We closed on November 20th, slept at the home for the first night on November 24th, and the moving truck moved the heavy goods on November 29th. Since then we've been very busy getting settled.
We are very satisfied with our new home from Pringle at Lakes of Mount Dora. While we've had a few minor issues over the last six weeks, there has been nothing major.
This will be last post on this section of the blog.
Cap
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Just a "wake up" to go
As of this afternoon the paint touch up had been done and the white (wrong color) quick port jacks for phone / ethernet had been replaced with the correct almond ones.
The remaining open punch list item is for replacement of a damaged cabinet door. Cliff, our builder, says it is to be installed first thing tomorrow.
The final cleaning was scheduled for either late this afternoon or first think Tuesday morning. We're supposed to close at 10:30 AM Tuesday.
It's been and interesting and fun five months for me, and Judi says it has at least be interesting. Overall, we're very happy with the construction phase.
The remaining open punch list item is for replacement of a damaged cabinet door. Cliff, our builder, says it is to be installed first thing tomorrow.
The final cleaning was scheduled for either late this afternoon or first think Tuesday morning. We're supposed to close at 10:30 AM Tuesday.
It's been and interesting and fun five months for me, and Judi says it has at least be interesting. Overall, we're very happy with the construction phase.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Finishing Touches
Today the last towel bar was installed. This was an accommodation by Pringle. They had missed installing a towel ring and we decided we would rather have a towel bar instead.
The drywall subcontractor was in finishing up a few items. Tomorrow the painter is supposed to finish touch up work.
Orientation
We're essentially done with the construction stage. Today we had our official walk-through / orientation. We spent three hours at the house with a Pringle Warranty Coordinator and our Builder.
The program consisted of review of the customer responsibilities (e.g. normal homeowner maintenance, caulking, filter replacement), discussion of the Pringle warranties, and a detailed review of the home for open items.
There was some good news on the warranties. For LoMD homes, there is an additional one year major systems / structural warranty, beyond the the initial full one year warranty. Also, for LoMD owner occupied (vs. empty for-sale, rented, or away for the season) homes, the landscaping warranty is extended from two weeks to two months post closing.
Our builder was busy getting issues fixed during the morning, so they would not be on the written punch list. There were still some caulking / patching / paint touch-up and alignment opportunities. Judi turned out to be very good at finding small tile corner chips and grout defects, most of which were fixed on the spot with a tile / grout repair kit. Our builder and some of his co-workers did alignment of a few of the bi-fold doors. The landscaper replaced a dying plant. Awesome Home Theatre toned out and labeled the wires in the structured wiring box.
We ended up with two open punch list items (wrong color quickport connectors for the structured wiring and one replacement cabinet door), two "homeowner accommodation" (provide a towel bar ilo a missing towel ring, provide splash blocks for the downspouts for the gutters between the lanai and cage), and one "note in the file" item about the concrete flatwork color / finish.
This is, in my opinion, a great finish. I had 60+ items on my punch list developed over the weekend. Now we are down to a handful, with only the concrete color / finish item projected to be open at actual closing. The last house I built (in Michigan - not w/ Pringle) had over 200 items open at closing.
Now we've got five days to wait until closing, and then all the post-construction fun begins.
The program consisted of review of the customer responsibilities (e.g. normal homeowner maintenance, caulking, filter replacement), discussion of the Pringle warranties, and a detailed review of the home for open items.
There was some good news on the warranties. For LoMD homes, there is an additional one year major systems / structural warranty, beyond the the initial full one year warranty. Also, for LoMD owner occupied (vs. empty for-sale, rented, or away for the season) homes, the landscaping warranty is extended from two weeks to two months post closing.
Our builder was busy getting issues fixed during the morning, so they would not be on the written punch list. There were still some caulking / patching / paint touch-up and alignment opportunities. Judi turned out to be very good at finding small tile corner chips and grout defects, most of which were fixed on the spot with a tile / grout repair kit. Our builder and some of his co-workers did alignment of a few of the bi-fold doors. The landscaper replaced a dying plant. Awesome Home Theatre toned out and labeled the wires in the structured wiring box.
We ended up with two open punch list items (wrong color quickport connectors for the structured wiring and one replacement cabinet door), two "homeowner accommodation" (provide a towel bar ilo a missing towel ring, provide splash blocks for the downspouts for the gutters between the lanai and cage), and one "note in the file" item about the concrete flatwork color / finish.
This is, in my opinion, a great finish. I had 60+ items on my punch list developed over the weekend. Now we are down to a handful, with only the concrete color / finish item projected to be open at actual closing. The last house I built (in Michigan - not w/ Pringle) had over 200 items open at closing.
Now we've got five days to wait until closing, and then all the post-construction fun begins.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Punch List
We're all just working on the punch list at this time.
Over the weekend Judi and I did a detailed inspection of the house. We put color coded, removable labels on walls, cabinets, etc. to indicate areas that needed caulking, patching, paint touch up, or adjustment. We also generated a punch list of specific issues (e.g. loose thermostat) that need to be addressed. I emailed the list to our Builder Sunday evening.
Today I met with the Builder and he had several of the trades working to handle the open punch list items. There is only one that is a major item, and it is a cosmetic issue, not a functional issue. He expects to have most items handled by our Orientation and official walk through on Wednesday.
The house is substantially complete and we now just need to close out the punch list items and get the actual closing done.
Over the weekend Judi and I did a detailed inspection of the house. We put color coded, removable labels on walls, cabinets, etc. to indicate areas that needed caulking, patching, paint touch up, or adjustment. We also generated a punch list of specific issues (e.g. loose thermostat) that need to be addressed. I emailed the list to our Builder Sunday evening.
Today I met with the Builder and he had several of the trades working to handle the open punch list items. There is only one that is a major item, and it is a cosmetic issue, not a functional issue. He expects to have most items handled by our Orientation and official walk through on Wednesday.
The house is substantially complete and we now just need to close out the punch list items and get the actual closing done.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Almost Done
The Punch List items are gradually being cleared. Today the last kitchen counter section was installed. The trash compactor was adjusted. The chip in the Master Bathroom counter was fixed. Many other items have been addressed.
Tuesday, I had set out some empty dog food cans around the yard so I could check to see that the correct amount of irrigation was being done daily. The cans were dry, indicating that the irrigation was not running. When I went to turn on the valves, I found that the system had been turned completely off. I suspect that some trade, working outside had turned them off so they wouldn't spray on their work, and forgot to turn them on at the end of the day. In any case, I ran the system for 20 minutes to be sure my yard and plants will get water.
The "final" building inspection is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, and then Pringle will apply for a Certificate of Occupancy.
Our official meeting to build the final punch list is next Wednesday.
Tuesday, I had set out some empty dog food cans around the yard so I could check to see that the correct amount of irrigation was being done daily. The cans were dry, indicating that the irrigation was not running. When I went to turn on the valves, I found that the system had been turned completely off. I suspect that some trade, working outside had turned them off so they wouldn't spray on their work, and forgot to turn them on at the end of the day. In any case, I ran the system for 20 minutes to be sure my yard and plants will get water.
The "final" building inspection is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, and then Pringle will apply for a Certificate of Occupancy.
Our official meeting to build the final punch list is next Wednesday.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Punch List Progress
The trades have been in doing punch list items.
The Powder Room vanity cabinet doors were changed out and are now correct. Many of the kitchen cabinet items were addressed. The trash compactor was leveled.
The painters were doing the painting around the windows along with various touch up items. Our builder said he met with the lanai / front porch flooring company this afternoon and they would be doing touch up on their items this week.
The Pringle internal Quality Assurance review is scheduled for tomorrow. That's when they have three or four Pringle people walk through and critique the fit and finish of the home in preparation for the customer walkthrough a week later.
We're now down to less than two weeks to closing.
The Powder Room vanity cabinet doors were changed out and are now correct. Many of the kitchen cabinet items were addressed. The trash compactor was leveled.
The painters were doing the painting around the windows along with various touch up items. Our builder said he met with the lanai / front porch flooring company this afternoon and they would be doing touch up on their items this week.
The Pringle internal Quality Assurance review is scheduled for tomorrow. That's when they have three or four Pringle people walk through and critique the fit and finish of the home in preparation for the customer walkthrough a week later.
We're now down to less than two weeks to closing.
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