Friday, July 24, 2015

Post Construction Pest Maintenance

I wanted to touch on a subject that already has me worried post-construction, an issue we have had to deal with a new construction home we rented, and our last home that we owned (also a new construction).

Pest Control.

Yes, I know. I don't even like to think about it, because if you will it, it will come. And I cannot, under any circumstances, deal with pests. I CANNOT.

In our rental, we had to deal with horrible, horrible ant infestation. Most of the time, no food or anything like that was involved, they were simply scouting and searching 24/7. It made our lives a living hell, I had nightmares about being overcome with ants (waking up and finding them crawling behind your headboard WILL scar a person), and I just never felt comfortable eating or cooking in the house, for fear of what might come.

Unfortunately, our landlord was of the slum variety, and refused to do anything about it. We lived with that for three long, unhappy years.

In the new construction home that we bought, we faced similar (worse) issues. You have to understand that when new homes are built, the homes of these (innocent, yet dastardly) critters and their nests are being disturbed, and they have to find somewhere to flee to--typically inside of your brand new constructed walls, or in garages, when they have the opportunity to sneak in.

In our case, they were field mice, and they set up shop in our garage. We discovered this a month after we closed on the house, and never having to deal with anything like this, I had a complete meltdown and seriously wanted to sell the house, rather than share my space with mice. And ants too regularly invaded our upstairs master bathroom, of all places. I think they were after my body scrub or something, who knows?

I don't do well in high stress situations, as you've probably figured out by now.

It never occurred to us to hire a pest control place to control ants, we just thought that it was something we would have to live with. Mice on the other hand, I had a service out the very next day, and they promised to get the rodent situation under control. Not only would they set out traps and bait for the mice, but they also offered to come out and dispose of any dead mice I would find, since they figured out that I'm not dealing with a full deck and would probably faint or something if confronted by a dead rodent.
Thankfully, the mice never entered our home, so that wasn't something I had to be concerned about.

The pest control service came out every other month and sprayed the outside of our townhouse and the garage, as well as maintained the mice bait. From the day I hired them, I never had to deal with any pests the entire time we lived there. It cost about $44 and I was billed every other month, so about $22 a month. A little pricey, but totally worth the peace of mind of knowing that I could leave a pie cooling on my countertop overnight, and not wake up to find it infested with ants.

I should also point out that the mice situation got so bad, our HOA stepped in and paid for pest control for the ENTIRE neighborhood, as did the nearby shopping centers and restaurants. It was truly a community effort, and the problem was eliminated very quickly, so that's definitely something you might want to bring up to your HOA if you experience a rodent problem. Chances are, everyone in the neighborhood is dealing with it too.

I do know that builders now will do treatment pre-drywall to discourage termite infestations, but I'm not sure about any other type of pests. Unfortunately, it wasn't something I brought up in negotiations, but I wish that I had! Doing a little research on the subject, there are all sorts of new systems available pre-construction that will pretty much eliminate the threat of pests in new home construction.

We plan to be pre-emptive this time around when it comes to controlling pests, and we're not waiting for them to show up before doing something about them. The day we close, we hope to have a pest control company out and securing the house, especially since we are an end unit, we've very close to a dirty and unfinished pond site, and they are digging empty lots for more new home construction, so we are really at risk for being targeted by pests.

Better safe than sorry and freaked out, that's my motto.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Week 6: Pre Drywall Happenings

   
     We are currently staying 30 miles away from our home, so it's hard to get down there in a timely fashion to check up on the ongoing construction, but our sales rep and project manager are doing a great job keeping us posted on every step along the way!

The pre-drywall inspection(s) went well, but unfortunately, they got delayed/behind on some of them, and it looks like we probably won't be closing during the first week of September like we'd originally hoped. I'm bummed out about it, but trying to stay positive about it all.

Not much has happened in between our last visit, where they were just getting started with insulation and prepping for drywall:

Two weeks ago...

When we arrived today, the brick veneer had been added on the outside:

Brick has been added!



Side of the house.

It already looks so classy!

Couldn't get a proper pic of the front, but you get the idea...



They've completed all insulation, and now the house is being prepped for drywall, due to start this weekend! Fingers crossed y'all!

Stacks and stacks of drywall....

More drywalling materials ...


Old school/geek moment: While walking through the house, I realized that this is what Dan Conner did for a living on Roseanne. I've never seen drywalling done before, so this was an eye opening moment of clarity for me lol.

They've also installed all windows and french doors. It's really starting to all come together now!

We didn't previously have a "SOLD" sign up, so this was something I had to capture.

Had to sneak in another pic of the fireplace, located next to the french doors. So exciting! 

French doors, and the beginnings of our deck. So wish the doors were on the side of the fireplace, which is facing the pond, because this view isn't that great. Eh, what are you gonna do right?




The only thing that has given me pause (and I think I might have mentioned this in the last post, but maybe not) is that we have windows in the garage, and that makes me nervous for some unfathomable reason. Doesn't seem like the safest feature in the world. Not sure yet how we're going to cover them:

Side garage windows.

Hopefully my next update will include walls finally!


Friday, July 10, 2015

And ... We Have a House! (Somewhat. Okay, not really.)



Hey peeps!

Took some time out today to meet with our Project Manager (very nice, made me feel at ease, answered all of my stupid, anxiety filled questions) and to sign off on some (anxiety filled) last minute changes we've made to the house with our sales agent. We now have a garage door, steps, and a bunch of other things that I couldn't really identify, but they certainly look like they belong in a house!
We have a garage!



Not sure why I'm such a neurotic mess, considering this isn't my first time at this particular rodeo. Forget everything cool, calm and collected thing I said in previous posts, it's JUST as exhilarating, exciting and terrifying the second time around as it was the first time around.

We also met with Trinity for our wiring needs. Since we're not getting anything but the bare basics, it all took about thirty minutes, and then we were free to roam about and take pictures!

It FINALLY looks like a house! The fireplace and tubs have all been put into place, and it's so exciting to be able to visualize that yes, this is OUR house.
Our fireplace! We have big plans for this area!
Our glorious future Roman Shower. We opted out of a bathtub.




My son was beside himself with excitement, he couldn't believe that we were actually allowed to walk around a construction site. He jumped into nearly picture, grinning like the joker:
In the kitchen, next to the future (massive) island area

You know something you really don't consider though, when you walk into a warm, brightly lit model home? The location of your own house, and how much sunlight your home will have access to. Despite the fact that we chose an end unit, the house seems a bit dim and shadowy than the model home. Now that being said, it is something that you just have to gamble on, unless they've already broken ground on your house and you negotiate to buy it much later on in the building process.  For that reason, I changed my mind on some of the lighting rough-ins I thought we wouldn't need, and decided to add them in anyway. Even if it costs extra, I just don't think I will regret adding more lighting to the house, whereas trying to add it later will be a pain in the butt, and probably cost prohibitive.
Going up, going down. We have stairs!



Beginning stages of the deck.


Outside of the questionable lighting (and honestly, it's probably all in my my anxiety filled head), I couldn't be more thrilled with our lot and location of our home. My son will have an excellent view of the impending pond from his room, and we will be able to gaze at trees and watch them change throughout the seasons--that's certainly something we never had in California and something I missed desperately. (Well fall, and ... the first two weeks of winter. Haha)
If you squint, tilt your head, and jump up and down, you can see the view of some mountain I can't name.
Views from the third floor bedroom window
I have faith that this pile of mud and sludge will someday transform into a beautiful pond by next spring.

Can't remember if this is from the living room or one of bedrooms. But hey, we've got rooms! 


I should point out that we are living in a hotel 30 miles away in Bethesda, and I'm already homesick for Frederick. When we go out to visit, it's hard for me to leave the city behind and come back to live in a place I just don't really fit and can't really consider home, it feels so temporary! So after we left our appointment, we drove around the neighborhood to scope things out, and just to get a general idea of what our day to day life will be like. Plus, to avoid the monotony of the hotel room for as long as possible. Also, a pile a laundry.

Not sure HOW I missed it, but there's a Waffle House in our neighborhood! Like ... how even, and why me? The moment I saw it, I immediately looked up the closest fitness centers to our area, because ....

Despite being unbelievably happy about Waffle House, I still remain the most excited about the Urbana Library, which I mentioned before was definitely a selling point to the neighborhood. Libraries in So Cal were ... lacking, and we'll leave it at that. It's going to be so awesome to have a legit, traditional library within walking distance of our house. I mean sure, I read from a Kindle, but you still can't beat the ambiance and massive cookbook, magazine, and research collections of a library. Plus, I do like to hold physical books sometimes.
Urbana Library. How beautiful is this place? 





Tuesday, July 7, 2015

No Longer Annoyed

And everyone breathes a huge sigh of relief.

*sigh*

We got everything straightened out with the design center, concerning my previous rage-filled post about tile and the cost of tile and how much NVH wanted to charge us for said tile.

Mea culpa. Despite being a previous homeowner, I know nothing--absolutely NOTHING about tile, flooring, and what is required to install it.

I let my pitiful HGTV design education lull me into a sense that I actually knew something about anything. Which of course, I don't. After doing some research, I discovered that despite hardwood being part of the new build/renovation holy trinity (stainless, granite, hardwood), tile can be just as pricey per square foot, and even more expensive to install than hardwood. Basically, if we outsourced tiling the rec room post construction, we would save anywhere from a few hundred to zero, depending on the type of tile we picked out.

Which means that the builder wasn't exactly trying to price gouge us.

BUT, there were (imo) better and less expensive routes to flooring the rec room. Ultimately, we decided on engineered hardwood. We had it in our last home and loved it, never had any problems with it in regards to maintenance, upkeep, and appearance. It is level 1, so it won't be anything fancy, but having a fancy rec room isn't really a high priority for us anyway.

Crisis averted. :-)

~Ebbie

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Annoyed, Annoyed, Annoyed.

Annoyed. So annoyed.

I can vent here, can't I? Everything about the home buying process isn't all stainless steel and hardwood flooring.

We had our rec room flooring option that had no existing price quote, so we had to wait and hear back from NVH about how much it would cost to make the the entire rec room tile.

Mind you, this wasn't high end tile, like the Fabrique line. It was a basic, level B tile.

They quoted us $4000. For tile. Level B TILE. And that doesn't even include the bathroom, which is an additional $400.

Listen.

It's $5k TOTAL to add hardwood to the living room, family room, and stairs, which is a much, much larger footprint. Why so much for tile?

It's frustrating, because you can never really be certain how much things will cost when you want to do it post-construction. In our last house, we were quoted nearly $3k to replace the carpet in all of our bedrooms, plus a hallway, and that was with basic level carpet and upgraded padding, so I'm not entirely sure of the savings that can be had if we decide to replace whatever builder grade options we choose in the rec room with something better later on down the line.

So I told the SR and the design center that we will need to discuss it, go over all of our options, and decide what we want to do. I also asked them to give us a quote on how much hardwood would cost to be installed instead, and also if there are any laminate options. I am being mindful of resell, but this IS the rec room, so I don't think it would be terrible or a deal breaker to have laminate down there, if it came down to it. But $4k for level B tile? No. No way, not going to do it.

The thought of having carpet down there agitates me. We plan to use it as a room/area for guests (hence the full bath) and our daughter will be down there when she comes home from her school breaks, for months at a time. She's ... messy, and I will leave it at that. We just don't feel that carpet is a good option as a living space for her, hence the tile.

Shoot. It's so discouraging to see the list price of the home ticking upwards.

Catching Up...

As I've mentioned before, we were in California for much of the beginning phases of building. As a result, it was easy to be a bit detached from the whole process and to be honest, we just weren't as excited about it as we probably would have been if we'd be around to have hands on participation in the whole thing.

That being said, we have a great SR who is determined to include us in every step of the way. She sent us weekly updates about the progress of our home, and even sent pictures when she could.


While we're in MD now, but for convenience sake, we're still about 30 miles away, so we won't be able to trek out to Urbana as often as we would like.


Here are some belated "behind the scenes" pictures of the first phases of our home.


Lumber being delivered

Foundation and slab completed


Framing completed! The house on the far right is ours!

These are pics I took myself, on our last visit.

Our house is built on a lot that will be overlooking a pond. It's muddy and gross now, but I've been assured that it will be beautiful once the homes are complete.

Another view of the "pond"

My son, ready to go home because ... this dirty pond is boring, Mom.