By Annie P., Lombardo Homes Marketing Coordinator
This spring, our marketing manager asked me to take photos of a home in the pre-drywall phase. When I sheepishly responded, “Uhh… and that looks like what, exactly?” an idea was born. We decided that I’d go through the construction orientation walks our homebuyers experience – the pre-construction orientation, pre-drywall orientation, new home orientation, and new home verification walk – and write about them from my non-expert point of view.
Last month, Dale P. from our construction team took me through the pre-construction orientation. My second meeting was the pre-drywall orientation, which I had with Andrew D., another construction coordinator, at Legacy Farms in Macomb. Andrew led me through the home, room by room, making note of the room locations, door swings, cabinet layouts, flooring breaks, and options that had been installed to date. Here’s what I took away from the experience:
Dress for the weather.
I stressed out big time about what to wear to this appointment. I knew pulling out my new wedges was a bad idea, but beyond that, I was clueless. When I told Andrew about this at the meeting, he laughed and said that he recommends people simply dress for the weather. If it’s raining, bring your raincoat. If it’s the middle of winter, bundle up. You’ll be protected from the elements inside the building, but at the end of the day, you’re inside a house under construction that might not be insulated or temperature controlled yet.
Like at the pre-construction orientation, come to the pre-drywall orientation with questions.
You’ve been to your house already and most likely have questions about progress, the inner workings, etc. Write down these questions as you think of them and bring them to your pre-drywall orientation.
Bring your camera, but save your photos for after the orientation.
You’ll want to take photos of the home – partly for sentimental purposes, but also so you know where the plumbing is and don’t accidentally try to screw anything into the pipe – but attempting to take photos during the orientation is distracting for both yourself and your construction coordinator. Focus on your home during the appointment, then go nuts with your camera afterwards.
Humidity control is a big deal.
Your construction coordinator will show you where they’ll put the caulking and spray foam, if it isn’t already in when you walk the home. Humidity is covered at multiple stages of the construction process, and with good reason – too little humidity can cause wood flooring issues, trim/cabinet issues, and nail pops and drywall cracks, while too much humidity can lead to moisture on the windows, damp or musty basements, and mold. We recommend maintaining a relative humidity of 35-45%. Humidifiers and dehumidifiers are your friends.
The house will look smaller than it is.
The house I walked was a Lakeland. We’ve had two Lakeland decorated models in the last few years – one in Macomb Township and another that we recently sold in Lyon Township – so I’ve walked this floor plan numerous times and felt familiar with the layout. This home did feel smaller than the other Lakelands I had seen. Since the drywall isn’t up yet, you can peer through the walls and see the entire second floor at once; from where I was standing in the back corner of the master bedroom, I could see the main bath, the loft, and even the window seat in the front bedroom on the opposite side of the home. That played tricks on my depth perception and made the space seem smaller than I knew it was.
The pre-construction orientation opened my eyes to the construction process, but the pre-drywall orientation gave me a deeper look into the nuts and bolts (no pun intended) of construction. It’s an exciting time to view your home – the rooms are taking shape, options are beginning to get installed, and it’s starting to look like a house. I was excited to see it at this stage of construction, and it wasn’t even my home!
This story is the second in a four-part series. Check out our previous blog post covering the pre-construction orientation, then stay tuned for our blog posts about the new home orientation walk and new home verification walk.
