Custom-Built Albi Home - Green Tape!
Orientation Day – Green Tape Day!
Albi Riverstone organizes an Orientation Day for us, a week before the date to move in. It's a day filled with green tape. We move through the house with careful eyes trying to spot as many imperfections as we can, then stick a piece of tape on them. It becomes a game - who can find the most! These may be small splotches of grout or drips that are not cleaned perfectly. Our site super calls them 'goobers'. We also check the ceilings, corners and the floors for marks or damage. By the end of the day our house looks like a polka-dot mix of green and white! We also learn about our appliances, the thermostats and any regular maintenance that we are going to need to do etc... but the main purpose of the HOO is to use up as many rolls of green tape as possible.
Our Driveway – Oops - What?
Driveways are very often not ready for possession and ours was no different. We actually had the driveway poured about a week before we moved in so we were expecting to be able to walk on it but not drive on it. You need to wait 28 days before you can drive on it. The Monday before possession we get a call from the builder saying, "Sorry, but we need to tear it out – We're not happy with the finish!" So we got lucky because now they explain that we can go ahead and drive on it. The moving truck is going to be able to pull right up to the door!
Move-In Day
We are crazy excited and can barely sleep the night before. Move-In Morning is full of anticipation with all the build-up that has been leading to it! But it is also stressful - the movers are coming at noon to our old house and possession of the new house starts at 10am. We are still frantically packing up the last little bits! During the first walk-through of possession we check to make sure all our green tape is gone. There is a painter on-site so that if we see any more imperfections they can fix them right away. Awesome!
Oops Again - Forgot to Pack a Lunch
We totally forgot about lunch. But the construction crew has actually brought in a huge platter of sandwiches, cheese and drinks for all of us! So thoughtful! Nancy and I go through the house, excited and also anxious. The lawyers still haven’t called to tell us the money has been received by our mortgage company! The stress is unbelievable but soon all the paper work is done. The lawyers did a great job.
Movers – Wow -These Guys are Great!
As our possession meeting wraps up we see the time and rush back to our old house to meet the movers. We start to panic. It's raining! The professional crew work hard. Four guys with a big truck make the furniture (wrapped-up) and boxes go in quickly. They cover our new floors with runners to protect the carpet. It takes three trips and seven hours of packing, unpacking, putting the boxes and furniture in the right rooms.
We are finally in. The house is ours but the fun isn’t over yet. There is still so much to do with all the things that we have planned on, after we take possession but more on that in the next blog...
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