Albi Custom-Built Home – Post-Possession Craziness

Albi Custom-Built Home – Post-Possession Craziness

Our New House – What a Mess

Our new house is a mess. There are SO many boxes everywhere. There is still furniture to build, TV’s to mount and we don’t know where anything is! On move-in day we we're crazy busy trying to get the essentials setup and put away, build the kids' beds and our own, get food in the fridge for breakfast and the kid's lunches for school the next day, everything in a rush. All day Thursday, both Nancy and I had been driving back and forth from the old house on 'E' in our vehicles with not a minute to stop at the gas station that we kept passing on every trip! At 11PM, going back to the other house for yet another load of little things, I ran out of gas… right in front of my driveway! It’s a lucky spot and I am also lucky that the Petro is open 24 hours so I am soon on my way with a Jerry-Can full of gas.

Drapes – Just in Time – Impressive Service

Window coverings are an important thing to consider. When your windows are completely open to the viewing public you feel exposed, especially at night! We plan for the drape company to be there right on possession-day to install our custom drapes!  They arrive just as the movers leave at 7:30PM. They continue installing drapes until almost 11:30 PM… what service! I have never been so impressed with the work ethic and care put into making sure we were all 'covered' up. The drapes look absolutely amazing and we are so very happy, Lynne’s Window Treatments gets a 10-out-of-10 from me, just superb.

 Closets / Pantry / Barn Doors – Looking Good

We removed all the wire shelving from the master closet and the pantry. These are major storage areas so without the shelves installed right away we had nowhere to put our stuff! We have Cherish Storage Solutions there on possession day at 11:30, right as we wrap up our possession walk-through and leave to rush off to meet the movers. They work hard all day and get things about half done but need to come back on Friday to finish. We are incredibly happy and impressed. I can't believe how good they look! Friday we also have the barn door people from Liken Woodworks arrive with our two barn doors, one for my office and one for the ensuite entrance. The office door is absolutely massive and very heavy! They struggle with it but it all fits perfectly. I thought to have backing installed prior to the drywall going up so they glide nice and smoothly! Everything is really coming together now!

Deck / Screened-in-Room / Fence – Wait We Need to Unpack!

There are still many other things to get done. We didn't intend to time this so closely together. The fence is scheduled to start in two weeks, the deck in three weeks and the screened-in-room in four weeks. Now that we are finally in and the interior work is basically done, we continue to unpack, organize, and unpack some more. We have a bridal shower planned here in eight days for a friend of Nancy's. Nancy is back to work and busy as ever with report cards to write and year-end preparations. She works until midnight every night and goes in on the weekend, too.

Bonus Room – A Bonus if You Have Kids

I do what I can during the days, juggling the kids' school schedule and my own work. The nice thing about the bonus room is that I can continue unpacking in the kitchen/dining room and still hear the kids playing upstairs in the bonus room. I guess that's a bonus! We manage to get most of the house ready for others to see it just in time for the bridal shower party!

Comments from Friends

Some of the comments from friends are, "Wow," McMansion!!! lol," and "Did you guys win the lottery?" The truth is, almost two years ago, now, we did some calculating and figured out that if we had a legal rental suite, it would help pay for the mortgage. The tenant moves in a day after us. So now rent is coming in. How else could we afford such a luxurious house? More on that in a future blog...

To view all my blogs visit Experience Counts: www.yourhomeinalberta.blogspot.com

Custom-Built Albi Home - Green Tape!

Nancy Enjoying all the Space

Custom-Built Albi Home - Green Tape!

Orientation Day – Green Tape Day!

Albi Riverstone organizes an Orientation Day for us, a week before the date to move in. It's a day filled with green tape. We move through the house with careful eyes trying to spot as many imperfections as we can, then stick a piece of tape on them. It becomes a game - who can find the most! These may be small splotches of grout or drips that are not cleaned perfectly. Our site super calls them 'goobers'. We also check the ceilings, corners and the floors for marks or damage. By the end of the day our house looks like a polka-dot mix of green and white! We also learn about our appliances, the thermostats and any regular maintenance that we are going to need to do etc... but the main purpose of the HOO is to use up as many rolls of green tape as possible. 

Our Driveway – Oops - What?

Driveways are very often not ready for possession and ours was no different. We actually had the driveway poured about a week before we moved in so we were expecting to be able to walk on it but not drive on it. You need to wait 28 days before you can drive on it. The Monday before possession we get a call from the builder saying, "Sorry, but we need to tear it out – We're not happy with the finish!" So we got lucky because now they explain that we can go ahead and drive on it. The moving truck is going to be able to pull right up to the door!

Proud Owner 

Move-In Day

We are crazy excited and can barely sleep the night before. Move-In Morning is full of anticipation with all the build-up that has been leading to it! But it is also stressful - the movers are coming at noon to our old house and possession of the new house starts at 10am. We are still frantically packing up the last little bits! During the first walk-through of possession we check to make sure all our green tape is gone. There is a painter on-site so that if we see any more imperfections they can fix them right away. Awesome!

Oops Again - Forgot to Pack a Lunch

We totally forgot about lunch. But the construction crew has actually brought in a huge platter of sandwiches, cheese and drinks for all of us! So thoughtful! Nancy and I go through the house, excited and also anxious. The lawyers still haven’t called to tell us the money has been received by our mortgage company! The stress is unbelievable but soon all the paper work is done. The lawyers did a great job.

Movers – Wow -These Guys are Great!

As our possession meeting wraps up we see the time and rush back to our old house to meet the movers. We start to panic. It's raining! The professional crew work hard. Four guys with a big truck make the furniture (wrapped-up) and boxes go in quickly. They cover our new floors with runners to protect the carpet. It takes three trips and seven hours of packing, unpacking, putting the boxes and furniture in the right rooms.

We are finally in. The house is ours but the fun isn’t over yet. There is still so much to do with all the things that we have planned on, after we take possession but more on that in the next blog!