Where to begin? ( add 100 LINKS HERE!) the ending is suitable for home page stuff)

I read about Flex Housing, A Pattern Language, the 6S’s. I studied sunrooms and fine details of Ahearn, and Crisp.

  I flipped thru Houzz…an astonishing vault of inspiration, then creating 80 notebooks.

Then it is time to find an architect…by my third one, I stopped switching, letting optimism dissolve to disillusionment…I watched a 6-week proposal, turn into 15 months. But his procrastination, lies, evasion, provided me the time to evolve my ideas, on the layout, the floors.  Time BEFORE construction costs nothing…so I used it well.

With 2 cats on my lap, and TV in the background, every night I would draw, over and over again… Experimenting, proving what would work, what would not.  I learned 3D drawing, then created photo-realistic final photos….more for art, than construction, so I could  SEE my house, with our actual trees in the background, to see that this new house would fit the neighborhood.

I could see it from inside, and what the views would be, and the details of way the light roared thru the South windows….to making sure the cars could turn into the driveway and garage.

I evolved from 1 floor with a high peaked living room , to just expanding over the garage, to, 2 stories with to clearstory windows along the front, from dog houses to dormers… the evolution was interesting…..the roof, the walls, the windows, the ceilings, the stairs….always…where to put the stairs…the stairs that would ruin the flow, take away a bedroom, let the heat/AC escape to an unused floor….always the stairs were my nemesis…

There are always doubters and negative people along the way, but my drawings proved it would work….gave me the confidence to push back against the banks, the subs, the architect, the appraiser….each one able to make this house go sideways…All it took was ONE! And the job would FAIL.

What does FAIL look like? For one thing…all our money would be gone…you know, the life savings thing… Building a house, is exactly like putting all your chips on RED….

FAIL, is when the appraisal comes in too low, and the bank will not give you money. FAIL happens if something changes…your health, your job, your income, your credit rating, the interest rate of banks…if any of these things change in the 2 to 5 years it takes to build your house… then FAIL happens.

But, as you design, you draw… you walk the line from spectacularly creative, great, to where goofy begins…then you step back from goofy, back to reasonable, slide in some clever, then acceptably good design.  Then you wonder WHEN to quit.  IS it DONE?

Now you are at the starting line.

Picking a contractor, reading bids, reading people.

A contractors job is to make as much money for his family, while your job is to save as much money for your family. GO!

Who has the most experience in this negotiation? Who has the tricks, the fall back ideas, the change orders that explode the budget…NOT YOU!

So YOU have to study hard, and learn about each Sub as you read the bid. See where the bid is vague, where waffles, where it is nonspecific, learn the unknown, unknowns….Seeing what is NOT on the bid, is just as important as what is…..because…

IF IT IS NOT IN THE BID..

YOU DO NOT GET IT…

IF IT IS NOT IN THE BLUEPRINTS,

YOU DO NOT GET IT…..

There is no more important thing to remember, that these 2 things…say it over and over like a nun with a rosary…. I mean it…. repeat it over and over….

Because, when the compressor is clacking away, the workers are speaking in half English, the contractor is looking for a way out of a problem, a responsibility…everyone turns back to the bid, or the blueprints to back up their case….

This will either save or sink you… just the facts…it is not personal…there are no hard feelings here, no excuses, no “I thought you meant’s”, “but I didn’t know”, stuff.. if it is on the bid, on the blueprints, you get it… otherwise, pull out your wallet and start paying….dearly. That is called a change order.

It takes blind optimism to start such a project… the not knowing how hard it will be, will shield you from being intimated! That is good…the optimism of youth, wins over the pessimism of experience…  no one would have a baby, or become a doctor, or even get married otherwise. It is the not knowing, that lets you leap.

Enjoy the creative process, at your own pace, let time work on problems… don’t rush, let it ferment, grow, evolve, then stop again..,and wait.. Then, let time work some more… patience and time is cheap now… you are not committed during the dreaming stage… Eventually you will have the 3D drawings that will give you the honest confidence to move forward…put all your chips on RED.

Most people have real jobs, real families, and no extra time for all this…Someday, this will become a profession of its own… representing homeowners in renovations or building a new custom house. Like in RE, you have someone represent you as a buyer or a seller…you need a pro, to represent you in reading bids, getting contractors, working with banks, reading appraisals, and city inspections, and subs…or you reinvent the wheel and do it yourself.

Hopefully this site will point you toward great ideas, great designers, methods of thinking, working, dreaming of building you own house.

After you are all done, it really IS comforting see your house, that you drew yourself, that you only saw on your computer screen ….for about a year, then to say it is well done, and enjoy the calm, after the build is done… and then get on with your real life again… go on… get out of here! Get back to your real life, with a house that supports your time, energy, and quiet moments of joy.  And say, well done. You did not FAIL.