Dometastic

We are now playing the waiting game.  It is the "Wait for Spring" game. Our decision to move our septic location has pretty much halted the progress I was making. We need to wait until spring to dig holes for the new perc tests. We have had some weird warm winter weather BUT it is really wet. It is wet and could decide to freeze at any point. February in CT is not known as a great time to plan outdoor work. The wise (although frustrating) thing is to wait until spring so we get our best shot at good perc tests. I thought this winter would be a great time to prepare our updated plot plan but that would be too easy. Like most big projects, there are bottlenecks in the timeline that make things screech to a halt before they go full speed again. I am a patient person in most aspects of life but this does not extend to projects I am working on. Once I get going I can't just sit and wait. I get twitchy and need to focus on something else. My new focus is the barn. Mr. Do...

We have officially hit the first of many hidden costs in building from scratch. Part of what the building engineer needs is info about our land. They need to know everything from the topography and elevations to the location utilities will enter the house. I have spent the last 2 weeks talking to surveyors and getting quotes. This was informative in many ways but I do have one huge take away. The number one thing I learned: Don't always choose the cheapest way to do one step of a complicated process. Look at the bigger picture and ask people who understand the whole process not just the expert in that one step. Choosing to save money now may result in spending way more in the future. The septic system for our house is a prime example. I needed to listen to the surveyors but then take that info and talk to someone who understands the whole process of putting in a septic system.  The property already has an approved building plan but we want to move the proposed house location ...

I have been assigned some serious homework related to the engineering of the house. Everything from picking out the actual doors to picking the location of all the lighting. Not just lighting BUT the switches that will control the lights as well. The obsessive compulsive part of my artsy brain has been turned on. I have spent the last 7 days on these details drawing color coded lighting plans on the floor plan. Back when this house was only a dream a friend warned me about this aspect of building your own house. Every itty bitty detail is your choice. Your choice to get it right or to get it wrong. There is definitely a part of me that loves this and a part of me that is sure I will be super annoyed if I get it wrong. But I am determined to embrace these choices and not get frustrated.  Mr. Dometastic and I have lived in 14 different homes together. After 14 different places you definitely get a feel for what you love and hate. With all those others we could just hate it and...