Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Day 2 - Nada and potential concerns with PM.

Nothing was done today on the lot. I'm wondering if they are done digging... I thought there was more to dig out, but I think now it's actually just a trench for the garage. So... curious to see how long before we see more changes.  My husband is concerned that the basement doesn't seem very deep and we don't have a walkout... but I'm sure it's fine. He met a neighbor today that said the guys that were excavating told him they were leaving a lot of the dirt because of a project we wanted in the backyard... we are emailing our PM because we don't know anything about that!

So.. I have a couple of concerns about our PM. When we had our preconstruction meeting he did not go to the lot with us.  Seems like that is done with everyone else according to the blogs. He didn't offer it and when I got home and read the paper we signed (yes, apparently I should read more carefully BEFORE I sign), he'd checked off that he had walked the lot with us. Just kinda makes me wonder if he'll short change other things. He also didn't give us an estimated walkthrough date or estimated closing date. I see everyone else with countdown tickers... but we were given no date.  So.. should I be concerned???

7 comments:

  1. Hi! And welcome to the blogging community! :) I just found your blog via a comment you left on another blog I follow. Congrats!

    Of course I'm not super experienced, but I just wanted to say that I thought the same thing about my hole when it was dug....that it was not deep enough. And I also have a walk out. I can tell you that part turned out fine for me.

    I do think it's odd that your PM didn't walk the lot with you. So you guys just went over all your selections, and that's it? I did get a rough 'schedule' of what would be happening, and a 'tentative' (he stressed this) walk through date. Did the PM tell you how/when you could contact him? If so, I would contact him and tell him you'd like to meet to walk the lot, and then ask for some target dates. He should at least have an idea of when your wood will be delivered. If you can't reach the PM, I would reach out to the SR.

    Sorry this is so long!! (I like to talk, can you tell?)
    And FYI, my blog is http://buildingasavoy.blogspot.com/
    I'm a bit ahead of you guys....started on May 6.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, and I LOVE you elevation, and you selections you've posted thus far! :)

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the info!! We do know how to get a hold of him.. he went over the order of things and kind of "warned us" that they were having trouble getting crews because new construction has all of the sudden gotten really busy. He told us he is estimating closing early to mid September... but didn't want to give us an actual estimated date. We told him we'd never built and wanted him to give us too much information rather than not enough... maybe that was a mistake.. although I warned him that I was learning a lot from the blogs!! Thanks for saying hi! I need to check out your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wouldn't worry about PM not having walked the lot with you. Honestly by the time anyone get to the preconstruction meeting they have already signed away the next God knows how many years of their lives and seeing the lot with PM will not change a thing.

    If it makes you feel any better, our PM went to the lot with us, we stood at the corner, he waved at it and said, "Well, here it is as you've seen it before. Any questions?" It wasn't rude or anything, just practical and a matter of fact thing. Because we obviously had seen it before. The dimensions were also clear. Our only concern was and still grading. Seems like we'll have a ditch in one corner. You can ask the PM to see the lot, a good excuse to stop buy and get a report.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We never once walked our lot. When we signed the contract in January it didn't even exist, it was just a mound of dirt. It took a few months to get the streets in and other things. Our pre construction meeting was scheduled and permit delays meant a little over a month before they broke ground. By the time they staked it, they broke ground. They should have given you a grading map (if not request one) and they should have given you a sheet with the pm info (name, email address, phone number). If they didn't call your sakes office.
    If you paid for a walkout, you'll get a walkout, if you paid for something make sure they do it. You have the power. Good luck and don't worry if you read a blog and it doesn't happen to you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just seconding your opinion here.. Blogs (as our SR always says) are not true representative of the process. There are many similarities, but just as many differences. We deal with people who work for RH, and each of these people (PM, SR, NVRM people) may have a different interpretation of what their duties are, or may have come up with a method that works better for them.

      Delete
  5. Thanks for the reassurance!! I think what bothers me is that he didn't even mention it and it clearly says "walk home site" on the preconstruction checklist and he checked it off. Our meeting was only about 45 minutes and there are several things he didn't go over that were checked.... like appliance selections, flooring breaks, etc... those kinds of things... not major, but don't like that he checked them off like we talked about them and we didn't... I will just know to double check every little detail from here on out... I think we'll touch base with him soon too just to cover a few of the little things we just want to be sure about. Thanks again!! We had some activity at the lot today.. I'll post that later tonight!

    ReplyDelete