Final Walk-Through!

June 25 - The day has arrived!  We were so happy to hear that everything was in place and that our walk-through date was not going to change.  We woke up this morning with massive excitement.  After the months of waiting for this day to arrive, we have finally arrived!  I think now is the time to cue the music:

Oh, that's right, it's a happy day.  Sing it, Whoopi.  We met Drew, our project manager, at our soon-to-be new home for the final walk-through.  We are so glad that we did the informal walk-through awhile back.  This gave us the opportunity to just relax and learn about all of the features of our new home without having to worry about looking for any nicks in the walls or other items.  Drew took us on a complete tour of our home.  He showed us:

•  How all of the switches worked
• The electrical outlets that work with a switch
• The air intake vents 
• The water shut offs under each sink
• The water shut offs for the toilets
• Bathroom fans including the one that is on a timer to go off every so often to ventilate the house
• The laundry room hose connects, vents, and drains
• The attic access 
• All closets and shelving
• Lighting and light fixtures
• The shower and tub tile grout and caulking
• The features and maintenance of the windows
• The fireplace
• All kitchen appliances
• The kitchen cabinets and outlets
• The garbage disposal
• The garage door and outlets
• The bathroom rough-ins in the basement
• The breaker box
• The HVAC unit
• Main shut offs for water and gas
• Sump pump
• Egress window
• Sod and lot size 
• Gas and electrical meters
• Sewer and gas main access
• Air conditioning unit
• Locks on all doors 
• Siding and roof

Drew also covered all of the warranty information and every detail in our owner's manual.  He told us about all of the items that pertained to our home and included contact information for anyone and everyone that we could possibly ever need for the house.  He did not include the number for Santa Claus, but we suppose we can't expect all of the goodies at the final walk-through!

I think it may be 867-5309, right?  Just ask for Jenny.  

When we were finished, we said our (perhaps) final farewell to Drew.  We know that we have given him his fair share of accolades in this blog, but maybe one more time will not be overkill.  When we met drew back in March we were struck by two things.  First, he was very honest with us and straight forward.  Second, he said "My only goal is to build you a good home.  I will do that."  Those words really stuck with us throughout the building process.  Whatever delays occurred, even those with the gas company, we always felt that Drew had our best interests.  He watched over our house like a hawk and did not let anything go unfinished or completed inappropriately.  Even when we saw little flaws during the first phases, he was quick to get them fixed and make it just the way that we wanted.  Finally, Drew was extremely patient with our endless questions and with our son's endless fascination with the building process.  We know, we know, get a room, right?  Well, if you are lucky enough to have Drew as your project manager you will certainly share our sentiment.  We are happy to be in our new home very soon, but we will miss Drew!

As Tuesday ends, we know we are just three days away from our signing at closing.  Or, as our son so aptly puts, three more sleeps.  So, that means it is time to continue the countdown!

Our countdown thus far:

                   30.  The Garage
                   29.  The Community
                   28.  A Backyard
                   27.  Family Space
                   26.  The Soaking Tub
                   25.  The Kitchen Cabinets
                   24.  The Outdoor Carriage Lights
                   23.  The Master Closet
                   22.  The Dishwasher
                   21.  The Landing Window
                   20.  The Laundry Room
                   19.  New Carpet
                   18.  The Mudroom
                   17.  Our Landscaping and Trees
                   16.  The Reading Room
                   15.  Our Neighborhood Playground
                   14.  The Home Office
                   13.  Our Lighting
                   12.  Storage
                   11.  Speakers in the Ceiling
                   10.  New carpet.
                     9.  Our Master Bedroom/Owner's Suite
                     8.  Energy Efficiency
                     7.  Our Basement
                     6.  Our Wood Floors

                                    

Our stairs.  We know that many houses have much more lavish stairs, but we are very, very happy with our stairs.  We think they look very classy and they will be something nice to wake up to every morning.  Of course, it will be fun to give some other activities a try such as:

Stair sledding.  Who didn't want to give this a shot after watching Home Alone?!?!?!

A new Yoga position - the very still and terrified dog.

Cover thy self in baby oil and create your own stair slip n' slide.

Pretend you are in Inception for the millisecond before you break your hip.

Extreme office working.

Pretend you are the creepy and disturbing ending of Titanic.  Let me get this straight, the woman spends a lifetime with some guy.  Has children and then grandchildren, but when she dies that dude gets the shaft and she sees some street urchin that she spent basically one full night with?  Enjoy the afterlife as a bachelor other guy.  The dude from What's Eating Gilbert Grape just took your gal in the sweet hereafter.

As we did not have an update yesterday, we need just one more here.

                          

Our fireplace.  It does not have all of the blue tape on it anymore and it is ready to go.  It has been hooked up and Drew gave it a go today.  It looks so great!  Bryan really, really wanted a fireplace.  It does make a nice feature in the home, but Angela was hesitant because she is the one with the money sense.  So, after some thought she went with it partially based on Bryan's thoughts that if the power should ever go out then we would have some warmth with the fireplace.  Well, after the 14 day changes expired Bryan said "Hey, wait a minute.  If the ignition occurs with a switch how is the dang thing supposed to light?"  Our rental home has a fireplace and while it has a pilot light getting it started without power is presumably impossible.  Thwarted again by technology and Bryan's lack of willingness to look anything up, right?  Well, lady luck even shines on the dimmest of lights sometimes.  Drew showed us that our fireplace has no pilot light, but the ignition can occur either by switch or through a hidden battery pack.  So, if we should get another version of Old Man winter playing Tony Montana at the end of Scarface like the East Coast had five or so years ago, we're going to be alright!

Bring it on, Old Man winter.  We have a fireplace and we are going to light this place up.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and a wonderful experience.  We are moving ever so closely to our closing date and we cannot wait.  The next two days will be excruciating and even Friday will be crazy because we do not close until 3 p.m.!  So, move-in day will be on Saturday if U-haul comes through!  

Until next time, remember somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight.  Someone's thinking of you and loving you tonight.

Good night, Moon. Good night, Fivel.  Night, John Boy.

Up Next: The Countdown Continues