Saturday, November 24, 2012

The long awaited 3 month update is here!

Hi all! It's been about 4 months in the Verona now, so I guess really it's a 4 month update. My blog title mentions "Another Verona" well since then, it's been another and another and another Verona. I've lost count but with the exception of maybe 1 house, there are about 8 or 9 consecutive Veronas on my side of the street. They are at least varied in elevations. The last lot on my side of this street is going up and yeah, you guessed it, another Verona. This last one will be a copy of my house and elevation :(  I guess I will need to be careful coming home at night choosing the correct Verona. It's definitely a bit disappointing that Ryan is allowing identical plans and elevations so close to each other, but it is what it is. So back to my Verona! I am finally sitting down to update the blog as I'm home with Jenn who decided to put some spice into Thanksgiving this year by testing the laws of gravity at her relative's house on Thursday. Gravity is confirmed. We enjoyed an ambulance ride to the hospital where they located her missing knee cap and "Popped" that sucker back in place. Sounds easy right? Jenn will disagree.

     So let's see, what can I tell you about the Verona. Here's a few highlights that may help if you are building a Verona or any Ryan house for that matter.

Foundation:  The house was built on a crawl space. I do like how the floors don't get cold and the ease of access under the house.  Only drawback I can tell you is that it's a bit noisier walking on the floor downstairs as opposed to a slab because there's some degree of flex. It's easy to hear someone walking downstairs.

Landscape: Big fail on the grass. Ryan put seed and straw in the backyard at the beginning of August. I don't think 1 blade survived. As you'll see below, I gave up and sodded the yard because the dogs were constantly bringing mud into the house. They should offer a deferred seeding in the fall. It's impossible to grow grass in the Summer, at least here in N.C.

The Floor Plan:   I'm very pleased with the floor plan.  The downstairs bedroom option was a great choice. Not only was it good for company, but also it is now an infirmary for Jenn who is currently challenged by the 16 step climb to the master bedroom. I really love the kitchen and the endless counter space. I also enjoy the Morning Room for the dinette. I'm very pleased with my choice to not get the Fireplace. I can't imagine how I would have set up the Great Room with the fireplace taking up the wall.   I am also enjoying the roomy laundry room upstairs and having the tub in there is handy for my fish tanks. I know everybody says they don't have enough closet space but I really feel that for a 3380 sq. ft. house, the closet space is poor.  I am glad I chose the closet option in the bonus room even though it eats up some of the room.  I converted the mudroom closet and the home office closet to storage. I had several tiers of shelves installed instead of the one linen rack.

Flooring:  If I could do it again, I would take builder grade carpet and pad, no upgrade. I would tear it out day 1 and buy "Good" stuff. The price of the upgrades at Rite-Rug was staggering. The level 1 carpet was pretty disappointing. It feels very thin and cheap. I got the Stainmaster waterproof carpet pad which is good but, wow, I spent a fortune on that upgrade too.  I don't see this carpet holding up long term.  I like the hardwood flooring in the kitchen. Guests usually compliment it.  It does however  have some "snap crackle and pop" noises that Ryan says is "Normal."  This is likely due to being on a crawl I assume.

Electrical:  Overall the outlets worked out well. Only one half-hot ended up in a bad spot behind my office desk. I'm not sure how I missed that when picking the location.  Since closing I added an additional outlet in the powder room for a nightlight.   If I could do it again I probably would have put an outlet in the stair well for a nightlight or the vacuum cleaner. I don't like how the lights over the bathtubs for the hall bathroom and downstairs bathroom come on with the main light.  I wish it had been separated like it is in the master bath. I am going to pursue having a switch added for that. The house uses all CFLs. They definitely save money but they take a while to heat up. I'm entertaining changing them in the kitchen to standard bulbs but I do like the savings. We joke about having to Pre-heat the lights before we eat.

Cable and Network: I'm still bitter about the cost of working with Guardian. As a reminder it was $125 for every jack whether it was phone, cable or network. I would have done more network wiring but spent a fortune on the jacks I chose just to have cable in every room.  Recently I found out how Guardian skimped on the phone wiring. Normally a phone line can support 2 lines. I recently added a second line of service and discovered that Guardian wired the outlet for ONE phone line. They literally did not use the second pair. Would they have charged me another $125 for a 2 phone line jack? I don't know, but I certainly didn't call them.  The cable guy also found one bad wire where they did a bad crimp and was affecting one of the TVs.  Luckily the cable guy fixed it so I didn't have to call Guardian. I've heard many people get at least one bad cable.

Plumbing: Water pressure in the house is okay but not great. The plumber says the reducing valve is already maxed, I need to confirm that. When showering it's pretty noticeable when someone turns on water during a shower.  The tank-less hot water heater works fine but it does concern me. We originally had problems getting consistent hot water on the first week in the house when showering. The plumber came back and removed the water restrictors from the shower heads. Apparently the water heater wasn't sensing enough draw and would intermittently not heat the water. Now it works fine but I find it ironic that in the house that Ryan boasts as Energy Star 3.0 I am forced to use more water when showering in order to make the tank-less water heater happy.   I do see a difference in the gas bill from not having a conventional tank, but I fear those savings will be given right back the day that tank-less needs it's first repair.  I am not an expert on water heaters but I do believe for a 3 bathroom house, Ryan put the very bare minimum size water heater in. It's rated at 1-3 concurrent showers.  One thing I want to clarify is that instant hot water doesn't mean instant hot water from the faucets. You still have to wait for the water to run through the pipes to get the faucet, so you still stand there waiting just like a conventional tank.

HVAC:  I was given very little information about my HVAC system.  While I know a great deal of math goes into calculating the size for an A/C I am confident Ryan skimped here. I have a 3.5 ton unit which is for the entire house. I only had 1 month of high temperatures left when I moved in but the A/C definitely struggles in the bonus room over the garage. They don't put a return in the bonus room, personally I think there should be one. The vendor who did the HVAC system refuses to discuss anything about the system. The vendor responds with "Ryan designed it, not us" to just about everything I've asked. It's almost like they signed a gag order. The heat however, works really well.   The house is also equipped with a Honeywell fresh air circulation system. It regularly pulls in outside air and circulates it. This is nice, but if you turn off your HVAC, you will still hear the system cycle on and off regularly so that the blower can circulate fresh air.  My furnace is located in the hallway. It seemed loud at first, but now I don't notice it anymore.

Warranty Requests: I haven't had any real show stopper issues. Anything I've called in has been addressed very quickly by Ryan or their vendors.

   As far as tweaks to the house, here's some things I've done.  I had a split rail fence installed in the backyard. I also bit the bullet and had the backyard sodded. Also had 4 arborvitaes added on each side to ultimately give some privacy in the morning room. and when sitting on the deck.  A little maple tree was planted too for Myles to do this thing. I've added a dog door next to the sliding door which you'll see in the pictures below.  I added some cabinetry to the upstairs which matches what the house came with. So as usual, completely randomized by the blogger editor, here's some improvements since closing.
Master bath tip-outs from Rev-a-Shelf. 

Morning room side of the yard with the 4 Arborvitaes. The yard is sodded and
a natural area around the perimeter to keep maintenance easy along the fence. It also
attracts the dogs so they hopefully do their business away from the sod. That theory works, sometimes.

Pella Storm Door added. You can see Audrey and Myles ready to bark at passers-by

An attempt to take a panoramic picture of the yard.  The yard is a rectangle in reality. 4 Arborvitaes on the left and right sides. 

I had the garage finished and painted. Also added an 8 ft. fluorescent on the ceiling. Lights up the entire garage quite nicely.

This room is supposed to be the dining room in the Verona. Because the morning room is the eating area, this room is now called the den or front room or sitting room, whatever you choose. It seems to be the most popular room in the house for some reason. This is a 75 gallon aquarium. It has African Cichlids which are still very tiny but it won't be long before the tank is swarming.

Hall entry bench and coat hooks from Hayneedle and Kirkland's respectively.

Another view of the "Front Room". Jenn is on the couch convalescing from her injury. The dogs watching every move I make as usual. 

I'm really liking the porch.  We got the porch furniture a few weeks ago at Garden Ridge. For some reason the ones we pick are never the ones on sale.

Here's the Great Room. Still hoping to score a larger TV during the holiday weekend. Notice nobody is in there. It's so much more comfortable in the small front room...LOL

Another view of the porch furniture.

This is called a Valet Cabinet. I hooked up with the cabinet vendor after closing. This matches the original cabinetry. It's above the toilet in the powder room. The cabinet is perfect for extra supplies and the shelf is a very inviting place to put the iPhone down.

Myles is frustrated because I put the security panel in the dog door. He's dying to get out there and bark at anyone or anything.

Added a matching medicine cabinet to the master bathroom. Seriously I don't understand why this isn't standard or even optional. 

A view outside of the dog door. This dog door features dual flaps and both inner and outer locking security panels  As far as I was able to research this is one of, if not the best pet doors on the market. It's from Hale Pet Doors. It's pricey but given I was cutting a whole in a brand new house I didn't want plastic junk. 

Inside view of the dog door. I was originally thinking I'd have to give up the outlet but the door just fit. This is probably the most critical tweak in the house because the dogs are in and out countless times per day. 

Tip-out added to the kitchen.

Myles on his way out after I removed the panel. 

This is looking into the front room from the Great Room.
  
This is the study featuring my "Guest" computer workstation.

Upstairs guest room.

46 gallon Goldfish tank in the home office. This room would normally be one of the upstairs bedrooms. 

I liked the valet cabinet so much in the powder room I had to add one to the hall bathroom.

The bonus room. That workstation is for my personal use and paying the many bills accrued by a new house.  Exercise equipment in the Alcove plus cold beverages in the fridge.  
Another view of the powder room with its valet cabinet.

I tore out the wire shelving in the laundry room and replaced with Timberlake cabinets. The color is called nutmeg. 


28 comments:

  1. I would love to have the doggie door for Harley! I found this really nice system that opens the door with an infrared signal from his collar to the door to let himself out. The challenge I am having is trying to figure out if we can get one with the concrete basement walls. I knew RH would not approve of this request so I left it alone. Is your wall concrete? Did you install it yourself. It looks great!

    BTW--this is a great post!! Thank you for sharing the details and pictures. Glad you are still on the scene!!

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  2. No concrete, just a standard exterior wall. I had it professionally installed. I was very nervous about cutting the hardie planks. I bought the door online at http://www.halepetdoor.com/. They make pre-made and custom dog doors. It's extremely strong. I picture it as the only thing still standing if there were a tornado. Even without the panels in its weatherproof.

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  3. Did you contact Timberlake directly for the additional cabinets? I've looked at their website but it appeared that they only dealt with builders. There are a few things that I didn't get through RH that I'd love to get directly from Timberlake, if possible.

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    1. I got the name of the Timberlake rep from my PM. It took some patience but he was able to order anything I wanted. The valet cabinets are probably 3 times the price of generic ones you can get at Lowes but I wanted them to match. I assume the rep marked up the prices to pocket some cash too. For the laundry room I did not buy matching cabinets. The cherry bordeaux was a fortune.l I went with the Timberlake Value-built series which you can see on the Timberlake website.

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  4. I didn't realize there was a cabinet vendor to deal with - I thought they got all the stuff from the factory. Now I need to see what I can do from where I sit. :)

    Whew - you've done a lot!

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    1. Well you're right it's not really a vendor, but rather the local Timberlake rep. I was able to have him come over and go over available options with me. I'm still entertaining one more cabinet for the downstairs bathroom.

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  5. Hi Stuart - I am so glad I found your blog. We are in the same area too. I am not sure what community you built in, but that is the Verona model home we looked at also in Indian Trail. I hope you don't mind I used the Sheridan model picture you had to give my friends a better idea what our home will look like when completed.

    I'm looking at your posts right now and it is giving me a lot of ideas. I am just starting building my home!

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    1. Also - Do you know what the difference between the Oak and Pine stairs are (other than the price). Did you get pine? Do you have a picture by any chance that you would be willing to share?

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    2. Hi. I am in Sheridan. I'm glad you are finding the blog helpful. I will try to help if you have questions.

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    3. If you get pine stairs, the stairs will be carpeted. I was going to get the oak steps but it was a pricey upgrade and only the treads are oak, the risers are not oak. It didn't seem worth it. Some people feel the oak steps can be slippery.

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    4. BTW, the model at Sheridan that you looked at had the Oak Steps.

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  6. Ok thanks for responding. My husband wants to get the oak steps because they think it will be easier to clean -- but you are right it is a hefty upgrade.

    Also -- in your pictures is your deck normally than what they normally put on the crawl space? We asked them what size the Sheridan had and I can't remember off the top of my head but it was larger than what was included. Your deck looks like you have a lot of space!

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  7. Oh and I love the cabinets you got in your bathrooms!!!

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  8. Hi Stuart!

    My husband and I are seriously considering building a verona with Ryan in PA. The pictures of your house are beautiful. I was wondering if you would build with Ryan again having gone through the experience. I have done some research and the reviews on the internet are not what I would consider favorable but I do realize that can be one sided. Is it quality work for the price range? I would really like to build with Ryan but I want to make sure we get a quality home. Thank you!

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    1. That's a real hard question. I did the same thing as you regarding researching builders. This was actually my second build. My previous builder was not Ryan and had I based my opinion on what I read online, I never would have built that house. In the end they did a good job. It had all the usual quirks a new house has and they were addressed. Keep in mind that with any review, the people with issues are the most likely to post. So back to Ryan Homes. Would I build again with Ryan, I would not, but that is solely due to a personal grudge that I am carrying, that I unfortunately am not "Allowed" to comment on my blog. They built a good house though, I've had the same old new house quirks and Ryan promptly addresses them and so far there's really been no show stopper issues. I can tell you there are several builders in my subdivision and as I talk to neighbors, they all had various flavors of issues with their builders. One reason I can tell you that I would not build again was that unlike most people I've blogged with, I was not allowed to have the phone number of my PM. I can't even describe how frustrating that was for me. With my first house I was allowed to call my PM (or field manager) all I wanted. Many sleepless nights during the build could have been prevented if could just call. So I hope this didn't confuse you. Let me say again, they built a solid house. My inspector said it was excellent and all warranty issues are being promptly handles, I think that's what matters.

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    2. I forgot to mention, I am also EXTREMELY disappointed that Ryan is allowing someone to build the identical carbon copy of my house, same color and elevation 2 houses over. So the house in the middle will have Verona Elevation C book-ends. My previous builder did not allow the same look much less the same EXACT house so close to another one.

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  9. Hi Stuart!

    Thank you so much for your quick reply. I am sorry to hear that they are allowing an exact replica of your house only 2 doors down. I am sure that is extremely frustrating because I know how hard it must have been to make the decisions on the exterior of your house. In our neighborhood there are other builders as well and we plan on making non-Ryan updates a little later. It is something we will have to consider.

    I am very concerned with the quality of the house. We would like to be in this house for a while without having to worry about dumping money into fixing little things any time soon. You have put my mind at ease (a little) regarding the quality of the home and their responsiveness. This would be the first time we would build our own home and we just want to make the right decision. Any advice you can give us would be greatly appreciated. I have read your blog from start to finish and I have learned a lot so far.

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    1. Feel free to hit me up via email. It's in my profile.

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  10. Hi Stuart,

    What color stone and siding do you have? Did you opt for the second vanity bowl in the guest bathroom?

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    1. Hi, the stone I believe was rustic kentucky. The siding is monterey taupe. Yes, the second bowl is an upgrade.

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  11. Stuart -- could you give me the contact information of the cabinet vendor? I really want to get the valet cabinet for our house.

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    1. Also if you don't mind me asking what the cost was for that? We are nearing our limit but I really want that!

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  12. Can you contact me via email? My email is in my profile.

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  13. Stuart, I love your ceiling fans. I have my eye on some that I want from Home Depot but my husband thinks they're too big. What size did you get for the Master BR and the Family Room? Did you install one in the Morning Room too?
    Thanks,
    Linda-D

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    1. The Master has a 52" fan. Most of my fans are Hunters but the Master has a harbor breeze. The morning room has a pre-mount for the fan but I don't have plans to put a fan there as I'm happy with the light fixture for now. It was tricky finding fans because of the light kit issues. Most of the fans use candelabra base bulbs which don't give off a lot of light. I found Home depot still had several that offer standard base bulbs.

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    2. Thanks! I wonder if a 52" will be too big for the morning room...I plan on using 52" in the bonus room, master bedroom and morning room. Praying they'll be the right size.

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    3. We also opted for the chandelier in the morning room...sweet! The ceiling fans on the 2nd floor are heavenly. Thanks

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  14. Hi Stuart. I was wondering where you bought those arborvitae trees, and how much you paid for them? We've still got a month until we close, but I'm already thinking about landscaping.

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