Building from the ground up? Come on in!

[Camdynlyn]

Welcome! If you are building a house please feel free to post updates on your property and include pictures.

A little about me. Hubby and I found a house in it's early building stages back in October of 2004. We bought it and moved in and couldn't have been happier... then, hubby got a new job that required us to move. We were back on the hunt, put the house on the market and it sold 2 days later. We are now building our new house.

The stats:
Sq. Ft:2711 sq. ft./2 stories
Estimated date of Closing:: Oct 10, 2005
1/3 of an acre on a corner lot

Drawing of house (ours will not be this color)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da39b3127cce911e54879f0300000016109AYuGjFk2am

Downstairs
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da39b3127cce911e61ffdff900000016109AYuGjFk2am

Upstairs
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da39b3127cce911e61e45ed200000016109AYuGjFk2am

[Camdynlyn]

Current photos:

We have just had our preconstruction walkthrough and discussed the fine details of the plans to make sure everyone is on the same page. We have our foundation poured and framing was supposed to start sometime this week. We are planning on riding down there either today or tomorrow to see what has happened, if anything. We have a tentative closing date of October 10 if the rain holds off. Keep your fingers crossed because I am going crazy in this 1 bedroom apartment for the temporary time!! :mad:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d838b3127cce920a841eaf9d00000016109AYuGjFk2amh ttp://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d838b3127cce920a84152ea600000016109AYuGjFk2am

[MrsWilson]

I wish I could join this thread, but alas we are still living in the barn...
I just wanted to say that I love the quote you have from "Will and Grace"! Love the show and that's one of my favorite quotes! Oh, and you tentative date is my 1 yr anniversary, so it isn't that bad! :) Good luck!

[Camdynlyn]

Thanks MrsWilson! I LOVE Will and Grace too!

[ManteoChik]

Hey Summer, I'm a new visitor over here. I have posted in your journal on the WC a few times, I'm a fellow NCer! I saw that you were coming over here and figured I'd join and check things out. I hate the new WC format.....I'm still a someday (been with my boyfriend for over 5 1/2 years) just a little sad there is no Someday Journal over here but I guess I can make one somewhere else. Anyway I just wanted to say hello and it looks like everything with the house is coming along!

[kmmommy]

Summer ~ I love the house you're building. I used to post in you WC journal once in a blue moon, but read along a lot! (Maybe I should be a pro reader too)! :p

[Camdynlyn]

Courtney: Do you live in the OBX? I can't remember if you have ever said or not. Also, there are going to be journals here but they won't (if it goes as everyone has said) be specified like Wedding, NW or Somedays. It will just be a journal.

Kelly: Why thank you, ma'am. Damn lurkers!!! :p You will HAVE to post now in my new journal when I get one. You ARE on the same level as me now with our Way too Cool!

****

I think Hubby and I are going to take a trip to see the house today. I am praying I see some type of wood/framing started. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!!

[kmmommy]

Fingers crossed!

[justHB]

I'm not building, but I love seeing the houses all you ladies are. I'll be here lurking.

[ManteoChik]

Summer Yes, I live on the Outer Banks (Manteo to be exact - Roanoke Island). I am in Daytona Beach, FL until next May finishing my last year of school and then I plan on moving back to NC to start a photography studio. I miss NC a lot and can't wait to get back. This will have been the longest two years of my life....lol.

[mrsface]

Summer- I love your floor plan!!

I'm not actually the one building a house, but my mom is and I am very involved in the process with her. So, I am going to join this thread and live vicariously through her :o .

She found the builder and floor plan that she wants and just barely chose a lot- a corner right across the street from a park. It will be so fabulous! The home she chose is a brand new plan so the builders don't have it on their website yet. I'll scan in the floorplan as soon as I get a chance.

We were up until 2 am going over the pages and pages of options- could they make it any more confusing!!! I think we got a pretty good idea of what we'll do, though. The meeting with the options coordinator will be in (hopefully) 3 weeks. We are so excited!!!

Andrea

[kemaji]

We're not building now, but someday we want to design and build a craftsman style house, so I plan on lurking. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from everyone here.

[Camdynlyn]

Hello all! Well, NOTHING was done. No wood, no framing, NOTHING! Bugger!

Courtney: Daytona, you say? I had my Bachelorette party in Titusville near there. Fun fun!

Andrea: My parents are building. THey are trying to finalize their plans now and already have a lot. It is 2nd row from the Intercoastal waterway. You will be able to see the water from the top floor and the lookout at the top. I can't wait to see it!! I will have to post theirs as well along the way!

[alliannie]

Not buildng yet but will be doing that or buying within the next year so I will lurk here to get ideas. I would much rather build and get what I want though!

[Cohl]

Not building yet but will be within the next year or so. Hope I can learn the ins and outs from you girls.

Nicole

[Camdynlyn]

Bumping for Kam!

[kam]

Thanks Camdynlyn!

We weren't there for the start of building. We found our house when it was just being framed. We gave ourselves 6 months to search and it was the third house we looked at. We looked in other communities and while the houses were nice, it didn't give us a big yard, a house set far back from the road and/or privacy. This gave us all three.

Things have gone by really quickly for us. However, because everything is so quick, we need to visit each and every day to ensure they're being done right. Luckily, our new neighbor knows what to look for and he has taken on this responsibility. Things we never knew to look for he's pointed out and we've had fixed.

Other things were more obvious. The cable and phone box, for example, was in the completely wrong place. Part of the problems was because we came in late. Plans were made before we made these decisions and the left hand neglected to talk to the right. The only problem we have now is the lack of a hose spicket on the right hand side of the house. There are two on the left hand side (you know, facing the neighbor so we can water their house), but nothing facing our large yard. They keep promising it but so far we haven't seen it.

We've made the decisions on the appliances (stainless, yummy), the flooring, the carpeting, etc.

We've just completed the drywall.

Here's how we found it at first:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/DSC00003.bmp

Beginning the siding:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/HouseSide2Siding6-22-05.jpg

And we're done. Well, except for the spicket you'll notice. They'll have to tear down drywall for that one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/HouseSided6-25-05.jpg

Trying to show the land. Missing the little stream. While the neighbor on the left is close (about 6 feet), the other side our neighbors is no one. The woods in the back are ours and protected by the county so no chance of getting neighbors back there (well, except for the squirrels to our cats and dogs delight):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/HouseStreetView6-26-05.jpg

[kam]

More house. I'm obsessed so forgive me. It's 2150 sq feet which may seem like a bit much for only two people but we don't want to grow out of the house. More animals to adopt after all ;)

First floor. We're making the dining room into the libraray since the kitchen is eat-in and we don't have formal entertaining, well, ever. We're a casual couple.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/colony_f01.gif

Second floor. Second bedroom is my DH's office. Third bedroom is guest room. The game room, on the other hand, is my office. Mine! All mine! ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/colony_f02.gif

[Oakley]

Hi Everyone!
Summer- thanks for starting this!

My husband and I are in the process of building our house right now. We moved to this area end of March, signed our contract April 23rd and building began on June 14th!

Stats
Me: Kate
3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath
2000 sq foot
Corner lot with woods across that won’t be built on
Walkout basement (we think this is really cool because we moved from FL where there are no basements)
Estimated closing date: Middle of September

This is what our house will look like (except all siding instead of brick)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da07b3127cce9103455ef01d00000016109AauWLZq3ao

Floor plan
http://www.ryanhomes.com/homeimages/fSebastian2.gif
http://www.ryanhomes.com/homeimages/fSebastian3.gif
Day we signed our contract
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da05b3127cce911bc2fa003c00000016109AauWLZq3ao
Tuesday 6/14
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d837b3127cce926e3d42e08100000026109AauWLZq3ao
Wednesday 6/15
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d837b3127cce926e337c618800000026109AauWLZq3ao

[Oakley]

Oops- too many pics for one post! :o

Saturday 6/18
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d801b3127cce921807526ab400000026109AauWLZq3ao
Friday 6/24 (the wall frames were removed)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d809b3127cce92221304efdf00000026109AauWLZq3ao

And now that I've taken up WAYY too much room...
Summer- I hope you see some progress on your house when you visit!
Kamyour house is gorgeous!

I can't wait to see more houses!

[Camdynlyn]

Looking good girls! :) It is raining here (and rained yesterday afternoon) and is supposed to rain every afternoon this week so I am not sure how much will actually be done! :( Boo!

[Hangin'in]

DH and I are building a house right now. We were looking at another house by a different builder and just for kicks, we went through the house next door. We loved the layout, and we went back several times. We ran into the builder and he showed us which lots we could build that house on. Our property backs up to an apartment complex, but it is completely fenced. We intend to plant very fast growing trees to block the view!

Here are some pictures:
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3C%3B%3B%3A%3B23232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7% 3A%3D843%3DXROQDF%3E2323898%3C%3B%3C996ot1lsi
It's 1800 SF

Perfect for the 2 of us.

Our Lot:
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3C%3B%3B%3A%3B23232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7% 3A%3D843%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3B%3A%3A2%3C734ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3C%3B%3B%3A%3B23232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7% 3A%3D843%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3B%3A%3A2%3B674ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3C%3B%3B%3A%3B23232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7% 3A%3D843%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3B%3A%3A2%3C752ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3C%3B%3B%3A%3B23232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A 7%3A%3D843%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3B%3A%3A2%3B6%3A4ot1ls i

I have more pictures, but I haven't uploaded them yet. We will be going down after work today... they might have poured the slab!

[Camdynlyn]

Hangin in: That floor plan looks a lot like my other house we just built. I loved the split floor plan.

[chandy]

We're building too! We'll probably close in mid August. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself :D

Here's a pic of our elevation
http://www.winkflash.com/photo/imagew2.aspx?i=18643684&c=570761&z=0&v=91ff41d0eb574b0a00ab47b68b5fbc61d4789e5b698d5270 078a2ffc4ea820c24dfa1e870cd218e5

and our floorplan
http://www.winkflash.com/photo/imagew2.aspx?i=18646949&c=570761&z=0&v=91ff41d0eb574b0a00ab47b68b5fbc61d4789e5b698d5270 078a2ffc4ea820c24dfa1e870cd218e5

Isn't it interesting to see how house styles vary in different parts of the country?

[Hangin'in]

We drove to our lot yesterday after work... they have poured the slab! Pretty soon we'll have walls! I can't believe how fast everything is moving!

[andrew&shannah]

Housing here is crazy expensive so we aren't building great SFHs like the rest but we are building a townhouse! We are scheduled to close on 7/26!

Some progress pictures...

The lot on the day we did our contract
http://images.snapfish.com/3443292%3B23232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2335%3D%3A6%3C%3D%3C 3%3C%3DXROQDF%3E2323764%3C46932ot1lsi

Foundation
http://images.snapfish.com/3443292%3B23232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2335%3D%3A6%3C%3D%3C 3%3C%3DXROQDF%3E232378846%3B849ot1lsi

Framed view of the back
http://images.snapfish.com/3443292%3B23232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2335%3D%3A6%3C%3D% 3C3%3C%3DXROQDF%3E232379373523%3Aot1lsi

Front 2 weeks ago
http://images.snapfish.com/3443292%3B23232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2335%3D%3A6%3C%3D%3C 3%3C%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3B2%3A3%3B26%3Aot1lsi

[Oakley]

andrew&shannah - Gorgeous townhouse! When are they going to be finished?

[andrew&shannah]

Oakley
Thanks! We close on the 26th of July! I can't wait. We were there last night and they have put in the carpet, appliances, flooring and all the lighting. It is pretty much done from what I can see but I am sure there are some behind the scenes stuff to do.
Oh, they painted our door too...burgundy just as I had hoped :)

Your house is going to be awesome! I love the layout of your kitchen!!!

[Camdynlyn]

Looking good, Shannah!

[LuluGirl]

I'm so envious Shannah ! I'm just now starting construction on a new house in Oregon. I just moved here from AZ.

Here's the picture of the model of the house...hopefully this image shows up...

http://www.arborhomes.com/pics/elevations/wellington_3696_big.jpg

I just chose all my options for the house this week. I'm getting really excited now. :)

What options have you ladies chosen for you homes? I think I scared the designer at first with what I picked out, until I showed her pictures of my furniture. yes...I'm so anal, that I printed out pictures of my furniture, furniture I plan to buy, along with pics of the flooring and cabinets I wanted and put them all together in a photo album. LOL!

[kam]

What options have you ladies chosen for you homes?

I think we chose everything. We chose the outside colors, inside colors, the additions, the flooring for all rooms, whether or not we wanted Tyvek, the cabinetry, the hardware on the cabinets, the bathroom extras, the appliances (stainless....mrowr I love that so much), the location of the outlets (cable, phone and electric). Some of the things they offered were ridiculously expensive (garage door opener for $600? I don't think so when it can be done for $200).

The only regret we have was coming upon the house so late. We wanted a vaulted ceiling upstairs as well but we couldn't do this since the roof was already on. That was the only thing we couldn't change. We also had literally a day to make all these decisions.

Of course, because choices were made and we changed them all, there have been some mistakes along the way.

Our neighbor didn't have any decisions, so I guess we're lucky!

[LuluGirl]

We chose the outside colors, inside colors, the additions, the flooring for all rooms, whether or not we wanted Tyvek, the cabinetry, the hardware on the cabinets, the bathroom extras, the appliances (stainless....mrowr I love that so much),

Yes, that's what I got to choose too. :) I chose a laminate wood flooring called Aged Rum Cherry - it's a really dark cherry wood finish - that's to go throughout the bottom floor. I'll have white cabinets in the kitchen with a light-colored granite for the countertops. I chose to do the standard white appliances because they didn't offer the option to get the appliances I did want. For the fireplace, I'm going to have a white mantle and black granite (sounds weird, but I think it's going to look good).

For the top floor, I'm going to have white carpet (I'm single and live by myself so I'm not worried about it getting dirty) and I'll have the masterbathroom done in a aqua blue tile. I plan to put wainscotting (spelling?) in the bathroom and master bedroom and paint the top part of the wall a coordinating color.

I'm living in a real crap apartment right now, so the only thing pulling me through the next few months will be my plans for decorating this house. LOL

[Oakley]

andrew&shannah- Thank you! It will be nice when you can show us some inside pictures as well!

LuluGirl - I can't see your pictures. :( Sounds like you were VERY organized when picking out options- I think it's a good thing!

kam - At least you guys bought the house in time to make the options! How frustrating if you got in too late to do that.

We got a lot of the options as well. Our base prices of our house was super inexpensive (at least to us because we come from the crazy south Florida market) and the builder's incentive was 50% off $40,000 in options. Otherwise, we wouldn't have chosen as many! We got the morning room, hardwood everywhere except living room and family room downstairs, corian counters, upgraded carpet, extended the family room. There are tons more... :D

[Camdynlyn]

We tacked on a good $50,000 in upgrades/options because it pretty much came bare! We upgraded to elongated toilets, raised the cabinets in the bathrooms to normal level instead of midget, got 42" cabinets in kitchen, stainless appliances, 5' frameless shower, hardwoods, upgraded carpet, chair railing and crown molding, outside colors, paint colors, lighting, cabinets, appliances, fireplace, deciding where all cable/telephone would go, etc.

Kam: Who is building your house, since we are both near the same place?

[kam]

Summer - we're going with MI Homes. One of the reasons we went through them (other than perfect location for us) is because a lot of the "upgrades" for other places came standard with their homes (although I don't think I have enough kitchen stuff to fill 42" cabinets, at least I can try and don't have to think about asking for it; first-time homebuyers don't exactly know about what to upgrade). We liked the flat ceilings and the woods as our neighbors. Since the community is about to close, we thought it was a good time to get in since you'll know who your neighbors are and the value will go up more quickly (as most communities do, luckily!).

You're going through KB Homes, right? We liked their designs and stopped by the Brier Creek location but the staff was so rude to us (with my hair up, apparently I don't look like I'm old enough to afford a house) that we didn't even try to pursue it. We probably should've gone to the communities themselves but we had a bad taste from that experience. I'm looking forward to seeing your home being built because we loved the layouts of their homes!

The only downfall so far is the lead salesperson. We're not exactly loving him. He isn't a car salesman but he makes so much light small talk that we want to sometimes strangle him.

[Camdynlyn]

Kam I haven't heard of MI but your house looks like it is going to be beautiful. We did a lot of our upgrades in case we did decide to sell later on they would look good and help out. Thanks!

[andrew&shannah]

We were able to choose between 3 different fronts. Inside, we got to chose all of the flooring, changes to parts of the floor plan, fixtures, appliances, etc.

We upgraded all of the carpet and flooring. We also upgraded the appliances to GE Profile. We didn't upgrade any of the fixtures because you can get those so much cheaper from a home improvement store.
We did change our floor plan from 4 bedrooms to 3 to get a bigger master suite and master bath. Oh, and we upgraded to a whirlpool tub with a bigger hot water heater.

The house comes with some nice "extras" already so we only ended up adding about $22k in options after all was said and done. Things like 42" cabinets, marble countertops in the bathrooms, and tilt in/out windows come standard. :)

[Lindsan]

We are also building. I am very excited but building won't start until April of next year. Which means we won't be in the house until September 2006. I half expect the excitement to have worn off by then.

Our house is very different from the ones already posted since we have completely different building traditions and standards.
These are outside pictures of the model
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v454/Lindsan/DSC02305.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v454/Lindsan/DSC02308.jpg

It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a huge living/dining room that is open to the kitchen. One of the bedrooms will be used as our study and the smallest of them will be a whisky room (don't ask-the husband is obsessed). I love the layout. Our builder offers a great standard such as hardwood floors everywhere as well as completely tiled "wet" areas. The only upgrades we will be choosing are better appliances.

[mrsface]

Things with my mom's house are going so crazy fast!!! We found out that all the prices in the developement were going to jump on the 1st, so we really wanted to make sure we had everything lined up. We went out on the 30th to get things finalized. She chose her elevation and lot and scheduled the options meeting- for TOMORROW! There is so much to figure out and we are so excited!

[maplekitty]

Hi Ladies!

We just moved into our new home on eater weekend and we are finally all unpacked and settled in nicely before the wedding.

This is the website that Curt made. It shows the entire process throughout....from tearing down the old house, to laying the sod in our new home!
Take a look! (http://www.thewatts.ca/907construct.php)

It was a lot of stress and so much fun, all rolled into one!

[kam]

Good to see so many ground-uppers here ;)

Our drywall is done which they've sanded and sealed. The built the deck and while we were skeptical, we must admit that we're impressed with the workmanship (rounded edges, strudy as anything, etc).

The one thing I can't understand about these people is that some of the items are placed in areas that defy logic. First the spicket on the opposite side of the yard and in the back (when it should have been one on each side, but logic would have dictated that it would be on the side with the largest yard). Now it's the deck steps. Instead of being on the side of the large part of the yard, they put it on the side facing the neighbor and the woods. Yes, if I'm going to walk off of my deck, it will be to visit the squirrels. So we're having that changed, but I don't understand why make these decisions!

[Oakley]

I'm excited to announce that I have framing and windows!!! :D We drove to the lot (well, not a "lot" anymore) last night to find that they had the first floor complete. SO exciting. It was amazing that we got to walk through our house and see the views that we'll have from our windows. We're getting way too excited! I'm heading there again tonight to take pictures.

We also found out that we have an all Amish crew- which I think is great!

andrew&shannah- Sounds like some nice stuff came standard with your house. We have the tilt-in windows and I'm looking forward to the easy cleaning!

Lindsan- Very cool house! Will yours be brick also? I'm sure the excitement won't wear off! Or it will return before you build! :)

mrsface- That's great that your mom got in before the prices went up. Are you going to the options meeting with her?

maplekitty- That is SUCH a transformation!! Looks great.

kam- Was the deck included in the house price? If so that's really nice! Who knows how they decide some of the things- maybe they forget that people are actually going to be LIVING in the houses they build! :rolleyes: At least you noticed it and it's getting fixed.

[Lindsan]

Thanks, Oakley. Yeah our house will be brick too, but it will be yellow brick instead of red.

[Oakley]

Lindsan - Yellow brick sounds very cool! Do you have any pictures of what that will look like?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's our house!!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d926b3127cce92f1d0c75dd400000026109AauWLZq3ao
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d926b3127cce92f1e645dc7d00000016109AauWLZq3ao

We're not going to go visit again until Saturday, where I know we'll find a ton of progress. I spoke with my mom's boyfriend who lives in the area and he said he was there today and our second story is up! :D

[kam]

We have a deck, kitchen cabinetry and paint! Of course, the paint won't last long (we had about 100 choices of white, off-white, a beigy white ;)) but we have it! This is a picture from my neighbor - we haven't seen it yet (the knobs look too silvery so we'll have to check that out).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/kitchen.jpg

[Oakley]

kam - How exciting!! When are you going to see it?

[suzubeane]

The one thing I can't understand about these people is that some of the items are placed in areas that defy logic. First the spicket on the opposite side of the yard and in the back (when it should have been one on each side, but logic would have dictated that it would be on the side with the largest yard). Now it's the deck steps. Instead of being on the side of the large part of the yard, they put it on the side facing the neighbor and the woods. Yes, if I'm going to walk off of my deck, it will be to visit the squirrels. So we're having that changed, but I don't understand why make these decisions!Sometimes things like this happen because different tradespeople are working in different areas of the house. The plumber who installed your spigot *should have* been thinking about what was going on outside with respect to the deck, but more than likely he was thinking about making a straight run from an existing cold water branch. Things like the size of your yard would not have crossed his mind. This is why these things are specified on the plans, and if they're not ... you're sort of at the mercy of the person doing the work.

Some of you may remember me from the last thread like this one. I'm not building, but I am an architect (now working in interior architecture, actually) who is remodeling at home, and just generally interested in the building process. Sometimes I chime in to answer random questions. Feel free to ignore me – that's what most posters did on the other site. ;).

[kam]

Sometimes things like this happen because different tradespeople are working in different areas of the house. The plumber who installed your spigot *should have* been thinking about what was going on outside with respect to the deck, but more than likely he was thinking about making a straight run from an existing cold water branch. Things like the size of your yard would not have crossed his mind. This is why these things are specified on the plans, and if they're not ... you're sort of at the mercy of the person doing the work.


Spigot. Never knew it was spelled like that (you learn something new every day)! I hear you on the tradespeople. Odd thing is - every other house in the entire community has two - one on each side - and we were told we would be getting the same. So even without logic, since every other house is the same and with assurance from our sales people we didn't even fathom they'd go against the grain on that one (which is why they were so willing to change it without a fight).

kam - How exciting!! When are you going to see it?


Went to see it yesterday. They put up the trim. Moving fast!

The knobs were in fact incorrect and they need to change them out. This is one of the downfalls of buying the house after the initial set of specs were laid out. We were told to rush in to make our decisions and we did. Apparently the new specs were shared with some but not others (according to our neighbors, what we're experiencing is an anomoly with the builder). I'm happy we live only 10 minutes away to make sure things are the way they should be!

[Sand]

If you girls dont mind, I'm going to follow along. My husband and I built our house (did most of it ourselves) last year and moved in Nov 1st. There are still little things that need to be done (like the mantle and the master bath) so I might chime in looking for advice still.

Oakley watched me build mine - I'm gonna sit back and watch her build hers now. ;)
I can show pictures if anyone is interested.

[Oakley]

kam- that's great that it's moving along so quickly! Good thing you live so close and can keep an eye on your house!

Sand- What do you have left to do in the master bath? I'm envious that you got to pick out every little thing for your house. We only had certain options. I know that was a big stressor, but now the house is EXACTLY as you want it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our house is coming along nicely and we now have a ROOF!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d933b3127cce929534b72fb800000016109AauWLZq3ao
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d933b3127cce92954ae7aee700000016109AauWLZq3ao

[andrew&shannah]

We have landscaping and another coat of paint on the door! Our walk through is Monday (18th) so they are wrapping up the last little bit of stuff!
http://images.snapfish.com/344448%3B923232%7Ffp46%3Dot%3E2323%3D%3A53%3D558%3 D3232%3A53467359nu0mrj

[Camdynlyn]

I can't believe I forgot to post these. I posted them in my journal and forgot!

Alrighty. Finally back with pictures of the house. These were all taken today. (7-10-05) I am so thrilled with the progress already. From the looks of it, the upstairs will be finished framing earlier this week and hopefully a roof will come soon after! :D
Front:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/Camdynlyn/House/summer049.jpg
Left:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/Camdynlyn/House/summer050.jpg
Right:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/Camdynlyn/House/summer059.jpg

[Camdynlyn]

You can see how much side yard we have on the left and right of the house. Hubby is standing on our property line on the left side.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/Camdynlyn/House/summer051.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/Camdynlyn/House/summer060.jpg
Our stairs! :D
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/Camdynlyn/House/summer055.jpg

[kam]

Oakley and summer - you look like you're on the same building schedule!

You'll be SHOCKED at how much bigger it looks inside when the drywall is done. Just something to look forward to. ;)

[Hangin'in]

I forgot that I had posted in this thread... the last picture I posted was before they had poured the foundation, so they've made alot of progress in the last 2 weeks.
http://images.snapfish.com/34444%3A2723232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D8 43%3DXROQDF%3E23239547963%3B4ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/34444%3A2723232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E232395479923%3Aot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/34444%3A2723232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D8 43%3DXROQDF%3E2323954799447ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/34444%3A2723232%7Ffp3%3Enu%3D3238%3E989%3E752%3EWS NRCG%3D3232%3A456%3A8585nu0mrj

[Hangin'in]

http://images.snapfish.com/34444%3A2723232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3238%3E989%3E752%3EWS NRCG%3D3232%3A494%3A9894nu0mrj

We have more, but I haven't uploaded them yet.

Yesterday, they had put in the shower for the master bath, and the tub/shower in the 2nd bath. They had also installed the fireplace.

Everyone's homes look so great!

[flygirl]

Hey guys! I moved this thread to the ATH Group section. Please let me know if you have any questions!

[Oakley]

andrew&shannah- wow, your place looks NICE! I bet you are so excited to get in there! I can't wait to see some pictures from the inside. Have you met your neighbors yet?

Summer- Looking good!! It's so exciting to see a house standing where nothing used to be! Your husband looks so tiny standing next to your big house! :)

kam- I can't wait for drywall! I'm excited now that you said it looks bigger! It's so weird how the size can be such an illusion. When they poured the basement walls it looked so tiny! Now that the frame is up it looks the right size!

Jen- I love seeing everyone's framing going up! This time is so exciting. And now I think I've used that word 20 times today!

Thanks flygirl!

[Camdynlyn]

Kate: Haha. I just saw that. He does look tiny!

[MLA]

KAM -- I see that you're building in Durham. DH and I are moving out there in the next few months and have thought about new construction. So much of it seems to be really far north, and we want to be south (near the Hope Valley Farms area). Do you mind saying what development you're building in? Your house looks just beautiful!

[Camdynlyn]

We just stopped by the house and we have windows, a door and our guest bathtub!:D

[Oakley]

Summer- Summer, our crews must be on the same schedule because we have the same stuff!! We also have our master bath- love it!! I posted some pics in my journal and I'll be back to post some in here.

[kam]

MLA - I'll PM you with the development name - it's actually in RTP (right near IBM) and is about 5 minutes from Brier Creek (a major developing area in Raleigh with movies, shopping, groceries, restaurants, etc) so it's definitely south Durham.

[Hangin'in]

This is cross posted from my journal...

Venting... Please feel free to disregard!
Up until now, all of the problems with the house have been fixed! This one can't be fixed, but I conceeded because the way it is going to be is the way DH wanted it to be... There is a support beam that runs the length of the house. In the plans it creates a soffit that hangs down from the ceiling 12" to 16" inches across the dining room and foyer area. Another soffit is framed creating a "T" for a column. It is shown below by the dotted lines.
http://images.snapfish.com/34448%3C3923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323898%3C%3B%3C996ot1lsi

I doctored the image below... the red lines are what I was SUPPOSED to have, the yellow line was to be eliminated... but I will now have all three. Everytime I see it, I say to myself, "That's not supposed to be there".
http://images.snapfish.com/34448%3C3923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323974%3A8%3B242ot1lsi

We went out to the house Friday after work, and the electricians had been there. We had alot of the lighting changed... recessed lighting instead of florescent lighting in the kitchen, the light over the dining nook in the kitchen centered on the window, instead of in the room, one recessed "eyeball" light highlighting the mantle, 4 additional recessed lights in the great room, 2 additional recessed lights in the master bedroom.... NONE of the additional lighting had been wired... none! They wired for the florescent light in the kitchen, they centered the dining nook light in the room, not on the window, they wired 2 eyeball lights for the mantle, no additional recessed lights in the great room or the master bedroom... it's going to be a major pain in the ass to change... but it can and will be changed, or I'm not buying the house.

We called our real estate agent Friday night to tell her, so she could call the builder. We went back out yesterday (Sunday)... the electricians had been out again, because they had wired for the stove, which wasn't there Friday, and nothing had been changed regarding the lighting. DH is calling the builder this morning.

[Sand]

Knock some heads Hangin In!! They need to get it right!!

[Oakley]

Jen- Are you sure they were finished with the electrical work? I would definitely schedule a meeting before drywall with the builder and go over everything to make sure it's all there. Thank goodness you noticed this now!!

[Hangin'in]

Oh no... they most definately are not finished. But they had already wired for most of the light fixtures... putting the supports in for the ceiling fans, and the boxes on the framework for the chandaliers, and the recessed part of the recessed lighting... They are going to have to undo and redo most of what they ALREADY DID on Friday, because the recessed lights they did wire are wrong... and I would think they would have to change alot of what they had already run through the studs to add what we are paying for.... change out the boxes for the light switches.... they are just going to have to redo alot of work!
And DH talked to the builder, he was already having it changed to the correct lighting plan... we will go out today after work and see if it's correct!

[suzubeane]

Hangin'in - FWIW, I like the soffit in your foyer. I think it needs the definition from the rest of the room. I'm actually working on some really high-end condos now, and they have a soffit all the way around the foyer with 8" crown moulding. It's a nice look if you have high ceilings.

However, if you don't like it, they can cut the beam, cut back the floor joists for the second floor a few inches, and replace the beam with steel to carry the joists. I can't be 100% sure without seeing a framing plan and the second floor plan. I doubt they'll want to do it because it's pricy and PITA. But it's not impossible.

Maybe you could get them to trim out the foyer ceiling with crown molding instead? That would cost them a hell of a lot less than making the ceiling flush with steel beam!

eta: Oh, duh – I just looked again and noticed that there is no upstairs. Doesn't change my opinion, though. Only the joists are ceiling joists instead of floor joists.

The only way it might not work is if there's a roof load on that beam, but from what I can tell I don't think so. Don't quote me, though, because those elevations that builders provide are notoriously out of scale.

[kam]

{I admit I had to google soffit in order to figure out what it is} - Jen, definitely make sure to stay on top of them. Our lighting was correct (recessed) but the outlets were not all right. Do you have a pre-drywall meeting to make sure they don't go further in the process without your sign off?

[Hangin'in]

suzubeane Thanks for info! The beam is a roof bearing beam. If DH truly wanted it the same way I did, I would make them change it. But he really likes the definition, which is why I didn't push the issue. I'm sure it will grow on me eventually (well, I hope it grows on me!). Our builder is going to put 8" crown moulding in both the foyer and the dining room, 6" in the great room... 8" in the master bedroom.

kam I checked the box locations for outlets and switches after I saw that the lighting was wrong... DH thought I was crazy! But, he would have been pizzed off if the wall we are going to put the TV on didn't have cable... as well as where the computer is going! He under stood when I put it in electronic terms!

[~queen~]

Hello ladies! I need some input and/or advice.

I was part of this thread on WC when it first started and DH and I have been living in our house for over about a year now. When we originally purchased, we were advised by family to keep the costs to a minimum and we limited our house choice and options to what we could afford on one salary with the thought we could always upgrade later. Well, that ended up being a big mistake. We nickled and dimed every single thing (toilets even! :( ) and the housing market skyrocketed. Our house now is worth almost $300k more than what we paid.

We are happy, yet sad because we could have extended our budget by $40k to get the largest model and would never have to deal with what we are faced with now - moving.

Here's where I need advice. We decided to take the equity and get our forever home. But we have no idea on how to go about setting a budget for this. Obviously the housing market is still crazy and not about to get any better, we are aware of this. The houses we are looking at will start out $100 - $150k lower than our house can sell, but will be much higher than our current mortgage. We will be looking to use some of the sale to purchase the new home, but we are not sure how far to extend our budget.

Can you guys give me some insight as to how you came up with the total price for your homes, and how you weighed the size of the model and the options? Were you willing to go a larger if you knew the house would gain in equity? We are on the list to be purchaser #5 in a new 200+ house community and the prices are going to go up with every 2nd house sold. Should that be taken into consideration as well? (meaning, be more willing to stretch a budget because you will be priced out later?)

I hope this wasn't too long of a read! TIA

[Oakley]

Jen- Keep us updated on the lighting!!

~queen~- Congrats on your house being worth so much more than you paid for it!! So you are moving out of your house because it's now too small? Here's my advice and a little about why we chose what we did:

Size/Model- I’d look at all models they’re offering. Tour the models if they have them. Decide which floorplans you like the best that way. Definitely get as many rooms as you need. Also figure in if you need a home office. We decided that 3 bedrooms was plenty for us because we wanted 1 guest room, 1 room that could be used as a nursery, and our room. We have a living room and family room, so we decided to use the living room as a den/office. In one of our houses, we had the office in one of the bedrooms and didn’t like having it upstairs- personal preference.

As far as square footage, that also depends on if you have children or plan to in the future. We’re only planning on having one (I’ll probably jinx myself and have twins!) so we don’t need a lot of space. Our house will be around 2000sq. feet and I think that will be perfect for us. More space would be awesome- don’t get me wrong, but we decided to get a smaller home but upgrade to all the options we wanted. There’s an expensive subdivision across town where the homes are all a minimum of 2500 sq. feet- but most people have no options inside. Sounds like last time you didn’t get the options you wanted- maybe you could ask to look at the options list in order to see how much that would add to the sale price?

Price- When deciding to build a home, we set a limit to how much we wanted our mortgage to be. That number was decided based on our current salaries and what would be comfortable for us. We want to be able to pay an extra payment a year and still be able to have fun, travel, etc. We had money to put down from the sale of our last home and we didn’t count that towards our mortgage price. Also, the community will be able to give you a rough estimate as to how much house you can afford and there are some really good calculators on bankrate.com.

If this is your forever home, I don’t think you want to put all your money from the sale of your house into it. I say this because if all of your money is in the house, the only way to get it out is to sell it (I’m thinking for retirement, etc.- not something you could use a home equity loan for). Have you thought about talking to a financial planner? It sounds like you will have a lot of money to play with and I’m sure they would be able to give you great advice how much you should put into a house and how much to invest or stock away. I also wouldn’t worry about what the housing market will be like in the future. You are buying this home for you guys to live in- not to flip- so it should be exactly how you want it. It’s great for you guys that the home prices will go up and the market will probably stay crazy though!

Options- As I said before, we really went crazy with options! Our builder had a great incentive program that allowed us to get more than we planned on. We pretty much upgraded everything we wanted. What we did was go through the options list and list everything we wanted. Then we looked at price and eliminated anything that seemed overpriced ($1400 for crown moulding in the dining room and living room??). Then we added that up to see what the price was.

That was long- hope it helped!! When are they starting to build? Do you know what the models will be? It will be exciting to see what you choose!

[~queen~]

Hi Kate! Thanks for replying! :)

They are just now starting to release the lots and accepting lot holds. They won't start the actual building until they get the permits, and in my area, that could take a while. For example, our current house was supposed to start in October, done by April - we didn't get the permits until April! We are debating between 3 models and that is where we are stuck - smaller house, more options vs. larger house, less options. My mom is disabled and we are considering moving her in with us (free childcare), so we may need room for that. She currently lives in a senior apartment, but we put out quite a bit of $$ for her every month that along with her social security, could come back into our house.

Our house now is not to small as its just the 2 of us and we have 4 br's. :o Lots of other reasons dictate the move, but space is not one of them (we like our seperate spaces). We definitely plan to have kids - if IVF works for us this time - crossing fingers!

Home offices are standard seperate rooms in my area (MD/DC/VA). Its rare to get a house without them. And our options list is at least 12 pages long. :eek: I don't want to get scared and make the same mistakes I did before.

Thanks for the advice and I'll definitely talk to a financial planner and see what they can come up with. I know I don't want to invest alot because we lost a bundle a few years back and don't want to go through that again. :mad:

[Oakley]

~queen~- I hope this time the permits don’t take as long- sounds frustrating!

Do you have the models that you can post? I’d love to see them!

With the options I think it’s personal preference. We wanted hardwood floors and nice counters, etc. We knew we’d have to get a smaller house to have everything we wanted. We are also not the type of people who upgrade later! Do you have a list of things you definitely want? Is a bigger house more important?

That’s awesome that your mom might be moving in! Do any of the floorplans have a bedroom on the first floor (if any are two story)? That might be a considering factor. Also deciding what else she’d need to have to help her out.

Do you have the options list? I’d start going through it now and making lists and eliminating things you know you don’t want. If you have specific questions- such as is this option better than this one?- we’re here to give you advice!

The financial planner could probably point you in a more secure direction- IRAs, etc.

Good luck with IVF!! :D

[~queen~]

Yes, there are pictures of the models. I'm a little hesitant to post them though cause they are kind of large. They are just starting to come down where 2000sf is now considered a starter home. A few years ago, 3500+sf was the starter size. I feel so guilty when I see the sizes of houses in CA.

The absolute *most* important thing to me is the lot. We are going to have to pay a lot premium to get the one we want. As for my mom being on the first floor - I wish! DH would never go for it - and neither would my mom. She is fighting for the entire basement being converted for her use. Ummm - nope!

Dang, I wish WC was up so that I could revisit some of the issues I had the first time. I stopped visiting the thread after I graduated.

[Oakley]

You could always post the link to the models. ??

Wow- 3500 sq. feet- I wouldn't even know what to do in a place that large! Not to mention all the new furniture I'd have to buy to fill it up. Wait- that might be fun. :D

Do they have the prices of the lot upgrades yet? I would start also listing options that you definitely need and those that you want.

[~queen~]

Kate: I meant to ask, don't you just love having 2 dogs? I have 2 Miniature Pinchers and I love to have them always playing with each other (instead of me all the time!). Its so fun to watch them play tug of war. They constantly look for each other and kiss all over each other - and occasionally fight - my female starts all the fights - she is a mess! But I wouldn't trade it for the world! :D

[Camdynlyn]

New house pictures as of Sunday (7-17-05) Notice the windows and door!:D
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d938b3127cce93537f40523000000016109AYuGjFk2am
The trey ceiling going up!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d938b3127cce93537f56522600000016109AYuGjFk2am
These are the views from our loft. Across the street (where you see all the brush) is where the pond is. They are redoing it right now so there is no water in it. There will be no house there, either!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d938b3127cce935ca3eb322200000016109AYuGjFk2am
This is the view of the neighborhood. We are in the back of the neighborhood.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d938b3127cce935ca3e9322000000016109AYuGjFk2am

[Camdynlyn]

Queen: Not sure if this is what you are asking but houses around here are going for $100/sq foot. We bought our house for about that price and then added about $50K of upgrades and didn't get everything we wanted. There are some things I really wished we would have added (we didn't not because of money but because of thinking we didn't want it at the time) and now I regret it. Oh well! :(

[~queen~]

Oh no! Am I a thread killer? :confused:

Camdynlyn: Love the tray ceiling! I hate the one I have in my house now, its at a really funky angle and I had to fight so hard to get it! :mad:

[Oakley]

~queen~- Sorry I didn't reply to you the other day- I got super busy at work! So no, you aren't a thread killer! ;)

I LOVE having two dogs! They play with each other, tire each other out, are friends and keep each other company. Plus mine are small also and I think they are probably about the same amount of work as one big dog!!

Summer- That's so nice that you won't have anyone behind you or across the street!

[BethS0103]

Can I join? DH and I didn't necessarily start from the ground, but we're still working our way "up". We chose a new construction condo that's already done being dry-walled so all we have to do is just make our cabinet, countertop and flooring choices and we'll be in our place in 60-90 days! We love this place so much. It's a 3 bed/2.5 bath townhouse with a two car garage and a basement! And believe it or not, this place is actually going for cheaper than some of the other condos in the area with a one car garage on a slab that have less square footage. So we are thrilled with this place.

Here are some pictures:

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B8788%3A9ot1lsi

Me walking into our condo
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp4%3Enu%3D3233%3E758%3E47%3A% 3EWSNRCG%3D323299%3C78%3B7%3B6nu0mrj

Us at the front door
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C7%3B5ot1lsi

Back exterior
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87889%3Aot1lsi

continued...

[BethS0103]

Pictures of the inside so far...

Front entrance (a pic you can tell was patched together in Photoshop :p)
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C7%3A5ot1lsi

Front entrance looking up at the loft
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C784ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C7%3B2ot1lsi

continued...

[BethS0103]

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp4%3Enu%3D3233%3E758%3E47%3A% 3EWSNRCG%3D323299%3C78%3B855nu0mrj

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C7%3A%3Bot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87887%3Aot1lsi

Looking at the kitchen, informal dining & laundry from the living room
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp46%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C7%3B4ot1lsi

Going up the stairs...
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp4%3Enu%3D3233%3E758%3E47%3A% 3EWSNRCG%3D323299%3C78%3B8%3A%3Anu0mrj

Continued...

[BethS0103]

Loft
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56% 3B%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C796ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56% 3B%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B878887ot1lsi

Master suite
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B878885ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56% 3B%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B878892ot1lsi

Looking into the master bath
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C7%3A7ot1lsi

Huuuuuge WIC
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56% 3B%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87888%3Bot1lsi

continued...

[BethS0103]

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B8788%3B4ot1lsi

Second bedroom cont...
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp46%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C778ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B8788%3A5ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp46%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56%3B %3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B87%3C7%3C2ot1lsi

And there you have it! Hopefully by mid-fall this will be our new home!

Oh, and just to give you a point of reference, here is what the floor plan looks like:

First floor:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/beths0103/Briarchase1stfloor.jpg

Second floor:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/beths0103/Briarchase2ndfloor.jpg
Don't know why there's two "bedroom #2s marked but oh well

[Oakley]

Beth- Your condo is going to be gorgeous!!! Not only is the floor plan nice, but I also love the very elegant entrance (look at that brick!) and the backyard. A deck will be perfect! The three back living room windows are so nice- you'll have an awesome view!

[suzubeane]

Beth – I am currently working on a remodel where I've added a closet to a front hall that didn't have one, and it's creating a condition exactly like what you have – a one level closet in a two level space. Lots of people use that area above for plants or pottery, but I wanted to let you know how easy it would be to extend your loft over your closet. It would be like having a landing over you closet that extended all the way to your bedroom; the line of it would be where the words "open to below" appear in the plan, and it would form a little balcony over-looking your foyer. The majority of your foyer will still be double height, but this would solve the problem of what to do with that "ledge" over your closet, since it will essentially become part of your second floor.

If you can't persuade your builder to put a platform with floor joists there, this would be easily accomplished after the fact. It amounts to adding a platform that would be affixed to the existing wall on the bedroom side, and bear weight on the closet wall on the stair side. The only problem with doing it later is that the finish floor (carpet?) on the second floor would have to be patched to extend out there. That's the dilemma I’m having right now with my project. The house was built several years ago, and the carpet is not new.

Anyway, your home is lovely the way it is, but I just wanted to let you know about this other option. A change like this is not always easy to make, but in your foyer, it would be.

[BethS0103]

Thanks Kate! We love how open the floor plan is. And the square footage is exactly what we want. We're just so elated about this place.

suzubeane - Hmmm... I never would've thought to extend the loft out past the closet. My thought is that they wouldn't do it if we asked though because it's not part of the "options and upgrades" list. I honestly don't mind the ledge there. But yeah, going to have to find some plants to fill that space for sure. :p

[suzubeane]

I never would've thought to extend the loft out past the closet. Well, not past the closet - on top of the closet. I think you probably get what I mean though. A former boss of mine (also an architect) did this to his house as well.

[BethS0103]

Yeah, you knew what I meant. I meant past the existing railing and on top of the closet, but you knew that already. :p

[suzubeane]

Honestly, I can never be sure; It's hard to describe spatial things without using your hands! I'm not always sure I do that good a job.

[BethS0103]

Actually, just got back from the condo and realized it wouldn't be possible to do what you said Suzubeane because where that would be extended is where the stairs begin right next to it, so you'd actually have to step up onto it and that wouldn't be practical for such a small space.

[suzubeane]

http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B8%3B7923232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2324%3D849%3D56% 3B%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3A%3B878887ot1lsi

In the photo above, it appears that the "roof" of the closet is flush with the second floor. If I'm seeing that right, it means in order to make the over-looking balcony, you'd just need to fill in the square area that in this photo appears to the left of the closet; just beyond the railing. (And obviously move the railing ;) .)

I didn't mean that the platform would literally be build *on top of* the existing closet (see, I told you it's hard to accurately describe space!) but that the existing walls of the closet would hold up the new platform. No step up required. Maybe the word "platform" is misleading, even thought that's what a builder would call it, it's really just an extension of your second floor. The height of the closet would be the same as any other room you have downstairs.

I guarantee there is already a sill holding up your bedroom floor; they would just hang joists between that and the closet. If the closet ceiling is made with something like 2x4s (likely, since it they weren't planning on having it hold any weight) they would either take them out, or attach new floor joists to them (it's called "sistering.") They'd probably just take them out - there's only a few in there making the ledge over the closet. The amount of wood and labor we're talking about is minimal.

If you already have plans for that ledge, then you're all set. But if the idea starts to grow on you, then when you're ready to build your deck, you can ask your carpenter to do this at the same time. Building the deck and building this little platform are pretty much the same thing with different wood types.

So did you get any new pictures today? How's it looking?

(I love the commentary and arrows on your photos, btw!)

[BethS0103]

That sounds entirely too complicated for my non-spatial thinking brain to comprehend. I think we'll just stick with putting plants on the ledge. :p

[suzubeane]

No, no – I'm not describing it well. It's very simple, and it's an easy alteration later, too. So if you ever walk out of your bedroom one day and glance off to the left before starting down the stairs and think "I wish I could walk out there instead of using it for display" then you'll know you can! ;).

BTW, I think big pots of cacti and other succulents would look great there. They don't need as much care as other plants, either, so they're great for decoration in out of the way areas.

[BethS0103]

BTW, I think big pots of cacti and other succulents would look
great there. They don't need as much care as other plants,
either, so they're great for decoration in out of the way areas.Oh, I'll be getting silk plants. I have such a brown thumb I'm sure I'd even kill a cactus. :p

[nya]

Wow, all your houses are gorgeous. We're also building from the ground up. We made a deposit on a lot which should be ready by mid august. We are still working on a house plan. We met with an architect last week and we hope we'll get a plan within the next few weeks. Here's what the exterior will sorta look like:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d905b3127cce9354a8c7d56100000026108AaOW7hk4cNB

Oh suzubeane, I totally get what you are saying.

:)

[Oakley]

We had our pre-drywall meeting to confirm all electric, plumbing, phone and cable. Our project manager gave us the rundown of the schedule until completion and said we're looking at 5-6 weeks until it's finished! That puts us moving in at the beginning of Sept. :D

We visited yesterday and our drywall has arrived! I think they're going to start on it today. It will be weird not to "see through" our house anymore (but I can't wait!).

nya- Your house is gorgeous!! I love the roofline. With the high roof do you have vaulted ceilings everywhere? I'd love to see the floorplan.

[suzubeane]

Hey, Nya – I'm curious about your architect. How'd you find him/her? Is it someone who works out of his/her house? Or a small office?

The reason I ask is because there are so few architecture firms that will take on a residential job these days. I recently switched from architecture to interior architecture, and am now getting to a lot more residential stuff, but I'm thinking of freelancing at home with both interiors and residential architecture. So I'm just curious how you found your designer, and how it's working out..

TIA!

[Camdynlyn]

Nya: Your house looks a lot like the exterior of our first house! Can't wait to see a floorplan!

Oakley: Dang! We are right behind you! We have our pre-drywall meeting Tuesday, Aug 2. I hope they give us an estimation of completion but I still think we will be coming in in Oct. I would love for him to say the end of Sept.

[kam]

Summer - we're in the middle of September. Apparently the city inspectors are ROUGH when it comes to new builds. I'll take it but still...sigh. I'm envious of you Oakley! ;)

[nya]

Oakley: No we aren't planning on having any vaulted ceilings. We'll also only have one big roof instead of the two in the picture.

suzubeane: Maybe I used the wrong term, and the guy isn't really an architect? I'm not sure. :confused: We met him at a local Home Show. He works from his home, and here's what his business card says:
Technical Services
-House Plans
-Project Consulting
-AutoCAD Design
-Construction Estimating
Hope this helps.

Camdynlyn: Hey, I'd love to see a picture of your first house. :)

About the floorplans, I will post a picture as soon as I get them. Right now, I just have a draft I did on paper.

[isign]

We found the subdivision & floorplan!! I'm so excited. I'll post a pic later when I get it scanned.

[Sarah051504]

Hi girls, I was a random poster of this thread on the other site and I thought it was time to join this one.

Me: Sarah 28
DH: Jason 28
Married: May 15, 2004
House: 1625 sq ft ranch
3 beds 2 finished full baths and one unfinished full bath (plumbing
roughed in)
Lot: 1.83 acres neighbors on both sides
Location: Leslie Michigan

They just started framing today. Here are just a few pictures, there's more in my journal, jump on over if you want to see more.

bath downstairs The wall there is where the stairs are going to go.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce9342042b3daa00000025138AcOGrZmzZNb

The lookout windows on the side of the house
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce9342042f3dae00000016108AcOGrZmzZNb

The beam that supports the floor and poles in the basement
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce93420416bca700000016108AcOGrZmzZNb

The garage side of the house
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce934205ed7df400000016108AcOGrZmzZNb

The other side of the house
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce934205eb7df200000016108AcOGrZmzZNb

I'm finally getting excited. I love to see progress. I've got a question for you girls: How often do you go see your house?

Our house is on the way home form work for me so I'm thinking I'm going to stop every day and take pictures of the progress but I'm worried that the workers are going to think I'm a freak.

[Hangin'in]

Our new house is 5 minutes away from where DH and I work... so we are pretty much there everyday... we are trying to cut back since our builder told us he was going to *start charging admission*! Yesterday was the first day I had been oout since last week. Our builder is on vacation, and he told us that we probably wouldn't see much activity until he got back!

[suzubeane]

suzubeane: Maybe I used the wrong term, and the guy isn't really an architect? I'm not sure. :confused: We met him at a local Home Show. He works from his home, and here's what his business card says:
Technical Services
-House Plans
-Project Consulting
-AutoCAD Design
-Construction Estimating
Hope this helps. Sounds like he might be a former contractor, given the estimating and consulting. Also, AutoCAD is a drafting tool - a very complicated program and the industry standard, so it's good that he knows it - but the term "AutoCAD design" is odd. AutoCAD does not design - If someone is a designer, he or she can use it to draw. Simply putting plans on paper is not design.

I don't mean to sound like a snob, because I think that many builders CAN and DO design, and know more about building technologies than a lot of designers. I depend a lot on builders. I would just make sure you're getting everything you think you're getting with you set of plans. People who use architects or who buy a complete set of plans don't have to pay as much attention to detail as you might if you contract with someone to put your ideas on paper. I'm not talking so much about the structural stuff, but about the fussy details like where lighting goes, finish details, etc.

Good luck! Can't wait to see your plans - why not post your sketch?

[Camdynlyn]

Nya: Okay, maybe not as close as I thought. I relooked at yours and my door was in a different place but here is the house!!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4ce32b3127cce9bae3ae7209c00000036109AYuGjFk2am

[nya]

suzubeane: I really don't know much about his background, we didn't really ask much questions. :o I remember he said he used to work for the government and now he has contracts with them. My guess is he does interior design for them. He had a binder full of exemples of house plans he did for previous clients, so it looked like he had enough experience. But what do I know? ;) Do you think of any specific questions I should ask him?

I know having a custom plan made up is a lot more work, but hopefully it will be worth it! We just couldn't find a plan we liked. Since you asked, here's my draft:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d905b3127cce9354972c950d00000035108AaOW7hk4cNB
As you can see I'm not an expert at drawing plans. :o
And here's what I based it on:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d905b3127cce935497dc95fd00000055108AaOW7hk4cNB

Camdynlyn: I like your old house! But I love even more the treed yard! I wished we had lots of trees on our lot. :( Thanks for posting the picture.

[Oakley]

We have drywall!! Well, most anyway.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d909b3127cce9348410e323200000016109AauWLZq3ao
We also have our front step.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d909b3127cce9348413fb33300000016109AauWLZq3ao
SO exciting!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Camdynlyn- We do seem to be on a similar schedule! I hope you guys are in in Sept.!

kam- Sept. will be here before you know it!

nya- Nice plans, the house looks like it will be very nice. It must be so fun to get EXACTLY what you want!

isign- Woo hoo! Can't wait to see it. :)

Sarah- Welcome! How exciting for framing- that was probably the most exciting part (so far). We've been going to the house every other day or so- less or more depending on what's going on. So far I've never seen a person working, mainly because we stop by after they've finished for the day. We try not to go by when they are working since our builder's policy is that if we're there all work must stop for insurance reasons.

[trm98]

Can I join?

Me: TL, 29
DH: D, 28
Married: June 21, 2002
House: 1400 sq. ft
Lot: 1 acre neighbors on both sides
Location: Canada


Everyone's houses are so nice! I get so depressed when I look at housing prices here compared to where I grew up. It is crazy cheap there! But, we will live.

We are signing the papers on the land (a one acre lot in the country about 5 minutes to town) today!! DH is going to be building it himself (all but the electrical, plumbing, and duct work). He is a contractor though, so that helps. Now we just have to get our plan, put in a culvert, and start filling the land. Then we can build!! DH wants to have it finished by February. We have our first little one coming at the very beginning of March. He will be so busy trying to get the house "in the dry" (meaning roof, walls, insulation, and vapor barrier up) before the winter. Then he will do all the other stuff during the winter. We will finally finish up with the exterior (stucco and stone) next May/June. That is when the weather finally gets nice up here again to complete that stuff. I can hardly wait!!

The house will be a little over 1,400 sq. feet with an attached two car garage. It has three bedrooms/two baths, kitchen, breakfast nook, family room, and dining room (which will be turned into DH's office). Then, we will have a workout room, a huge packing closet, another bedroom and bath, and another family room/play room in the full basement. So, with the basement the house is plenty big (almost 2,800 sq. feet). We already know where we want tile, hardwood and carpet. Now we just have to pick everything out.

Very fun, but very stressful as well.

[Camdynlyn]

Hey girls! I went to the house yesterday! Thought I would drop off some pictures. I am cross posting with my journal.

Here are some of the house from yesterday. I am not sure if I posted this in here but there is a pipe coming upstairs into the loft. You can see in this picture there is a 'box' built in the corner where it is supposed to be. It is the hot water heater gas pipe or something. I called and complained becuase it shouldn't be in the middle of the room. THey are going to do a direct vent outside from the downstairs but it was still there yesterday. It is going all the way to the roof and out. Oh well.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d910b3127cce9310248a263c00000015109AYuGjFk2amh ttp://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d910b3127cce93103b61664000000015109AYuGjFk2am
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d910b3127cce931024cc267a00000016109AYuGjFk2am
Here is the view from the breakfast nook to the family room. You can barely see the fireplace in the corner. We have drywall delivered!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d910b3127cce9310249fa71900000016109AYuGjFk2am

[suzubeane]

You can see in this picture there is a 'box' built in the corner where it is supposed to be. It is the hot water heater gas pipe or something. I called and complained because it shouldn't be in the middle of the room. They are going to do a direct vent outside from the downstairs but it was still there yesterday. It is going all the way to the roof and out. Oh well.Summer, I went to your journal and looked at your floor plan - the chase for this duct (it's the vent for your hot water tank) even shows on the diagrammatic plan from your builder.

Looking at the first floor plan, I cannot see why they put this thing going into your garage, unless they moved where the hot water tank will go! You can see the tank really clearly on the first floor plan, and it's not in the middle of your garage. I also don't understand why it can't go directly ouside from the first floor, unless it's a code thing for your area, which it could very well be.

If they continue to say they can't move it (i.e. something changed about your first floor plan, so it has to stay where it is) maybe you could get them to make it look intentional. Have them box in an identical piece to the right of the left-hand window, and plan to put shelving between the two. It will be like a built-in, and you can even have them power up the wall in the middle for electronics. If you get really organized, you can even run speaker wire before they close up the wall!

But if there's no reason for the position of the duct, and you really don't like it, then I'd make 'em change it. Duct is cheap, cheap, cheap, and they can re-use a lot of what they've installed there.

[kam]

From a layman's perspective, you can pretty much get them to change anything that isn't a major structural change. As you may recall, we had them change the stairs to the deck (after they said it would be expensive to change and not what we had requested), had the flooring colors changed when it was obvious that either we picked the wrong numbers or they had written the wrong numbers down (blue and pink tile for the kitchen? I don't think so!) and changed out the appliances (they tried to push back, but it was apparent they didn't order them yet).

Also, you probably have to ask more than once to make sure it finally trickles down to the right people.

If you don't like it and if it doesn't seem logical, make sure to push back a little.

[Camdynlyn]

Suzubean and Kam: I found the plans in the kitchen and when I looked, it didn't show it there. That's when I called. I told them that wall is where the TV is going and Hubby about had a hissy fit about it. They called back and said they would do a direct vent out. Let's hope! We meet tomorrow for our pre-drywall and I will let them know what I think! ;)

[Sarah051504]

Our framers are working like little bees. All the interior walls are up and they are starting on the trusses. I'm heading there after work to take some more pictures. I feel kind of weird going to the house all the time. I don't want to feel like a pest but it is my house I mean we've already closed on it so why shouldn't I go there all the time. Plus the crew pretty much just ignore me. I don't know what's it like when DH goes over there but when I go they don't even look at me let alone say hi. But Jason knows a lot of the crew since it is his uncle that's our builder and most of these same guys buit DHs first house. I just want them to think that I'm checking up on them casue I'm not I'm just excited and impatient.

[Camdynlyn]

Sarah: I feel odd about going all the time, too, but then again, I wouldn't have noticed the random pipe coming up through the loft.

[Sarah051504]

And we won't have noticed that our shower surround was cracked. So I guess it's a good thing to go all the time.

[Oakley]

We stopped by our house on Friday and the drywall is up, but it hasn't been spackled or taped yet. Hopefully this week!

trm98- Welcome! How cool that you guys are doing the house yourselves!! I bet it will really make the winter go by quickly! :D I can't wait to see a floorplan!

Summer- Wow, look how spacious your place is! I really hope that everything is worked out with the pipe and they can remove it!

Sarah- Can't wait to see pictures! What time do the workers stop? Maybe it would make you more comfortable to go after they finish for the day? If you can't do that then I wouldn't worry about stopping by often.

[trm98]

sarah and cam- Don't feel weird going to the site. Dh sees many of the clients at work sites all the time. They do have to stop work when they are there, but they don't mind them coming for a look. I mean it is a big investment and it is better to catch mistakes before it is too late and a big headache for all involved to change.

oakley- Congrats on getting the drywall up. The plaster will be up before you know it! Also thanks for the welcome.


It was a holiday here yesterday, so DH had the day off. We went out to the land. OH, I forgot, we signed off on it on Friday. It is officially ours. So, we went out to the land and measured off and planted stakes where the driveway will be and how far back we want to build the house. We also went to a few home stores. DH seems to think that our plan is going to cost a lot b/c of the trusses, but I am hoping he is wrong. If we end up not being able to afford it, we will just sell it. But, I love this house and with a new baby, I know I will not want to be moving. So, I hope that it is cheaper than he thinks. Here is a picture of a similar plan. It is the closest that I can find.
http://www.dreamhomesource.com/images/Plans/Large/FE/fb05024.gif

Floor Plan
http://www.dreamhomesource.com/images/Plans/Large/1FP/fb05024.gif

We will be making the dining room into an offfice. It will be stucco and stone(on the part that juts out by the door and up half way on the sides of the garage).

[Sarah051504]

trm98 ~ I love that house plan, it is actually very similar to the original plans we had picked out. We didn't end up going with it sadly becasue of cost.

Kate ~ Pictures? you said you wanted to see pictures? Well that's one thing I have many of. I'll most just a couple below, there's a lot more in my journal. I don't know what time the workers stop, I always go on my home way from work, usually there about 4:30, and they are still working away. I'm thinking they are there till 5 or 6.

I don't know how to explain how I feel about going so much. They don't stop working when I'm there, they just ignore me. It's not just the fact that I go there everyday, Jason also goes everyday but at a different time then me, plus when I got there yesterday the ILs were just leaving but that's ok casue MIL is the one who signs their checks (she works in the builders office) so I don't care if she goes all the time.

Yesterday on my daily photo session they had all the interior walls framed and the tursses up. They were working on putting the playwood on the trusses and I'm pretty sure they got that finished either last night or this morning. For some reason the picture I got of the front of the house from accross the street is pretty dark, I'll get a new one today but for now here's a few.

Front of the house
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d620b3127cce9379a77a192000000016108AcOGrZmzZNb

Left Side
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d620b3127cce93799552982100000016108AcOGrZmzZNb

Right Side
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d620b3127cce9379940759dc00000016108AcOGrZmzZNb

Back
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d620b3127cce9379942d59f600000016108AcOGrZmzZNb

Becasue we are working with family, I have a totally different experience then most of you. I learn new things about the house everyday, yesterday I learned that the wall between the kitchen and the laundry room is only an 8 ft wall while the ceilings are vaulted. Not really sure how I feel about that one, kind of worried about the noise from the washer and drier. This past weekend I learned that our basement ceilings are 9ft. That's not normally the standard height is it? Then last night I had to sort out the mess with the plumbing fixtures, it turns out that I have one list of fixtures, the plumber has a different list and the guy at the builders who's placing the orders has a completly different list. :rolleyes: MIL brought them home last night and I had to sort things out.

[kam]

Sarah,

We go all the time too. Don't feel badly about it. They are used to it, I'm sure. We go every 2-3 days at least. I don't know how anyone from out-of-state would build brand new. No way I could put that much trust in others!

Yesterday, we went and saw they put the hardwoods, carpeting and stone on the garage up. A few issues:

1) the stone is MUCH darker than what we chose and darker than any other stone in the neighborhood. I'm talking 3-4 shades darker. I'm sure I'll get in a fight about this because they'll blame the "quarry", but am I right to think that we would get something similar to everyone else in the neighborhood? It's like asking for dark grey and getting black.

2) we paid for omalon (sp?) padding. It doesn't feel like they put it in. If we call and ask, I suspect they'll say "oh yes! it's in!". In going into the house next door, we found remnants of the padding and it is the lowest grade - it feels EXACTLY the same. All the carpeting is down. Do I question them or pull it up and check myself?

[Camdynlyn]

Kam: I would call them about the padding (we paid extra too so I am sure we will cross that when we come to it) and ask if you can see proof because it doesn't feel right.

THis is cross posted from my journal. Sidenote: We got a call yesterday that we now are estimated to close on Sept 25th instead of October 10th... which is awesome!! :) I can't wait for the inside stuff to start!

So let me vent really quick before posting this picture. The color scheme we picked out was not really what I had in mind. The house I saw with that color scheme had accenting vinyl but because we have stone, we dont get the accented color. I was really dissapointment because I didn't like the color of the house. We wont' get the stone until after the sheetrock is done. But, when I went back up the house today, I kinda liked it. I looked at other's in the neighborhood that were similar and they looked fine. I know that once we have a yard and plants it will really spruce things up. THis picture does nothing for the outside of the house but it will do for now. I can't wait to get the pictures of the inside walls up. It makes is really come together.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d630b3127cce932905d190ed00000016109AYuGjFk2am

Here is a picture of the family room from the kitchen area. This is the insulation.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d630b3127cce932905de11d200000016109AYuGjFk2am

[Oakley]

trm98- Congrats on owning the land! Are you still planning on going with the house plan you posted?

Sarah- Great pictures!! Wow, that must be totally different working with family! It sounds really cool that you're learning so much about your house. :) Our basement ceilings are 8 ft, but I don't know what is considered standard.

kam- How exciting that your flooring is in!!! :D I would also call about the padding. I hope they wouldn't lie to you!

How is the stone looking- still as dark? I bet even though it's darker it looks awesome!

Summer - I posted this in your journal also, but your house looks gorgeous!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our siding has been completed! I don't have pictures yet, but hopefully Friday when we go visit again. The drywall has been taped and spackled, but not sprayed yet. Last time we visited we saw them putting in our furnace. :)

[kam]

Summer - I'm sure it'll be fine. Let everything be put up and make a decision then. You could always paint the siding if you still don't like it.

Oakley and Summer - I actually called about the padding in a roundabout way. I called "just to make sure the color and padding were correct". I got a call that the color was correct with no mention of the padding. Low and behold, we went back and saw a lot more carpet fibers. And there was obviously padding in (we think they tore it up and put it down). Summer - you'll know if you have the padding or not - I'm never one to notice these things and even I noticed right away.

The stone - everyone (the builder, the home office) agrees the stone is too dark. They are having the manufacturer come out and replace it as it is a manufacturing error (as they are saying it's one color but it's not). We figure they have two choices: 1) give us the stone we ordered 2) give us the stone we ordered. ;)

Can't wait to see the siding, Oakley!

[suzubeane]

Summer - I went to your journal to see if you'd posted anything about the water heater vent, but I didn't see anything. Did they move it? It looks like the stack is still coming out the roof ...

[Camdynlyn]

Suzubean: That pic was taken the 9th and it was still there. It is now gone and they have wired it to the outside to vent it. Thank goodness. I even called to make sure they didn't just 'patch' it up but actually fixed it like it had never been there. I will post new pictures tomorrow, hopefully. It isn't there. Thanks for noticing! :)

[Oakley]

kam- That's great that everything is going to be fixed. I'm glad you didn't have to make the decision alone about the stone!


Here's a picture of our completed siding!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d632b3127cce933f9b7c60ca00000026109AauWLZq3ao
Our cabinets were installed and I LOVE them. There are more pics in my journal as well.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d632b3127cce933f9b79e1ff00000015109AauWLZq3ao
We found a stack of our tile in the garage so I'm hoping that is going in this week. I won't be able to visit until Friday so I'm hoping to see a ton of progress!

[kam]

I love your cabinets! And I know this is a small thing, but I love the entryway to the house. It reminds me of the cape I grew up in.

[Hangin'in]

Wow, I haven't been in here for a while. Everyone's homes are just great!

I had to go back to page 6 to see the last picture of our house.... this is the last picture I posted in here!
http://images.snapfish.com/34444%3A2723232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3238%3E989%3E752%3EWS NRCG%3D3232%3A494%3A9894nu0mrj

I'll quickly take you throught the high points.... so much has been done since then!
http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E232396%3B89%3B%3B87ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E232396%3B89%3B%3B99ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E23239%3B7%3A%3A8553ot1lsi

[Hangin'in]

Drywall being delivered!
http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp46%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E23239%3B7%3A%3A8%3A9%3Aot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E23239%3B7%3A%3A9%3B5%3Bot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A44%3C%3B5%3A73ot1lsi

great shot of that beam I STILL DO NOT LIKE! The part in the foyer wasn't supposed to be there.
http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A44%3C%3B5%3A75ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A44%3C%3B5%3A7%3Bot1lsi

[Hangin'in]

Siding has begun!
http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D8 43%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A44%3C%3B5%3A%3A9ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A44%3C%3B%3A457ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D8 43%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A45323776ot1lsi

Brick beginning...
http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A44%3C%3B%3A447ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A45323767ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D8 43%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A45326%3B%3C9ot1lsi

[Hangin'in]

Really, all they have left to do on the brick is the arch, and the trim at the bottom of the windows.
http://images.snapfish.com/3447972%3B23232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D8 43%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A45327253ot1lsi

They have finished the drywall, and the primer coat has been done....

We think trim will be next indoors.

[kam]

Just bumping this thread back up. I find an immense sense of guilt, nothing I can control really, in building a brand new house while others have lost their homes, posessions, family and friends. It's odd to be so happy to build this home but so sad for others who lost theirs.

We had our 2nd inspection with the builder yesterday. We were pleasantly surprised that we have more land than we thought and it will all be landscaped (in the fall, since it would be asking for trouble planting sod in the middle of August in NC!), not just around the perimeter of the home. There are small things, little dings here, nicks there, but those will all be resolved by our final inspection (morning of the closing). The stone is still wrong (they took it down, put new stone up, and apparently the manufacturer changed the colors since we picked them up). We need to pick out new stone but I'm not sure when that will happen. Also, the trees they planted are beyond dead and they will be replanted.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/House_Front.jpg

[sparkle&shine]

I find an immense sense of guilt, nothing I can control really, in building a brand new house while others have lost their homes, posessions, family and friends. It's odd to be so happy to build this home but so sad for others who lost theirs.

I have the same feelings.

I am so happy to be able to join this thread although feeling a bit guilty. We go on Sat. to sign the contract to build our new home. As long as financing goes through just fine we will be living in our dream house in about 9 months!
Here it is:
The elevation we hope to get
http://www.pulte.com/assets/images/COMM/2052_CopperBasinTheTerraCollection/tanzanite_el_2.jpg
The floorplan
http://www.pulte.com/assets/images/COMM/2052_CopperBasinTheTerraCollection/Tanzanite_fp_1.gif

We will be going with the optional bedroom 5 with the full bath downstairs!
I am so excited to go sign all the paperwork on Sat! Our market here is so crazy there are waiting lists, lotteries, and drawings to be able to purchase a house. We were lucky enough to get in now while we can still afford it. It took a month of waiting but we got the call on Wed!

[Oakley]

I find an immense sense of guilt, nothing I can control really, in building a brand new house while others have lost their homes, posessions, family and friends. It's odd to be so happy to build this home but so sad for others who lost theirs.

I was just thinking this yesterday as well. I feel SO fortunate for what I have when others now have nothing.

Jen- Your house is coming along SO nicely! I can't wait to see more from the inside. :)

kam- WOW, gorgeous house! :D When is move in?

sparkle&shine- Welcome! Your house is going to be gorgeous- and huge!! I'm glad that you are able to build- the lottery system is so crazy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a more recent picture of our house:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d607b3127cce93fb76a1c3a900000026109AauWLZq3ao

We had our final walk-through today and are VERY pleased at how the house came out. We're closing next Thursday and moving in Saturday and are so excited!! The process for us was very stress-free and we couldn't be happier with our builder.

[Camdynlyn]

Kam and Kate: They look beautiful!!

[lml41981]

Just joining the thread! We put down earnest money to build today. We're going with a David Weekley home in a master planned community. Has anybody else here built with them? We're really excited and slightly nervous because we have to have an offer on our home by the time our new home hits sheetrock stage. That won't be a problem because we are in a prime location, but we're worried about where we'll live if we sell and close well before our new house is done.

Here's the floorplan (without dimensions) for our house. We're going with the master bath that has the shower and tub, plus we added a second sink in the master bath. We also are going with the optional back porch. We are not doing a fireplace because it took up nice wall space and the chimney was ugly.

Floorplan (http://www.davidweekley.com/images/planpdfs/2330d2.pdf)

I'm so excited because I will have a great kitchen! Also, our floorplan is really open, so I'll be able to watch the baby no matter where I am. Plus, all our upgrades were free, so we're getting a lot of instant equity...and then with each price increase (we're in the first phase of the neighborhood, so the prices are lowest right now and will only go up) our value will increase. And the best part is that we'll have a backyard that has more grass than concrete!!! Our house will face a cul-de-sac and playground area that has a neighborhood pool, so it should be a relatively quiet street...save for the kids playing, but that's ok. Overall we're eager and thrilled!

[kam]

Hey ladies! Welcome lml. We're closing this Wednesday! EEK! YAY! EEK! I'll post pictures after we're in (it's supposed to rain, so after then). As an update, they dumped about 20 truckloads of soil so our land is the envy of the entire neighborhood (we had about 10 neighbors stop by and say "If we had known, we would've gone with this...."). The stone was still wrong so they've stopped accepting that stone from the manufacturer. Our new stone is the only one like it in the neighborhood and is beautiful.

YAY! EEK! YAY!

[Hangin'in]

lml41981 How exciting... Are you close enough to your current home to make frequent trips to your building site? It becomes addictive, having to see the day to day progress!

kam I bet you are excited to be closing soon!

We have made a little progress since the last time I posted. They finished the arch over the front door. The painters should probably be finished today (except for the cabinet in the 2nd bath and the column which had not arrived on Firday).

(ignore gimpy me!)
http://images.snapfish.com/3449787523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843%3 DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A7859883ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3449787523232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843%3 DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A7859856ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3449787523232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A786%3C895ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3449787523232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843%3 DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A786%3C897ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3449787523232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A7%3A%3D843 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3A786%3C898ot1lsi

I have some pictures of the red bedroom, but they don't look good, because there has only been 1 coat put on the walls.

[sparkle&shine]

We went yesterday to the design center to pick our flooring and cabinets. It was a lot of fun but now I am second guessing the counter :( Dang it.... I am worried now that it is going to be too light of a color. I think that I let the design consultant talk me into the lighter color although I did love it while we were there. I am just so confused now. I am hoping that it will be fine and I will love it - it is just so differnent than what we have now.
Here is the one I picked:
http://images.formica.com/assets/chip_images/large/h3526d.jpg


This is the one that I am thinking that I should have gone with but I think it is too late to change:
http://images.formica.com/assets/chip_images/large/h3687d.jpg


Here is the color for the cabinets:
http://www.merillat.com/images/products/wood/paprikaveneer-panel.jpg

We are doing wood floor in the kitchen. The bathrooms and laundry room will have tile that looks very similar to this:
http://images.formica.com/assets/chip_images/large/h7266d.jpg

And the carpet is close to this color:
http://images.cardomain.net/products/sti/STISMMOAK_1.jpg

[Hangin'in]

I love the darker one.... but, most people don't like dark tile, wood or counters.

Call them... see if you can change it. All they can do is say no!

[lml41981]

Sparkle,
We've already done our color selections and went with maple cabinets in that color as well...we did light countertops and light tile so that it wouldn't make the kitchen too dark. Do you have a lot of natural light in your kitchen? I'll have a lot of natural light, but I still like a very bright kitchen. I think your color selections will be great, but if you don't like it then it can't hurt to see if you can switch.

hangin'in,
I'll be on maternity leave for the majority of the time that the house is being built, so even though it is about 45 minutes from my house right now I will probably be able to get out there fairly often. Especially if we have a lot of showings for our current home.

[sparkle&shine]

Well I decided to stay with the Travertine. I do have a lot of light in the kitchen but I don't want it to look too dark. I told DH that if I get tired of it I will just have to get new countertops in a few years! I know that it looks good but I have a darker counter right now and so it is really different to be going so light for me. I think it will just be a bit too dark with the dark floors dark cabinets and dark counter and that the lighter one will brighten it up.

So now we just have to wait....they don't even break ground until Dec. 21. They haven't even put the streets in yet.

[Oakley]

We've closed and we are in! I have some pictures in my journal, but everything's really not organized yet. :) It's SO nice being in the new house. I still want to stick around here though to see everyone's houses built!

lml41981- Congrats! Love the floorplan!

kam- Congrats on closing! How is it going? Isn't it nice to be in? :D

Jen - I posted in your journal, but everything looks SO nice!! Can't wait to see more progress!

sparkle&shine- I second guessed a LOT of stuff- but it all came out looking nice. So did you stick with the lighter color? I think they both would look really good with your other choices.

[kam]

Hey all -

Closing took 45 minutes. The painters spent 14 hour days here and completed in 2.5 days. The movers were fabulous but still we've been in moving hell since then - the biggest problem is there are some things at the apt, we keep forgetting to pick up essentials at Lowes, etc.

Just wanted to drop off pictures. You wanted them, right? ;)

Front of house (sod needs to be put down in Oct):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/frontland2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/frontofhouse.jpg

Living room (columns are the same beige - just flash washed them out and slipcovers need to be changed to the non-faded ones):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/mantle.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/livingroom3.jpg

[kam]

Kitchen:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/kitchen6.jpg

Master (and piper):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/bedroom2.jpg

My office, something we've since dubbed the "Friends" room due to the colors (not intentional):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/nala2051/office1.jpg

Off to unpacking....still!!!

[Hangin'in]

Everything looks so great! Glad your closing went well! Looks like the fur baby's are adjusting well!

[sparkle&shine]

Congrats Kam! It looks great and looks like the furbabies are happy exploring the new digs!


So we had our Pre-Construction meeting on Mon. where they mostly just kissed our butts and made us feel good for choosing them to build our home ;) They are going to be great to work with though. We found out that we are the second house that is going to be built and that they have actually moved up the ground breaking to Dec. 2 and they gave us a very estimated close date of May 16. I hope that we end up with great neighbors and that we get to meet them as we all come out to check on the progress of our hom