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!

Albi - Custom-built Home - Floors Can Be Beautiful

Floors Can Be Beautiful.

Now that the protective covers are off we can admire our floors. They are gorgeous! Nancy and I are getting very excited to move into our brand new custom-built Albi home. No more delays.

Move-in Date – Soon!

We make arrangements with a Moving Contractor to come when we are ready to move the big stuff. They give us a quote of $1,200, for a two-story, four-bedroom house with a finished basement. I think the price is right. The small packing we start to do ourselves.

Packing Party with Friends

How did we accumulate so much? Now, we start to feel the pressure. But, we have a great idea. Let's have a 'packing party' and get our friends to lend a hand. We invite a few close friends. They are happy to help.  We order in food. The night is fun for us and it's nice to know everyone is carried away with the excitement too. We have about 20 boxes to go in one night. There is still a lot more packing to do. We make several trips to get more boxes from Home Depot.

Fencing between Good Neighbours

There are still some extra costs that we need to deal with. For example, we knew about our requirement to help pay for the fencing on one side on the neighbouring property. When we actually move in, it moves to the top of the priority list. But planning a house-warming party is also on the agenda. Since we have out-of-town relatives who will visit this summer, we may actually have two!

Custom-built Home - Extras, Extras!

Nancy is Excited

Custom-built Home - Extras, Extras!

Some options in a custom-built home can cost a lot more than expected! Some quotes from the builder prompted us to do some research. We decided to do some installations after and we removed them from the builder's plans, for example, closet organizers, window coverings, and the backyard deck. But a word of caution!

A Word of Caution! After Possession Expenses

Initially we felt that after the house was built we could do some things cheaper ourselves like the heater in the garage, air conditioning, water softener, and irrigation system and this is proving to be true. Our decisions were based on future cost savings especially since keeping in mind, they would be much more costly if we had to rip out walls and renovate afterwards. With these items properly roughed in, we knew that we could install them some time in the future when we had the extra money. A little planning and foresight here into what we knew we would eventually want in our dream home has enabled us to save thousands.

Siding! The house starts to look real!

There is something new to see every day at the job site. Watching the siding go on gives the house an almost-finished look. Mistakes are made but when things happen I make a call and soon everything is sorted out. I have respect for all trades people, with me on site every day. I try hard not to get in their way but they appreciate me there to point out some of the changes I made to the stock floorplans helping them avoid extra work. They work hard and typically are not on salary so being able to finish quickly and efficiently is the best for them! It is really exciting to see the progress being made.

The Bonus Room - Nancy is Excited

My parents built an open-concept house with a cathedral ceiling. Growing up, I remember I enjoyed the space and think it's a good idea for our new home. Nancy thinks it's a good idea too, so we designed the living room to be open from above. We also chose the corner lot to give us the option for a ton of windows, some people might say too many!! The window coverings cost a small fortune!

Albi Home - More Delays – Seriously?

Nancy Looks Over Albi Plans

Albi Home - More Delays – Seriously?

More Selection Meetings - Saving Money is Good

We do our research ahead of time before each meeting to find out what is important and what is not...what is worth the money… also where the builder is charging too much! It can happen. There are cases where getting things done, while building, can be practical and in fact can't feasibly be done after possession, like in floor heat, drains in the garage, extra hose bibs or a hot and cold tap on the back deck, extra soffit plugs and network wiring and plumbing in general.

 The Rental Unit – Still a Good Idea but...

I must say that I wonder what would have happened without my diligence and persistence. I probably would end up with a completely different house. I make about a dozen phone calls to the city bylaw office to correct mistakes the builder is telling me regarding the rental suite requirements. My floor-plans are always wrong and the line of communication, me-to-sales person-to-office-to-designer, and then back again often ends up in confusion. They even try to tell me my house will be one foot narrower. I have to tell the builder a few things! In the end I actually schedule a meeting directly with the designer at Albi, I come prepared with paperwork from the city and a few ideas of my own and together we work out some major decisions!

Electrical – So Much to Think About - Who Knew?

Now that the plans are finalized, (almost) it's time to get back to more selections meetings. Structured Media and Electrical Wiring is next. We decide to upgrade to Cat6 network cables, adding extra network hookups outside, for cameras and inside for wireless access points and wall-mounted tv locations. This costs $1,200 but will pay off in the long run. The cameras themselves must be done after possession, are not included in the house price and are about $2,000. Electrical is a bit more complicated. With the rental suite we want totally separate electrical panels installed for us vs. the tenants, so our panel ends up in the garage. After adding extra plugs, and extra wiring for lights we end up with another $3,500 bill.

Building Still Delayed

The wiring for lights is done at the electrician's and selections of the actual lights are done at the lighting supplier. These meetings take place close together time-wise and we go back and forth a couple of times in e-mails later. First electrical, then lighting, then back to electrical, then finalize with lighting then finalize with electrical. These decisions, when done prior to possession, can save an absolute fortune vs. doing them after.

We make time for all these meetings and feel good about our decisions. But the actual building is still delayed.

To find out more and if a custom-built dream home is right for you call me, 403-680-4479