House Plans

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!