We're Building Our Dream Home

[disneydaughter26]

Can't wait to see some pics!

 

[pittsburghmarc]

Here's the latest. We haven't had much progress with the decision making inside the new house because we are in the process of selling our current house.

We have a good offer, but the negotiation has taken a toll. It's been a stressful past 30 days. Hopefully we can put this behind us, rent a place to live for a few months, and move into our new house in December.

Thanks everyone.

 

[pklein09]

Looks great!

 

[Forever a Princess]

I love following your reports. It's our dream to build some day.

Picking house stuff (appliances etc) is so stressful.

Keep up the great work. The end result is going to be awesome for your family.

 

[pittsburghmarc]

Picking house stuff (appliances etc) is so stressful.

Thanks. You're right. At this point, it's one day at a time. This process is more complicated than I originally thought it would be.

Things are moving quickly now with decisions having to be made on pluming..."are you sure you want that sink there?";...and electrical..."is that track lighting or a fixture?"

DW and I are disagreeing on about 50% of these decisions. So it has been stressful, only to be increased by a particularly tough 3 months of work.

But we can walk through our house now. We know it will only be a few more months that we will be living in our temporary residence. Oh... I'm not sure if I've mentioned that we sold our house in 2 weeks. The closing was not particularly smooth, but we got it done at a price I was pretty happy with. So now we are renting from a great couple that were nice enough to let us rent for only 5 months! For a while it looked like we'd be moving in with family

So that's the latest. Most plumbing fixtures are ordered. Sinks are agreed upon. Now it's on to A\V and lights and lamps. Brick goes up next week, so I'll have some more pics. Thanks for listening.

 

[Forever a Princess]

 

[pittsburghmarc]

Hello.

Not many posts recently because things have not been moving too quickly on the house. But that has changed.

We are two months out (hopefully) and the builder has focused all attention on our project. Take note...a small builder, meaning only 10 houses per year, only works with a small crew. So you have to wait in line.

Anyhow, we are up next so things are moving faster. Brick and stone are going up (hope to have pictures tomorrow) and my attention is moving to A\V, security, roof and tile.

The stress hasn't let up. Maybe it's the fact that I have to start paying for all of this

 

[pittsburghmarc]

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae66/mteklinski/7D352332-6B79-4925-923B-

0F7FE84D30FA-9369-0000042C4C820E6A.jpg

 

[pklein09]

Very exciting to see it coming together!

 

[pittsburghmarc]

Here are some better pictures. This is the front.

This is the side.

This is the back.

And this is from the kitchen looking towards the family room.

 

[pittsburghmarc]

Hello again. Time for another update/download.

Well the builder is at least a month late.

The exterior of the house is well done. The back patio is being built as we speak. The landscaping, driveway, etc. won't be done until spring.

What have I learned in the past 10 months?

1. A 100% custom home is a big pain in the A$$
2. If DW and I can get through this, we can conquor anything.
3. No matter what you think, when buiding a house you will definately go over budget by at least 20%
4. I thought I had good design sense. But trust the experts. Let them design.

Those are just some quick thoughts.

We are dying to get into the house now. Things are getting stressful here at the rental.

Holidays, close quarters, kids, activities, driving to and from school (we are renting out of our school district)...whew!!

Drywall is up. Paint colors picked. Flooring 80% done. We're coming down the home stretch.

It's been fun, challenging, stressful, humbling, educational...and there's more to come.

I'll post a video soon.

Thanks everyone.