Pre-Drywall Meeting - Part 2

This is part two of the series for the pre-drywall meeting.  If you missed the first post the pre-drywall meeting is the home buyers chance to see the things behind the walls before it is closed up and have a walk through of the interior of the house where the you can ask questions to the project manager about the different elements of those behind the wall items.  In the walk through my wife and I took, I took a number of pictures so I am breaking down the posts into a couple different sections.  This post will take a look at the inside of the house focusing on the rooms themselves in the next post we will take a closer look and the items in the walls, like electrical and plumbing.

Pre-Drywall - First Floor

The front steps are not in at this point so entry into the house is always through the garage, I imagine it will be similar once everything is all said and done.  Through the garage is entry passing through the laundry room and into the kitchen.  From the entry into the house the first view I saw was out the back through the morning room.  The lighting at the time we came over 9:30 AM was great in here, the open floor plan lets light flow throughout the house. No lights or flash required here!

Morning Room

As we moved in to the house I was able to get a different angle on the morning room, at the point where it intersects the kitchen.  You can see the half wall which separates the two rooms and serves as the hinge point for where the gourmet island optional feature we picked will jut out into the kitchen on an angle towards where I am standing in the following picture. 

Morning Room - Kitchen Intersection

A few steps forward and allows us a look into the kitchen.  

Kitchen

In the picture above you are able to see the whole of the kitchen on the left side in front of the half wall you can see the drain pipe and water lines which is where the sink will be.  in the center of the picture a grey metallic area is in front of where the stove will be located. The angled wall in the far right of the room is the pantry.  This is a standard part of the Florence model floor plan but was a great feature in the house for us.  Storage in and around the kitchen was always a challenge in our current house, this space will provide that easy access area, especially for some of the bulkier items, like the 12 pack of paper towels.  The near right is the laundry room from which we first entered.

Here are a few additional angles of the kitchen:

Kitchen from the Family Room

Kitchen from the Morning Room

Adjacent to the kitchen is the family room, which is the third room including the morning room and kitchen which make the large open floor plan on the main floor of the house.  This will be the main gathering area, and is the gateway to the second floor.  In the Florence model the staircase to the upper floor starts from the back of the house and goes up towards to the front.  In the next picture you will get a glimpse of the family room from the third step from the bottom of the stair case.

Family Room

For the room that we will spend a great deal of time in, I take very few pictures of it.  Just the one from the many pictures was of it, I will have to take it from a few different angles next pass through.  Off to the left of the picture above will be the first floor powder room and coat closet.  These are tough places to get good pictures as they are small areas, but without walls you can see them through from the other rooms.

Powder Room and Coat Closet

The picture above is of the powder room on the left and coat closet on the right as seen through the wall from the living room.  This is the front room, kind of a sitting room, but from the looks of it in the following couple pictures it seems much bigger than a sitting room.

Living Room - As Viewed From Front Door

Living Room - Side View

There is an option to have a window in the side wall of the house which is the one directly ahead in the above picture.  We obviously decided not go with some due to cost, but I don't think its necessary as there is plenty of light from the double front window.  There is a lot of extra wall space available as well.

Front Door - Inside View

Above is a look from the corner of the living room back towards where the previous two pictures were taken, looking at the front door straight ahead.  You can see off to the left of the picture the staircase down into the basement.  It will lead to the finished portion.  I didn't successfully get any pictures down there a little too dark and my flash didn't go off.  However down there we were able to see the sub-pump, furnace and hot water heater in the unfinished section.  In the next post I will take you through some of the items we talked about down there in regards to the wiring and piping that exists in that section. On to the upstairs!

Pre-Drywall - Second Floor

At the top of the stairs up from the family room is the loft, if your out looking and have a Florence Model as the model home in the development you will most likely not see this option as this can be a fourth bedroom. The loft is the standard option, I think its one of the best features, if you don't have an overwhelming need or plan to need a forth bedroom, stick with this floor plan and throw the budget at some other option.  The loft makes the top of the stairs wide open, and it looks giant.  The loft also makes the master closet larger as some of the space is used for the 4th bedroom closet.  There is an optional window in this room, totally unnecessary in this selection the two front windows one directly in front of the stairs and one in the loft provide ample lighting.

Loft

Loft with temporary railing

The loft is in the front right of the house, at least on the standard build and not reversed floor plan.  on the left side of the front of the house is the second bedroom.  From the top of the stairs which faces towards the front of the house you make a right and loop back towards the back of the house. The hallway has two doors on the left one for each of the second and third bedrooms.

Second Bedroom

In the above picture since you can see through the walls all of the three front windows on the house can be seen on the right is the second bedroom.  On the left you see the top of the temporary banister for the stairs and the loft off in the distance.  And in the one below you can see the room itself.

Second Bedroom

In the second bedroom there is an optional window on the wall in the right of the picture.  If it is in your budget this one could be a good one to get to have some extra light, but not entirely necessary.  It does take a little of the wall space away, so in our case we went without the selection, should give a little more room to work with.  A little further down the hall is the third bedroom, which has one window and no optional one available as it only has the one wall to the outside of the house. This room divides the house right through the middle, with the other bedroom to the front and the master bath to the back.  In the below picture you can see the master bathroom and some of the plumbing for it through the wall. 

Third Bedroom

The view above is from the doorway while the one below is looking back the other way to the front of the house.  You can see the closets for both the second and third bedrooms as well as the hall closet. 

Third Bedroom

Finally we have the master bedroom which takes the whole of the back of the house when you include the master bathroom. The first picture looks from the inside corner of the room on the garage side of the house looking across the master bedroom towards the bathroom.   

Master Bedroom

The final look below takes the other angle of the master bedroom, in which you can see the optional window to the left.  This is a must have in our opinion gives the large room so much extra light and helps as the sun moves throughout the day to get a different lighting perspective.  In the front right of the picture is the entrance to the walk in closet.

Master Bedroom

The next post, the third in the pre-drywall meeting thread, will take a more detailed look at some of the items behind the wall.