Pre-Construction (sort-of) Meeting

Most builders will either require or offer to hold a pre-construction (PRE-CON) meeting before they begin construction. DR Horton apparently does not require these meetings, but they will conduct them if requested by a buyer. So we asked for a meeting.

After waiting so long for a permit, the folks at DRH were chomping at the bit to start construction. They started digging the day the permit was issued. The foundation was poured within a few days and the well was dug at the same time. We happened to be out of town, so the pre-construction meeting needed to wait until we were back. That was OK with us since it gave us more to talk about when the meeting did happen.

It's About Communications

The reason to have a pre-construction meeting is to ensure buyer and builder are completely in sync. This is important since virtually every project has unique aspects that must be accommodated (location of drains or pipes, etc) and every buyer has certain things they want to request. Another reason to do so is to establish a direct communications channel between the project manager and the buyer. 

Our project manager is George Leon, who is the construction manager for the entire community. George is experienced and knowledgeable. What's more, he is friendly and easy to talk to. He clearly takes great pride in the quality of the homes he builds. We are so happy to be working with him. George works closely with Rich Moortgat, the builder's rep for the community. Together both Rich and George have made the home-building experience a positive one so far and we really appreciate it.

In the meeting we covered the building process so we know what to expect, and when. This was especially helpful for planning the sale of our existing home. We were able to ask about certain techniques we'd observed in the homes that were already under construction. Most importantly, we were able to discuss all the 'nice-to-have' items we had thought of while waiting for the permits to be approved and strolling around the community and into homes in various stages of construction. Some of them didn't make much sense after we discussed them with Rich and George. Others had some trade-offs we hadn't thought of. Talking with them was really helpful.

We felt things were getting off to a great start when George offered us his cell phone number. I'm sure he's a very busy person and taking calls from buyers can interfere with his productivity. We were glad he trusted us not to abuse the privilege of calling him if something doesn't look right. 

Minimizing Change - Good for Everyone

One way large-scale builders ensure a quality product is by introducing as little change as possible into each project. This way, staff and contractors always know what they are supposed to do, and mistakes and subsequent re-work are reduced. There are so many stages to a home construction project. Every builder uses either in-house crews or contractors that specialize in different parts of the process. These crews go from one home to the next and they usually perform only one task. If there are many small changes, there is too much opportunity for mistakes - which cost time and money. 

As a buyer, we always want to tweak certain things. We can't help it. But we need to understand that the overall quality of the finished product can often be reduced if we try to make small changes. Plus, it's not fair to the builder, who agreed to a contract based on specific assumptions regarding the degree of change they would need to accommodate.

A great example is the cement staircase leading from the back yard to the basement. Standard design was a staircase located in the middle of the home going straight to the back yard. We didn't want the stairs to interfere with a porch or patio so we asked for it to be moved to the side of the house. DRH agreed. This one change seems to have cost several months in the permit process, which was frustrating to everyone but costly to the builder. Then, when permits were issued the foundation contractor placed the footers for the stairs in the wrong place two times before they got it right! Only thanks to George's attention were the stairs finally placed in the right spot. 

Anyway ... Just a Few Changes Please

In spite of the above, we - like virtually everyone else - do have a short list of adjustments that we were certain of prior to the meeting, but now we're not so sure. Here's what we're thinking:

a. The grout between the tiles (dark gray tiles) in the kitchen backsplash - we might want gray grout instead of white. But with dark cabinets and fairly dark countertops, the white grout might be good.

b. The grout in the bathroom tiles (white tiles) - we might want white instead of gray grout. It certainly looks more uniform. But ... even if it's not standard, it might make a plain bathroom look a little better. Especially since the cabinets are all white.

c. The gutters and downspouts. Our home color scheme is white siding all around. But the gutters and downspouts are black. We're trying to decide if white would look better. This is a tough one. I vote for black and Laurie wants white. In the end, I've made it Laurie's decision but she's still thinking.

Luckily there's a home under construction a few months ahead of ours that has the same exterior and interior color schemes. We'll be waiting to see how these look in that home before making a final decision

Foundation Progress

Can't have a post without at least one picture. So here's the foundation with the dirt pushed up along the sides and filled in inside the garage. I can say that getting this pic on a rainy day was about the muddiest thing I've done since I was 8 years old! 

Step by step. Enjoy!