Progress pictures

They finished framing the house last week and this week they are working on the roof and HVAC

Model home pictures

We found a Ryan Homes development in Medina that had our floor plan as the model home ... here are a few model pics:

The view from the morning room to the kitchen:

The cabinets and granite are the same we selected for our house.  For those building a RH, we asked our PM to not put the 4" return on the granite - we would rather have a backsplash instead

A view from the kitchen to the mudroom

Kitchen view of the great room - our fireplace will be stone from floor to ceiling - we didn't even realize that you could only do stone half way up the wall

Here is a view of the finished basement ... our 6 year old has claimed the entire space for herself

Does anyone at RH's sleep?!

A week ago we had a pile of lumber on our lot and now we have a house!  Nobody can accuse Ryan Homes of not being efficient.

They build houses faster than I can build my kid's Lego set!

Our awesome Sales Rep, Erica sent us a picture of the house being framed. At this rate it will be looking like a house by the end of the week. 

Did anyone order a giant pile of lumber?

As promised, our lumber arrived today and the plan is for framing to start by the end of the week. Things are happening fast. I guess we should make the appointment to pick out our granite slab, it looks like RH is moving quickly. 

Sorry for the terrible pics - the sunlight and my terrible camera phone do not produce good results. 

It all starts with a good foundation ...

The foundation walls have been poured and waterproofed!  We are starting to see some real progress - I hope you like the pictures.  

Winter foundation pouring:

I asked our PM about what they do differently when they pour a foundation in winter and here is what he said:

Typically our foundation wall mix is a 3000 PSI concrete with no calcium.  Today we will be using a 4000 PSI mix with type 3 cement and 1.5% liquid calcium.  The type 3 cement is the key element.  Type 3 cement has a higher cement ratio than our normal wall mix and it will allow the wall to set up and not freeze and the 4000 PSI is a much stronger strength than the normal 3000 PSI.  Also the poured wall company will be covering the top of wall with insulated blankets to keep the heat in.  

Waterproofing:

In the past couple of years Ryan Homes started to improve their basement waterproofing and now instead of putting tar on the foundation walls, they are using a material called GeoMat by Mar-Flex.  I was told that the tar would eventually crack and wouldn't provide much of a long-term waterproofing solution.  One of the pictures below is a close-up of the GeoMat and here is what I found on the product:

Mar-flex Geo-Mat rolls are made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) which offers strong resistance to hydrostatic pressure and provide excellent drainage. Mar-flex Geo-Mat rolls feature dimples that are aligned along vertical and horizontal axis to rapidly channel water from grade to the footer drainage system.

Next week they deliver the wood and hopefully start framing!

Quick note: I'm not sure if we lucked out but our PM is great to work with.  I'm not sure I would feel good about this process if we didn't trust him as much as we do and I'd suggest anyone looking to build a RH to ask to meet the PM before you build.