Let's Build It

We received the estimate from Matt, our builder, over the weekend.  Ouch.  The house is much more expensive than we anticipated.  Part of the issue is lumber.  Lumber prices have spiked.  Just since May, prices have increased 110%.  Covid shut down the mills so that interrupted supply.  Many people have decided to make improvements to their homes since they are spending more time there.  And demand for new housing hasn't slowed.  Not enough supply + too much demand = very high lumber prices and also makes it hard to find lumber at all.  Our builder's supplier is only selling to existing customers right now. 

We discussed pausing the project for at least 3 months to see if prices start to correct.  We've spent all week reading articles about the lumber situation and trying to determine the best thing to do.  Yesterday afternoon we decided to go for it.  I emailed Matt and wrote, "Let's build it."  He called today and said it was a hard decision, but if it were his house he'd do the same.  We have no way to know how long it will take the lumber market to correct, and in the meantime other supplies could become problematic.   We aren't frivolous with our money and it's very hard to overpay for lumber, but we're going for it.  

So, I have a contract in-hand that we need to review and sign for the builder.  I made a call to State Farm to determine what is needed for our construction policy.  That needs to be in place before framing begins and it has an extra rider that covers delivered materials before we have locking doors.  Matt found a well company to work with us to decommission the old funky well.  They will be out next Thursday Oct 1st to take care of it.  Clearing and grading will begin shortly after that.  We'll meet Matt at the land to roughly stake out the house footprint and decide which trees need to go.  They'll also take care of some tricky trees that need to come down in other parts of the property.  

I'm continuing my quest to de-clutter and purge every nook and cranny in this house.  I keep donating, recycling, posting for free as I go.  Hopefully by the time we move we'll be in good shape and have an already organized house to pack up.  I also picked up paint sample chips, and ordered a bath mirror this week, so I'm all over the place.  But today it feels a little more real.  We're having a house built! 

Welcome Lucy

 Baby Lucy, who decided to kick things off while her Mama was meeting with us, arrived later that same day.  She's a beautiful healthy girl and I'm so happy for her family! 

We Should Have Warned Her

We had our first meeting with the interior designer, Amanda, this morning.  It went really well.  But we should have warned her that chaos tends to follow us with every project.  

Uganda Adoption:  Get stuck in country for 15 weeks

China Adoption:  Double typhoons to fly around; get stuck in Hong Kong.

Build Our First Home:  Very pregnant Bri installing flooring and trying to finish the house through morning sickness.

Building this House:  Pandemic

Back to the point....Amanda is pregnant.  She's due in 3 weeks.  Plenty of time, right?

Nope!  Amanda's water broke during our meeting!  Any formalities went out the window pretty quickly as I was grabbing towels for her, lining her driver's seat with more towels, asking about contractions, and loading her stuff in her car.  

Very very happy for her as she becomes a Mom for the first time!  

The Clock is Ticking

Our building permit was officially issued on September 8th.  It's technically good for 12months, but I expect we'll have to extend it since our anticipated time to build is also 12 months, and we're still 2 weeks away from getting started.  

So relieved that our interactions with the county should be over and Matt, our builder, will handle the rest of it (inspections, etc).  Now we can turn our attention back to what we want this house to look like!  We're planning to meet with an interior designer late next week to start discussing some things we're unsure about.  Between now and then we need to get our questions organized and choose some favorite photos to share with her.  Lots to do, but with school starting and all the birthdays happening, I'm drowning a bit.  Looking forward to settling into a routine with school/life and making some firm decisions about home finishes.  

About 3 Weeks Until We Start!

 Here's the short version of my call with the builder today:

-Construction will begin in roughly 3 weeks!

-All of the important subs are aware of our project and fitting us into their schedules.

-Electricity has been requested so that's in the works.

-Lumber prices are through the roof (due to the shutdown).  We can either delay construction for about 3 months and hope prices return to normal, or pay the premium price.

-The old well should be removed soon.  Date is still TBD.

-He's estimating 12 months to build.  Framing alone will take about 2 months.  We've got timber frame elements which require some care.  Not all framers can do it well.  

-He was really happy to hear me say we think the foundation and framing crews are two of the most important subs we'll have on-site because most people don't get that.  We do!  

-And finally, he told me not to worry about the weather AT ALL.  Many reasons why he doesn't see this as a problem and I feel a lot better about our early autumn start date.  He said framing during the hottest part of the summer is actually more problematic, because the slightly wet lumber dries too fast and can twist.  Framing in the rain isn't as a problem as long as you dry it out properly and he uses certain materials that handle wet weather better (full fir lumber, etc.)

So...roughly 3 weeks until go time.  He said go ahead and finish the last steps with the county so they issue the permit.  The permit is only good for 12 months, and since our house will probably take 12 months, I think he's assuming we'll have to file for an extension anyway so we might as well pull it now.  We'll probably have it officially issued next week.  There will be some activity in the next couple weeks...contracts to review and sign, old well to remove, etc.  Things are about to get exciting!

Permit is Ready!

 April 2nd to September 1st - That was our permit timeline.  Yeesh.  But it's ready to issue!  We need to upload some documents and pay our permit fee (ouch), but it's ready to go.  

When I saw the email from the county letting us know it was approved, I texted Jeremy and wrote, "Want to build a house?"  His response was, "WHAAAT?!?!!!"

In some ways it doesn't seem real.  Our builder was excited to hear it was ready and I have a phone call with him tomorrow to discuss the next steps.