Walls are up!

It's true. It's starting to look like a real house now. The garage is the low structure on the left. The entry is the big door in the middle. And of course there's the big pile of wood debris and the dog kennel in the foreground.

This picture was taken from the shelter of the trailer, just inside the door, since it was raining, as ever.

Here you can see the view from my future office, misty though it is. The 2x4 in the foreground shows the edge of the little covered deck off the office.

The 2x4 railing that makes a corner marks where the living room walls will go. Those walls are mostly windows, so those seem to be the last thing they are going to build.


And here you can see the full squalor of the trailer, complete with all the construction debris. Now if you can just picture the little paths of mud that go everywhere, along with the pounding rain we get every night, you'll have a good sense of life as we know it these days.



This corner is the laundry room and a VERY small guest bath. Not too exciting at this point from the outside. The small, square windows are interesting. I like the way they look from the outside. From the inside they provide light, and a view for tall people. That would exclude me. I think if I stand on my tip tip tippy toes I may be able to catch a glimpse of the outside world. Yet another example of imperfect communication with the architects. Sigh.

Just to complain for a minute, while the construction process has been fun to watch since framing happens quickly, it is also a bit disconcerting how many things we discussed with the architects that didn't end up in the plans. Part of this was because we weren't sure exactly where to look for the correct details in the plans - especially for design details that bridge multiple floors (like details involving stairs). Part of this was because we really wanted to get plans submitted so we could get construction underway before it got too late in the year.

What I've learned since then:
- Get clarity from the architect on what level of detail you are reviewing. We kept being told we were reviewing plans that were final enough to get county approval, but not necessarily fully detailed. This wasn't really the case, and we've been discontent with the plans ever since.
- Building happens in all different weather here and trying to build in dry weather is actually unimportant. So, we should have delayed plan submission until we were certain all the correct details were in place, then embraced building in the rain, since we are building in the rain anyway.
- If an architect tells you "designing a plan to suit your budget is not a problem - it's part of the creative challenge," don't believe them. Example: the deck design for our house, which is lovely and unusual in concept, is pricing out at around 25% of our total house budget. Hello! On what planet would that be realistic?! That, combined with regular suggestions about unproven, expensive materials we should try out, have been quite disillusioning.

Okay, I'm through venting now. In many ways, the architects have been great to work with. Just know that the 80/20 rule does not really apply when designing a house. That last 20% of the detail is what will make you delighted with the home.

We're working with the framer to make some plan tweaks happen, and choosing to leave some things the way they are in the plans, even though that is NOT what we really want. Tough decisions and lots of trade offs along the way. That's just how it works, I guess.

The dogs are getting along well, getting used to being left in their enclosure during the day.

We're getting used to leaving for work every morning, doing the careful dance around each other as we try to shower and get dressed in cramped quarters. It all works.

Writing this with a headache and trying to embrace the adventure,
~ Leslie