Pre-Construction Meeting

This whole process seems like it has gone on for years, but today we finally had our Pre-Construction Meeting with Ryan Homes.  Leading up to today there were many decisions that needed to be made... flooring (basic linoleum and upgraded a level of the carpet and pad), exterior (brick and black shutters/door), interior upgrades (cabinets and gourmet kitchen with extended island), wiring, additional space/rooms (4ft. extension to the family room and additional morning room - a free Ryan bonus the month we booked!).  And even as of 20 minutes before the meeting we still were up in the air on a few things... now we are sure about the black appliances and getting a fridge.  It was too late, however, to add on the home office! We are building the Victoria Falls, elevation B, with a brick front and a porch.  If you visit the Ryan Homes website: http://www.ryanhomes.com/find-your-home/our-communities/virginia/aldie/aldie-glen-at-kirkpatrick-farms/victoria-falls the model you see at the top is exactly what our house will look like.  You can use the arrows to scroll through sample pictures in the top banner.  Along the right of the page you can view the floor plan and also take a virtual tour. 

Just sitting in the model home at the Berkshires in South Fayette today got us excited to break ground.  And to think, two weeks ago we almost pulled the plug on this whole thing!  We are still concerned about the Marcellus Shale drilling possibilities in South Fayette, but the way we looked at it was... drilling is going to happen in western PA.  We could could back out and lose our $15K deposit, buy somewhere else, and still run the chance of drilling coming to that neighborhood in the future.  We're rolling the dice that we'll be safe in the Berkshires, and it is definitely something we will closely monitor and advocate against once we move into South Fayette.

Pat, the project manager, was very friendly and helpful.  He knows what he is doing and I look forward to speaking with him on a regular basis throughout this process.  He gave us an estimated delivery date of June 8th, which is nice because we don't have to be out of our current place until June 29th... giving us plenty of leeway for any setbacks (or just to take our time moving all of our stuff).  He said they should be breaking ground by next Wednesday, or even as early as Monday.  I'll keep you posted as things progress.  As for now, here's our new house...