Framewalk

My framewalk today went very well aside from all the muddiness at the construction site from the last three days of rain. Tried my best not to get it all over my clothes but I lost the battle. Anyway, I met with Matt from Mattamy (I'm pretty sure Mattamy wasn't named after him). He was really nice. I found out that he's from England and has been in Ottawa for four years. He currently lives in a Mattamy home in Fairwinds in Kanata.

He took me around the house to each room. He pointed out a bunch of things including the electrical, structural things, measurements, etc. Everthing seemed to be in the right place and in order. Potlights and switches are in good locations, and all of the extra outlets/cabling I bought were there. All of the insulation and vapour barrier was up too.

Some interesting things that I learned:

• the common walls (i.e. ones that are shared with a neighbour) are double drywalled (two layers). I'll be curious how much sound and noise will come through the walls;
• he mentioned that it will likely be that joints where drywall meets certain framed areas may buckle and separate because of the house settling and the moisture/air stabilizes. This will be taken care of at the 1-year inspection;
• there is a switch which operates the main bathroom fan located on the main level near the thermostat. Makes you wonder how bad one's business could be to have to turn on the fan from downstairs, eh? :) Actually, it's just to help push air out especially during the first year to reduce buckling/shifting/separating mentioned previously;
• bathroom GFI switches are all connected to one switch located in the powder room;
• new code has all of the bedroom switches connected to a GFI type switch in the main circuit panel.

Matt said that everything is still on schedule and that the drywalling will commence early the following week. There is still a few little things to take care of in my house prior to the drywalling. Outside, they have started to do the brick work.

I took a bunch of pictures while I was there. It will be handy to have them in the future if I'm ever wondering what's behind my walls. I've uploaded some of those pics on my picasaweb album.

Mortgage Rate Approved

So, I got word from my mortgage guy, Bruno, at TD Canada Trust that I will be getting a 3.75% 5-year fixed rate. Right now, the current posted 5-year fixed rate is 5.25% so I'm basically getting 1.5% off the posted rate. I'm happy with that. I could probably get a slightly lower rate if I went to a smaller lender but I've been quite happy with the service that I've gotten from Bruno since I've signed my purchase agreement last year.

To recap, here are the rates I was guaranteed since I signed last year in July:

July 2008: 5.9%
Aug 2008: 5.6%
Dec 2008: 5.5%
Jan 2009: 4.54%
April 7th 2009: 4.44%
April 26th 2009: 4.0%
May 2009 (final): 3.75%

I decided to do a 5-year fixed rate for stability and piece of mind. I could have gone with a variable rate mortgage (currently at 2.85% which is bank prime + 0.6%) since the prime lending rate is at an all-time low. But my gut is telling me that mortgage rates have bottomed out and that it will only go up in the future. When that will be, I don't know but I'm content with riding my 3.75% over the next five years.

Framewalk scheduled!!!

I just received a call from Mattamy to schedule my framewalk for tomorrow at 3pm. At this stage, it basically means that the house is ready for dry walling. So, all the electrical, plumbing, hvac, etc is all done. I think it's a great idea that Mattamy does this as it gives you an opportunity to see what's behind your walls before they seal it up. Also, you can ensure that stuff like light fixtures, electrical outlets, cable outlets, etc are where you want them to be. I plan on taking lots of pictures when I'm there tomorrow.

Washer & Dryer bought!

After many months of researching and looking for deals, I ordered a washer and dryer for the new home. I went with the Samsung WF337AAL front load washer and the matching DV337AEL dryer. What attracted me to this particular model was Samsung's VRT (Vibration Reduction Technology). It utilizes ball bearings which greatly reduces vibrations due to unbalanced loads. I was a little skeptical about it but I went to Brault & Martineau in Gatineau where they had one on demo mode. When it enters its spin mode, it really does self-balance itself and is pretty quiet and vibration free. Since the laundry room backs onto my daughter's bedroom, I wanted to make sure the washer and dryer would be as quiet as possible especially since I usually do laundry at nighttime. The reviews seem decent on this set and people seem generally happy with them although some people reported having a hard time sourcing parts. If you want something similar to Samsung for a little less money, Sears has a Kenmore version of this washer and dryer. It's pretty much the same except for some minor differences.

I ended up buying the Samsung pair at Sears after price matching Future Shop's $1980 price. Sears has a free delivery promotion and it was double Sears Club points if you use your Sears card. I didn't have a Sears card but a friend of mine does. So I benefited from the free delivery promo and she got a bunch of Sears Club Points. :) Also, the washer is PST exempt because it is considered an EnergyStar appliance.

Edit: July 3/09 -> Future Shop has its own exclusive Samsung laundry pair. The model series has a '229' in it. Probably very similar to the Kenmore versions in terms of number of features. And priced at around $2000.

Moving along

I visited my lot tonight and things are progressing very nicely. Check out the pics that I've uploaded starting with this one (if anyone from Mattamy Corp is reading this, as a law abiding citizen, I would never consider trespassing on a construction site :) ). The stair cases have been installed. Plumbing, HVAC and electrical have all been started and looks near completion. The furnace has been put in place as well (I noticed it's a Armana model).

The entire area is progressing. Block 501 has its outer brick completed and was having its siding installed while I was there. Block 507's outer brick is about 70% complete. I also noticed that a skid of bricks for my block was sitting out front. So I imagine that my block will be up next for its outer brick.

Greetings from Mattamy

I received a little postcard from Mattamy saying that the roof of my house is complete and that the framewalk will be happening in the near future. According to my spy photographer, looks like their story checks out.

Genie Excelerator Garage Door Opener

I pulled the trigger on a garage door opener. I went with the Genie Excelerator. It is a screw-drive type garage door opener. What's unique about this one is that it opens the garage door at twice the speed. Nice if you're the impatient type. :) It closes at "regular" speeds and has a soft stop when it gets to the end. I never heard of screw-drive openers until I saw one at my friend's place. He's had his Excelerator for almost five years and has had no problems. It's also very quiet which is a critical factor for me as there is a bedroom right above the garage so I want to minimize the amount of noise that can be heard from inside. I'm not sure if a belt-drive is quieter but I think they're pretty close. I may replace the rollers of the garage door to the nylon type to try to make it even quieter. I bought the Genie at Canadian Tire, it was on sale for $270 from a regular price of $350. It comes with two remotes, wall control and a wireless external keypad.