7,000 Views and counting!

Our blog has now had over 7,000 page views to !!!
We know our friends and family only account for pageviews in the hundreds. So to everyone else out there that has been tuning in, I hope you have found this blog informative. We are getting close to completion and our walkthrough with our Field Manager is tomorrow. We are making the punch list of things that we would like to see repaired or touched up. There are some minor things that need addressed and a couple larger issues. I will wait to see what Wayne Homes will agree to as far as what I think should be done before posting details.

We've had a lot of hiccups along the way so far but construction is prone to such things. I have not always been pleased at how some things were or were not addressed when I brought them up. Other things I've been quite satisfied with. But as the house stands currently, things are looking pretty good. Most things I wasn't willing to fix myself have been addressed. And the enormous amount of hours I've poured into the house with help from friends and family have made our house truly unique.

It is certainly a mark in the plus column to Wayne Homes that they do have flexibility with letting home owners do some of the work themselves. That is as it should be since this our build project and our house and not theirs. But I know some other builders are not as willing to work with the homeowner. The fact we put in our own arches and stair post/rail/ spindles/ faucets/ light fixtures etc. have made our home a 1 of a kind.

So when we officially get the keys in the near future, I will post my final thoughts on the entire process from start to finish and what I think of Wayne Homes as our builder. If our blog can help anyone considering building with them make up their minds either way, then we are happy to have been of help. Anyone can post comments on this blog so feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer based on our experience.

Thanks again to everyone that has been viewing our experience building our house. Now if all of you would show up with a bag of grass seed mid September, I can get my yard seeded.
Please?!?

Pictures as promised.

Here are some pics of recent work.

 Foyer from Great room.

 Kitchen Island with raised eat ledge.

 Appliances in. Microwave needs installed over stove.

 Main bath vanity.

 Master vanities (Jack and Jill configuration)

 Finished stairs shot from basement up.

 From top down.

Day 94 - feeling "Drained"

This weekend was a long one. Mostly doing plumbing of the custom sink fixtures my wife picked out. If you don't use Wayne Homes' standard fixtures or upgrade through them, then you are responsible to get yours installed. The drains in the kitchen were a real pain given the location of the drain stub from the wall being too close to where the sink drain comes down. But perserverence won the day. All faucets and drains are now installed and functioning. I also got our exterior lights installed so no more wires hanging out my wall.

Had an issue with drywall since we did the custom round corners. I worked directly with the contractor on those and there were some very noticable defects that he would not fix so I've been mudding and sanding to correct. Nothing against Wayne Homes on that. That is between me and contractor. My FM did try to get the contractor to address it which I appreciated. The guy that came by covered maybe a tenth of what was clearly visible. Apparently even half-a**ed was too much to ask for. Got the worst of it done now so we can touch up paint and we will be in good shape. Everything else the drywallers did was very good and ceiling came out beautiful so all in all, those guys still get a passing grade.

Our carpet is in!!! Looks great. Aside from some seeming I'm not thrilled about in 1 room, they did a great job and we are quite pleased.
Sorry no pictures of all this stuff. Too long a weekend. I'll get pics added this week...

Day 90 - Stair rail, post etc.

Exciting day today. We meticulously planned out how we wanted the finished stairs to the basement to be surrounded with a partial half wall and partial rail and post system. I drew it all out and brother Cameron had it made EXACTLY as envisioned. It's beautiful and we LOVE it! Had to get it installed today as carpet starts tomorrow. There better not be a mark on it when they leave! The half wall was capped with wood stained to match our kitchen. The rail and post etc was stained the color as well. Thanks again to Cameron for addressing a color issue and getting it to come out the right color.

Spent hours cleaning the floors before carpet guys arrive tomorrow. It's not that I didn't trust them to clean them thoroughly before putting down the padding, well....ok... that is why. After cleaning, we drew a special note on the great room floor for everyone that's helped along the way. It's at the bottom of the pics.

Day 88 Counter Tops and Final Plumbing

Busy, busy day today. And for your viewing pleasure, my wife and I decide to have a contest to see who could take the worst pictures. I'd call it a tie.

Our granite tops were installed today. They look fantastic. We are extremely pleased.
Special thanks to Josh and Chris!

 Plumbers showed up and installed everything except our custom sink fixtures as the tops weren't complete and the plumbers couldn't get in to do them. Looks like that's my next project.

My brother stopped by to help finish wiring the switches for the lights we added in the garage and the exterior flood lights. He totally saved my bacon tonight. Thank you brother Ronald!

Sister Renee and brother Cameron saved the day by making a last minute laundry deck box to raise the laundry machines being delivered tomorrow. We will add drawers to it later for storage. Sweet!

 support brackets

shower can lit up nice and pretty

 Laundry Deck

Garage sink. Booyah!!

Day 84 Vinyl flooring

Today saw most of the vinyl flooring installed. Also the laminate wood in the foyer was started. Both should be finished up tomorrow. Carpet won't be until next week at this time until counter tops are installed and the plumbers come back to finish up. That will keep the carpet from getting dirty.
Vinyl guy did a great job. All the lines are straight with the walls and the seam in the kitchen is not noticeable.

 Main Bath

 Flooring inspector checking out wood laminate.

 Master Bath

 Kitchen

Day 83- sub floor

Today the sub flooring was put in for the areas that get vinyl and wood laminate flooring. There will be no sub flooring for the carpeted areas.

Day 82 - I need more power Scottie!

And lo on the 82nd day we beheld all that hath been wrought and sayeth: Let there be light! And there was light. Our electricians have wired the panel in the basement and we checked all the lights and outlets in the house. Everything worked perfectly. Feels good to see the house powered up. Step 1 of operation Hostile Planet Takeover is complete! Now on to phase 2 (mwah-hahaha)!

 3 deer visiting

 1st vehicle parked in my garage. I know what you're thinking. It IS a tight fit. Should have went bigger!

 And now Buddy Bill's hogging up space.

 Under cabinet lights working like magic.

 New great room fan.