Shingles! Brick! New Dig! And my own version of Vandalism! I'm part of another group!

Well yesterday they put the shingles on the roof and I didn't have my camera with me.  Since I can't climb the roof and inspect the shingles...or should I say...I'm not gonna climb the roof and check out the shingles, I didn't take very many photos.  So here is the one of the roof...sort of.

See?  Not to much roof but it's shingled!  If you'd say something like that in the old times people would think your nuts.  No one was excited about shingles then.  Ha ha!  Gotta love the nerdy science reference.

So...did you notice the brick?  Cool huh?  Oh..and to my husband and SR....I TOLD YOU SO.  This brick looks NOTHING like the sample.  Good thing because I love this so much better.  So there!  (ok..bratty side feels avenged)

Browns Valley Sample

Browns Valley in Real Life.  I really hope someone hasn't picked Browns Valley from above and expects it to be like that.  I LOVE the mistake so THANK YOU RYAN! 

Still love it.  So pretty!  I think this is much more feminine.  My SR asked me what I meant by masculine when I was worried about the brick sample.  What I meant was...it's darker and more angular...BUT THIS....it's more curvy and lighter...more feminine.  Girl Power!  It is a common truth amongst many artist....the woman shape is more appealing....sorry guys!

I thought this was interesting.  See right in the middle where the mason tried to put a little smidgen of brick in?  At least he tried. :)  It won't matter though because this is under dirt...I'm pretty sure.

I took this shot to show you why I think they put in those spacers.  If he didn't the layers above wouldn't match quite right...so  me likey!  I'm apparently in a ridiculous mood tonight. 

And here is what you've all been waiting for!  My vandalism.  "YOW SWCK"   Hmmm....You've gotta wonder about this.   At first, I thought perhaps the u was just a little squiggly, but then I noticed the second u was exactly the same.  Whether you were sending me a message or not.....Thank you whoever wrote this.  I got a laugh out of it.  By the way...sorry that my grammar swcks sometimes.  I know the rules but I'm too much in a hurry to bother with it.  If you don't like it...then you can swck it!  I feel like I should have a sword and swck it back and forth while saying all this.
UPDATE:  They put the sliding glass door in and removed this vandalish piece of wood.  :)  Good.  I won't miss it.  Goodbye Swcky board.

And just for fun...here's the new dig in the neighborhood.  It's pretty amazing because if you know how big these machines are...LOOK how much they are cutting into this hill!  I love this site but they couldn't put a Venice there.  I was told that this will be an Oakmont.  I love the trees in the backyard. :)

My Promise. OR Is It a Disclaimer?

Hi ya all!  First off, you need to know that I am a pretty spunky and very talkative person when I'm in the right crowd.  Fortunately for you, I talk (think...type) a lot when I'm the only one listening (thus the blog).  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember that this blog is solely a creation for my own documentation of how I'm feeling, what I'm seeing, what I'm thinking etc....in regards to my own adventures with building with Ryan Homes.   If, as a secondary product, it ends up helping you then that is awesome.
Here's the disclaimer part:  Do NOT.....I REPEAT...DO NOT.....panic if you see something that I've written and take it as an absolute truth without first investigating your own situation first.  I'd like to think I'm so good that I know everything..... but I really do not. :)  I can conjure up a million ways of how or why something has happened on a building site.  For example:

I could post this photo and tell you that it looks like they decided to tape some framing on to the steel beam and that it was a little warped. ....and you could panic and discount Ryan Homes right then and there.  OR...you could wait until my little blog world plays out and someone else or myself either confirms or denies this "allegation".   (By the way...I purposely did not post this photo originally because I, myself, am waiting to see what they heck they are doing....but for the purpose of explaining this bizarre and lengthy post I decided to use it.  If I do find out what's going on, I will share. :)

I am by no means a licensed contractor or a project manager.  I'm just a gal with a passion for taking photos and analyzing just about anything and then documenting it for myself and my family.

I am totally humbled that you are interested enough to read about my process and I really appreciate the comments and corrections.  I LOVE learning about all this and I couldn't do it without you.

My intentions are not to scare you or to be dishonest in anyway.  ...so here is my promise (in two parts):

1.  I promise to type (talk) about my home building from my perspective and own truth...emotion and all. :)
2.  I promise that my photos do not lie.  ...however they do not tell the whole story on their own. :)


Ok...now I feel much better.  The last thing I want is for someone to feel negative in anyway because of something I created and I am sincerely sorry to anyone who may have read something I have written and had a moment of doubt about what and whom they are building with.  Trust yourself and your decisions....you made a good one. :)  Also...if you're feeling anxious, a bit of advice, start a blog!  Come on...you know you want to join this crazy blog world.  We don't bite. :)

Now...for the finale' ....As I continue on this journey of blogging my experience I'd like to quote Thomas:  "but hey, this is for my reference too so I hope people will bear with me!"

I've got nothing but love for you all! 

Shingles Soon, Neighbors Build, Panaroma for Andrea! -Lots of Pics

Another Venice Elevation L? If it is an L, it's door is different than my elevation L. Hmm.  The siding will be gray (if I remember correctly).  See the Address stone?  I heard from the PM today.  I get one too!  Whoo hoo!

This is the first person who built at the end of my street in the cul-de-sac.  This is an awesome lot location because Ryan said they probably can not built on the lot to the left because it's too steep so they pretty much have a cul-de-sac to themselves.  By the way...did you know that cul-de-sac means "the bottom of the bag" in French?

Hmm....still no window wrap.  Boo.  The ominous clouds say it for me.

Look how tiny the humans are!   I so badly need that space!

Our next door neighbor's house.  It's a Florence Elevation K?  It looks pretty darn cool! Yes Stefanie..I LOVE IT.

Ahh.  So much love in this shot.  Husband. Baby. Bricks. House. Address on Box.  Yes People....this is my life.

My house.  I decided that I do like that fake vent.  I wasn't so sure about it on the blueprints but I do like it now.  And you know what else I like?  Those shingles that magically appeared on the roof.

The Sliding glass door that you see in the house photo above.  Self Explanatory.

A sign that the basement cement might be poured?

Boo!  This is where the "Won't Fit Job" Sliding Glass door belongs.  Instead..I have fungus.  Eck!

Yup.....even close up I still hate it.  Should I make a fuss about this?  Please tell me.  When should I ask about it?  I don't want to annoy the PM with 50 million questions and I want to trust they will do right by me but this is my FIRST and hopefully last big investment of this size.....and I want it right the first time.  Can you blame me?
UPDATE:  I did ask the PM about the mold and he said they spray it when they have mold issues.  I hate mold.
UPDATE #2:   The PM said they use JOMAX to get rid of mold.  Anyone ever hear of that?

I'm working on photos to hang in the house that are more artistic.  Even with the porta-john I kind of like this one.

And....here is Andrea's house.  I LOVE the garage door and I am so happy to be getting one just like it....but in white.  The only thing that I thought was a little weird today was that the stone was removed above the window.  Andrea said this was because they are replacing it with the correct stone.  I just don't understand why they do double the work on some things. 

This is just for Andrea.  It's the view she will see outside of her home. :) Not too shabby!

The Roof is on and a small annoyance.

They installed the roof on Friday.  It looks like a real house now!  Just a few little quirks I had to email the PM about.  1. A cracked window which I'm sure will be fixed.  And the other is listed below.  I specifically checked for this because I saw it caught by a few home inspectors on some of the Ryan Homes.  It looks like I'm one of the lucky few it happened to too.  :(

Can you see it?  The stairwell window (which is on the right) is not wrapped correctly.  :(  It's so stupid of the workers to do this.  They put several nails in AND taped it in.  Now they will have to do double the work just for something that would have taken a moment to do in the first place.  Ugh!  The lack of smart decision making kills me!

Here's a close up.  It's taped and you know there are more nails than what we can see.
 Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

Did you know that all they put on the roof gables are ThermoPly?  It's surprisingly thin.  They do have 2x4's on the inside but this is something that still surprised me.  Don't go bashing against the gable walls in your attic..you might fall out. Ha ha.  I asked a contractor friend of mine and he said is doesn't make much difference in insulation whether it's this stuff or OSB.  Well...okay..if he says so.

A Question for you all.

So I was dreaming of my new home last night and I realized two things that I don't know the answer to that perhaps you all can answer for me.

1. Do the Plygem windows come with screens?

2. If we have a brick front do we get a stone block with our street number in it?  I noticed that several of my neighbors have this.  What are your observations?

Thanks!

Framing -Day 3 with some windows!

They installed some windows today.

Framing for the roof ready for install....hopefully tomorrow!

More roof framing.  This has some sort of light weight insulation already on it.  I hope they put wood on it once it's installed.

The view from my front door.  The lot just to the right has been sold!  It will be nice to have something to look at.

The back of the house with windows and sliding door wrapped and installed!

I was wondering about this....and I'm glad for it.  The window box that comes with Elevation L has drainage holes.  Yippy Skippy!

And here is the window box nestled next to Kaylee's tub. 

Pleasant Browns Valley Brick Suprise!

REMEMBER THIS?  This is the Browns Valley sample in the model home.  I was worried that I wouldn't like the randomly placed whiter bricks.....really worried.  I've been dreaming about it....seriously.

WEll...check this out!  It's Browns Valley......it says so right on the tag.  Now my husband and my SR think it's the same as the sample....but I'm pretty sure my blogger friends here can see that it's not.  They didn't compare the two pictures...they just went from their own visual memory.  So..here's the comparison.  Hmmm.  Now....here's the best part...I LOVE this mistake.  I don't like those white pieces from above and I'm praying to goodness that the brick layer isn't messy or hasn't seen the sample.  I love the divots and I love the lighter tone and I like how much smoother in some parts this brick is........and I especially love that there are no white bricks to be anxious about. Yes!