New Siding Colors

The new siding is Variform a Plygem company - same company as the windows.  The number of selections is about the same, but there seems to be less "tans" then the original color pallete.  We selected the Georgian Grey, which is closer to what we would have selected in the beginning if there was anything even close to that.

Here is the siding sample against our brick.  The picture does not do either one of them justice.  The brick is darker then the picture, but the contrast between the two is fairly close.

Our lot does not yet have the stakes marking the home perimeter, but the black silt fencing is all in place so for the first time we got a real good visual of the size of our lot.  Our sales rep also showed us a prelim drawing of our house sitting on the lot which is now hanging on our refrigerator...my wife says it is like getting an ultrasound picture of your baby :)

We also got to see that we will have a walk from our front door down to the street instead of to the driveway on the side of the house...that was a pleasant surprise since we had talked about it but sounded like they would do the one to the driveway and we just figured it would be another expense after move in to add the walk down to the street.

We still don't know for sure if we will be breaking ground on Wednesday since it wasn't clear if Ryan Homes has the permit yet.  Our sales rep said that the main office meets on Monday to make all the plans for the week, but sometimes the PM doesn't get the call till Tuesday afternoon if it is a go or not.  We also asked about the 85 day build cycle seeming very fast and he said that working weekends is the norm and is how the build cycle is shortened...weekends are just another workday...not used for catching up or anything like that.  The sooner they finish a house, the sooner they can move on to the next one.  He also said that there is always slippage time built into the schedule.

We also told him that we would most likely be getting our own home inspector.  He welcomed the idea and said that it was not a problem if it gives us piece-of-mind.  He said the inspectors for our town are pretty tough and thorough so he isn't anticipating a problem.  He also said it is extremely rare for them to pass all their own inspections on the first try...there is just so much that goes into bulding a house that there is usually something small that is missed...like a plate on a stud to protect the wire running behind it...things like that.  Our sales rep used to be a PM so he is very familiar with how the build process goes...he said he has had some inspectors that once they get used to the builder just drive up, do a cursory inspection, and sign it off as passed.  He said the inspectors for our area are definitely not like that...opposite end of the spectrum from that.  However, I think we are definitely going to get our own inspector...just for piece of mind and takes the pressure off of us to find things we wouldn't even know to look for.

While we were looking at our lot a neighbor was riding his bike by and stopped to talk.  He built a Ryan Homes Highgrove model the first time RH was building in the development.  He loves the house, but wished he could have extended his bedroom over the garage.  I looked and that still isn't available on that model, even with a side entry garage...interesting.  We have always loved the look of his house and thought it might be an Avalon, but couldn't figure out what elevation it was...now we know why.  He said we will LOVE the solarium...it is his favorite room in the house.

We have about 5 more changes in the works that we will hopefully hear back on this week.  I will save all of those for another post when we finalize everything.  For now, keep your fingers crossed that the dirt starts moving on Wednesday.