Just Moving Along....

This past month, things have by moving along.

-My back yard has been dug up to fix the grading issue. I'm really hoping we get new grass soon, because the kids are itching to get out and play.

-My crawl space is missing drainage tubes and they have to dig up the front yard to try to find it or replace it.

-My molding pieces that were not installed like the original plan showed were installed yesterday, an entire year after we moved in. Nonetheless, they look good.

-The drywall team should be here today to finish up my 10 month drywall service. They have fixed a ton of nail pops and caulked the cracking caulk around the house.

-The FROG is burning up. The kids have nose bleeds and everything in there. The other rooms are nice and cool. I don't even know what to do about it, but I'll have to figure it out.

-My tree in the back is still dead. The others look like they may come back. Keep in mind. ...this is the second dead tree in that spot. No matter what RH says, I can't kill a tree. A tree planted too deep or too shallow is the mistake of the landscaper, not the homeowner.

-My balusters still haven't been replaced. The sad part is. ...if corporate would look through this blog, they would see how much crap we've been through and fix it because it's the right thing to do. Who buys a new house with improper grading?  Without a crawl drainage system? With broken columns on the porch? With exterior detail molding missing? With MICE because of a gaping hole under the fireplace? With dead trees? The list goes on. Why would they think that the rails aren't just one more thing added to the list of things screwed up during the build? It's annoying to say the least.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll keep you posted on any new updates. There are several new Ryan Home communities going up in our area. There are several small local builders too. After speaking with some of the folks who bought from a local builder, I wish we had gone that route. A lot of times with large companies, you are just one person out of thousands. I don't like that. There are some great RH employees we've encountered and others who don't give a damn. Unfortunately, there are things even the good ones couldn't help with. Again, because of this big corporate machine behind it. I wouldn't choose to go this route again. Lesson learned. If you all looking to build want to know how the builder is, talk to the neighbors before you do it. They are the best ones to tell you cause they just went through it. Learn from their mistakes. That's it for now, take care everyone.

Backyard, waiting for new sod. 

Notice my one dead tree. Maybe I'll put a swing set there? 

Those pieces were supposed to go in BEFORE we moved in. Like other things, they were left out. Thank you Drew for fixing this...and quite a few other things. 

Update on Repairs

This past week, things have been getting repaired. I'll have to post a list of things, because there are wrote a few that have needed repaired since we moved in. It's frustrating that so many things have been overlooked or poorly done, but I'm glad it's been taken care of.

The one thing they are still refusing to make right is the balusters in the attic. It's still a plain wall, even though I paid for the upgrade. Apparently, nobody thinks they should do the right thing and fix this. If you all pay for ANY upgrades, make them write in the contact the scope of the upgrade so that you aren't left getting screwed over. For example, if it's an upgrade to get a sodded lawn, make them put in the contract which specific area that covers because you can't assume that means they will do the entire yard, even if that's what they say out of their mouths. If you pay an upgrade fee for raised toilets, get in writing which toilets specifically will be raised. Otherwise, they can come back after the fact and say they only meant 2 out of 3 toilets, even though their own contract doesn't say that. It's not right, it's kind of deceptive on their part, but that's what is happened to us. Be careful. If you choose to build with RH, take my advice on this!

Other than that, my yard grading is being fixed. That's a great thing. Also, our mortar on the porch had holes, so that was fixed. The water lines in the bathroom had to be replaced. My fireplace wasn't properly installed, so that had to be fixed and the soot had to be cleaned off of the outside of my home. My bathroom fan, broke and they took out the upgraded sensor and put in a plain crappy switch. That's not what I paid for. My caulking was fixed in the kitchen and bathrooms. My fireplace needed to be reinforced. And several boards had lifted and needed to be screwed back in place. Also, there is plastic from the roof shingles constantly flapping that shouldn't be there. That's getting fixed. My front porch light sensor was blown...AGAIN. We are on number three now. It's just been a bit much. The mouse holes are fixed.

Some big issues have been....the crawl space drainage system pipe is missing. What the heck? The pipe is under the house, but we can't find the spot where it drains out. Also, get this....My house is missing some of the architectural-looking decorative pieces outside of the house. How did that happen? Like other things, someone dropped the ball. They will be added, I'm happy about that but I'm annoyed that it wasn't caught before closing. Oh, and remember the tree issue? Guess what, another one is dead! One of the new ones. I've had some folks mention that it's planted too deep. The nursery should have a warranty on their trees. It needs to be replaced.

I'm over the whole new house thing. It has not been fun for us. We've had a lot of issues with the house, a lot of contractors in the house needing to do repairs over the year. I'm not impressed. I'm frustrated with the process. It's almost over though. We've been lucky to have a good couple of guys who literally have been going around fixing mistakes the other guys before them made. They are helpful, until corporate tells them they can't do things for us. The next step for us is drywall repair. I've heard it can be messy. We will see. Stay tuned...