It's been a pretty action-packed week and a half around the site.

Last week, the rough electrical and rough plumbing was done, and the HVAC guys have been installing lots and lots of duct work. The garage floor and porch were poured, and turned out really good.

So far this week, I've insulated the garage (with some help from B. Fynewever!), run RG-6 (coaxial cable) and speaker wire in the walls (the electricians ran the CAT-5).

Tomorrow, we go through the house with J and L, just to make sure everything is roughed in where we want it. Also tomorrow, the drywallers start hanging drywall in the garage, and the carpenters will trim out the exterior of the window/doors. Thursday, the insulation guys come to insulate the main living area, and the painter comes to paint the exterior trim. Friday, the insulation guys should be finishing up, and we'll dig out the areas where I'm going to start building retaining walls. The only reason that retaining walls are sort of a priority at this point is because the air conditioner compressor is located in an area that will be held in place with one of the walls. Yippee.

I'm just glad I'm done insulating. What an itchy mess. :)

On we go!

Okay, I think it's abundantly clear that I suck at blogging, right? :)

Since the last update, there's been lots of activity.

As it stands right now, the house is framed in, the roof is shingled, and the windows are installed. The plumbing, electrical, and HVAC folks were there today doing their thing. By the end of the week, the rough plumbing, electrical, and HVAC should be pretty much done.

We're having a little issue with the front door (can't seem to find the door we wanted), but that's pretty minor. Hopefully, we can have that resolved by the end of the week and get the doors on, which lets us do the siding.

So far, due to a slight issue with the foundation, and the heavy rains a couple weeks ago, I think we're a week or two behind, but should still be moving in around Thanksgiving.

WooHoo!

It's been awhile since I've updated, huh?

It's been an eventful two months. Here's the bullet point version:

• I got fed up with the original mortgage banker and changed lenders.
• We scrapped the original floor plan.
• We got approved for a mortgage through the new bank...........
• .......which then upped their LTV ratios and qualifications for construction financing (the other area banks are following suit.)
• We came up with a new floor plan.
• Then tweaked it.
• Then found a way to get the house built without a construction loan.

As we stand right now, we're building a ~1,700 square foot, 3 bedroom/2 full-bath walkout ranch w/ three stall garage. There are preliminary plans for two more bedrooms, a full bath, and large family room in the basement.

We've approved the plans, and signed the contract. We'll apply for permits on Monday, and have preliminary plans to dig the hole first thing in the morning on Friday, 8/1 and pour footings the same afternoon.

Here we go!

Today, we got the final floor plans and elevations from J. He and his assistant, who we'll call L, made some minor tweaks to the outside of the house to make it flow and tie together a little better. We were going for a little more of a craftsman style, and he made some tweaks that made it happen. I think it's fair to say that we love what he did.

J's got the plans out for bidding, and L is going to put together a couple exterior color options for us. We should have J's budget number in about a week and a half. Silly J, I've already got the budget number. :)

We're about 30 - 40% moved (I'd guess), and we're going to finish it up this weekend. We close on this house on 6/1, and have three days after to be out, but we're going to see if we can't surprise the buyer at close, and hand over the keys.

The journey continues......

Tonight, J stopped by with the revised floor plans and front elevation. We liked what we saw - no changes.

He's going to get it converted to prints, and we'll see the whole package around the end of next week.

At that point, he'll send it out for bids, and I'll finalize the financing.

We're on schedule to have a hole dug around 6/1.

WooHoo!

Nothing really new to report - J is working on the revised floor plan and elevations.

<--- Here's a picture of the lot.

Yesterday morning, we took a look at the completed floor plans and elevations from J (the builder). Once again, he pretty much nailed what we were looking for.

However, after some discussion and research, we've decided to change course. We looked at the neighboring houses in the development we'll be building in, and the houses to the left and right of us are ~2,000 and 1,528 square feet, respectively. Our plans came to ~2,300 square feet - we didn't want to be in the position of being the largest house in the immediate area -not a very wise financial move.

What we're now going to do is keep our main floor plan, and build three bedrooms, a full bath, a family room, and storage into the basement, instead of putting bedrooms on a second level. We're also going to keep the elevations (with the exception of removing the second level.) Besides being a better fit for the neighborhood, this allows better HVAC into the bedrooms, keeps the bedrooms quieter, and gives us a lot more living space for less money.

We'll get revised plans next week, allow a second week for revisions, a third/fourth for bids, and will likely break ground around Memorial Day. J, with a straight face, quoted us three months for completion - we'll see if he can deliver.

The journey continues.......