The tile debacle

I've been dreading writing this post because honestly I'm so tired from the whole issue.  But it needs to be documented and I'm finding a few minutes here and there to finally get this post together.

It all started with an email from the tile company supervisor to our PM, which he forwarded to my husband:

I'm just letting you know that we have an issue with the trim tile in the master bath is a different shade versus the wall tile.
So we need to switch the tile size to 12x12 and 3x12 bullnose to have a consistent color throughout the master bathroom.  Please confirm with the homeowner that this change will be ok.  We don't have a choice with the shade difference it's the way it comes.

This is what it would have looked like had they used the bullnose with the 10x14 wall tile. Um, no.

And this was the option they were offering since it matched.  They said it was an upgrade because the tile is stronger but the reason it's stronger is because it's a damn floor tile, no thank you, I want the rectangle I was promised.

Now, I'm not one to lose my sh*t over things but the day this issue came up was also a day that was horrible for me at work.  So, I called my husband on my lunch break (I only get an hour and can't access my phone easily at any other point in the day) and we talked a bit and conferenced in our PM. There were numerous back and forth phone calls, we would talk to our PM then he would go back and talk to the tile guy.  This took up my entire lunch break and I was fuming.

Bottom line, we didn't want to settle on a compromise because their materials were screwed up.  We wanted what we originally picked out and we wanted it done correctly.  I was not willing to budge on the size of the tile, I didn't want squares on my wall (again, I'm still a little shocked at how upset I got, I mean, there were tears).  It was more the principal of the whole thing, too.  They needed to deliver what they promised.

This was one of their solutions.  The top is what they would do as a way of
fixing it on their own with the right color.  It just didn't look finished and again,
I didn't feel like we should have to compromise on this.

 They told us that the color difference was a distributor issue that they were trying to resolve it but that doesn't help us.  It's their responsibility to deliver the correct product to the customer.  After a ton of back and forth we said that we would take their weird solution that you see up top but only if they did something else to make up for their mistake.  We suggested an upgrade to the tile in the hall bath, since we only got basic tile in there.

The next day our PM got back to us on if they agreed to our upgrade suggestion.  To our shock, he said that they suddenly found the correct bullnose and it was basically like we could just pretend the previous day didn't happen.  Ughhhh!   All that stress for nothing!  Or so I thought.

We decided to go out to the house that day after I finished work to see what they had done.  I was not happy.  

The bullnose on top is the one that came in the wrong color.  The bottom is what they installed.
Looks completely unfinished right?!

We decided to wait until Monday to contact our PM about it because he doesn't work on the weekends and turns his phone off (I don't blame him).  We traveled out of state this past weekend and on the way home we made a stop at the house to see if they finished the bathroom, and to check at what we needed to discuss with our PM.  Our hope was that they finished it properly and that it didn't look half assed.

We arrived at the house a little later than we had hoped, after sunset.  I was happy about this though because we still hadn't seen the neighborhood at night.  We thought we would be walking around the house with the flashlights on our phones leading the way.  Boy were we pleasantly surprised!

We have electricity!

Ok, so I haven't updated since we got the siding installed in the front or the water table at the bottom. So this post is a little all over the place.  Yay for the front of the house looking good (still don't know why the other part of the siding hasn't been finished).

Moving on.  We have electricity!  When we pulled up and saw this our eyes lit up.  So exciting!  I'm a little too excited about our little light post.  Love it so much, and it's not on a switch so it goes on automatically when it gets dark.  Our own little streetlamp.

Back to the master bathroom... I was so happy to see what it will look like with all the lighting.  It's so bright in there with all the lights they have. I love it!  Peace of mind for me too because when i first saw the tile I was worried it was too dark.  Nope, love it with the lights on.

I love the tile and the listello.  So happy with the color.  But the bullnose is still
not up to what we would expect.

I wish I took better pics of the mistakes, because these photos make me look like a crazy person.
I'm sure everyone looking at these now is thinking "that woman is a lunatic, this looks fine".  :)

They can say all they want that those bullnoses aren't cut but they are.  At least at this visit they sanded them to a rounded edge so they aren't super sharp like on Friday.  But they are still white and it's an eye sore.  Long story short (because I really am tired of this whole tile fiasco) we talked to our PM and he agreed that those edges need to be stained to a color closer to the actual tile color.  He also noted a few places that need to be sanded down better.  So it will get fixed, just not exactly what we wanted but it's nothing to fight over now.  Looking forward to seeing it this weekend with the stain.  Hopefully it will be done by then.  I just want to be happy with that room.  Again, we just want what we were promised, that's all.

Back to the lighting!

The kitchen!  So bright with all of the recessed lighting (minus one bulb that's out).    I think we are definitely going to install dimmers.You can also see the 2 rough ins for pendant lights.

So, I thought I took pics of the rest of the lighting in the house (master bath, hall bath, loft, dining room) but nope.  That will have to come later!  Ooops.

The other exciting thing that we tried out was the doorbell.  I've never been so happy about a darn doorbell sound before!  Although I will admit that it sounds a little off, might have to ask about it but still, doorbells are exciting!

Ok, Nyquil is kicking in so before I make a fool of myself I'll end this here.  More to come this weekend!

Note from our PM today

Exciting things are ahead!  Side note...not sure why they have to do the measuring for the granite when they all are the same in the Rome model, better safe than sorry I suppose.  Still exciting!

"Drywall point up today, 2nd paint tomorrow, granite measurements tomorrow, siding should finish up tomorrow/Wednesday, stone starts on Wednesday, ceramic should be going in at the end of the week."

We have siding!

That is what I screamed as we passed by the house today.   Neither of us were expecting siding, but there it was as we drove past the street and saw the side of the house in the distance.  I was clapping I was so excited.

Lots of fun surprises during today's visit!

The back of the house was completely finished, love the color!

The one side of the house has siding completed, the other side (pictured) is almost finished except for the very top of the house where the attic is.  They still have to start the front of the house.

Kitchen cabinets! I think I might have done a happy dance when I saw this.  I love them so much! 

The garage still holds some goodies, who knew door knobs could be so exciting?

Banisters and railings!!

Master Bath vanity!  I might have gasped when I saw this, too.

Hall Bath vanity.

Railings at the top of the stairs.

All the doors have been installed as well (well all except one).  Sad face though because this means we can't
change the swing of the ones in the laundry and master bath.  Oh well.

I didn't want to leave today.  It really felt like home; walls are finished, doors are up and I wanted to stay.  August can't come soon enough!

Storms

We had some pretty bad weather come through our area this week and while we weren't getting hit badly at our current "home", I looked at the radar where our house is being built and it was getting SLAMMED.

My husband took a trip out to the house the next day to check on progress.  Notice anything wrong?  

Ahhh!

So, needless to say, our PM was notified.  I'm starting to get a little worried about how hard the storms hit in that area.  We have nothing to block us from storms coming in from the west.  It's all flat in front of the house so while it's great that nothing is built in front of us, it's bad because we have nothing to shield the wind from hitting us full force.  Sigh.

Oh, and this was noticed as well, water coming in from the side of the house onto the floor in our master bedroom sitting area.  Grreeeeat.

I am happy that we are getting these storms before the house is finished though, at least we can see where the weak spots are before the siding goes up.  It will all be fixed and everything will be fine, it's just frustrating to see what we may have to deal with in the future with bad storms.

More to come tomorrow or next week.   They have delivered the siding (yay!!) which you can see in the first pic.  So, that should start going up soon and I can't WAIT!

Parked in the "driveway"

Yep, that's it.  Just excited about parking there! :)

Drywall is up!

We had heard from our new neighbor that the guys were there bright and early on Saturday morning installing drywall.  The same neighbors were having a party that afternoon and when we got there we took a peek at the house.  We couldn't believe it.  Drywall was up everywhere!  We didn't spend much time in the house yesterday since the main reason for being over there was for the party.  Loving that we are already so friendly with them!

Onto the visit today...

Today we headed back out to the house to spend some more time, take pictures and look at measurements, mostly for when we build a deck and patio.  I had planned on a picnic in the house for Father's Day but of course it was 90 degrees today.  Oh well, maybe we'll do it some other time before the house is completed.

Moving on to pics.  Thought it would be fun to do some before and afters.

Basement

Family Room

Kitchen and Morning Room

Master Bedroom

Panoramic of the Office, Family room and Kitchen

As we were getting ready to leave I started to hear a bird singing.  It was so incredibly loud I actually thought it was in the house.  I was so intrigued by it that I started looking around, I went to the morning room to look outside and there it was, a red cardinal.   I instantly teared up.  They say that when you see a cardinal it is a visitor from heaven.  The amount of warmth in my heart from that moment will stay with me for a long time.

Happy Father's Day!

Insulation is done!

We now have all of our extra insulation completed.  I already love that our house will be a little quieter in certain areas.

Not the best pic but this is the laundry room...will be nice and quiet in case I ever have to run a dryer
load overnight after forgetting something in the washer..not that I've ever done that before :)

The entire ceiling in the family room is now insulated.  Should keep things quiet if anyone goes to sleep early
(again, not that I ever do that!)

Above the kitchen, where all the large pipes for the upstairs toilets and shower/tubs run through.
This will help from hearing flushing sounds downstairs.

Next step!  Drywall is all set up and ready to go!

Drywall is scheduled to go up either tomorrow or Monday.  I cannot wait to see the house with actual walls!