The last few days have been a blur. Just watch.
Instant House. Just add crane.
1
A Reality Check And Sense of Relief
One of the things we have been looking forward to was being able to visit the house while it was under construction at the factory and a few days ago the call finally came. The modules were about 75% complete and ready for us to visit. Like a baby in a nursery, we couldn’t wait for that first peek.
We had about a 4.5 hour drive and passed the time with idle chatter. Neither of us were willing to admit how nervous we were about seeing the house. What if everything seemed cramped? What if the design totally didn’t work? What if we got it all wrong? There was a lot riding on this visit.
Our factory rep met us late in the afternoon and we headed into the factory immediately. The instant we saw the modules, we knew they were ours. And they. were. beautiful. I think we cried.
The house is split into six modules and we were able to view each one in various stages of completion. Some only had sheet rock, others had plumbing, electrical and insulation. As we walked through, we were repeatedly impressed with the attention to detail and quality of the craftsmanship. With this being a completely custom house we expected to see something that was missed but our comments were minimal.
Welcome to our new home (standing at the front door)
Inside the “front door” looking out (Study is to the right, staircase to the left)
“Honey, I’m home”
The family room: TV wall, french door, fireplace opening
From the family room to the dining room
Standing at the kitchen sink looking out
Don’t be jealous but this is the pantry
Front second floor windows
I can’t wait to take my first real bath
Second floor laundry room which will lead to the space above the garage (right). This is a major relief as I had no idea how this was going to turn out
The Kid’s room
All the sheet rock seams are glued to the studs. Our factory rep said “good luck ever trying to remodel”
A view from the top
A view from the top in the other direction
Our side front door with the front door and sidelights behind it
We have a lot of windows and they are BIG
Nailed it.
While we were only at the factory for a little over two hours, I can’t describe the feelings we had from walking around. I think we both were in a state of excited disbelief. Not only was this real but we LOVED it. For those that can’t remember, here is the floor plan we designed:
What we are most proud (and relieved) about is that we designed this ourselves, and while we still have a long way to go to completion, the initial results are pretty breathtaking. Next stop – delivery day!
Set in Stone
After the trench, things really got busy and the house started to take shape.
The first step is pouring concrete into the trench. Of course, we never do things the easy way so we had to call in a pump truck because the concrete trucks were at risk of getting stuck in the sand.
We were lucky enough to watch them set up that morning and the kid was MESMERIZED. 
The pump truck pumps the concrete from the concrete truck allowing it to stay on the solid gravel and minimize its risk of getting stuck. 
Next, the survey company comes out and ‘pins’ the corners of the house so the block guys know where to put the block.
Then the block can begin. This was such a glorious sight the day it was all delivered – like little lily pads scattered across the lot.
The kid was pretty excited too.
First they started at the corners
Built the back wall of the house and worked their way around. 
Then they did the block piers throughout the middle of the house and finished with the piers for the front porch. 
In the Trenches
The very base that a house sits on is its footer and in order for it to withstand the weight of the entire house, it has to be constructed to exact specifications. The first step, however, is digging the footer trench into which the concrete footer is poured. Many localities have specific requirements that the trench has to be a certain level below the frost line in order to counterbalance the expanding and contracting of the elements.
A good description I found as to the importance of a footer is from askthebuilder.com:
The primary purpose of the footer is to spread out the weight of the structure across a larger footprint than the foundation would if it were in direct contact with the earth. Frequently a concrete footer is 20, 24 or even 30 inches wide and at least 8 inches thick. More often than not you’ll see them 10 inches thick. The average foundation wall is usually only 8 inches thick (wide).
When you calculate the total weight of a completed house plus everything in it, you’d be stunned by the total tonnage. Just the interior furnishings and possessions in an average home can weigh tens of thousands of pounds. Add this to the many tons of weight of the building materials and you end up with enormous concentrated loads. Without a footer under a foundation wall, the wall may actually start to slice into soil much like a knife cuts into a stick of butter.
One of the things we liked most about Tidewater Custom Modular is that instead of piers, or ‘islands that run under the middle sections of the house, he builds with a continuous footer in order to best displace the weight of the house. The footer trench is also extra wide for additional support. 
Steel Rebar is also typically used at key intersections of a trench, such as at corners, to ensure strength but who are we to settle for the standard – we have Rebar running throughout the entire trench. Go big or go home
This stage also saw the first of many inspections from our lovely government official but of course, we passed because we are awesome (or because we hire awesome people).
Oh, and did I mention that they dug the footer trench in the dark? It’s a good thing I don’t worry about the details…
A Ground Breaking Groundbreaking
Well folks, words cannot fully describe the past week so I’ll let the photos do the talking.
The calm before the storm
The construction driveway goes in
In comes the dirt
End of Day 1
End of Day 2 – Complete!
Wow, that’s a lot of dirt!
So why all the dirt? Our little town is one big flood zone so in order to protect ourselves from future storms, and to save big $$ on otherwise expensive flood insurance, we are moving on up! While the cost of bringing in dirt is expensive, it should pay for itself in a matter of a few years in reduced premiums, and provide us with a solid state of mind when the storms roll in. I’ll discuss the process more, including our new elevations, once we move toward the foundation.
Next step? Pinning the house corners and laying the foundation!
We’re Baaack!
January 2012: We bought the lot
October 2012: The old house came down
December 2012: We selected a builder
August 2013: Our son was born
November 2013: We fired out builder
January 2014: We hired a new builder
June 2014: We signed a contract to build our dream house
July 2014: We fired our bank
August 2014: We hired a new bank
September 2014: WE CLOSED ON OUR LOAN!
Ladies and gentleman, it has been a loong process but we are happy to finally report that not only do we have a building permit
but we also have a loan! I repeat, we are loan-owners! I’ve never been so happy to be in so much debt.
The blog has been quiet for a while because we have been fighting a battle on the flip side with our financing but the lesson has been – stick to your instincts.
We thought we would sail through the financing since our pre-approval gave us the ‘two-thumbs up’ but as I was driving home ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, we received the frustrating news that the project appraisal came back significantly less than expected and unless we could come up with the cash, we were stuck. After submitting a detailed appeal and spending countless hours on the phone with the bank, they would not budge. We knew the appraisal was way undervalued based on our analysis of the local market but we were unable to convince the money-holders located hours away.
So what did we do? What we have done before when something doesn’t feel right – we walked.
We walked straight to someone who we were confidant could make it work, and they did. We outlined our project scope, provided detailed information about the house and area and lo and behold, the value came back right where we expected it should. Processing took a few more weeks, then some snags with flood insurance requirements ate some more time but we are happy to report that we have now closed on our loan and there is nothing stopping us from moving dirt!
P.S. Our child is now walking. We started this project before he even existed. Woosah…*
Mom, this tiny human is now walking upright. I’m not sure I signed up for this.
5 Year Anniversary: Wood
So last week we celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary, and you know what the recommended present is for such a milestone? Wood. How very fitting.
After a very long 1.5 years, we are excited to share that we have signed a contract to build our dream home with Tidewater Custom Modular and Excel Homes.
I’m still in a state of disbelief that we are finally at this point, and while we still need to get our financing finalized and our permit application approved, we are confident that this house will. happen.
I know it will take many posts to bring you up to speed on the past six months but we will take it one day at a time (so watch this space for more frequent updates).
But first, let me introduce our dream team.
Contractor John has been awesome. I could say “enough said,” but that would leave you all at a disadvantage as to the WHY he has been so awesome. For those who know Dan, if I said “he understands Dan,” that would be saying enough. But for the rest of you, John is awesome because…
He understands our project. He pays attention to the details. He explains things to us. He follows through. And most of all, his pricing is realistic.
We were very nervous during our initial conversations with him as to whether we were going to be able to continue with our plans or were going to have to start over. Straight away, he was able to look at what we hoped to do and give us a realistic number as to how much it will all cost. We have certainly had to make a few adjustments to the Scope of Work but overall, we have been able to keep our plans intact (yes, even the garage).
We did a factory tour back in January and were very impressed with what we saw. A number of methods were similar to Nationwide but there were some elements that were different. They have been great so far with making adjustments to the plans and picking up on the nuances of what we are looking for. While we have still had a considerable amount of back-and-forth to get it right, we have always felt as though this is an active project.
We have also already made many style selections as far as carpet, vanities, light fixtures, etc and they made it so easy with the options on their website. When we had our selection meeting we were able to walk in with much of the choices made and just finalize the decisions based on the samples John had in his office. I can’t wait to write that post because we are excited with how it’s all come together!
So we still have some big hurdles to jump such as permitting and financing but the good news is that a few hurdles are now behind us so watch this space for more frequent updates to come.
Patience Is a Virtue, Right?
Just a quick update (mainly because I’m in need of a therapy session).
We have been working diligently towards getting pricing and information from the new builder since mid-January. We took a factory visit last month and liked what we saw so wanted to continue the conversation and see where it went. We were told that updated pricing would take 2 – 3 weeks to compile but that we should have no issue being at contract by the end of February.
Then…
Snowpocalypse happened burying the factory in 21 inches of snow and shutting them down for a week. They finally sent the pricing early this week to the builder.
Then…
He caught a wicked strain of the flu and has been laid up in bed all week and unable to review what was sent for accuracy.
So here we are at the end of February with little information. To their defense, these are both things that are completely out of everyone’s hands – it’s just frustrating to say the least. In the meantime, we did receive garage pricing (which is still ALOT but better than where it was with Builder 1) but the figure is useless if we can’t add it to the full picture.
Our next update is set to happen next week so here’s hoping nothing get’s in our way!
If the pricing looks good, my hope is to back-track and introduce you to our new builder and give a review of the factory tour we took. If we’re still in over our heads then I’ll cry, then update you on our next steps. Stay tuned! Things could get interesting (as if they haven’t been riveting already!)
Breaking Up Is (Not) Hard to Do
We’ve all been there – the bad relationship that you try over and over to fix. You talk calmly, you yell and stomp your feet, you give ultimatums, you use the silent treatment, you try everything, but ultimately, the relationship is beyond repair. Well folks, we faced this very situation last month.
We got our pricing back and it was astronomical. Not only could we not afford it, we wouldn’t WANT to afford it. We had tried to be careful to leave ‘luxuries’ out of the plan such as crown molding, tray ceilings and other materials PLUS we were going to sub contract the kitchen and complete the front porch, master bathroom and painting ourselves; essentially, the pricing actually only included a house that was about 80% complete.
On top of that, we had also grown increasingly concerned at how slowly the project was moving. Communication was a major issue and getting responses for any/all questions often took weeks. Initially, we had hoped to be building while I was home on maternity leave so I could be on call to answer questions and be on site. That time frame had come and gone (and I had a very generous maternity leave!) and I am now back at work full-time. Dan also works full-time so our non-work hours are limited to say the least. Because our site visits will be limited, we really needed someone we could trust and easily communicate with and we just weren’t feeling that way anymore.
After a rough couple of days, Dan and I decided we had to pull the plug. We felt we had tried every avenue possible to fix the situation and it just wasn’t getting better. Our stress level was through the roof and the moment it started to affect how we were interacting with each other, we knew we had reached our limit.
The other consideration was that even though we hadn’t spent any cash so far, interest rates had become quite volatile, material costs had gone up, sales taxes had seen a rate increase and we still had a long way to go before we broke ground. Also, regardless of where our final budget ends up, it will still be a lot of money and we aren’t willing to play games. You know the saying “money talks and bullshit walks”? Well in this case bullshit talked and our money walked…(I know, I know Mom, sorry about the language…)
So what’s next? Do we settle and buy a house? Do we buy, renovate and flip? Do we find another builder and redesign our ‘dream’ home?
Dan and I aren’t very good at ‘settling’ so anything we bought would require a significant search and would likely result in renovations. We would also need to sell our land which could take significant time (see above about cost issues).
Buying, renovating and flipping is a risky endeavor because there are no guarantees in profit. Plus, because we are now parents, it is important to us that we use our non-work time to actually be parents instead of being distracted with other commitments (Again, see issues about cost).
This has left us with one option: working with another builder. Even though in a way we felt as though we were starting back at square one, we have made some good progress in this department.
Before we shout anything from the rooftops (or spread it to the world), we need to finish a few steps before we take it public.
So stay tuned…we hope to share a positive update soon!
Lines on Paper
So after much back and forth, we have reached a major milestone – our plans have been finalized! After a painstaking few months, we have placed every electrical outlet, every light switch, each sink faucet and drain. The windows have been chosen, the roof pitch is correct, the tub has been carefully placed under the window. The washer and dryer have (two) options, the electrical box has been planned and the conduit finalized.
This is a reason for celebrating.
But, I have to admit – the excitement has been short-lived. This milestone actually occurred six weeks ago and we have since been biting our fingernails waiting for pricing. After many phone calls to various chains of command, and some unpleasant conversations, we are still waiting for the final number as to whether we can afford to convince the bank to loan us money. As much as we wish we were lottery winners and could afford to do what we want, we have a child to take care of, cars to fuel, food to eat and lives to live – all of which cost money. As the penny pincher of the family, I refuse to be stressed each month in order to live in our dream house.
We hope to receive the initial numbers this week (although for those that speak with me on a regular basis know this sounds like a broken record) and then will decide what our next steps will be.
Please wish us luck and keep our family in your prayers. I know this is not a life or death situation (and we feel very fortunate for that!) but our little family would really like to have our own roof where we can roam in our underwear, blare our music at top volume and play tag with the dog around the coffee table. You know…the important things…
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