Thursday, July 26, 2012

Driveway, Sidewalks, Mailbox, Electrical, & Guardian Installs

I made an unplanned stop at the house today. I just had to see what was going on! I had to park pretty far away because there were so many work vehicles there. Conveniently, I also ran into my PM and he walked around with me! I got to ask tons of questions! Much easier than trying to remember them all and sending him a text. There were so many people working inside and outside our house that I couldn't keep count. Even a guy from Guardian was there installing their stuff. I wish I could have seen the in-ceiling speakers but he was just about to start those when I was leaving. The house was just too hot for me to stick around! It was 87 degrees in there!

Starting with the outside: Our driveway and sidewalks were poured yesterday! I walked right past the mailbox without even noticing it! The PM had to point that out to me! In my last post, I mentioned that our PM placed a pipe under our driveway so that we can run our invisible fence through it. I have a picture of that below. We even bought some tool thingy that we will attach the wire to and then turn a reel to fish it through the pipe. And by "we" I mean my hubby. I asked my PM when our sod would be put in. I told him that we asked our last PM if we could wait a little bit after closing to have it installed. This would make it easier for us to bury our invisible fence and we wouldn't have to worry about watering it while dealing with the stress of moving. Our original PM said no. Our new PM said yes! I hope my old PM isn't reading this :) The two houses across the street close about a week and a half to two weeks after us and I asked him if it would be easier for him if we just got our sod when they got theirs. He said it would be helpful so that's the plan! We will have to walk our dog a little ways away from the house to an open field for a week or two but at least we won't have to worry about the yard. We are closing on a Monday but we aren't moving until the weekend. It would have been a pain to make the hour round-trip drive out every day to just water the lawn. Also, RH told us our lot is half an acre. My husband did the math and it turns out it is a little larger. It's more like 2/3 of an acre.

The guys on the ladders were painting the trim.


Close-up of the drivway
This is the pipe we will run our invisible fence through under the driveway!
(Left side of driveway)
Pipe sticking out on the right side. I should have measured how far out it was....

Sidewalk leading to front door
This is where our lampost will be.
I LOVE the mailbox! 

Light outside the morning room door.

As for the inside: There were so many people working inside and outside our house that I couldn't keep count. Even a guy from Guardian was there installing their stuff. I wish I could have seen the in-ceiling speakers but he was just about to start those when I was leaving. The house was just too hot for me to stick around! They were installing light fixtures, outlets, switches, plumbing fixtures, toilets, and probably other stuff I couldn't keep track of!

I also made a request to my PM about our kitchen cabinets. The cabinet above the fridge is pushed back and doesn't sit flush with the cabinets to the left. I know this is usually pretty common but I will never be able to reach that, especially since our fridge will stick out even farther. I asked him if it could be pulled forward to be flush. Seems like a simple request. He said he would have to get back with me about it. Here is a picture of what I'm talking about:

The fridge goes on the right and the double ovens on the left.


Master vanity

Love shape of this bathtub fixture!


Toilet in the master water closet. I was worried we would get the off-white toilets that I have seen on some other blogs. I really wanted my toilets to match the white of the sinks, shower, and bathtub. So glad they do!

The big hole is for a ceiling speaker. The white circle is our wireless router. Next to that is a smoke detector.  Small hole will me a carbon monoxide detector. We got our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors wired through our security alarm.

Hall bathroom

Hall toilet


I really wanted brushed nickel but RH over charges for that upgrade. I had planned on switching them out myself later but I kind of like these. The shape just makes it look so much better than I expected.

They can just leave the switches like that.... I kinda like it. Ha ha!

We got a wireless router installed in our ceiling from Guardian. 

This is the siren for our security alarm.

So glad we get a thermostat in the master bedroom!


Chandelier in the formal dining room. I was hoping I could see the huge version of this that goes in the foyer but they hadn't installed it yet!

Ceiling speakers!

Thermostat on the first floor.

Motion detector from Guardian.

I clearly don't take very good pictures. I make everything look crooked!
I wasn't so sure about the eyeball lights when we were making our selections but I'm glad we got them! I like them!

Close-up of my eyeballs!

So glad RH installs energy savers!

This is the light in the laundry room. That will definitely need replaced. It's hideous!
Laundry room hook-ups

Accidentally free laundry sink rough-in!

Handles on the outside of the morning room door are ORB to match the outdoor light fixtures.

Handles on the inside of the morning room door are brushed nickel to match the indoor light fixtures.
It's weird to me that these are different. 


Door bell chime thing on the inside

Guardian security alarm pad. 

Recessed lights in the kitchen! There is an extra one on the left because it follows the curve of the gourmet island.
The hole left over is where one of our in-ceiling speakers will be.


Our hardwoods should be installed tomorrow, carpet on Saturday, initial cleaning is on Sunday, and granite gets installed on Monday. Our PM is on vacation all next week. I'm going to try to challenge myself not visit again until the final walk-through. That's in 11 days. Can I make it?








21 comments:

  1. I don't know how you could wait that long to see the house! :) I couldn't wait 11 days, for sure. I love the ORD handle on one side and brushed nickel on the other-I didn't know they did that. Hope ours is like that! NOW I know what eyeball lights are...I thought they were regular recessed lights before I saw these pics. How many cleanings do they typically do?

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    1. I think they do an initial cleaning and then if they make a mess while completing the punch list they do another. I'm not sure! I'll let you know in a week and a half :)

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    2. They are called eyeball lights because you can move them and point them in different directions.

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  2. Hey-one question about the pipe...does it matter if we run PVC or the pipe you pictured?

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    1. According to my PM, that is a PVC pipe. At least that's what he said he was going to use. He installed it for us because he said he had extras laying around.

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    2. What a nice PM! Our PM said he will make sure whatever we give him goes under, so I was just curious if we should use something specific.

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  3. Hi...I'm new to the Ryan Home Blog Family. You can find my blog at
    myveryfirsthomenj.blogspot.com

    The thermostat in the Master Bedroom is an excellent idea. I wish I would have thought of that. I've already had 4 change orders and they just started. I don't know if I'm allowed another one...

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    1. Our house has a thermostat on all three levels. It was included due to the size of the house. Each floor is a different zone.

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    3. Ours has 3 as well, two zone system(basement and 1st floor on one zone and second floor on it's own zone). I wish they had put the master thermostat in the hallway though, so the kids can access without going in our master.

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  4. I have been following your progress from the very beginning and its almost hard to believe that you will be closing in less than two weeks. How exciting is that!! The house looks awesome cant wait to see pics after you are all moved in!

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    1. I can barely believe it myself! Just think, YOU'RE NEXT!!! :)

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  5. Everything is coming together! I like the faucets and I love the way your walkway curves. Did you request the curve?

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    1. We did not request the curve and we didn't even know there would be one! The pictures we saw of the model had a curve but the sidewalk was done in pavers. I just assumed ours would have nothing in common with the model sidewalk, lol. It's just a happy surprise!

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  6. Your house looks beautiful! I LOVE the outside and the inside is coming together so nicely. How lucky that you got a free utility sink hook up! It's seriously crazy how fast everything happens!

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  7. CMM - It really is coming together so fast, It's sad when you go to the house and can't notice what new thing has been done!

    A note on the recessed lighting - I love the Energy Star quality of my home and I'm sure you will too.. in an effort to continue with that I decided to put dimmer switches in my dinning room/kitchen/family room and pretty much anywhere I had a coupling of Recessed lights ( my eyes are sensitive to light and with all my recessed lights it's bright!!!)

    Dimmer Switches won't work with the Philips Reflector Floods that Ryan uses, so if you are planning on a dimmer for a nice Ambiance.. you will need to buy the corresponding dimmer bulbs ($40 for a 4pack)

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  8. Yay! We are getting so close now! I like your faucets too! We have the same ones and I assumed we wouldn't like them but they actually are really nice! And I noticed your sidewalk to your front door is soo long! It really is way longer than ours so your house must be a lot wider! Really excited for you!

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    1. I love our sidewalk! Our house is 64.33 inches wide. Don't ask how I know that :) That's a lot of landscaping for the front of the house! Just a little intimidating!

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    2. Oh yeah that's way wider than ours! It's wider than our whole lot! Our house and lot is more deep than wide. The lot is about 60ft wide by 130ft deep and our house is about 40wide by 52deep (at the morning room).

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    3. Our lot is 105 ft wide and 275 ft long. Lots to mow!

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  9. Your getting a lot of stuff!!! :-)

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