

Nonetheless, here are some pictures of the foundation right after they pulled the forms off and waterproofed the outside (that's the black stuff you see sprayed on). After that, you'll see some after everything was backfilled to near finished grade (there will be one more bulldozer visit later on after the heavy traffic is done in the yard).



The other exciting thing we did recently was to travel around with our interior designer, Kristy, who works for True North Homes. She's fantastic - has a great eye for what works together and is very in-tune with what we want our house to look like. She also goes to our church and has a little boy Alex's age, so that doesn't hurt either! We visited T.A. Gentry Kitchen and Bath for our plumbing fixtures (sinks, faucets, showers, toilets, etc...). There we met Susan who helped us work through our selections with a health dose of humor...mostly at my expense, since it was Carol, Kristy, and Susan against me. Apparently they just don't understand how important the flushing power of a toilet really is. Anyhow, we had a lot of fun and picked out all 'Gerber' brand faucets as they are the best quality for their moderate price range. Everything on the second floor will be chrome (actually the cheapest finish you can get) while the downstairs will be 'brushed-nickel' which is a touch more pricey but really nice looking. The tub/shower combos are all 'Lasco' brand one-piece fiberglass units. No caulking or grout to worry about with these, which will be awfully nice. And yes, we got the 'power flush' toilets (extra tall even!) for me. Guys, you know what I'm talking about...







We had a long budget and planning meeting with Rich and Kristy too where we got some sobering news about the cost of this project. I think we'll be able to make it work though. We kind of had a feeling that this would happen!
We also decided to change a couple of features that we had been planning on. First, rather than the house being made out of those cool SIPs (structurally insulated foam panels) it will actually be built using the traditional stud & sheathing technique. The cost comes out pretty much the same between the two, but there is a 6 week waiting list for getting SIPs from the manufacturer. We can't afford to wait that long! Instead, we'll have stud walls with spray-foam insulation that acts as a stellar sound, air, and temperature barrier so our energy efficiency will not be greatly impacted.
We're also going with a tank-type water heater rather than a tankless. We can always upgrade later and the price difference between the two is quite substantial.
We will, however, be spending a little extra $$$ on a zoned heating and AC system. That allows us to control the temperature of all three levels of the house independently with only one furnace and one AC unit. It will pay for itself over time and will allow for more even heat and air conditioning for different parts of the house. For instance, if the fireplace is going for a winter-time party that we're having on the main level, the forced-air heat won't be needed to heat that level, but the bedrooms where the kids are sleeping will need hot air. Pretty neat if you ask me!
We're also leaning toward having the deck built right away. We were going to do that ourselves, but the labor cost is only $1,000 and we'd have to buy the materials regardless. I think that it will be money well-spent as I'll have to spend most of next summer just doing yard and landscaping work!
Well, that's all for now. Framing should start soon and go really fast. Lots of pictures to come!
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