As you can imagine, there was a great deal of excitement over the foundation work that was completed. This was really happening! In what we looked at as a miracle from God, we were introduced to Kevin who was our new builder. We never met the former builder, though I tried many times. We never met any of the company people, who you'd think would want to meet the first customer to buy one of these houses. We never got any information from any of the parade of agents who were sent to our community. There was nobody who would now answer our questions, which was not surprising since nobody could answer them before. I told Jon that I only looked at this as a means to the home we wanted, and not as the experience we had hoped to have. Though the company sorely disappointed us, it was Kevin who would answer our questions or find out the answer.
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All these walls helped support the structure of the home above |
It took a month to get the foundation in because of all the rain. Then the weather turned nice and the walls went up quicker than I expected. During this first part of the build I showed up at the end of each day to see what got done, or didn't get done. As I've said before, there was nothing I could do even if there was something I didn't like. Nor was I able to do anything on the project myself. But I would take pictures of the day's progress and I started a text group message to inform the others of what was taking place. I learned a lot about new building techniques just by watching as the building went up. I was far more intrigued and interested in what was happening in the structure. By the time they closed up the house and began on the finishes I wouldn't be able to get in at all. Since I drove for Lyft each day I usually ended up going by anyway and so I was able to keep tabs on the build and report back to the rest.
Right around the time of the structure being closed in, Kathy and I put our house in Hiram up for sale and it sold within a few days. We closed a month later and we moved in with Jon and Myric (again!) for a couple months. It was deja vu as we had also done this when first moving to the Atlanta area. We put all our possessions in storage to await the closing of the new home and the legal ownership that would allow us to move in.
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| The entire structure is complete and covered with OSB |
The picture of the house with all the wall and roof sheathing on it is one that stays in my mind because of the houses I've had that were not constructed like that. It was also nice to see a fully covered house in Tyvek. The only time I had seen that in person was when we put it on the church that first year of building. Then the roof shingles went on, next the siding, and then the windows. I had barely gotten that picture when they painted it all. It was all moving so fast now. Considering how slowly they had moved at the beginning it was nice to see constant movement. Before you got used to the structure being up, it seemed like it was all painted and ready to go. It was hard not to be impatient about moving in!
Tyvek house wrap, windows installed, porch built, roof shingles added
I happened to be talking to Kevin one day when I stopped by and he was talking about the deck project that was to be starting soon. I made a comment about how I was glad it was 18 foot long and he responded by saying, no, it was only 12 feet. I was certain I had seen it on the plans at 18 feet so he pulled up the plans on his laptop and, sure enough, it was 12x18 feet. He had to quickly make plans to make sure the concrete below it would be made that size and then order enough lumber for the larger size. And it saved him from making the one next door too small. This was the very reason I stopped by the work site each day.
Siding painted and stone work finished at the porch level
When we were at the Design Center, one of the choices we had to make was the exterior colors. We all liked the dark gray siding with the dark blue shutters and front door. The unique plan for the paint colors in the neighborhood was that once an owner chose their paint selection then it was removed from the options for the owners who came later. While there was a general theme going on in our neighborhood you would be hard pressed to call it simple cookie cutter.
Shutters painted, porch pillars, metal roof, driveway, and landscaping
Around this time I started assembling a list of things that I knew needed completing. I had discovered that Kevin was just as thorough as I and took care of things as he saw them. But as we got closer to closing day Kevin asked me for a list so he could be sure to get everything done. It was great to have someone willing to listen to you. He helped us get some upgrades that we had chosen and paid for, but that the company said we weren't supposed to get. One thing they learned; don't ever tell that to someone who actually knows what they are talking about. Kevin pursued getting the 2-piece crown that we had been told about from the beginning, and the ceiling fans in the bedrooms they had told us about at the Design Center. Thankfully, someone at the company found documentation to verify both those purchases and we finally got them in the house. I was right about the 2-piece crown molding—it may have cost a bunch of money but they sure looked amazing!
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We fought to get upgraded crown molding and ceiling fans we paid for Though we had been down in that basement a few times, we never noticed anything out of place until Kevin mentioned it to us. Turns out that he had misread an email about the heights of the floors and instead of an eight foot height in the basement he took it to be nine foot. So the houses on lots 12, 13, and 14 all have an extra foot of height down in the basement, which is an amazing gift considering how low most basement ceilings tend to be. It's all the more a blessing since we will actually be finishing it off and living down there. |
Arktander
(aka David Andreasen)
(Be sure to check out "Home Sweet Home, Part 5" which follows.)
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