Pre-Construction

We had our pre-construction meeting two weeks ago with our PM.  He basically went over all of the specifics of the home as far as our floor plan and all of the changes that had been made to it.  We also went over the flooring choices, and low voltage wiring options.  Its wise to keep track of the changes you've made up to this point in order to ensure that they are all documented during this meeting. 

I was able to address several concerns that I have about the floor plan and my involvement in the process.  for starters I had walked through a Milan that is being framed now and noticed that there was dead space underneath the stairs, behind the closet.  I requested to have this entire space finished so that we could make full use of it,  he stated that we couldn't do that because of corporate policy regarding following the blue print for the home.  We were able to come to a compromise that I think I will be very happy with, but if you mention this earlier in your process you shouldn't have any problem.  I also requested that I be kept aware of what contractors are coming in and when so that if I chose to, I can speak with them about some specific requests.  one example I gave him was that I'm interested in having a switch placed in my master bedroom for the flood lights in the back yard.  It doesn't make much cense to have flood lights for security if I have to go all the way downstairs to turn them on.  We discussed the third car parking pad, but we will have to come back to it when the time comes to have the concrete guys in.

Our lot had been cleared the day before our meeting, so after the meeting we were able to walk the lot.  It had not been graded yet, so it was hard to tell exactly how our yard was going to be.  I did explain to him that I did not mind a grade to the yard but I did not want a ditch running through the middle of the yard.  I had went out several days prior to the meeting and marked several trees that I wanted saved, luckily all the ones I marked were saved, but I'm going to have some real work ahead of me when its time to clear the rest of them. 

All in all I think we are very pleased with this process so far and look forward to moving ahead.