Why Building a House is Hard

I guess I should say "Why building a house is hard - for me."  Basically, I have fairly particular ideas about how I want things to be, but I feel like a jerk asking for it.  (Especially if it involves doing something over.  cringe.  But it is, after all, the house we're going to live in forever after.  happily.  So I ask.)

Part of the reason why I'm not fun to build for isn't just that I'm picky, I'm indecisive, too.  So it often comes down to the deadline or slightly after that I (we) finally make a decision.  To be fair, I should say "we."  Part of the reason it takes a while for us to make a decision is that we want to make it together.  And that takes more talking, thought and negotiating.  Thankfully, Mike and I agree on most things.  There's that ever-present balance of wants vs. costs, too, to take into account.  I can see why builders like to do spec houses. No catering to someone's demands, corrections, indecisiveness, quirks . . .

Monday was a tough day for me.  First, there was some bad communication - my fault - and something was built that I wanted changed.  So I had to go in and ask for it to be done differently.  I hate having to do that, but I'd hate living with it how it was, blah, blah, blah.  He was gracious, and it mostly involved a little more work instead of undoing work - which I hope is a good thing.  So that was the first part of the bad day.

Then we met with a subcontractor, and asked if we could do part of the job ourselves, to save money.  That left him disgruntled and with just the tough parts to do, so he decided he'd rather not do the job.  I felt so bad.  Especially since he'd helped us quite a bit, discussing possibilities.  Bad, sad day.

I wish I could do it all myself and not have to make demands on anyone, but that would be one buggly, falling-down house.

I think building a house is always hard.  Especially if it's your first and last house.  Our builder and his crew have been really great in this regard.  Patient and accommodating.  Thank goodness for that.

Semi-Regular Update

And, we're back.

I'm looking forward to this house being all done so that I can sleep better - I hope I will sleep better.  Last night I woke up at 3ish, and finally just got up at 5ish and tweaked house pictures with my paint program.  Yeah, I'm pretty high tech.  And tired.

 Siding is almost done.

 In case more of you have been shaking your heads in dismay . . .

Yesterday, Sarah C said, "So your house is grey . . . and tan . . .?"  In case you were wondering, this is raw siding, which will be painted a magnificent color of our choosing.  And then you may shake your heads in dismay if you don't like it - but we won't care!!  Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!!  No, actually it will hurt our feelings deeply, so please keep all injurious comments to yourselves.  Thank you. 

Still waiting for the front door, which should look something like this:

And the drywallers have been drywalling.

This is in the great room, looking east.

  Great room, looking south.

 Master Bedroom, looking east.

We did opt to have the walls textured - to help bangs and bruises not be so apparent.  It's hard for me to tell what it will look like when it's painted.  I'm hoping it is very light, as I don't want a rustic or old-world look.  I prefer clean and crisp.  So, here's hoping.

Otherwise, we've been hunting and hunting

for tile, wood and paint.

Sleeping Again

We were able to change our minds and boy do I feel better. Plus, the parties involved were incredibly gracious and understanding. Phew.

In other news, Dad spoke with our driller today, who says he's getting about 10 gallons a minute, and is working to get it up to 20. So almost done there.

Apparently lumber prices have gone from around $250 to $350 per whatever unit over the last month or so. Ouch. Other than that, it's a pretty good time to build.

Sail Away, sail away, sail away . . .

So I think I experienced my first real bout of home-building induced stupor/depression/funk. I just started worrying about a decision I'd made. I really had a sick feeling in my stomach. Was it the wrong decision? Is everything ruined?? Am I going to be able to sleep all the way through the night after this whole process is over??

Yeah, I panicked. And the thing is, it wasn't even anything worthy of panic. I've got to relax. Just let it flow over me and on down the river. I need some Enya right about now.

And, let's see, there isn't even a foundation hole dug yet. This should be good.