Thursday, April 9, 2015

Construction Update - Week 12

We received our weekly update from our PM this morning.  Everything is moving along great!  The crew is working on the siding and shutters for our block.  So far we don't have siding on the front of our house, but it's expected to be finished by the end of the week.  The plumber also came through and installed all of the toilets, fixtures, and faucets.  The crew also installed all of our towel bars, toilet paper holders, and the shower curtain rod in the guest bath.  Last but definitely not least, we have electricity!!  I can't wait to get better pictures of everything this weekend with the lights on!

Here's an updated picture of our block from our PM.  We're the house with partial brick and no siding yet.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Tiling is Complete (Update from Week 11)

We went to the house this Saturday to check on the progress.  All of the tiling in the bathrooms was complete, light fixtures were installed, and we had a second coat of paint inside.  They also started installing the siding on the back of the house.  It was really great to start seeing all of our selections come together.  So far we love everything we've chosen.

Here are some of our progress pictures.

Garage
Rec Room
Stairs in Rec Room
Rec Room
Heading up to the kitchen
Morning Room
Kitchen
Hutch
Living Room
Powder Room with our hardwood peaking through
Living Room
Guest Bathroom 
Close up of the Guest Bath tile
Light fixture in Master Bath
Master Bedroom
Soaking tub with tile
Shower
Master Bath Vanity and Tub together 
Railings
Panorama of community
Front of our house
Light Fixture by Garage
Light fixture for deck
Garage

Thursday, April 2, 2015

We Have a Closing Date!

We just received an electronic copy of our settlement letter from NVR!  We will be closing on May 18th.  We're so excited to be so close to getting our new home!

We also received our weekly construction update. It was another busy week! They completed the brick on all of the homes in our row and are starting the siding. They're also working to put the second coat of paint on the walls, ceilings and trim inside our house, and they're installing all the light fixtures inside.  Next week we should get our granite in the kitchen and we might even get electricity!

Here is a picture of our block now:

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Calling All Current and Future Greenbelt Station Residents

Current and Future Greenbelt Station Residents: Join our new facebook group!

Michelle was kind enough to set up a facebook group for all of us to get to know each other, share ideas, and ask questions.  It will be a great resource whether you're already moved-in, in the middle of building, or just signed the purchase agreement.

Here's the link to the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1580286505577667/
Group Name: Greenbelt Station Homeowners

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Construction Update - Week 10

We came back from vacation to find a lot of progress on our house. Since we were last there the drywall was complete, cabinets were installed, and tile was started. It was so exciting to walk through and see so much done! It is really starting look like our house. As a bonus when we walked in there was crown molding in the living room and rec room which we didn't even pay for. Also we didn't realize we got metal balusters on our stairs which was a nice surprise. We can't wait to go back next weekend and see what else gets done!

Garage door installed!
Brick is complete!
Kitchen cabinets 
Hutch
Crown molding
Metal balusters
Main floor
Bedrooms
Guest bathroom
Master bedroom
Master bath
Tile in the master bath
Rec Room

Friday, March 20, 2015

Construction Update - Week 9

We just received our weekly update from the PM on this snowy first day of spring.  It was another week full of progress. This week our house was inspected by PG county and Energy Star and insulated.  The crew started on drywall yesterday and will be working on that through early next week.  Around the middle of next week they will sand and paint. Then the trim carpenters will be starting to install interior doors, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and trim moldings.  

We're headed out of town for a week tomorrow and it sounds like we will come back to a lot of changes.  Can't wait to see everything in person next weekend!

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Predrywall Inspection Issues Resolved

Yesterday morning we got our full home inspection report back from predrywall.  Our home inspector really understood the urgency to get this turned around to us quickly so RH would have a chance to resolve any issues before the drywall went up.  We also have a really good PM who addressed everything in the report line by line.  Since our home inspector said most of what he found is pretty typical at this stage, I'll list it out below along with what our PM did to resolve everything.
  1. Gaps around the joist flashing for the cantilever deck - RH reattached the flashing saddles and added more sealant
  2. Cantilever joists were pulling loose from the I-beams - RH added more nails and hammered everything together again
  3. A couple of the I-beams were split below the living room floor (our inspector said this is the most common thing he finds at predrywall) - RH added metal straps to secure the split beams
  4. Nails sticking out of the subfloor - RH already knew about this and will be removing these nails and sanding prior to flooring
  5. Missing nail plates in a couple spots - RH added the missing nail plates
  6. Kink in the bath exhaust - RH corrected this and it will also be inspected by Energy Star today
  7. Bowed studs in a couple places - RH was already aware of these and corrected them yesterday
  8. Tiedown straps weren't secured in the basement - RH was already aware of this and had planned to nail them in yesterday and they did
Overall, my husband and I really felt like the predrywall inspection was well worth the money since this is our chance to catch any structural issues.  We also felt like RH was aware of most of the issues and had plans to correct them already, which gave us a good piece of mind about the house.  We are still very pleased with RH and the work that has been done on our house, and we can't wait to start getting drywall this week.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Predrywall Meeting and Inspection Complete

We had our predrywall meeting with our PM this morning followed by our home inspector's predrywall inspection. Everything went really well. Our PM walked us through the whole house explaining what everything was and pointed out our prewires and cable/ internet hookups. Our home inspector only found a few things that he's putting in his report. They were mainly minor and our PM is going to go through the home inspection report as soon as he gets it.

We also went by the house yesterday to get some pictures with our puppy Daisy out front.
This is the current view of our community from the future park
Our house is in the block of townhomes in the middle
My husband and our puppy Daisy in front of the house
Daisy and I in front of the house
All of us in front of the house

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Construction Update - Week 8

We got our weekly construction update from our PM on Thursday night. This past week they installed all the hvac duct work, plumbing and gas piping, electrical wires, guardian low voltage and sprinkler piping inside our home. There were also a couple inspections from the county for various things that all passed. It's good to know that the county does a lot of inspections. We also have our predrywall walk through and inspection on Monday. 

Monday, March 9, 2015

Progress and a (Minor) Delay

We had a pretty bad snowstorm on Thursday, which closed a lot of schools and businesses in the area through Friday.  As a result the work on our house was delayed a couple days, so our pre-drywall meeting was pushed back until Monday 3/16.  This is completely understandable and overall our house is still on schedule for May, so we don't really mind the delay.  

Anyway, we ventured out to the house on Saturday to walk through.  We weren't expecting to see much progress, but we were pleasantly surprised to see our windows had trim and our bathtubs were in.  The crew was working when we were there.  It seems like they end up working every Saturday.

Daisy and I in front of the house
Living room looking into the kitchen
Living Room
Tub in the Master Bath
Shower in the Master Bath
Laundry Room looking through to the tub in the Hall Bathroom
Guest Bedrooms
Morning Room (our dining room)
Back of the house