Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Building Frenzy

Jim and I are well into the process of designing and building our house, and the plans are verrry close to being finalized. We have been working with a talented and patient (!) architect who has turned our ideas and needs and dreams into something that will eventually become wood and stone and concrete. We are both "building virgins" so this process is very important to us. We have been married to other people, we have had children with other people, but neither one of us has ever been through designing and building a house with another person. It's been relatively easy so far because fortunately we have very similar ideas about aesthetics, needs, and budget. Hopefully that will continue. Gulp.

As a contractor of construction services (pavement construction and maintenance) and a college degree in something construction-y, Jim has a better grasp on the road ahead. I, however, feel fairly overwhelmed with the complexity of being our own construction managers. My response to feeling uninformed is to READ AND LEARN, and here are the three books I ordered from Amazon along with my first impressions:

"What Your Contractor Can't Tell You" by Amy Johnston should be an excellent resource. It addresses a whole lot of details about the construction process, such as foundation types,  roofing options, and screwing drywall versus nailing it. Included are many diagrams and illustrations, and a TON of checklists. 

"Building Your Own Home For Dummies" is a pretty typical "Dummies" book. It has lots of info written in a language that a layperson can understand.

"The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home" by Kent Lester and Dave McGuerty looks like another winner. Not as many illustrations as Johnston's book (and I do like pictures!) but great information written in a language I can understand along with many checklists and time lines.





Monday, September 24, 2012

Instagram?

I just dragged this from my Instagram account ... it is larger than the standard uploaded image but it isn't a thumbnail. It just is what it is. 
Lake Ontario, after a storm