Can't believe its been 4 months since we closed - we are more 'settled' but have not started painting or decorating too much. We can't decide on colors but are thinking about doing a silver sage or silvermist in the main common space (family room/kitchen/morning room). Once we do some painting and hanging more pictures, I'll post some more pictures. Our biggest projects have been a sprinkler system, fence, and extending our driveway down all the way from the 3rd car garage (paid Ryan's contractor to do this when they re-did my sidewalks).
I haven't posted yet about our biggest complaint with Ryan - the front/side yard's grading/sod - which is still unresolved. But the PM's are still trying to follow up and get it fixed, so I will give a brief summary and hopefully a follow-up shortly. I am due to meet with the PM later this week. To give the PM's credit, they have been trying to follow up and get the issues resolved, and I do believe that the real issue lies with the landscaping company.
We closed in January (in Indiana), so we did not expect the sod to be done until April/May. We had a mild winter, and they ended up having sod for us and another neighbor (a block away from us) in late March. We had just had a sprinkler system installed.
On the day sod was supposed to go in, the did our neighbor's first - they were at their house first thing in the morning, and probably finished up around 3pm. It's worth noting that my yard is larger than theirs. They got here after 3, and were finished by the time I got home at 6. The sod was already nearly dead (more brown than green). We had to get the landscaper out here to get the sprinkler system up and running, and we were watering 3-4x a day by the 3rd day after the sod was installed. The sod was dead/crunchy, but with a ton of watering, it 'greened up'. Don't ask what my water bill was...
My real issue was the grading and the time they spent laying the sod. My yard is lumpy all over - especially on the sides and behind my 3rd car garage. My kids can not walk back there without tripping and falling every time. The landscaper (that did my sprinkler system) - not the one Ryan uses - explained that the grade should slope down from the side of the house to the lot line. My 'grade' is basically lumpy.
I have been trying to get the PM/Ryan's landscaper to fix the yard for a few months now.
They blamed 'settlement', but I blame the lack of time/care they spent on my yard.
It's also fair to note that about a month ago, they replaced my neighbors sod (the one done the same day as mine). The neighbors did not water like we did (no sprinkler system, and didn't use manual sprinklers either), and their sod went from 'dead' when installed, to 'really dead'. I complained to the PM - as I had been trying to get them to fix mine to no avail, and he said they hadn't closed yet when it was installed, and the 'dead' sod was deemed to be the builder's fault. I am 99% sure the neighbors were living there, and am still irked that they replaced that sod.
But hopefully they will come fill some areas with dirt or replace/repair some areas.
They did claim to 'roll' the yard once, but I swear they did not touch the yard the day they said they did (i.e. our hose was still laying out in the same place - where they should have moved it and rolled the yard). I did pay my landscaper $100 to roll the yard, and that helped a little, but its still not great.
We got a fence put too - our backyard is growing nicely (still some work to go, but good progress for seed!). Our dog loves it back there, and we love the privacy of the tree-line.
Some pictures are below - we are trying to come up with a plan for a paver patio along the back of the yard, and some landscaping where the 'weed patch' is near the back of my yard.
