New Proofs

Good news in the email today! Rob sent the revised proofs of the floor plan and the outside elevations!

They look GREAT!

Can't wait till hubby Steve gets home Sunday evening (4 day weekend in Joliet at the races - - *sigh*). I couldn't wait for him to see them, so I forwarded the email and attachments up to our friend's house in Chicago where he's staying. Once he's back home, we will call Rob and give final approval so the blueprints can be started.

We're making progress - - we really are! It's exciting! :-)

Stay tuned . . .

As Tom Petty sang . . .

"The waiting is the hardest part."

We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our final house plans. I can't wait to see them!

In the meantime, we are gathering information about contractors, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, etc.

As soo as the plans arrive, we start making phone calls and scheduling meetings with ones that seem like good prospects.

Then the FUN part begins - figuring out home decor . . . Weeding through Home books to see about design ideas for kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, and the like.

That is the part I'm really looking forward to! Figuring out room colors, what faux finishes to use on the walls, flooring . . . can't wait! Got to get my artistic juices flowing! :-)

Stay tuned . . .

Planning the Escape

Hubby Steve and I moved to our current house 10 years ago.

Thought we were "buyer-savvy".

Thought we made a good deal.

Thought we would be in this house for the rest of our days.

We were wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

What we thought was our dream house has turned out to be every bit as bad as Tom Hanks' "Money Pit".

SO - - after much planning and discussion, we decided the only way to come out on top was to build what WE want the way WE want it.

This blog will describe Liz and Steve's Excellent Adventure into the world of contractors, plumbers, architects, electricians . . . good and bad, I'll post it all.

Stay tuned - - the fun is just beginning . . . :-)

Finalizing the House Plans

Good news!

The house plans have been finalized!

We went to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana this past weekend. Spent Saturday there, and then headed to the other side of Indianapolis on Sunday to meet up with Rob, the young man who has been working on our house plans.

We made it to his house around 1:30 in the afternoon. Hubby Steve and I spent the next 2 hours with Rob going over the preliminary plans he had sent us, making a change here, minor revision there, "tweaking" things a bit somewhere else - -

And when it was all said and done - - we have house plans!

We will be getting the permanent copies in the next couple of weeks, and then it's time for Phase 2 - - talking to contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc.

Exciting - -

And scary as the dickens . . .

Stay tuned.

House Plans

This was posted previously to my other blog, "Dizzy Ms. Lizzy". But, since I have now started this blog to chronicle our "incredible journey" into the world of construction, it seemed a good idea to include this post on this blog also.

And - - since I am new to this blogging business and still learning the ropes, it was easier to copy and paste than figure out how to link the damn thing . . . :-)

Here y'go:

We are going to build a house.

I am excited as all get-out - - and scared shitless all at the same time!

But I'll get through that - - somehow . . .

Anyway, let me tell about the house plans - -

We moved to our present home 10 years ago. We thought it was a good place, but over the years it has turned in to a bad parody of the Tom Hanks movie "Money Pit." It has finally gotten to the point of being totally ridiculous. With all the structural problems, wiring problems, and everything else that could POSSIBLY go wrong, we decided it was time to give up and go another direction. With all the problems this house has, it would cost nearly as much to fix it up the way it needs to be as to build a brand new house. So instead of having an old fixed-up house . . . we have decided to concentrate our efforts on a new one.

A few years later, we bought the empty lot behind our house from a neighbor, mostly to keep anyone from building behind us. Our current house is sitting lower than the back lot, and we already have enough water problems; if someone built back there it would just increase the problems. But now it has turned out to be a blessing - - the lot is already ours AND paid off; so that part is out of the way. Now time for the house plans.

Steve checked with the local lumber yard that he has dealt with for years. They are really good guys and totally reliable. He asked them to suggest someone to draw house plans. The man they recommended, Rob, used to live locally, but has since moved to Indianapolis. But he still has family ties back here and still draws plans. They gave Steve his number.

So - - hubby calls him up and talks at great length with him. He is willing to do the job! Now OUR part begins.

We start going all over Central Illinois looking at homes to see what we like and what we don't. We take pictures and point out certain features of homes we would like or want to avoid. Steve drew up a rough floor plan of what we would like the inside of the house to be. We took pictures of the back lot from every conceivable angle, complete with dimensions and lots of narrative about the lay of the ground. We scanned in all the pictures, typed up all the narrative, zipped up the file, and sent it email to him. In addition, we mailed additional pictures, narrative, and the rough floor plan to him.

*WHEW*

Now the waiting begins . . .

A couple of weeks ago, we got an email from Rob. The preliminary plans were finished, and he was mailing them to us that day! Wow - - that was a lot faster than I thought it would be! Can't wait to see them!

A few days later, the plans arrive. They are amazing!! Somehow, with the jumble of pictures, magazine articles, narrative, dimensions, and the rough floor plan Steve had drawn, Rob came up with a totally AMAZING set of plans! Steve and I sat down and went over them, and were very pleased with what we saw. There are a few things we need to have changed, of course - - but overall they are fantastic!

Steve called Rob and talked to him about the changes he saw that we thought may need to be made, and he said there would be no problem with that.

Steve and I are going to be at Turkey Run State Park in Indiana this weekend - - get away for a couple of days, walk the trails, stay overnight in the Lodge, and just have a nice relaxing time. Before we head back to Illinois, though, we now have a little side trip to make. Rob lives over by Indianapolis - - we will have the plans he sent us with some revisions marked on them, some magazine articles and other house information, and also some more pictures and measurements on the lot, and will be going to Rob's with all of this. He said he may even be able to finalize the plans before we head back home that day! WOW - - this is incredible.

But now the real work on our part begins - - NOW we need to start talking to contractors, plumbers, electrical contractors, etc. If it all works out - - and we are determined that it will - - ground will be broken next Spring.

Like I said - - excited, but SCARED TO DEATH!!

As this goes on, I plan to chronicle the whole thing, complete with pictures.

Wish us luck!

Have a good evening, and thanks for stopping by!