Framing Pics and First Oops!

My wife had to meet Guardian today to go over some areas of installation because the previous left the company.  This afforded her the opportunity to walk around the house see the progress from the inside.

But first, my wife did notice that something wasn't right about the basement.  In the Venice Model, the basement is roughed in for a potential full bath.  If you don't choose the full bath, they still frame it in and basically turn it into a small storage room, why, I don't know.  We didn't want the small room as we wanted the extra open space for the finished basement.  But guess what?  They were framing in the storage space.  And guess what, to not have that room there, they charged us more.  I don't remember exactly how much, but trust me, they saved money by not having the room framed.

In the pic below, in front of the hard working Amish gentlemen is the room.  As you can see, it takes up a good amount of open space in the basement.  We sent this pic to the PM and responded that it will be taken care of right away.


Here are the rest of the pics.

Garage


Living Room with fireplace


Bedroom #3


Walk-in Closet




























Morning Room



Master Bath


Living Room and Main Entrance



Top of the landing looking into second floor full bath.  Amish not included.


Kitchen, Morning Room & Family Room




Master Bedroom with Master Bath on the right


Moving Along a Brief Update

This past Friday I got the weekly PM call.  The RH team of contractors, framers, etc., are just grinding away building the house and staying on schedule.  I gave our PM much thanks and gratitude!

The house is completely under roof with shingles and windows all in place.  HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and pouring of the basement concrete is happening currently, if not already completed.
Our PM said that we should be looking to have our Pre-Drywall next week!  Very excited about that.

My wife also will be in the house tomorrow with Guardian.  Apparently the salesmen from Guardian that we worked with left the company and so they want to make sure they wire and get everything installed in the right place.  So my wife is going to get to look around before I do, but that is okay as she will actually be out of town next week and will miss the pre-drywall meeting.

We also have a hard close date of April 13th.  My wife had to have a paper signed by our SR stating that we are in contract and are building a house in the school district.  They were chatting and advised that are close date is scheduled for April 13th.  My wife and I think that RH and Sirva (our relocation company and mortgage provider) have been talking.  April 13th is actually the expiration date of our rate lock.  The SR said that there will be no problem in having the house done by then.  I even explained to my wife that the house will be done before we close and that we will walk through the house prior to closing.

Wife sent me a few more pics of the house, this time, taken with a cleaner lens and a lot less snow.

Caught a case of the Shingles!

PM just sent me a pic of today's progress.  Looks like the house has some shingles.  RH's is making great time!

Holy Crap! Is That A House!

The last several days have brought several inches of snow to Northeast Ohio.  RH started framing last week, and by Friday, there were only a couple of garage walls up. My wife, who was in Cincinnati for the last few days got in this afternoon and drove by lot and took these pics...




WOW! I knew that framing would be faster than other builders due to RH's partial framing off-site, but holy cow did the framers knock this one out.  I know that RH's in our area hires Amish to do most of the framing and boy did these guys go out there and mean business.  My wife was completely shocked to see the progress and did not expect to see the house completely under roof with windows installed.

I did notice that the second-floor window on the side of the house does not have that "flashing" under the sill like all the other windows.  I sent our PM the picture to advise him.  I also told him how great it was for my wife to drive by and see the house at this stage and how grateful and appreciative we are for their hard work.

Ryan Homes Framing - Good To Know, and Some Perspective.

I am the type of person that loves to know how things work and how things are put together.  I also like to share that information. Some people criticize Ryan Homes for being is a cookie cutter builder. That is absolutely correct.  That is what Ryan Homes does, that is their business model.  There are plenty of builders who will custom design a home for you, draw up the blueprints and work with you on every aspect of design and function.  If that is what you want, then Ryan Homes is not for you.  Period.  If you want a new home, and don't mind that in your neighborhood that there are about 4 or 5 different designs and the land is already purchased, then Ryan Homes might be for you.  But understand, there is a myriad of communities that exist today that has been built by builders who came into that community with the same premise.  But for some reason, Ryan Homes seems to take the biggest criticism.

Think of it this way.  The car you are driving.  How many other drivers are driving the same exact car as you are?  Did you go to the dealership with your own body design, your features, engine type?  Let that sink in for one second.  Now, Ryan Homes is using almost the same business model as the auto industry.  Here is a model.  Here are the different options.  The more options you want the more you will pay.  It's a pretty standard practice and it is what it has been for decades and decades.  

I think it is "Good to Know" how RH constructs their homes.  For most builders, they order lumber and have it shipped to the lot.  Framers grab each 2x4, piece by piece, and begin framing the house based on the blueprints.  The difference with RH is they construct and do much of the framing off-site in a controlled environment.  Your "cookie cutter" house is being built by men and women who use modern day technology to precisely cut and assemble the components of your home.  Those components are then shipped to the site.  A friend of mine, who built in the same allotment said, "You can't tell me that there is an advantage to building a house piece by piece onsite verses doing all that work in a controlled environment".  And he is right.

Each Milan, Venice, Florence, Ravenna, model has a specific amount of wood required to build it.  The off-site framers know the exact measurements and tolerances required for each section of frame.  What does this mean?  This means that when your home is at the point of framing, it will go up much faster (or should) than a house where they are building the walls piece by piece.
Here are a couple of videos from Ryan Homes showing their process.  


Framing & Weekly PM Call

I had our weekly PM call this past week.  So far we are on track.  Framing has begun, but the cold and snow in Ohio has slowed down the framers just a bit.  PM said that we are still on schedule as there is always room to make up time.  Also, the weather in Northeast Ohio is warming up a bit for this week.  The PM said that we should be under roof by Wednesday!  My wife was home over the weekend but flew home yesterday and drove by the lot.  It was dark by the time she got to the lot, but she did send me a pic.

As you can see, not a whole lot of progress.  But if you saw my previous posts, they deliver a lot of wood and I don't know if the wood is bundled in order of the framing process, or if the framers have to pillage through the wood to find the pre-assembled parts they need.  

Foundation, Waterproofing and Lumber - Building Venice With Ryan Homes

Just a quick update!  Drainage lines, waterproofing and lumber have all arrived on site.  According to our PM, framing should begin the middle of next week.  So far the build is on-time and on schedule.



A Good Foundation - Building with Ryan Homes

You can't complain about 50-degree weather in Ohio, in February.  The forecast last week was calling for a good amount of rain, but that tapered off.  The good weather is keeping everything on schedule which is very good news.

Now we have the foundation walls up and it looks like they were able to pour the foundation.  The floor plan for the first floor is easily viewed.  I would imagine that this will take a few days to cure before the molds for the foundation come off.  Then they will waterproof and install the drainage system.  The wife was so kind to drive and take some pics.