Before our pre construction meeting, I did ample research and read blogs of people who had their homes built. From that research and my own curiosity, I compiled a list of questions that we asked our project manager during our pre construction meeting:
- Will there be any flooring under the island and cabinets?
- Can we keep all the leftover materials?
- I’ll trust your judgement on this. Will you be able to caulk the seams between counter-tops and cabinets? Or is it even necessary?
- Will you ensure the foundation outer footer/wall seams are absolutely clear of debris before applying the black sealant?
- Will the garage floor be pitched to allow water to drain away from the house structure (drainpipe)?
- Will we be presented with vendor warranties on top of Ryan Homes warranties?
- Nail pops seems to be a common complaint, but I also know that it’s a realistic thing that may happen naturally. Is there a way that it can be a reduced problem?
- Another semi-common complaint is water leaking from the master bath, causing leaky kitchen ceilings. Is there a way to double-check this not being an issue?
- Will we have smooth or rough ceilings?
- Would we be able to have an additional garage light switch by front door?
- Will we have soft closed drawers?
- Will there be an outlet and light in attic?
- Do you have or will we be provided the model numbers of the appliances that come with the home?
- Will we have an outlet in pantry?
- How many windows will we have and can we measure for blinds?
- What are the dimensions floor to ceiling in the family room?
- Wanted to verify: Could we have one of the water spigots inside of garage?
- Will there be pipe insulation behind walls?
- I’ve heard common complaints about thin walls and floors in general. Would we be able to add extra insulation, specifically in the garage, laundry room and master bedroom? If not, would it be easy to install later?
- I know this may be an unusual question, but how many inches apart do you nail the sub-flooring? Can we request that you nail in between?
- In looking at reviews, I noticed a semi-common complaint about the condition of roofing. Can you explain what goes into the roofing and/or if there are any upgradable options?
- I believe the thermostats are controlled by floor, but will they be controlled by zones/rooms?
- We opted to get attic steps added later, but we wanted to know will the attic be walkable or suitable for storage?
- Will the garage walls be painted?
- Another common complaint that was noticed was the condition of the driveway. I assume since we are building in the summer, we should be ok, but we wanted to know will the driveway and garage floor be sealed to prevent cracking?
- What type of foundation (crawl space, slab) will we have?
- How many HVAC units will we have and where will they be located? Is this a heat pump system?
- Are window blinds included with the house? If no, can we get them through you (and for what cost)?
- Wanted to verify: Could we have one outlet tied to a switch on the inside of the house for Christmas lights, etc.?
- What are the measurements needed for us to buy a refrigerator?
- Will there be TV Mounts? If so, what’s the largest size?
- What are the dimensions of the backyard for fencing?
- Based on our grade of lot, will we have a reasonably flat driveway? Not fond of inclines at all!
- How far back into the tree line does our property extend?
- Can we add an outlet to the garage (for a deep freezer)? Rough-in for fridge water line in garage?
- Will there be outlets to the master bedroom closet?
- Will all of the windows have screens?
- Location of water/ gas meters?
- My in-laws mentioned Towel and Toilet Paper holders in bathrooms easily coming off the walls. One thought I had was to put in an extra 2×4 so they don’t just screw into the drywall but wood. Is that doable? Or is there another way to assure the stabilization of those?
- How long have you been a PM?
- When can we visit?
- How do we contact you?
- What is your preferred method of contact?
- When and how do we get updates?
- What are the estimated milestones? When is the planned closing date?
- Home inspector protocol.