Building a Home in a Brand New Community – What We Didn't Expect

Grass is not just a Decoration!

Building a Home in a Brand New Community – What We Didn't Expect

We have moved in. We love our new house but we are now in a community-wide limbo of development. Sure there has been some post-possession calming down for us but the neighbourhood is one big bustling construction site.

Noise - There is So Much going on!

The construction of other homes continues on in the Riverstone Community. These guys start early! During the summer, with the kids not having to get up early for school, we had hoped to sleep in a little but not a chance with all the noise. We often hear big trucks rumbling by as early as 7 AM. Excavators, bulldozers, Bobcats, dump trucks, delivery vehicles and other large vehicles operating heavy equipment all day long. Supplies are being delivered for building decks, screened-in rooms, backyard landscaping and pouring of concrete driveways. Oh wait. That was us. We were no different. We have contributed to that same kind of noise.

Dust – Dust – Dust and Mop

Green grass is not just a decoration. Without grass there is dust blowing everywhere. Remember the heat wave? Well, if we left the screen windows open at night to cool the house down then next morning the floors felt like grit. We had to dust, vacuum and mop every day.

Thinking Ahead – Hooray Albi Riverstone!

One of the things that we like about the community is that even though it is not finished by a long shot, there are already three small parks within a two minute walk. So that is a good thing.

Riverstone is actually connected to Fish Creek National Park via 145.6 hectares of environmental reserve. It is the second largest urban park in Canada, nestled in and around, the scenic Bow River, amongst the trees and plenty of wildlife. When completed, Riverstone will have 1,100 homes. It won't be long before it really is paradise and of course, a very good investment. If you are interested give me a call: 403-680-4479

To read all of the series of Blogs about our Custom-Built Albi Home visit: Chris Ashby Blogs http://www.liveinokotoks.com/or visit:

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