We are scheduled to break ground on the house on April 29th and framing should begin around May 9th, which works nicely because we will be driving out to VA right around that time and will be able to see some action! He anticipates completion by mid July at the latest, mostly depending on weather conditions.
We began the meeting by going over the Lot Plan which was created by the surveyors. It shows the specs of the lot, trees required, easements etc.
So what you're looking at is a top down view of the lot. To help you orient yourself, driveway is outlined in pink at the top of the picture (all models on our street will be reverse floorpans). The entire lot is outlined in orange and the buildable area is outlined in blue. There will be about 19' on each side from the property line to the house (shown as a red line) when added to the space between our neighbors property line and house will give us a good 40ft between houses which we like a lot! There is a 15' easement for VA Power and a 20' easement for Columbia Gas (shown as a dark and light purple line respectively). We were told this means that the power or gas Co is allowed to come onto the property within that easement line and dig to complete their work. They do however need to leave it as the found it including re-sodding etc.
There is also a 15' private drainage easement easement at the back of the yard (green line). This was explained to us as a ditch across the back of the yard for drainage purposes. We are allowed to sod and fence around it put aren't allowed to put a shed or any permanent structures within this 15' easement. At first we were concerned, imagining a huge ditch taking up 15ft of our yard. Our PM sent us a few pics after and we felt much better. Here's what it looks like:
So really not a big deal, just a very small dip in the yard which we can still use as we please just can't put any permanent structures. This easement runs across all of the houses on our street.
The entire lot is about 10,531 sqft or .242 acres, and a landscaper is required to plant 5 trees on the property (in addition to our upgraded landscaping package). The PM told us we can pick where we'd like the trees and they will try to accommodate as best they can but ultimately the final decision is up to the landscaper. For example if we want to plant a tree over a gas line the landscaper may tell us we are out of luck. Makes sense. The PM said we could mark on the lot plan where we'd like the trees and get it back to him. We asked what others did and he said often people will plant trees along the sides of their house with the intention of growing them to hide bedroom windows. We have to think about it a bit because we aren't completely sure where we'd like to put them. We definitely don't want too many in the back taking up yard space. The PM then told us that while the landscaper is required to plant 5 trees, we are not required to keep or maintain 5 trees. We can dig them up the day we move in if we so desire. Interesting, and we'll have to give it some thought.
Next we reviewed the exterior of the house including the elevation, brick to grade choice, stone veneer choice and siding/door/shutter colors. We have chosen Elevation E with a partial stone veneer. After reviewing the exterior we reviewed all of our interior choices and upgrades. We were told that the plan was to put the tankless water heater in the garage. At first we were a big concerned with this. We saw multiple homes when we were on our home search that had their water heaters in the garage and the copper pipes become corrodid and green from being in the garage. Our PM said that they insulate the pipes and also insulate the crawl space so it is double insulated and should prevent problems. He also reminded us that since it is tankless it's just a small box, not a big tank full of water. He sent a pic of this as well and we felt satisfied with the outcome.
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| Tankless water heater in garage |
After reviewing our options the PM answered all of our questions. Here is a list of what we asked and the answers we received.
1. Will the community have sidewalks?
Yes this community will have sidewalks in front of the houses, additionally there will be a concrete walking trail through the community in some of the more wooded areas behind some houses.
2. Will the windows have screens?
Yes, all windows have screens including the morning room doors which will have a sliding screen.
3. We want to verify that the morning room will have a french door setup instead of sliding doors, is this correct?
That is correct, the morning room will have a french door look, though only one of the doors will open. The screen however will be sliding.
4. Will the bathrooms have exhaust fans?
Yes all of the bathrooms will have exhaust fans including the powder room.
5. Where will the attic access be, and can it be in the laundry room so it is hidden away from view?
They will try to accommodate us and put the attic access in the laundry room, if unable then it will be in one of the bedrooms (not Master).
6. How much of the attic will have flooring for storage?
They are going to floor as much of the attic as possible, should be able to do the majority of the sq footage.
7. Is there shelving in the laundry room?
Wire shelving across the top of the washer/dryer area
8. What is the shelving like in closets?
Wire shelving in all closets and pantry.
9. Will we have an individual mailbox or a community mail area?
Individual mailbox with house number on it.
10. What size refrigerator should we buy?
At this time the PM asked us to wait on this until he is able to verify space under cabinets etc. He said he'd let us know as soon as he could.
11. What are the measurements of the windows?
He asked us to hold off on this one a little as well, until he is certain of trim size etc then he will give us measurements of each window.
12. Will any light switches have dimmers?
They will not
13. What outside lights are standard?
One on each side of garage, front porch light, back door (morning room) light and one outside the garage service door.
14. Are we able to move the garage service door from the front of the garage to the back so it can be behind the fence line?
Yes, they are moving the door to the back
15. We want to verify that the walls and ceiling will be smooth, is that correct?
Yes, no textured walls or celings
16. Are the granite countertops sealed?
The granite for counter tops is sealed, the granite around the fireplace is not. The PM recommended sealing the granite and tile grout when you change your clocks (so twice a year). He stated he will go over care and maintenance of everything with us as we draw closer to closing.
17. We told him this question was a little awkward but wanted to ask anyway. We've heard that when building a new house there can be a real difference in quality when building 2-3 houses vs say 15 houses at once (as is being done in Fishers Cove). Our PM said that one reason he has enjoyed working for Ryan homes is that they seem to have figured this out. They have enough crews for the houses so they aren't stretch too thin or aren't having one house sit for a while not being worked on while others are.
We are planning to bring in an inspector in to do a formal pre-drywall inspection. The PM said he'd let us know when he is planning to do his inspection and we can try to schedule them on the same day.
Overall we were very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting and are very excited to break ground and begin building!
