A little over a year in

So we have been in the house for a little over a year now and things have gone pretty well.  All our outstanding issues have finally been resolved, some took longer than others, but luckily they were just cosmetic things.  Our neighborhood is now complete too, which means no more construction vehicles taking up the roads.  Here are a couple of random issues we had pop up:

• Breaker for foyer would trip with heavy rains.  They had originally come out to take care of this in the spring and just replaced the breaker.  We didn't get many heavy rains, but the few we did it kept happening.  The electricians came back out and ran a new wire through the conduit to the lamp post, when they took the old one out it had nicks in it which were probably getting wet cause the issue.  Hasn't happened again since they fixed it.
• Furnace would randomly flame out and back on.  We had an issue in the spring like this but turns out our new neighbors kid stuffed our exhaust flue with rocks and dirt.  This could have cause a potentially unsafe condition, but the furnace would kick off when the pressure built up.  Unfortunately this cost us $90 since it isn't a warranty item.  There after the furnace would randomly do it again, they replaced the flame sensor and it seems to be fine since then.

Since moving in we also have done a few things around the house:

• Had the back yard re-graded.  (Done by contractor that put our patio in)
• Put a patio in.  We went with an exposed aggregate concrete, turned out nice, but the contractor turned out to be a pain to work with.
• Put a privacy fence in.  We went with a 6ft vinyl privacy fence on the sides and 4ft picket across the back.  
• Built a bench and added cabinets to our mudroom.
• Added ship lap, crown molding, and framed out window in our half bathroom.
• Hung a swing on the porch.
• Built a gate in the upstairs hallway for our daughter.
• Painted most of the downstairs except for the front dining room.
• Painted upstairs hallway, master bathroom, and one of the bedrooms.

Here are a few shots of our projects:

Noisy cold air return fixed

So Ryan Homes had another HVAC company come out and redo the cold air return run from the basement ceiling down to the furnace.  They replaced the duct with one lined with acoustical material to help silence it.  They also roughed in a return in the basement per the drawings, unlike the other HVAC company that just cut a hole in the side of the air return and slapped a grille on it. Although I will say thankfully they did that since it got all our vents cleaned on Ryan's dime.  Since the new duct was put in we no longer have to yell when the air is running or turn up the volume on the tv.

BEFORE

AFTER

We also finally got our new island countertop installed.  Only a few more things on our list to be taken care of.  As for the yard grading, we actually cut a deal with Ryan Homes to have the contractor putting in our patio do the grading and Ryan Homes would reimburse us for the grading.  I presented this just so we didn't have to have the machinery tearing things up more than once and to get it all done at once.  Kudos to them for agreeing to this to ease the burden on us.

Almost 4 months in

We are now almost in and growing accustomed to our new home.  For the most part everything has been going well.  We have had a few more issues pop up and some of our others resolved.  For our 30 day fixes they sent out one of their subs to fix things and to be honest, I wish I would have just done most of them myself.  It was a father/son crew.  Some things they did alright, but others it seemed like just a half-assed attempt.  I let our project manager know and he said he will have his guys repair anything outstanding, hopefully they do a better job.  I'll just list a few of our outstanding issues, don't want to list out everything as some are just minor.  Most outside things need to wait until it warms up.

Outstanding items:

• New island counter top.  When they framed for our island they must have put the 2 small support walls 1" farther apart than necessary so they ended up needing a filler between the cabinets.  They did not account for this with the counter so it did not fit right.  Just waiting for all the parts to come in before it is fixed.  
• Replace transom windows above front and back door.  The grill in the windows above the front and back door were both crooked.  Plygem was supposed to come out last week to replace them, but the techs truck broke down, we now have to wait 2 more weeks to get back on the schedule.
• Backyard grading.  We've pretty much had issues with water standing in our backyard since they did the rough grade on the yard next door.  This has caused tons of water to form, to which we called Ryan Homes out several times for on twitter.  They didn't want to do anything until spring until I kept pushing it and they finally installed a drain on the lot next door.  This resolved the issue somewhat, but our yard will still need to be graded differently to prevent pooling.  

We also had issues with our cold air return on the first floor being very loud.  The HVAC company came out and tried to alleviate it by installing a return air vent in the basement, this did nothing except reveal and sandwich wrapper that still had cheese on it in the return itself.  The result was Ryan Homes paying to have all the ducts/vents cleaned in the entire house.  Since adding that vent did not resolve the issue they brought in another HVAC company that will be installing a new return line from the basement ceiling to the furnace that is lined with acoustical padding, this will get installed next week.

We are finally to the point of picking paint for the walls and covering over the flat paint that gets marks on it from just looking at it, not to mention it is such a thin coat that painters tape will rip it off.

We are also in the stages of getting quotes to have a patio put in.

To anyone else who has the Landon model with the bonus room, or even without.  Do you feel your rooms above the garage are colder than the others?  Our bonus room gets to be real cold and measuring the temperature at the floor by the baseboards often shows 20-30 degrees lower than what the thermostat is set for.  I know they used a spray foam and then insulation but I can't help but feel there is still air intrusion somewhere.  I've even pulled the attic access panels in the bonus room and lined them with insulation.

If you have any questions about the Landon, or want to see how something was done, just let me know.

Things you should check...

So after living in the house for a little over 2 weeks, I've discovered a few things to make sure you check.  The air return in the kitchen is loud as all hell when the blower is running, I'm going to have them look into it and possibly add sound dampening material to the return duct.

-Make sure your keys work in all the locks, dead bolt and handle lock.  I discovered that our key works in all the locks except for one of the handle locks.

-Check to make sure all your shower faucets adjust temperature correctly.  Since we have to stop using our master shower for them to redo it, we are using one of the other bathrooms.  Well low and behold the cartridge must be backwards because hot and cold are reversed.  I looked at pictures to make sure the plumbing was correct and it was, so it must be the cartridge, hopefully an easy fix.

-Check all your water shutoffs for all your fixtures and toilets.  If they seem like they are loose in the wall there should be a little metal ring that is close to where the shut off is.  I noticed on one that ring was against the wall plate and this secured the pipe from moving.  After noticing that I went to all of them and moved the metal ring and it fixed any that were loose.

-Check to make sure none of your sinks leak.  Noticed that one of the sinks in our master bathroom had a small leak where the drain connects to the sink.  Plumber came out and fixed it.

-Check all the dampers in the HVAC registers.  We have the dual HVAC system and if you take the vent cover out there is a damper in the end of ducting.  In some cases it was almost closed so no air was moving.  I went through and checked them all and found a few that I had to adjust.  If you only have the single HVAC system, I'm not sure if they do it that way.

-Check the floor around the insulation in the basement if you don't have a finished basement.  We found a dark oil like liquid on the floor and pulled the insulation and found some seeping through the wall.  Once the insulation was pulled back it seemed to dry up.  Talking with PM about it they think it was something that is used in mixing the concrete.

Other than that just do some thorough checks on trim work and what not to look for missing paint and damaged pieces.  I can take pictures later for examples.

Day 116: Closed

Today we closed on the house. Time to start unpacking....

Day 114: Pre-settlement Walk-Thru

Yesterday we had our pre-settlement walk-thru.  Aside from the tile in the master shower needing fixed, will have to happen after we move in, there were few issues.  Our walk-thru took about an hour and a half and we pretty much went room by room checking things out with our PM and he made note of any issues so they could take care of them before our closing on Friday.  Really wasn't much to it outside of that and going over some paper work.  They give you a one time use certificate to fix any drywall issues within the first 13 months.  Don't have any new pictures to add as nothing has really change.

Our lawn is starting to sprout a little bit and hoping temps stay up so it has a chance to grow some more.  One thing I did after they seeded was bought a 25lb bag of seed and over seeded it.  I'm sure I'll have to do it again in the spring, but I wanted to try and get some growth before the weather turns.  It also helped that I would go down and water it for 20min on days we didn't have any rain.  Might as well water as much as I could before the utilities are in our name.

Closing is tomorrow, and will be a busy day.  I have our storage pod set to be delivered as well as our appliances.  I'll be hanging lots of blinds and installing new wifi thermostats and garage door opener as well.

Day 112: Quality Inspection

Today is the quality inspection.  Over the past few days they've been going through their punch list and fixing any issues.  They came and replaced the scratched hardwood and hopefully it stays scratch free this week.  We are still waiting to hear back from rite rug as they are supposed to have some tile selections for us to pick from to trim around the window in our shower since their tiling crew screwed that up.  Our pre-settlement walk-thru is this Wednesday with closing to follow Friday morning.

Day 107: Almost there

They are getting there, only a few more things left to do. Painters have been getting a lot done, just about everything has been painted now including the front door. Columns were painted so I guess they will be installed tomorrow. We got new steps in the garage too. A weeks worth of working days left before closing. 

Day 105: Crunch time

With quality assurance check on Friday we are told the house is supposed to be 100% by then. Walking through today they have a lot of touching up to do. Some good news is that the island cabinets finally arrived correctly and were installed as well as the other cabinets that weren't hung yet. 

The house is a bit of a mess now even though a cleaning crew was in last week. I noticed some scratches in the hardwood that I hope they plan on taking care of.  Guess we will see how it goes and hope for the best. 

Long scratch that runs through 3 boards. 

An outlet they decided would go in our pantry cabinet and looks like they botched cutting it at first. 

Day 100: Landscaping

Inside the house they are in fix mode. Outside we got our landscaping. They also leveled out the air conditioners. Won't have any updates until Sunday. 

Day 98: Plumbers and more

Weekend Update: Gutters were installed

Yesterday (Monday) the plumbers came back and did all their finishing work.  They were supposed to come last week but were behind in schedule.  The downside to this was the carpets were installed and they were walking all over them shoes and all.  I'm not sure why plastic was not put down, but I'm not happy at the fact that they weren't covered.

Also, the punch out crew has started to go through and fix blemishes on the walls and what not.  They are still fixing the area around the refrigerator to make room for a cabinet and are still awaiting the rest of the cabinets.  They have their quality assurance check on the 23rd with our pre-settlement walk-thru on the 28th and closing the 30th.  Coming down to the wire now.

Cardboard blew back and no one thought to put it back down instead of walking on the hardwood.

Stairs are looking kind of dirty

Corner cabinet and one next to it need installed as well as island(on order).

Still need to finish out the cement board above the tile