is just so we can close on the house.  We have another whole round of "stuff" to do once spring comes around. (driveway, grass, landscaping, walkway, deck, fence, patio...)

Let's hope the next post is before January 9th, 2014 stating that we're set to move in!  Andor is laughing at me as I type this.  Until then, Happy New Year from our temporary home with the in-laws!!! 

Drywall, Gas Meter, Permanent Electric, Siding, Shutters

It's been about a month since I've last posted.  There were a good two weeks when not much happened.  The drywallers and siding installers got held up, so we didn't really make much progress at the house.  As a result, our move in date got pushed back.  We're now looking at January 5th.  We were hoping to be in by Christmas, then New Year's, and now we're just looking forward to being in. Period.  At least if it gets pushed back another week, Wayne Homes will give us $500 for going past their 120 day promise.  Update: They did. 

So what's happened since my last post?  A lot last week and this week.  Here's a summary.  The drywallers came in and put up the drywall, taped it, finished the seams, and put a really cool stipple texture to our ceiling. 

Update: Drywallers were Mexicans.  They didn't do a great job- Brant, our field manager, was not pleased with their work.  They even drywalled over the only set of keys to the sliding glass door we had, and Wayne Homes had to get new ones cut for us.  One year after living here, we're seeing some issues with the drywall and nails popping.  We're waiting to have them addressed though, because Wayne Homes only comes out once in the first two years to fix all that.  We're waiting until the end of that two year period so if anything else happens before then, Wayne Homes will address it. 

Our electrician, Ray DiCarlo ran all of our electric.  He wired the WHOLE house in two days, and he even stuck around to finish the job when he had a family emergency.  We appreciate that and the fact that he didn't try to sell us on extras. 

Update: One year after moving in we do have some regrets as to where switches were placed, but I think that's to be expected.  Our upstairs hallway switch is located in the loft, so if we ever turn that into a fourth bedroom, we will have to move that switch to the wall of the stairs, where it should have gone to begin with.  Ray no longer works for Wayne Homes.  He did not have good things to say.  We're just bummed, because he was supposed to come out and do another switch for lighting above our cabinets, but we can't get a hold of him.  We were his last Wayne Home he worked on.  Noticed a trend with this...  Anyhow, we had to have  it done by someone else. 

A few of the cool ideas Ray had included outlets on the exterior of the home hidden in the soffit so we can easily hang Christmas decorations, and they can all be turned off and on with the flip of a single switch in our garage, outlet in the pantry closet, a hidden outlet in the mantle of the fireplace, an outlet for the foyer window in case we want to put decorations on a ledge there that require electricity, cool lighting ideas for the kitchen and master bath, special outlets in the garage for Andor's workshop, and sconces for the sun room.

We loved picking exactly where every single switch and outlet and fixture went.  We're happy that we'll have the option put our televisions in different locations in each room because we are wired to do so.  It's so hard to say now where things will go.  Not to mention, it'll be nice to have the option to easily move the televisions around down the road.  We're also excited about the canister lights that we added, especially the one above the fireplace, it's going to look so nice. 

The temporary electric was disconnected, and now we have permanent electric.  The gas meter was installed today!  Our well guy, Chuck Haeffner (love him!) is going to get our water pressure tank installed along with a constant pressure system.  He's a great guy to work with.  He is so good at what he does, and he is easy to talk to and work with, very flexible.  He gives us options, doesn't try to push us into what we don't need just to make extra money, and is an expert at what he does.

Utilities are moving along.  I'll be calling Armstrong once the siding is finished so they can trench for the cable, phone, and internet and hook it up.  Praise the Lord that is one of the few things that isn't costing extra.  They do that for free!  We are really happy we had budgeted for extras outside of our PPI's, it looks like we're going to be substantially over our estimate. 

Update: We were.  Fortunately, living with our parents saved us on this one, otherwise, it could have been a nightmare. 

I have to admit it's bee A LOT of work building this house.  I've learned a ton about the process, but I didn't anticipate the amount of time and number of phone calls, nor the minutes on hold this process would require.  We literally are responsible for paying for, picking who does it, and scheduling every single thing that's not the house itself.  That includes:

* applying for permits for all utilities
* getting all utilities installed when our field manager tells us it's time
* inspecting, trenching, and having conduit run for utilities (water, sewage, gas, electric, cable, internet, phone,)
* all excavation other than foundation, including removing topsoil, grading the land, spreading the topsoil, running the drains, French drains, construction driveway installation, permanent driveway- We ended up paying our excavator $25,000 for all the work he did, a chunk of that was for the 30 tri-axels of dirt. I think we got ripped off on excavating fees- our fault. 
* sidewalk/front walkway to front door- Update: we didn't even get around to this until a few months after we moved in- my husband built temporary steps for visitors to our front door.
* planting grass, landscaping Update: Still working on this a year after we moved in.
* any extras that come up like extra brick and dirt for when the elevation of the house has to change (we brought in over 30 tri-axels of dirt!!)  I feel like I'm still forgetting things.  Getting quotes alone for these different services took entire days worth of work.  It's been a HUGE time commitment, but on the bright side I really feel like we "built" this house, too.  We did a lot more than pick out colors and carpeting, I can assure you that!!   And, because I priced several different subcontractors for each job, I'm confident that I saved us some money but didn't sacrifice quality where it counted.  I'm happy we're on the home stretch.

This past week has been one of the most exciting because we're finally seeing COLORS!  Our exterior is almost complete.  We are in love with the siding, roofing, and shutters.  We are so, so happy with the choices we made.  We just hope we're this happy with all the interior color choices...

 Siding = Tuscan Clay       Shutters = Merlot       Shingles = Weathered Wood          Trim = White

On Black Friday we did all of our appliance shopping!  Wow, did we get some good deals!  Honestly, I think that might be the best week to shop.  We love that Lowe's will price match all competitors.  We took advantage of that, big time!  We went with all Samsung, except for the dishwasher.  Consumer Reports gave the Samsung models poor ratings, so we went with Kitchenaid for our dishwasher, but you won't be able to tell, they're all stainless, so they all match.  I can't wait for our fridge!

The cabinets were dropped off this week.  We had to open a box and take a peek.  We upgraded our cabinets and can't wait to see them installed.  We added crown molding, too, but we're going to pick out our own drawer pulls once we're in, and Andor is going to install them himself.  Wayne homes wanted too much money for them.  We can do it cheaper ourselves.  Plus there is a nicer selection at Lowe's than at the Wayne Homes showroom.  Here is a sneak peek. 

Finally, we went to Sherwin Williams this week to choose a paint color.  Our painter, Andre, from Galaxy Painting, is going to do an awesome job, we can tell.  He's so nice!  He's so reasonably priced!  We can't believe we can have our whole house painted, two coats, any color(s) we want, for under $1,000!  We weren't expecting to be able to do this, but since it's so affordable, we're going for it.  Unfortunately, we have all of our "colors" tucked away in boxes, so picking colors to match our bedspread, shower curtain, living room wall art, kitchen theme, sun room furniture, etc. would have been really difficult, so we decided to go with a warm neutral throughout the entire house.  That way we don't have plain, boring white walls to look at for the next year, and we have something that'll match whatever decor we have or go with down the road.  What I love about Sherwin Williams is that they have pre-selected paint families to make decision making easier, which is amazing considering my decision making skills closely resemble that of a squirrel when crossing the street , so if you pick a color in that family, you can also pick any other color in that family and know that it'll compliment the other colors in your house.  If down the road we decide to change the color of a room or two, all we have to do is pick a color from the family.  I figure if experts put these colors together, and they fit the colors I use to decorate, I trust them.  Anyhow, we decided to go with.
CANVAS TAN!!

Next week they're supposed to paint and install the cabinets and trim.  I'm hoping it won't be quite as long between posts next time.  To be continued...