Autum4- I love the exterior color you did.

Royn- How is UT? I went to college there, but I am happy to be back on the East Coast and in the South again.

So we finally figured out how to change the files so I will do the exterior in this post and then the floorplans in 2 other posts since we do not use photobucket.

Here is the 1st floor, except the main kitchen layot is totally different now.

2nd floor

Here is the new kitchen layout, we decided againt the angled island, and the corner pantry, so the new pantry is much, much larger, which suits our needs better since we are a family of 6, 1 Great Dane (looking for another one to add ot our family too), plus my parents.

That's gonna be a nice house Jennie. Sounds like you will have lots of people to fill it with.

Autumn4 - thanks for the sink info. I can't pick my color yet because I haven't settled on a countertop yet. I am trying to decide what type of sink I want and whether or not I want to upgrade to the silgranite type. I'm starting to find that there are some colors out there that just seem cold and mean. This is why I was rethinking my choice of a standard stainless one. Yours looks "soft" in the picture but pics on the computer don't always tell the truth so that's why I was asking. I haven't seen those sinks in person around here.

Thank y'all for the compliments on the brick. I was still unsure about it until the mortar turned whiter. Now I love it. Came home this evening and actually cooked supper. It has been awhile since I've taken the time to cook. Fried pork chops, rice and gravy and cornbread. Hubs was happy.

Autumn I forgot to tell you that I love your dog posing in the picture as if he/she is saying, "yep, this is mine"....lol. And nice concrete work too.

Autumn- good to hear the island location works well for silverware. I have ours in our current kitchen in that equivalent location also (except we have a peninsula not island).

I like your walkway too! You have such a pretty yard and rear elevation. very sharp.

guilty on saving Thomas trains. Although the table is just getting ready to go now.

congrats Musicgal!

good find Carson- can't wait to see the transformation of your new chair.

Jennie- It's hard for me to see your floorplan in detail because it's showing up small, but it looks like a nice plan :)

Autumn hit the nail on the head about the sink colors. When I compared the samples of Metallic Gray and Cinder the MG looked much lighter. In fact after I ordered I worried it would be too light. But now that it's in it doesn't seem too light at all. Relative to Cinder it is lighter though for sure. Some of Autumns photos look to me like I think mine does in real life, and I think my photos of Metallic Gray don't show the true color. I think it's a hard color to capture because I've seen other GW photos of MG and I think it makes it look a little taupe or truffle-y too which isn't the case at all in real life.

Hi All,
It's been over a week since I was able to check in, and there are more than 100 posts....too many to take it all in.
DH stayed here with our build, where so much is going on, while I went to FL again. My dad is in his final weeks, and I got a call last Saturday that he was unresponsive, so I flew down. It was an emotionally draining week, exhausting, but I'm glad I went. He came back to himself for a few days, and most of the family made it from various areas of the country to see him.
I came home to find I have lights! and an island countertop! (I was so afraid they'd broken it or lost it, as they didn't install it when they installed the rest of the stone). I got multiple calls re questions - dh dealt with the stain color for our flooring. Turns out to get the color we want it's going to take 2 coats of stain and an extra 4 days to dry. OK, we've waited this long, what's another few days? The flooring guy wanted to get it in one coat, and it wasn't working. So happy GC and dh dealt with that one. They start sanding and staining today.
I wasn't there to sort it out, so some of the plumbing fixtures got installed on the wrong sinks/showers. They will need to be moved. sigh. It'll all be worth it, right?
And the doorknobs - all those meetings to make sure everything was right? They ordered the exterior hardware for the back porch doors - 3 of them, on 3 1/2" centers instead of 5 1/2" centers. The combination lock door hardware was also wrong for the way the doors are drilled. And the closet hardware was incomplete. The door specialist from the supplier made a visit to our build site to make sure it was all right - and got it so wrong!
Oh, and I missed - totally spaced out - the weekend appt for the woman who is going to hang our wallpaper. She was nice enough to reschedule for next weekend.

Autumnre cabinet inserts - the one's repped on ebay are from the custom company in GA that everyone over on the kitchen forum here recommends. The pricing is amazingly reasonable. You buy-it-now, then send them your measurements and they make it to order. Company is Wood Hollow, and this is just one of the configs they can do.

Michelle, check out the appliances forum here, there is a wealth of information there, then once you make your decisions don't go back and second guess. I too mixed brands. Went Thermador for my range and got a steam oven, which I'm totally excited about. I got the "free" DW from thermador - all you need to buy is a range with them to get the dw included. It's made by Bosch. My refrig is Jenn-Aire, my wine refrig for bar is Monogram, my hood is Vent-A-Hood.
In the last house we built I put in GE monogram double wall ovens, and they were nothing but trouble - including a fire in the oven, behind the convection fan. Fortunately I was there to see it and turn oven off right away. The insulated covering on the wiring caught fire. The repair rep told us that that particular model was nothing but trouble. Another model that GE made was solid. Go figure. Our monogram refrig had temp problems - ice in one part while not cold enough in others, and ice-in-door problems. OTH we loved our wine refrig in monogram and bought another one. And, do consider buying online. We bought our appliances at Goedekers in St Louis when we built there, and they've developed a huge online sales program now. I know and like the owners philosophy of doing business. They're Christians who close their store on Sundays - but they stand behind all their sales. I'm ordering our washer and dryer from them. I'm getting Speed Queen this time. We have no water shortages here, so I'm wanting a Washer that uses water. The HE ones use less water, but a wash cycle is up to 90 minutes. That's crazy.

Someone up-thread was talking about not buying from Fergusons. Why? I think you're your own GC right? Go into Fergusons and ask for GC pricing. I know that there is regular retail, then the price that Ferguson's puts on their price tags. Then what they actually charge. All of our appliances, lighting and plumbing came through Fergusons, and all of it is 11-20% less than is priced on their showroom price tags, which is some % less than regular retail. It's worth checking out anyway, if your local supplier is being bought by Fergusons.

Illini great looking counters. Are you looking to sell your TTT table? My grandchildren are just acquiring TTT. I bought them the railroad lift bridge for Christmas. I'll be up there in July. My son is in Rockford, close enough to you right?

Hoosierbred, I feel for you. We are about at the same point I think. So ready to be done and in.

Everyone else's pics are looking wonderful. I absolutely loved the graphic someone posted a few weeks ago, re the emotional roller coaster that custom building entails.
For those of you starting, I'd say that the more choices you can nail down at the outset so they're worked into your build costs, the fewer surprises you're likely to have along the way. Some upgrades we didn't plan for but ended up with were 1. a Higher seer HVAC system. More $ now but significant savings down the road. 2. a whole house water filtration system. We just plain forgot to include it when spec'ing out. 3. a well pump for irrigation for the yard. Just a couple thousand $ now, but looking at irrigation for lawn, and finding out that the neighbors around here who water, but don't have well pumps are spending up to $400/month in the summer convinced us that the expense now is worth it.

I will try to get pics later this week. Don't know how much access I'll have to the house.

Thanks Marji- My mom already has dibs on the table- sorry!

Oh, man. SO much going on here! All the houses look fantastic.

JDez, I'm a huge fan of the brick :)

Autumn- That walkway is gorgeous! The curves make it look very welcoming, and should make landscaping a breeze.

robynstamps - Woohoo!! We are a little ways behind you as far as progress goes, but we've hit a few milestones around the same time. Isn't it crazy how much of a difference it makes when they connect all the pieces? We didn't realize how big everything actually was until they put the roof on :)

jenniekehr - Yay! So far for us the framing has been the most exciting part. The house goes up so fast and everything starts coming together. Congrats!

MushCreek - Nice job on the light fixtures. I like to see things being refurbished or re-purposed. Not sure if you ever watch HGTV, but there's a show called Rehab Addict. Nicole Curtis goes around and restores older (ready to be demolished, usually) homes- but the cool thing is she re-uses absolutely everything and the homes retain their original charm. Anyway, your project made me think of the show :)

We've zipped past all the fast paced stuff with the framers, so now we have to play the waiting game for each of the rest of the pieces. Next up should be siding and windows/doors... then it's on the the wiring/plumbing. Getting there, I'm just so darn impatient. I've just started an online class for work - hopefully that will keep me occupied this summer so time will go by quicker :)

I'm sooooo bummed!!! I just called my fabricator and told him that I was in town so that I could stop by and pick up a sample of the Branco Piranha Quartzite that I put on hold. He told me that he just installed it in a house and it was super soft! The guy at the slab yard told me it was harder than granite but turns out it is way softer. I guess it's not a true quartzite. Back to square one! I might have to stick with granite.

Thanks everyone, I can't wait until we can landscape and get the brick on the front finally! I am waiting to take a front pic until we at least have those dumpsters out of there and maybe some brick on......

Marjorie-sorry to hear about your Dad. I am sure emotions all over the place with so much going on. Glad you were able to get there and so many other relatives too. Definitely going with wood hollow. I have just been waiting to see what darn drawer is going to house what! Yay that your island is in and not lost, broken, wrong!

Oh - yes. Ferguson's. We bought nothing through them EXCEPT the Blanco sink and we gc'd. So definitely a smooth easy transaction and I didn't have to worry about taking delivery. They brought it straight to the fabricator. :) I did go to their show room in GR also. They did have one blanco sink to look at. I can't remember which color but I think black? I know it wasn't cinder and it wasn't metallic gray. Funny-I think I was worried the cinder would be too dark but once installed I think it's not too dark at all. Weird.

Jdez-yeah, she LOVES her yard and likes to sit right up front and browse the area. I think I figured with stainless, it scratches and dulls so very quickly and it's lighter. So if I went with blanco and chose a color that was the same or darker it would be fine. DH wanted metallic but I thought it was just too light. I think in his mind he wanted something that MATCHED stainless. Maybe one way to put it is that the metallic is silver and the cinder is gray? I hope you are able to check them out in real life. I do love it and it is one of my favorite things. It's so easy to maintain, no water spots, not loudness when water running, no scratches......bonus.

robyn-oh no. Well I guess disaster averted. That would be heartbreaking to install something you THINK is hard and then have it not function they way you expect - with kids and all. Something is out there and hopefully it will be even better than your first choice!

ladybrowncoat-oh I know it's so hard to be patient. I could beat that drum...oh well I guess I still AM beating that drum! LOL!

Gotta get back to work.

Carson- if you are feeling adventurous, I'll be onsite most of this week and next. Just email me and I will tell you how to get there. Highway 30 towards Huntsville and Veteran's Memorial going south will get you in the vicinity.

Marji- I am going to order those Wood Hollow inserts. I see nothing but good testimonials on GW about them.

Jennie, what a beautifully detailed plan to work from. Your gable details are very appealing.

It is raining today in the Houston area, so I went to Lowes to get some paint supplies for the trip up to the site. I am going to do a special paint treatment in the dining room and art niche that I did not want to pay the painter for:-) And if I don't like it, his crew will be there and they can just zoom over my creative efforts. It seems as though I have not done anything in this house yet to personalize it as I have in our other homes- so in that respect, I am wise enough to know what I want to handle and what is beyond my scope. I've been forbidden to paint the trays on this trip by DH:)

Think I dodged a bullet today with my fabricator who told me they are cutting the slabs tomorrow... um, without me seeing where the template is going. Not ok. So, it will be an early morning skirting city traffic on back roads to get up there before the cake is sliced, so to speak. Then, a meeting with Robert, the stamped concrete guy to finalize the driveway layout. Two one-piece Champion toilets are on their way, due to arrive tomorrow and tile is being laid upstairs as I type. I will be checking in less this week, but I hope all of everyone's progress goes well.

Echo deleted. I use what is considered a mobile device to post on GW, and apparently- when I hit the submission button, a firm touch produces twins;)

On another note, you know are getting close to the goal when you start posting things like this on Craigslist.

This post was edited by musicgal on Mon, Jun 9, 14 at 17:06

mlweaving_marji - sorry to hear about your dad :( re: Ferguson's, our builder goes through there for the lighting, appliances and plumbing. We got discounts for both lighting and appliances (we also got Thermador). Did you say you also got discounts on the plumbing fixtures? We made our selections and wanted to change (some were even "downgrades") sinks, some faucets etc, and the plumber (who gets stuff from Ferguson's) is charging us much more than Ferguson's showroom price, which we all know is not exactly cheap to begin with (Blanco sink that is ~$450 at Home Depot is ~$620 at Ferguson's and the price we got is even more than that. Wondering if this should be the case? Thank you.

Autumn you may not realize but you just said some sweet words to my ears "no loudness when the water runs"! OMG seriously? I'm so happy! I hate how loud the water is on my existing ss sink. It's like I can't hear a dang thing no matter how loud it is when the faucet is running. Wonderful info! I have NOT seen that ever come up in one of those silgranite threads as a 'pro'.

Also, LOL, I have to admit I was also thinking that metallic grey kind of matched stainless. Anyways, I'm so glad you love your sink and I can't wait to start using mine too :)

I don't have any pics yet but wood floors started today, more light fixtures, tiling, and the guys said they were going to install my pendants today too. I didn't get back there tonight to see but I'll be by tomorrow. Stone is complete on the fp. Love it. Butcherblock countertop on the bar is installed and oiled. Have to say, to die for. A little more minor grading in prep of driveway/patio pouring. I do have a pic of my fireplace.
[img]

Ilini-yes ma'am it's true and it's awesome!

Ferguson's-how could I forget! I sent them a link and they matched an online price! It had to have a picture of the item and the item number.

Illinigirl - love the fireplace stone! All your selections make me want to move to where you live and build there. Not in this freaking expensive land of nowhere haha!

Illini, I love that stone!

Marji, super good too see you post, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad though. :(I will definitely check out Fergusons for appliances...thanks for the tip. I'd love your feedback on our plans if you get a chance. :). Posted in another thread I started. :)

so this happened today....

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{{gwi:1454593}}

Turned out to be a better day today! Picked out all my plumbing fixtures, fireplace inserts, and brick, stone and stucco!

I am using the same stone on the outside of the house on my Great Room fireplace. Love it!!

autumn, I am in love with your sink. It's Blanco, right? I can't for the life of me find it on their site. The Performa Silgranite II is similar, but the back is curved whereas yours is not. And the smaller sink looks different on the website. Help!

Michelle1973 - I believe it is Precis Cascade. I saw it on the Blanco app.

Autumn.4 - Is cinder more on the grey or brown/taupe side? We chose truffle to go with a cocoa brown faucet, but my quartz is white with very light grey veining. Ferguson lady did not mention cinder. Just cafe brown, which is too brown and we have mostly greys, and anthracite, which is too dark. What do you think? Would cinder go with a Brizo cocoa brown faucet?

Northpole. I have a photo of both samples. I debated Cinder and Metallic Gray. I do think this in this photo that the MG looks lighter than it does installed, not sure why. You can see my MG installed sink earlier in this thread. I think because I used flash in the photo and that catches the 'metallic' more.

[img]

Metallic Gray:
[img]

Cinder:
[img]

They are both nice colors and really I don't think depending on your counter top, that you could not go wrong. Metallic gray does have a very subtle sparkle (very subtle) and Cinder is flat. The cinder does have a warmer undertone but it is not brown. I guess you could say it has a brownish undertone but the color definitely still reads gray. If you compared cinder to the cafe brown color it wouldn't look brown at all.

here is another closeup of Metallic Gray installed:
[img]{{gwi:1454597}}[/img]

What countertop are you going with?

edited to add: My designer did not have a cinder sample at first either. I had to ask for it. It's a bit of a newer color.

This post was edited by illinigirl on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 7:05

quickly - illini - cross posting as my phone is so slow that is awesome fireplace stone and the whole room with the beams and all, SWOON!

michelle-here is a link - it's a bit smaller than illini's, fits in a 33" sink base which I *needed*. The pic here looks way darker than I think mine looks installed. They will send free samples. Blanco Precis Cascade. It's a low divide and I really am enjoying it. :D

Café brown and truffle are more brown most definitely.

Gotta scoot, be back later. Love everyone's pics!

Northpole, I replied on your plumbing thread. The only thing I can think is that your plumber is adding on his %.
Where I live Fergusons is the only option. For hours in any direction. At least for plumbing supplies. There are two other major appliance dealers in the adjacent communities (Hilton Head and Bluffton). Fergusons beat the Appliance place in HH by a margin that was significant on appliance package, and came in right on the money with the other one. I will say that our builder likes to use F's. I was less than impressed with their staff knowledge on appliances. I'm one who does a lot of research, and it was clear to me at the outset that I knew far more than the sales rep there about the advantages/disadvantages of different models/brands. If it had been up to me I probably would have ordered from the store in Bluffton because the guy spent a lot of time going over with us the various diff configs with vent hoods. That said, the rep at F's knew her plumbing inside and out.

Michelle, I'll have to go look at your other thread. I haven't spent much time here since getting back. Lots of running around yesterday. In 1999, when I redid my kitchen in Traverse City, I got my appliances at Max's. Back then they were the only game in town, no Lowe's or HD or anything. I just looked at their website, and they evidently don't carry Thermador. I was really surprised. Looks like they do carry Dacor. Last house we built I put in Dacor cooktop and micro. Way too much micro for me, but it was pretty. I used it to pop popcorn and reheat coffee. I'm skipping the micro in this kitchen in favor of a Steam Oven. But I'm weird. Most people wouldn't consider living without a microwave. I liked my Dacor cooktop, but didn't like the downdraft. I'd done an island cooktop. I would not do that again. The downdraft was so powerful that it distorted the gas flame, to the point that I almost never used the downdraft. Come to think of it, there must be a Fergusons somewhere near you. GR is close enough to you to be ordering appliances, and I believe that's where Autumn and Illini are going to Fergusons.

Robyn, that's gorgeous stone!
And Carson, How exciting! Now, admit it, you're building a rather large house, but at this stage doesn't that slab look so small to you that you're worried? I remember when our foundation was poured and the framing done - we're on a crawl 4' above ground (they don't call this the low country for nuthin'). Anyway I remember how small I thought it looked when it was just a footprint on the dirt, and honestly I got a little panicked. Now everyone pulls up to our build and remarks how big it is! And it's not really. Another illusion with the wrap around porch.
Illini they are really flying now on your house. How is your hubby doing? Did he fully recover? Your FP wall looks really nice.
Music do you have pics yet of what you painted yesterday? I'd love to have the talent to paint. My contribution is coming soon, as soon as I can get in and get my sewing machines set up. I'm making all of our soft window treatments. I believe after I get some paperwork done this morning that I'm going to make the trek to the fabric place to order my drapery fabric for our master.

Yesterday our shower enclosure went in. I think we weren't paying attention when the she drew the bathrooms on the plans. Wish I'd found GW earlier and gone over some of these plan issues. Our upstairs bath was so small we ended up having the builder move a framing wall. And this shower enclosure in our mb is large enough to have a party in. It's pretty though. I've got to get on the stick and order towel bars and tp holders today too!

Thanks for the sink info, Autumn!

And, thanks Marji....also, we do have a Ferguson's in TC. So, it'll be very handy. :) They just redid their showroom here too....it's huge and overwhelming!

Northpole-I will have to look up that faucet. On phone now and that is a pain. Do you have time to order samples before you commit? Blanco sent them really quickly I thought.

Re sink colors- I find it interesting that ss is accepted to match everything and yet I stressed over which color would 'match'. Just a personal observation about myself. :)

illinigirl...love your choices! Where did you get your dining room fixture (drum light)? Love it!

Just starting our build and this site has been a wonderful resource!

bootown- thank you. The drum light is by kichler. We got most of our lighting choices from Kendal lighting showroom as we get a 35% discount from them through our builder. i'm sure you can find this same light at many places or online.

Robyn,
your choices look so nice together!

Marji- thanks for asking. Hubby is recovered in the sense that he's 100% back to work at full hours. He will likely never be exactly the same again due to the foot injury, however he is functioning as normal, able to do everything he did before work and activity wise.

Hello all. Thank you for all the help you've already provided as I've been lurking for a few months as we get ready to build. A logistical question- is there any way to open a thread on GW and be taken to the most recent postings? Am I the only one who scrolls all the way from the beginning? I just thought there must be an easier way but I can't figure it out! :) TIA!

Updates (or lack thereof) -

Still no framing. On 35th day since dig. We finally got some answers. They said framing will start late next week. That would be 2 weeks without any activity on the site. Am I the only one annoyed by this?!

Still no updated pricing from the plumbers from the Ferguson plumbing stuff we chose. We are waiting on pricing for the alternative freestanding tub Ferguson had suggested, since plumbers said they will charge extra $1000 for the tub if we get it somewhere else (not Ferguson). We were told last week we need to make final plumbing selections this week because plumbers will start ordering. First of all, I think we need the prices (which they have not come up with yet) to make these decisions. And secondly, I feel we are being rushed with these selections when really, there is no house to speak of yet. Maybe we will just camp out on the driveway haha!

What a nightmare.

Marji- I had to put out fires today, but this is the target!

Carson- yeah. A solid floor in a shifting world.

So, today I found slabs at the fabricator I didn't pick. Did y'all notice lightnin' coming down 'cause it surely did:-) But I am old, so it's par for the course.

Painting tomorrow after I check the new slabs. Yep.

My future laundry room

My upstairs heated/cooled storage closet so I won't have to store anything in the attic

Master closet

Master bedroom

Kitchen

Upstairs bonus room (it will remain this way until DH and I finish this sometime after the build

My little window at the top of the vaulted LR. The part with no Sheetrock will have cypress ship lap.

North Pole - this is the game and it will happen often. Try not to get too frustrated and use the extra time to price shop your selections. I know it is very hard but it will happen over and over again.

Robyn - love the stone and all your choices are beautiful.

Autumn4 - my samples have been ordered. I will have to order from the web because no one around here has the silgranite sinks.

Tamara - I'd like to know that too. I always just scroll to the bottom.

Mlweaving - sorry about your Dad. It was definitely nice to see you posting again. Don't worry about the bathrooms. You'll enjoy that big shower! Hope you ordered your towel bars and TP holders. I haven't even looked at those yet.

Illini - I like the metallic gray also. I'm going to have to wait for my samples and then put them with my countertops (which I haven't yet chosen) before I make a decision. I hadn't considered the silgranite until I found out the price of the SS in the size I want. So, why not spend a little more and get something better? It's just money, right?

Carson - you finally have a slab! I hope that snake got stuck underneath it...lol.

Musicgal - I hope you're enjoying your week at the new house and not melting in the Texas sun.

LadyBrownCoat - Any more progress? I hope so.

Hoosier - What's going on with y'all? I hope everything is going well. The finish line is in sight, no?

Musicgal - Love the niche. Good thing you were there to catch the fabricators before that turned in to a huge mess. I hope they get it right tomorrow.

JDez, thanks! I needed that. Excited to see what you pick out for your sink color. We have truffle written down, but I think I will order samples now too. Hopefully they arrive before we need to make final selections on plumbing.

Thanks JDez. As Scarlett says, tomorrow IS another day:)

This post was edited by musicgal on Wed, Jun 11, 14 at 0:13

About scrolling to the bottom....
I only just figured out a few weeks ago that if I click on "post a follow up" that it takes you right to the bottom. Even if you don't really want to post yet it's easier to start at the bottom and scroll up than the reverse especially on cell phones. Let me know how that works for you.

Jdez- looks great. Can't wait to see that ship lap!

This post was edited by illinigirl on Wed, Jun 11, 14 at 3:00

JDez, I've been out of town visiting our son and family. One of our granddaughters graduated from HS. I'm flying back today. DH stayed home as we finally got some action going again. Poor thing would have rather seen the family. BTW, I love your heated/cooled storage area. Wish we had done something like that.

Plumbers showed up early Monday morning and are supposed to be working all week. I guess we were on the top of their list after the parade of homes started June 7. Carpenter apparently finished up, too. DH worked with him building the fireplace mantel. I think the still had the sides to go but DH said he told the carpenter he'd just finish it up. I wish he wouldn't do that. We already paid carpenter. He would have come back. DH just takes on more and more even when he doesn't have to. He was supposed to have had a long night last night to get done things ready before plumbers came today. He had to install some shelving for our reverse osmosis filtering system in the garage. And, plumbers said they wouldn't install pedestals for washer and dryer so he had to do that so they can install W/D today. He also had to clean out the space in the pole barn where his half bath is going and where the radiant heat equipment will be mounted on the wall.

We are getting there but still too wet for septic laterals. Some day. :-)

Illinigirl, thank you so much! Definitely easier on my iPad, which I'm always using to look at GW. I've also really enjoyed reading/seeing your posts along the way!

Northpole- our builder prides himself on providing an accurate estimate/contract and that he has never had to ask for more money from a homeowner during the process (unless it was a change order that the homeowner initiated) so he has been adamant about us making selections that seem crazy at this point in the process. I feel your pain. I had myself so stressed about the darn tile in the guest baths...and we haven't even broken ground yet! It's great to know that we won't be nickeled and dimed to death down the line, but the pressure to make important decisions NOW is a bit much!

wow, no posts most of today. Where is everyone??

I just wanted to post a big relief that I think I have ordered all my cabinet/bath hardware for the whole house now. That was an ordeal. I could not find a full collection of matching items that I liked for each category (robe hook, hand towel hook, toilet paper holder). So I did a little mixing and matching. Thankfully I didn't WANT towel bars because the other two baths with showers had no place for a towel bar except over the toilet.

Oh, I have to take back my relief, I just realized I still need shower curtain rods. I am looking for a specific kind- curved double rod. Anyone use one they love????

But still, getting the hooks and the rest ordered feels good. The only issue being more than half my kitchen hardware is on backorder until July 11 (and hopefully not longer).

so what's up with everyone else today???

Hi illini, I worked all day at the site. I haven't worked that hard in months, not since we sold our house and moved into our rental. My GC had to take his wife in to a specialist in Houston as she is very sick right now. So, I hung out with the painters and stainers and worked on my art niche. Ran out of supplies so I go back to Home Deplorable tomorrow and buy some more.

Carson, I read the thread about your dirt dilemma... send some to me if you find some. Driveway guy is now coming on Monday, and I still have a hole in the ground out there.

I worked cleaning the floors until 3pm today, and have a blister to show for my endeavors. Picked up chunks of concrete, covered my whirlpool tub and chunked a few bags of assorted construction flotsam into the dumpster. Tile guy is coming Friday and I wanted to get a head start on prepping those floors. Much of the paint is done and I will take pics before I leave on Friday morning. My personal goal is getting the niche ready before I leave. My car therometer read 100 today. Painter felt sorry for me and trained one of his drying fans on me.

So, I am out in the garage, dripping sweat and caked with dust and one of my lookie loos saunters in looking for paint cans. That's what he said anyway:-) The painter and I exchanged a meaningful expression. I can only hope when we move in and I am taking a bath, I don't have people trying to get into the bathrooms looking for cans.

I have been away for a few days with friends in San Francisco. Got back last night to a tag on the door from UPS. Flooring samples I ordered from a US company. UPS wants money for brokerage and taxes. Brokerage and taxes on free samples? The sender put down a value of $200 for customs. So UPS is charging me $10 in taxes, and $51 for the service of collecting the $10 in taxes. $51 on a $200 package. Ugh. That's why I never order anything from the US that ships UPS. They charge ridiculous brokerage fees that they hide from US senders and pretend to have low shipping rates. I told them to send them back and let the sender know they tried to rip off one of their customers.

Still waiting on a new stair quote. Got quotes for floor joists, engineering fees and excavation. Excavation is the worst of the bunch. Who knew it costs so much to dig a hole?

BIL (GC) was looking at the floor joist plan, and apparently we have a beam in the basement at the bottom of the stairs that DH would be smacking his head on. He called the joist company, and apparently that's a typo, and it's fine. But now DH is concerned because we're supposed to have 9' ceilings in the basement, so there shouldn't be any danger of anyone whacking their head. Gotta track down the architect to get that verified.

Autumn, I love the curved walkway. And the dog. :-)

Whoa, this thread has really slowed down. We are waiting for the sheetrock finishers to do their thing. They feel like they will be done by next Wednesday. Next week, we are supposed to have the porches and carport completely finished while DH and I start painting the interior. I'm not holding my breath waiting on our building crew. Our builder took on three more houses in the last two months and he is getting on my last nerve with all of his unfulfilled timeline promises. J is about to open a can of whoop @#!

Yeah, we don't have anything going on. Waiting on the people to come wrap the house and then put on siding/windows/doors... then we get to move on to the interior work.

Can anyone give me an idea of when (at what point in the process) you had your septic/well dug? And also, how long it took (were they in and out in a few days)? We need a BAT septic system (best available technology) since we're on the bay, and supposedly it's super duper awesome so I kind of want to see it going in. Just not sure when to keep an eye out. Thanks!

wow, haven't been on for a while-so much to see and hear! Encouraging in many ways and also gives me an idea of what to look out for. Got sticker shock from builder's estimate so back to looking at what we need, what would be nice to have, and what we'd like to have. To be honest, we were under pressure to get everything spec'd out and didn't really pay attention to cost. Some of it was easy to cut back on and we're working on other areas. Love our architect but he designed a challenging build(based on what we were looking for-main floor living and maximize ocean view). Fortunately our builder has worked with him before and he really has gone out of his way to help us with all the permits needed to build in this central coast California town. We got our minor use permit back in Feb. and have been waiting for building permits. Architect checked with county, someone put a hold on it for geologic reasons.Said person is now on vacation until June 30th. Architect followed up(geologic had been approved already in the MUP). Since we live in Pa we are very grateful for all the help Gary has done in dealing with the county. Once we get the building permits and construction loan approval(which should happen in the next few days) we're hoping to break ground. On the home front, we're waiting to see what happens with my husband's company's reorganization. Our initial plan was to move to AZ(where he has been working for the past year) but now we don't know if he'll be there, in NJ or unemployed. (he retired from his previous company last year so we'll be okay, but have more wiggle room if he's working. However, if he's not working we'll probably rent in CA-much easier to keep an eye on the build). This limbo thing is taking a toll, but we know it will be good in the end.

Okay-probably way too much info for you, but gave me a chance to vent.Again I really appreciate reading everyone's stories-love the positive and supportive nature of this thread.

Illini, thanks for the tip on getting to the end of the thread!

Well, we officially released our architect to begin construction drawings. It took way longer than I thought to get to this point (all on DH and myself). Architect thinks 4 weeks for construction drawings. I hope it doesn't take that long. I'm gathering docs for construction loan. I've narrowed down some selections. What else should I be doing? We want to break ground ASAP.

I have empathy for everyone in a holding pattern. Seems like we will never get in. These last few weeks seem interminable.
CZ, welcome, and good luck.
Michelle, take a cue from Cz's first paragraph, and start looking at all of your selections. There is so much to pick out. And what you choose can have such a huge impact on the pricing. Our contractor wanted as much as possible chosen in advance, so that our pricing could be as accurate as possible.
Talk to your builder about the HVAC system. Do you cook seriously? If so (I do), you probably have some pretty specific requirements for your kitchen. try to start nailing those down.
Start looking at lighting. If you have prelim floor plan you can start to make decisions about where you want pendants, sconces, chandeliers, recessed etc. The more selections you make, the more it'll influence the future selections you make.
At some point you'll decide if you want to get an ID involved. Or a lighting consultant.
The selection process is HUGE. Get as much nailed down in advance as possible.
That, m'dear, was the fun part.

I have to say that too many of our selections at the point they were needed were backordered. I'm so happy to say that our really super special Arteriors Chandelier for our foyer just came. It's breathtaking! (It better be!!)
Today the fabric samples that I ordered for dining room chair upholstery came. I'm so anxious to see it in the house we're going out there after dinner.

CZ, I feel your pain! The graders will be at our property tomorrow to start moving dirt, and three weeks ago I was already having three hour meetings with the lighting, plumbing, and tile folks. Our builder wants to be able to give us the precise final cost, and to that end has really pressured us to nail down details that seem crazy at this point. Believe me, I want an accurate price, but some of it seems ridiculous! Serenity now!! :)