Alright, things are getting exciting now.
If you drive by the site, it actually looks like a house. While we still have a long way to go before we can live there, we are inching closer and closer.
We have enjoyed seeing the rooms in the house take shape. We can actually envision where furniture will be placed, which is exciting. I can’t decide which room in the house I am going to love the most, but I think it will be a tie between the great room and our master bedroom. I am in love with the tall ceilings in the great room, but I think the large windows in our bedroom will reflect nature’s beauty in all four seasons.
For as much that seems to be going right, we also have had our fair share of setbacks and pitfalls as of late. Remember how months ago, Luke lined up all the subcontractors through a process of lots of emails, phone calls, and site visits? We thought we had all of our ducks in a row, but last week, the plumber decided to pull out of our project. I am not going to share this plumber’s name publicly, but I will happily share it privately if you are in search of a plumber. Because this person waited until 2 weeks before we actually needed his services to back out, we are now in a pinch and starting the bidding process over again. A second company that we already had a bid from (but decided not to go with initially) decided to increase their price by $4,000 just because we needed them on short notice. It is so irritating that some people think nothing of causing a giant inconvenience to others, even after a commitment had been made. And now, because of no fault of our own, we might be forced into paying a lot more money for the same services, or at the very least we are experiencing a lot of stress. I am 100% certain we will get it all figured out because we have no other choice. Luke is meeting with more plumbers this week, and I am praying the right person takes the job (and for the price we had budgeted).
There’s always something with a project like this. For example, the tape that goes around the windows to seal them started peeling off because it isn’t compatible with the brand of house wrap we are using. A couple of windows arrived in the wrong sizes. We had to order more roof trusses because we were short a few.
It’s all part of the process. Nothing goes as planned, and that’s alright. I tell myself daily, “Everything is fixable. Everything is figure-outable. Nothing is an emergency.” This helps to keep me grounded (and to keep Luke grounded, which can be very challenging as he is shouldering most of the stress).
For now, we are thankful for the dedicated crew of builders who have put up with us so far. We are thankful that they work when it’s hot, when it’s raining, and when they probably would rather be doing something else. We are proud of how far we have come since we began in February, and we are so excited to think about where we might be by August.
Here are some photos from the last few weeks!
