The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

May 11 - We visited the site again so that the entire family could see the inside while all of the workers were off for the day.  We were a little concerned that we may be stuck in a thunderstorm, but apparently Thor was on our side this day.  

Me thinks Thor likes our house.

So, we arrived at the house to see that it was all closed up!  We thought that we would have to go to the model in the adjacent neighborhood to get access.  However, we were able to get in and take a look around.  It was great to have the house to ourselves while it looks like a house on the inside.

All closed up and looking great.

There were minimal changes to the outside, but worth mentioning for sure.  Beyond the missing giant tape worm, the post on the porch has been installed.  You can now see what the garage door looks like while it is closed.  No, we did not go for the upgraded carriage style garage door with the windows.

We entered the house to see that the primer had been applied and the rails were stained.  This gave us all a chance to see all of the progress in the house.  Overall, we are very happy with the progress, we were able to inspect it with a fine toothed comb.  So, hence the title of this post, we saw the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good:    

We saw many things that impressed us and we wanted to show them off.

Our rails for the basement stairs or stilts for a very skinny person.

"Hey, ma!  The screen door has arrived!"

Kitchen counters and cabinets await dishes.

Another look at the cabinets.  Angela was very interested in the tall cabinet.  It is one to store all of the Jolly Green Giant cans.

Another look.  Disregard the box.  You are looking at it now, aren't you?  I told you to disregard it!

Our son does his best Michael Jackson impression in the dining area.

A peak into the mudroom sans mud.

Inside this pantry lies darkness.  Do not go into the pantry.  Tagline for a terrible horror film.

Our children run around in the family room.

The fireplace has been Saran wrapped.

They didn't believe us so they needed to go all Hanzel and Gretel on the fireplace.

There lies the powder room toilet spot.  Aren't you glad that you saw that?

Back at the plumbing.  The face is gone and our son was angry.

A look down the short hall to the stairs that go up and down.

A look into the reading room and the first glimpse of the stained stair well.

Looking back through the reading room into the family room.  Man, those stair rails look nice....from a distance.

Left: Powder room door.  Right: Closet door.

The Reading Room windows are painted, the electrical outlets are installed.

Did you see Waldo?  No, you just scroll too slowly.

Into Bedroom #1

They say: Say hello to your mom for me.  

Sun, sun, sun..ahhhh....Here comes the sun, dun dun dun dun.

Into the laundry room we go.

A look at the attic door.  Fix #1 from last post.  No more long slits on the ceiling.

Here's the laundry nook.  Brought to you by Barnes and Noble.

Bedroom #2 has it going on.

The closet is bigger than it seems.  It is suffering from a small closet complex.

A look at Bedroom #1.  

There's the hall closet and looking into the Master Bedroom.

Hall closet door frame.  Fix #2 - This is not wonky anymore!

Bedroom #1 again.

And again.  The Smurf window awaits a curtain.

Last look around the Bedroom #1.

Bedroom #3 decided to show off it's view too.

Hi....I'm a closet.

A view down the stairs again.  Those rails look nice....again, from a distance.

The tub. A note that I forgot to include before.  This is the new tub style for those getting the soaking style.

The shower stands alone.

Back downstairs we go.  

A look back up the stairs. Notice the hook there for the hand rails that are in the garage.

Back down the stairs to the basement.

The cool shelf again.

This may be one regret in the end.  We were talked into moving the cable and audio outlets into the storage room by the Guardian representative for the media room equipment.  Not sure if this is actually going to work or not.  We will see.

A look at the rough ins for the ceiling speakers.

Our son runs quickly through the basement.  Note the rough ins for the sconce lighting.

And another sconce lighting.  Is that a ghost in the background?!?!?!!??!!?!

A closer look at the sconce lighting rough ins.  

That's it for the good and there was plenty of it.  We were glad to see all of the drawers in the actual cabinets.  That was a welcomed surprise.  We were also glad to see the primer had been applied to the walls.  But, not all is rainbows and peaches...there were some issues.

The Bad:    

Disclaimer: We have not contacted Drew, our project manager, about these items yet.  We are sure that they will be fixed, but it was a good thing that we were able to document it for a later discussion and to make sure they do get fixed.

This extra space may be hidden by carpet, but the other side of the stairs does not have this missing piece.

There were some scratches on the walls and in the drywall.

Another chunk missing around the stairwell.

There was a dent in the drywall in the Master Bedroom.

Another dent in the basement wall.

You can see the dent in the wall in front of the basement stairs in this picture.

The edge of the basement wall has been worn down.

The light above the master bathroom mirror is not centered.

Perhaps it is more visible in this one.  Fix #3 from the previous post: The hole in the wall is now an outlet.

We are going to contact Drew about these issues, but we are sure they will be fixed quickly.  He may even have them fixed before we contact him.  However, if these were the only issues it would be okay.  There were others that really need to be fixed which leads us to....

The Ugly:

We have read on other blogs that some of the sloppiest work comes with the paint jobs.  We had hopes, based on the other workmanship that we have witnessed thus far, that this would not be the case for our house.  Well, luck cannot shine on everyone all of the time.  We saw some evidence of some less than professional painting and other work.  Regrettably, these fall into the category of the Ugly.  Disclaimer: These issues have not been discussed with our project manager, but these will need to be fixed before we close.

Tears in the drywall around the speaker rough ins.

Globs of stain on the base of the stair rails.

Paint splattered on posts.

Dents in the drywall below the stair rail.

Almost all posts have splattered paint.  We guess painter's tape was not an option here.

Stain placed on the wall around the stair rail.

More stain on the once white spindles.

Almost every spindle has been splattered with paint and the adjacent walls and stairs have stain on them as well.  Notice the chunk taken out of the spindle and the chunks out of the actual staircase wall under the platform.

Gaps and crumbles in drywall around the outlets.

Almost every door frame is flawed.

Another chunk out and terrible paint job on the trim.

Another chunk out of another piece of trim.

Doesn't this piece of trim look nice and brand new?

Hole above one door frame.

Hole and crack around window corner in family room.

Small holes in drywall in kitchen.

More cracked and disfigured trim in basement.

White paint from the Master Bathroom door dripped on the wall.

More pain splattered on wall behind Master Bathroom door.

More dents/defects above the door frame.

The window sill in bedroom has a nice seam of paint across it.  

In all, we are happy.  However, we want the Bad and the Ugly fixed before we close.  There will more than likely be more issues as we go along, but I am sad to report that my fellow bloggers are correct about the painters.  No luck here either.

We did end the day with some fun though.  First, we stopped at Steak 'n Shake where kids eat free on the weekends for you fellow money savers.

Our son tried the double drink.  Vanilla Milkshake and soda pop. 

On our way back we were, once again, stuck in traffic.  It was an unusually heavy traffic day.  So, instead of sitting through more traffic we took a detour to the National Museum of the Marine Corps.  This was our first visit and it was really, really neat.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps located near Quantico.

Our kids riding along with Devil Dog!

The early days of the Marines.  They were much shorter then!

He was so proud to do it himself.  

Ahhhh!  She has three hands.

Don't they look like happy and loving siblings?  Well, they were ready to make each other walk the plank.

Dress up is so much fun!

Arg!!!!!!!  Man the deck!

She fishes off the pier.

All ready for action.

Wait a minute!  Me too!

Read all about it.

Our kids in front of our new fireplace.

This was the most somber moment.  This is a piece of the Pentagon that was recovered after 9/11.

This is a piece of the World Trade Center that was recovered after 9/11.

We concluded the day with a visit to the Marine Museum playground.

Poster child for the state perhaps?

Hello?!?!?!?  

Look!  Up in the sky....

Bryan helps our son swing across!

Another moment of sibling tranquility.  Hurry...take the picture before it fades!

One happy little lady.

It was a really good day overall despite the impending weather, crazy traffic, and issues with the house.  We had some great fun on our adventure.

Next up: News about the appraisal.