Things I love and don't love

LOVES
1.  my low low electric bill.  I mean seriously.
2.  my low gas bill.  Let's just say I love the energy efficiency of my home in general!
3.  my kitchen.  it definitely has the wow factor and wows me every time I come down the stairs in the morning lol
4.  my fireplace.  worth every penny.  I love flipping a switch and it's on, and flipping a switch and it's off.  We originally wanted a wood burning, but since they aren't energy efficient it wasn't allowed.  I'm so glad that we have a gas one because my husband doesn't have to chop wood or use kindling or anything, if he's not home...I flip the switch and boom.  Ambiance!
5. Endless hot water. This is just awesome.  The tankless water heater goes back up with the energy efficiency but I am so happy we have this.  I can take the hottest, fullest bath instead of running out of hot water before the tub is full.  And when guests come over, there is never a worry that we won't all be able to get showers.  And I can do endless laundry.  And dishes.  Seriously love this!
6. Morning room.  We love eating dinner and talking about our day while the sun sets in view.
7. Neighbors!  We hit the jackpot here.  We had a party and invited everyone we've met so far and had a blast.  It is amazing how different it feels to own a home versus rent a home.  I definitely WANT to know who I'm living around.
8. Hardwood on the entire bottom floor.  Haven't once regretted spending this money on an upgrade.  They are a wow factor and it would be so easy for me to just replace a rug here and there.

DON'T LOVE
6. Water bill!  This bill was a shocker and we haven't even watered our lawn the entire time we have been here thanks to some rain.  I have lightly watered our landscaping maybe 5 times.  But this bill is on average $80 per month which is higher than the electric was last month.  So even though we have endless hot water...we are definitely paying for it lol.
7.  Energy efficient light bulbs...I know they save money but they take some time to warm up and are dim until they do.  However, I am happy to leave these for the sake of the electric bill!
8. Garage size...I wish they somehow could have added a cut out so we would have a place for a tool bench.  It's pretty tight and we have already started talking about how we could do some sort of a shed (but our HOA only allows it if it perfectly matches the house with siding and the same roofing.)
9.  Construction going on around us...but that's the name of the game.



In other news, Rite Rug called me and said they were unhappy with the tiny little square tile that the tile guys put in instead of doing their job right and digging out a tile so they could put a solid one...so they are sending out a guy (a different one than the one who did the square one) next week to fix.  I'm so happy about this because I didn't want to make a big deal about it because the tile guy already made me aware that he "loses money every time he has to come out" and then he made me sign off on the work when I really couldn't see it because there was broken glass all over the floor and a mess from him busting out the old tile.  This is the very last repair that we are having until our 10 month inspection.

Shutters as art

Got my new microwave door.   Love it!!  Perfectly matches all the other appliances!

I had a couple shutters in the garage a friend gave me and hung then in the living room, I like it!

And I'm seriously obsessing over my front door!!  It's actually Sherwin Williams Refuge.  My PM played a trick on me today and told me my HOA called him and complained about it not being an approved color.   I was so bummed and called the HOA and they said they had no idea what I was talking about... then my PM emailed me back and said he was kidding!  I am so gullible! 

new front door color

Rite rug came today.  I got my correct tile.  But would you be bothered by that tiny little square piece that is smaller than any of the other pieces?  I didn't notice it until after they were gone and I "signed off" on their work... luckily I have enough left that I think I'm just going to have my hubs replace that one piece.   But geez.  Is it so much to ask to just do it right?

I decided it was time to paint my front door.   I liked the black but felt my house looked plain because most other people have a different colored front door.   I think all we had to pick from was red, black or brown so we went black.   But I have been drooling over this color for a while now and for a whopping $13 at Walmart, I have a pretty new front door!  

Color: benjamin moore Refuge blue

I also painted the inside and hung the wreath I'm not using there, thank you Pinterest!

And check out my adorable new lamp I put near my kitchen sink!  Also from Walmart.   I love it!

Also for anyone wondering what their electric bill might be.  We have a Florence without a basement so it's about 2100 sq ft.  I open the windows if the weather is nice.  First month was $95 (ran A/C a lot), second month is $70!  WOO HOO!

Cracked and now peeling

The GE guy swore up and down that it was a scratch.   But this new one popped up yesterday.   Cracked and peeling.  People who have this microwave, pay close attention to your handle.

Our new door came and this one is not dented.   I'm curious if they changed the handle because of this issue. It's so hard to tell but the new handle does not look like it has a sticker.   It looks like a brushed nickel plastic versus a plastic handle with chrome sticker if that makes sense.  

more drama

So GE came today to replace my microwave door, but guess what?  It had a big ol' dent on it.  I didn't notice because it was covered in a plastic thing...

The guy almost made me feel bad for rejecting it, telling me if I didn't want it, it would be scrapped.  Um...so?  Sir, do you know how much money we spent on these???

So he's ordering us a another new door.  And he's coming back again next week.  Seriously, I'm ready for all this to be done!!

Besides getting this guy back to do the microwave, Rite Rug is coming in to do my listello and carpet pad...I cancelled my PM for Friday who was supposed to come and fix our morning room drywall again because they didn't let it dry long enough and it has bubbled in areas...I couldn't take anymore so I just told him I want this put off until our 10 month drywall repair!

I'm glad we have this warranty period for things to get fixed.  But I'm ready for a dang break!!

Microwave door

So our new door came today.   They are coming to install it tomorrow.

I almost didn't open it because I was sure it was the exact same.   But I decided to look just in case...

And the handle is different!

The first pic is the current handle.   It's shinier than the surrounding metal which led me to realize it is plastic.

The other pics are the new one.   The handle is still a coated plastic but it's a brushed nickel appearance which matches the surrounding metal much more closely!  It even feels like metal but I know it's not because GE confirmed its a coated plastic as metal would get way too hot above the stove.

Happy camper nonetheless!  Love the look of it!  Goes to show that no thing is too small if it is in your warranty period so inspect your stuff!

Rite rug is coming next week to redo our listello, well as replace a part of our carpet padding where we have a soft spot.

lots of new options...one of which we wanted and they wouldn't give us...

So I walked one of the nearby houses under construction last night and saw the most beautiful Espresso cabinets I have seen.  They were so chic and modern...yet I knew they were different from mine (we have them in our bathrooms).  They also had these modern handles on them, which I know were not an option for us, we only were given a choice of brushed nickel or oil rubbed bronze round knobs.

So today, I decided to stop by the model and see what new things they are offering.

Yes, the maple Espresso have changed and boy do I love them.  I reallllllllllly wish I had them in my bathrooms but oh well.

But the kicker was this...

So I have the Maple Butterscotch cabinets, which I love but I had seen on some blogs that you can get Maple Hazelnut.  I was told no 10 times until Sunday on being able to do it.  I was not allowed to get them even through a non-standard.  NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

So today when I saw the cabinet selections, I saw our maple butterscotch, AND the maple hazelnut...I was super annoyed!  I mean seriously!

I am not by any means unhappy with my kitchen but I just really love the depth that the hazelnut has with the rich chocolate instead of the yellowish butterscotch.

OH WELL!

She did make me feel better to know that the prices on all the upgrades have been going up every 2 weeks and the base model is now starting at $11k more so I'm thinking we have about $20k in equity which isn't too shabby!  Doesn't matter though, I'm not moving :)  Also, they are going to be building a new model and starting to sell phase 3 within 9 months!

GE service repair

So today, GE came to look at my Microwave "cracks" on the handle.

He concluded that they were not cracks, they were actually scratches, as well as a few indentations and it looks like whoever installed my microwave used a knife and just went all crazy pulling off the cellophane.

They can't just replace the handle, so I am getting a whole new door for it.  I asked if there was anyway I could get a full, stainless steel handle versus the "chromed plastic" and he said no, that he has to replace it just as it was or else it voids warranty.

He gave me a receipt for my order and it turns out the handle/door that is on my microwave now is discontinued part number WB56X10918.  The new handle/door is WB56X10999.

A simple part search comes up with no pictures or information so I'm not sure it's any different but I'm seriously hoping they have replaced the handle with a stainless steel, metal handle.  It will be here next Wednesday and I am excited to see.  Overall it's not a huge deal but you can tell from looking at it that it is not metal, it's shinier than the surrounding metal and it's not cool to the touch as the metal is.

I did however see that a new door is $223.95!  yikes!  Thanks Ryan...but I guess you should bill whoever installed these in a rush and slashed it all up with a knife!  I honestly wonder how much they spend a year fixing other people's mistakes!

And did I mention they finally got our roof leak? Turns out the roofers forgot to put on a vital piece of shingle in an area where two roof peaks meet in a valley...

Let me be clear that these issues have all been worked out and fixed to my satisfaction (or will be), but it sucks that the contractors are the ones that screw up so often (hello RiteRug!).

Rite Rug has ordered my new bathroom listello and he said he couldn't tell me when it would be here, but it would be here "sooner rather than later" and "hopefully soon".  I'm sorry, is that supposed to be helpful?

Oh well, for now I sit and wait for all these things to be fixed and and I'm sure my PM is wishing my warranty was up already for the amount of time he's spent at my house...but I guess that's the name of the game!

Appliance question! *UPDATED*

Ok now I am really not a complainer but then again my house is brand new and under warranty so if something is messed up I want it fixed!  But I feel like I am doing nothing but posting about the bad stuff...I am happy with my home, I promise! :)

As my roof and siding is getting torn off to figure out the leak issue, I decided to do a thorough cleaning of my kitchen.

We went with the highest upgrade in appliances, Premier VI so if any of you have that, please comment!!

Our stove has this awesome double burner.  That thing can boil water in no time but obviously it gets frigging hot!!!

I have burned my hands twice trying to grab a pot without pot holders, even though my pots have rubber handles.   That's my fault for sure.

However that heat carries right up to the microwave and I have burned my hand grabbing the microwave handle...Again my fault!

But this gorgeous stainless steel microwave has a plastic handle which is random and what happens to plastic?  It cracks!  I'm not sure if you can see it but there are like 3 long cracks down the handle!

So I'm off to the MyRyan site because this is an appliance issue and GE is going to probably have to come out for this one.   We are only 2 months in people!!  This would never hold up the test of time!

UPDATED:
We have an appointment tomorrow with GE from 1-5.  This is what my week has looked like/is looking like:
Monday: PM stops by for 1.5 hours in the morning to see the tile and squeaky stairs.  2pm: RiteRug comes to see the tile mistake.  Was there 20-30 min.
Tuesday: Crew comes to look at leak at 9:30am.  Siding is flying off my house, shingles are going everywhere...by 12:30 they finally have a solution and see where the water is coming in.  Now it's getting new roofing in that area, as well as a drywall repair AGAIN on Friday.
Wednesday: GE anywhere between 1-5
Thursday: nothing
Friday: 9:00am drywall repair, stairs repair, squeaky spot repair, and several other small touch ups from the house settling.

FOUR DAYS THIS WEEK I am dealing with house stuff.  Seriously!  That's not to mention that all Rite Rug did was LOOK at my tile, measure it and reorder it...that does not include the fact they still have to come back and re-install it...


To Ella May: Yes the steam carries up and isn't pulled in by the vent.  Moving the microwave forward may be a good option.  I will mention this to GE tomorrow.

RickandNadase: Are you sure your handle isn't plastic?  Yes we have the Advantium 120 and on the website it states the door is a chromed plastic.  I don't understand why it is considering the oven doesn't have plastic handles...I am going to fight them to see if they can replace with a metal one.  The plastic isn't going to hold up if it's already looking crappy after only 2 months.

ugh!!!

Remember that small, perplexing bubble that came through after they fixed the dry wall for the third time after promising the got the leak?

We had a huge storm last night...
My husband must have gotten up and saw this so he put a cup there which overflowed onto my floor and my rug soaking it through.

Before long they week have to just re do all the drywall because the patch jobs are really starting to show!

Super not happy right now and I have a busy week as it is and now it will also be filled with repairs!!!  Rite rug is coming today to look at my master bath tile screw up!