Day 3 and a Rejected Inspection

We stopped by the lot this afternoon to check on progress. Out footers were complete, but I noticed a yellow piece of paper on our sold sign. The city rejected our footers after inspection! The reason was that there was too much gravel in them! So I guess it has to be redone and we are back at square one? At least we know that the city is on top of things and with their inspections we're sure to get a quality product.

Obligatory Day One Pictures and Rate Lock-In

Two big pieces of news today: We broke ground and we locked in our rate at 4.375%! Not as great as 3.5% in May like we were originally quoted, but much better than the 4.5% we were given on July 5th. Still looking to close in late October, so this was a 120-day extended lock-in.

We were able to swing by the lot during my lunch break to find our hole! Looks like they are digging for footers.  We are about 2 weeks behind a home across the street, they have their crawl space and garage poured with lumber just sitting around.  Enjoy the pictures of dirt!

 Panorama from our "side yard"

 From the front

 Our sign is still pretty! That won't last.

 Dirt hill!

Panorama from the corner of our street and the alley street. This little alley way will be nice for parking when we entertain.

Groundbreaking Tomorrow!

Had to swing by and take a picture this afternoon!

Breaking ground tomorrow! And it's my birthday week...and we're scheduled to be complete during Aaron's birthday week! Best. Present. Ever. 

We had our Pre-Construction Meeting!

Yay! We finally had our pre-construction meeting this afternoon! The biggest news is, (weather permitting) we will be breaking ground on Wednesday! That's less than a week! They're hoping for completion in late October. Good weather for moving in, and it's after the Energy Star appliance sales tax holiday in Virginia (Columbus Day weekend), so we will wait to buy our fridge then.

We got to meet our PM and another person, I guess a second PM since they're responsible for a few communities and we're a brand new community, with 11 lots sold so far. They both are young, but seem to know what they're doing. They were very easy-going. One of them is even a graduate of mine and Aaron's alma mater! Small world.

We got so many questions answered. Here's a list of some of the questions we asked, with answers:

Q: Is there stability in the Bonus Room for a treadmill?
A: Yes, and it's the best place to put it because of something that has to do with the electrical (I kind of zoned out after they said yes...)

Q: Could we get a railing on both sides of the walls for the stairs?
A: They're pretty sure they have a lot of extras lying around and they'll put it up after closing.

Q: Where are the hose bibbs located?
A: Front corner under porch/dining room window and back corner off of morning room.

Q: Can you leave the towel racks and toilet paper holders uninstalled, but in there respective bathrooms? Mainly, I have an issue with the towel rack in the powder room as I have an over-the-toilet cupboard I'd like to place there, since there is no storage space.
A: They will leave the powder room towel rack uninstalled, and then do it for me when I tell them where I want it.  If I don't like the locations of the other fixtures, they will fix it for me.

Q: What color paint for walls and ceilings?
A: Cool platinum for both. (From my Google search, it's by McCormick. I can live with it until we get around to painting.)

Q: Are the ceilings and walls smooth?
A: YES!!!!

Q: Where are the outdoor lights?
A: Recessed light on the porch, one on both sides of the garage, one at the side garage door, one on the deck and a lamp post in the front.

Q: Where is the attic access?
A: Laundry room because we did not add the attic storage option.  Our PM also said he'd leave some plywood for us in the attic.  We also have 2 "smurf doors' in the Bonus Room.  That's probably where we will store Christmas stuff.

Q: Can we choose what's planted?
A: Maybe. It all depends on what's in season.  We kind of got a few answers on that.

Q: Are there screens in the windows and at the sliding glass door?
A: Yes! [I am so excited for the screen at the sliding glass door. It will be nice to cook on Spring/Autumn evenings with that door open and no flies getting in! Wondering how many times Simon (our mini schnauzer) will try to run through it.]

Pre-Construction Meeting on the Horizon!

UPDATE: First we scheduled the meeting for tomorrow (Monday) at 10 AM... but the PM was already booked at another community. So now we're scheduled for Thursday at 3! We are scheduled to break ground the week of the 22nd. My birthday is that week, so Happy Birthday to me!! :) The only progress I've seen (from the main road) is that a Porta-Potty has been set up on one of the lots. Maybe they're doing all the digging and I just can't see it from the main road.

We received an e-mail Monday night that our pre-construction meeting can be scheduled for next week! We are hoping for Friday afternoon. I hope they can work with us and schedule these meetings for after work (I leave at 2:30) as I only have 1.75 hours of available leave, due to a vacation coming up in a couple of months.  Oops.

What are some questions to ask during the pre-con meeting? Are there questions you wish you had asked? I'm sure I'll be using this long-ish weekend to stalk blogs and get ideas!

This is all very exciting since our SR told us they try to break ground within a week of the pre-con meeting.  The first home in our neighborhood is scheduled to start construction this week. The neighborhood is the halfway point between our current home and my parents' house, so I'm fortunate to be able to drive past the lots once a week or so. I drove by Sunday and there looked to be a lot of activity at the model home, so hopefully we'll get more lots purchased soon! I'd prefer to not live in a construction zone for too long. :) So far, 8 lots have been purchased. The goal is to have 150 homes!  That's going to be a lot of nails in the tires. :)