Thinking of getting a patio?

When we first built, I mentioned going ahead and getting your patios poured with Ryan while you built.  I said it was much cheaper to do it then vs. waiting to do it later.

I also mentioned in another blog entry that I wish we had made our patio a bit bigger.  Can you see where I'm going with this?

We have the morning room.  So when we built, we added a patio the length of the rest of the house out the morning room door, and the width the length of the morning room (roughly a 10 x 22 pad).  It's a nice size, but we also have our fire place jetting out in the middle of it.  Still more than enough room for a table that seats 4 and a grill.  However, we want more.  So now we are adding to the patio.  And YIKES! 

First of all, yes, it is a WHOLE lot cheaper to get any patio poured through Ryan when you are building.  But the cost isn't the only headache.  There is the grading issue.

We have a bit of slope on the side of the house.  That makes this tricky.  Plus they have dig down and grade in order to get to the level my existing pad is at now.  Metal bars will have to be inserted into the side of the existing pad to connect the new pad to it.  Then there will have to be a bit of grading done after the fact so there is not a 6" drop off the patio into the yard.  You see, when they do the grading for the house when it's built, there is a slope to the yard for water drainage.  Our current slope is not conducive for the new pad.  Oh, don't get me wrong, it could be a whole lot worse!  We don't have the nearly the slope some people have. We will need to reseed, again, when all is said and done.  More cost.

In the end we hope to have what we envision in our heads. A nice place to have family gatherings and cookouts with friends.  A place we can retreat too and just relax.  I think getting the backyard exactly how we want is going to take a few years.  We hope to add fence, flowers, perhaps a weeping willow in the corner.  But for now, this is a good start.  And we're very excited about it.

When we first thought of all this, we didn't realize all the extra work having an extra slab of cement poured was going to entail.  So I just wanted to share this all of you out there still considering building.  If you know you want a patio, and go ahead and let Ryan do it for cheaper and be saddled with the headache.  The cost is cheaper, and you won't have grading headaches to worry about, or a lawn to replant.  lol

In the mean time...wish us luck!

Happy Building!

A change in the Verona!

If you are building a Verona, you may want to check out this post from a fellow blogger:

http://buildingourverona.blogspot.com/2012/03/pleasant-surprise-new-feature-for.html

It notes some changes in the Verona's building!

Happy Building!

Neighborhood News

So, it looks like the actual building of homes behind me won't start until more towards the end of year.  They still need to determine the lots and do some work back there.  So I am guessing no homes back there until after the summer.  We'll see.

Also:  Big changes coming up in our covenants and HOA rules.  I don't want to get into too many details just yet, because a lot is still up in the air.  But I can tell you we were told changes were coming and we will be notified of the final changes within the next 30-90 days.  If you are thinking of doing anything major, wait! 

Happy Building!

Coach Light Update

Hello Bloggers and Readers!  I hope you all are doing well!

In my last entry I talked about our garage coach light issue.  My rep had told us we got two but when we went to pre-settlement, we only had one.  PM said we only got one, yet we knew the Rep had said two.  I was willing to pay for a 2nd one.  This was something that gnawed at us and gnawed at us.

When the garage is side entry, you don't get that added bonus of porch light to help light the way.  The one garage coach light does not do a good enough job of keeping things lit.  So anyway, while going through emails, I found the email from our Rep stating we got both lights and forwarded it to her to see what could be done.

A few weeks later, and guess what?  We are suppose to get the 2nd coach light tomorrow!!  WOOHOO!  I'm so happy.  And I'm so glad I found email.  And I'm thankful our Rep went to bat for us again and got it fixed.  For future reference:  If you get a side entry, you only get one garage coach light (light outside the garage) unless you pay for the 2nd light.  There was some confusion in the begining and now we are getting what we originally asked for.  YAY!   I'm so happy Ryan is making this right.  =) 

Thank you Rep for all you've done!!  We'll miss you while you're away.  And Congratulations!  ;-) 

If you live in my neck of the woods, here is the latest update:

The next phase of the neighborhood to open is behind me (the big field).  Supposedly, a portion of each homes sales will be put aside to finish the club house and pool.  I certainly hope so!  With any luck, we'll have pool by next summer!  =)  WOOHOO!!

So that's life over this way.   I can't wait for our 10 month so we can paint!!   That should take place sometime in May I think.  We will put in a service call for it the end of April.

I hope everyone out there is enjoying their new homes, or the process of getting their new home.  =)  Take Care!