At one point our home went from this:

To this, seemingly overnight:

Really by the day we knew the framework had started, our entire house was up!

Morning Room

Living Room

Looking through the walls of Bedroom #1

Stairs

Even with the weather delay we experienced in the very beginning, at the time of framing we were still on track to close by the end of April, and once the roof is on, weather is no longer a problem.

The entire process really flew by after this!

30 Days Until Closing! The First Big "Oops"

Today marks 30 days until closing!  Here's to hoping it's not so much of a bumpy ride.

It seems every big milestone in life is sometimes accompanied by an "oops."  On our wedding day, the chairs were late for delivery, delaying the start of the ceremony.  For our neighbor's Ryan Homes build, the big oops was their kitchen island (later corrected).

Well ladies and gentlemen, Ryan Homes installed the WRONG STONE on our home.

The sample at the bottom is the stone we selected, Arizona.  Rustic Suede is the stone that is installed.

We did not discover this mistake ourselves.  Our project manager sent us a sweet little email last night, almost like clockwork with 30 days to go, saying honesty is the best policy and somehow it was determined the wrong stone was installed.  We have seen the stone on our home once in person, and we asked about how the stone looked scuffed up (apparently it will be pressure washed back to normal).  We didn't look hard enough or remember that the stone we selected is actually lighter than the stone installed.  The "Rustic Suede" stone has pieces of grey and red in it, and the Arizona does not.

The stone installed is a stone that Ryan Homes does not even offer (at least in our community).  Of course this can be corrected if we want it to.  Basically, our project manager gave us two options:

1.  We can keep the stone that was installed.  We will be the only ones in the community to have it (a mistake laced with positives)!

2.  We can have the stone replaced with the stone we actually selected.

This mistake does not bother me that much because it can be fixed, and I've already seen the stone once and didn't think to question it, but it certainly makes you wonder what other mistakes happen that are overlooked, hmmm?

We plan to visit the neighborhood this week and knock on the door of the house we modeled our selections after, so we can examine the stone on their porch (as we've only really seen it from our car on the street).  Then we will simply decide if we prefer the "Rustic Suede" mistake stone, or the stone we actually chose.

Have you had any big things go wrong during your home building process?

Exterior Elevations

Before we started the process of buying a home I had no idea the term "elevation" referred to the look of the exterior of a home.  You would think it had something to do with how high the home sat on a piece of land, or something having to do with that.  However, the term exterior elevation refers to the overall look and feel of the outside of your home, aka 'curb appeal.'  When you drive up to your home, you want to feel like you LOVE it.  You also want your home to appeal to others, so if and when you go to resell, it is easy.  Choosing an elevation was one of the most important parts of the new-construction process for us.

Ryan Homes Naples Elevation D

When we did our initial pricing meeting with Ryan Homes, we chose our elevation based on blueprint drawings.  Our floor plan only has one elevation with a front porch available, which we knew we really wanted, but later we initially eliminated this choice in favor of a less expensive elevation, due to seeing how much costs were adding up.

The most frustrating part of this entire process is there are no real-life examples of most of the options you can select.  We chose our elevation from a blueprint, and then chose some colors based on small samples in the showroom.  We later changed both.

Ryan Homes Color Selection Process

Looks good enough here.  After selecting our colors we asked our sales rep could we pretty please have some addresses of the houses in the neighborhood that have our chosen elevation or colors?

Ryan  Homes Naples Elevation L, Graphite Gray Siding, Silver Mist Shake, Roycroft Copper Red Door

I always wanted a red door, but at this point we realized we didn't LOVE the contrast of these colors, or the elevation very much.  It was time to make a change.

Now for my father's visit! He helped us determine what upgrades to add now and what we may be able to do ourselves later.  For example, crown moulding can wait.  We were able to move some money around on our selected options in order to get the elevation we really wanted, the one with a porch!  There is only ONE house in the neighborhood with our elevation!  There are other homes with front porches, but not with our floor plan or other exterior features.  We have a chosen elevation example and a color example, as we will be the first house with both used together (pictured separately here).

Ryan Homes Naples Elevation D with Partial Stone

We are getting a porch!  I definitely zoomed in on this house from way across the street.  Sorry neighbors.  Future home-buyers are welcome to creep on my new house.  I won't be allowed to mind one bit, considering how many times we circled through the neighborhood while doing our research.  The home pictured here is our exact elevation, including the cute oval window!

Now for the colors!

Ryan Homes Color Selection Process

Ryan Homes Pebble Clay Siding, Sandy Tan Shake, Brown Shutters, Cream Exterior Trim

We must have researched every color color option available in the neighborhood when we were researching our colors.  Seeing the colors in "real life" was important to us because how can you fully visualize your home?  Our home will look very similar to the "real life" example above but we will have beige windows, that will blend into the overall color scheme even better, since we have beige/cream trim.

Ryan Homes Front Porch with Arizona Stone

Again, trying to not "creep" so hard on the neighbors.  House numbers have been removed!

We have seen a lot of progress on our home since I last posted, but once they started framing everything moved so quickly! Lots of picture updates to come.

What color scheme is the exterior of your home?  I'd still love to have a red door someday!