PreConstruction Meeting

This morning we got to meet with our Project Manager, Jorge again.  He is the one in charge of the build of our home.
We got to see the actual plans for the house and everything (sorry, no pictures, I didn't get to take any!)  We've done a fair amount of customization so there were a things to go over and discuss.

One of the big 'non standard' things we are doing is making the doors 'universal' which means wheel chairs can go through.  He wanted to verify also that we were aware we are 'losing a window' due to our fireplace :)  This makes sense, but isn't something I had thought of.

He explained to us how the foundation is built using a 'post tension' foundation design.  In Texas the weather is all over the place and it can be very dry or it can be, like this month has been, a downpour. This makes the soil move and gives foundations issues.  Their method of making the foundation accounts for this to allow for some moving/shift of the foundation.

The engineer and the city both do an inspection of the wires/slab before it's officially poured to sign off on it.

I know it adds a bit of extra time to it, but I love the number of checks and balances that are required. I know not everyone agrees but for me, it gives me peace of mind knowing that very strict guidelines are followed for every step.

I realize I'm very lucky to have the opportunity to build my own home, not everyone gets to go through this process.  I want this to be my last home and for it to last a lifetime!

Good news? We haven't been washed away!

We're still only a few days into our 'first build week' since our start build was last Thursday and Monday was Memorial day so not much to update yet - especially with the rain!

Yesterday we had rain/floods of historical proportion!  The builders had put sand down on Saturday. All of the sand is still there - but the water pushed it down a bit.  I'm sure once the sand dries out they will be able to add more sand and continue on.   This week the forecast shows less than an inch of rain total all week so here is hoping we get some decent progress.  Next step should be the plumbing!

Start Build!

The survey came back.  Yesterday a pile of wood appeared on our lot - today that wood is becoming the outside of our foundation!  We talked with our construction manager again.  He has met with us 3 times already and seems very much on top of things.  I did let us know that he's at the mercy of the weather and they can't pour foundation until things dry out a bit.  Our lot is a lot more flat than some of the others so we won't have as many issues as the houses on the hill.

Survey was moved to the left and forward like we requested, so we have an extra 10 feet in the back yard and much more room on the side.  We will meet with our sales rep, Scott tomorrow and then next Wednesday we'll meet again with our construction manager, Jorge to go over next steps.  

Concerns:  At this point the survey only shows one A.C. unit.  This could be an oversight because it's a standard 1 story plan, not a 2 story but I will be checking with Scott again on this tomorrow!

Survey Part 2

My husband and I really wanted to have as much back yard and side yard as possible so instead of accepting the survey as is, we asked them if they could move it forward and to the left to give us more back yard.

Our sales rep took this back to the engineer the day we asked about it.  The engineer agreed to review and put a rush order on the new survey and requested a 3 business day turn around!  That means we should sign off on the final survey this week. Then we will just be waiting on the city for the building permits.  I have been very happy with our sales rep's sense of urgency and caring about what we see as important.  I hope any further issues, problems or concerns that crop up will be solved just as quickly

In other news, here is the floor plan that we are building.  It's called the 3005 plan. It comes with the cedar garage doors and the 4 sides masonry standard. We opted for stone instead of brick.

Structural options:

Optional stairs at Family (adds Loft upstairs)

Optional Bedroom 5 with Bath 4 and Gameroom upstairs

Optional Gourmet Kitchen (adds built in ovens)

Optional Corner Fireplace

Optional extended Covered Patio with Bay Windows at nook and master

Optional Door to Patio at Master

Optional Shower at Bath 2

Optional Powder at Storage

Optional Study at Living Room

Optional Cabinets at Laundry

Optional 3 car garage (this was included with lot)

The plan is to let my oldest boys have the upstairs area.  One is going to have the bedroom and one will have the game room with a room divider.  Then the space between they can use as a study/office/sitting area.  Should be pretty cool for them.  My oldest will be 18 and a senior when we move in, and the middle child is 16 and will be a junior.   We could have either had them sharing a room downstairs, give up our office or build the loft.  I figure the loft area will allow for a guest area, them coming back from college, or a grand kid area someday far in the future ;)  This gives us our office downstairs, a room for Jeff's dad, a room for Kitty and 'bedroom 4' will be used as a den/media room to keep the T.V. out of my living room.  

I'm very jazzed about the plan, it will be super functional :)

Step 1 - Survey and permits!

It's been VERRRRY quiet on the house building front!  It's been just over two weeks since our final design sign off.  The first part of building a house is a waiting game and so waiting is what we've been up to! 

Our final close on our previous house happened last week and we wrote a healthy option check to the builder.  One of the nice things the builder allows is that 18% of the home price can be built into the base loan price for options without anything out of pocket.  You only have to pay once you go over that.  Since we chose to build a loft as an addition, we had to go over.  

The build process is listed as a 28 week process.  Actually meeting with the engineer to break ground is classified as week '8' of the process.  

Week 8 - Construction begins; Pre Construction Orientation
Week 13 - Frame Start: Plumbing, Air Conditioning and Rough-In

Week 20 - Pre-DryWall Orientation

Week 21 - Finish out: Sheetrock, Paint, Counter tops, Cabinets, Flooring

Week 24 - Lock in interest rates

Week 27 - Final Inspections and appraisals 

Week 28 - Closing

Our house was sent to Engineering and to the city for permits.  Permits are not back yet, BUT we did receive our initial survey today!

This isn't exactly what we were hoping for.  We wanted to be a bit further forward on the lot with more of a back yard.  We are wanting to flip it all the way to the left if possible. They are taking it back to engineering now to see if they can accommodate.

Interesting pieces to note.  My driveway slope % is only 1.8%!  Very flat lot :)  Lot itself is 13,151 SQFT so decent size.  Without any changes to the design, my driveway would be over 1000 sqft!  I'd have plenty of room to park, that's for sure!  Still would have a huge corner side yard but hoping to maximize that!

For all who were concerned about the creek, you can see the notation of the floodzone line on the plot plan.  No part of my lot is in the flood plain :)   

I've been told if a change can be made it's much quicker because we don't have to wait in line so hopefully we'll have an updated survey to post soon!