Framing Day 4 & 5

Framers were off on Friday - a delay in getting the shipment to the site. Not to big of a deal.

They are still working at a very good clip - the entire first floor is pretty much done - today they started on the joists/lvls for the 2nd floor...having something above your head certainly gives it more sense of space.

This weeks weather looks pretty good - if you call below avg good - cold, but no snow except for a few passing flurries - temps in the low 20's. Hopefully, substantial progress is made - as hopefully, in two weeks or so, the roof will be on and we wont have to fret the weather anymore.


Lots of lumber - ceiling starting to go on 1st floor...


The back of the house - sans the 2nd floor...


Steel is set in the garage to support the rooms above it...

Framing Day 3

What a difference a week makes...dry weather and decent temps. In the matter of 3 days the crew has hammered away and basically has 3/4 of the 1st floor walls up.

I have been making sure to go on site every morning to ensure things are going to be framed out how we want them. So far we are batting 9 out of 10...there was a small error with the height at which they roughed out a couple of the windows in the great room...but I think it is a fairly quick fix, will find out tomorrow morning when I go to the site.

You can really start to get a sense of the space by walking the floor now...that rear patio door is going to be ginormous - as are the 10ft ceilings. I am glad we scaled back on some of the window sizes a bit...as some of the rough openings are large, even after scaling back...but I think the light it lets in will be awesome.

All in all, this framing crew cost a bit more...but boy, so far, they are worth the price...I have no worries with what they are doing...things look just as desired.

Hopefully more progress tomorrow!



The back wall of the house by the breakfast room contains very little "lumber" - that hole is all patio door. Nearly 10ft wide and just over 8 ft high!! Plus, there will be two skinny windows (as seen in the angled bump out) flanking the door. And, there will also be nearly 9ft of a high placed awning window on the right...(if you go into a lot of homes on these narrow city lots...these narrow windows, placed high are used heavily...they let in a ton of light, still crank outward, yet, you dont have to see into your neighbors house or stare at their brick/vinyl/cedar siding). The key is to let a ton of light in through the back of the house.

A view through the front of the house...the hole in the front is the other patio door that leads to the front porch...the holes in the floor are where the staircase will go...


Just 72 hours ago there was no steel in the basement, no first floor deck, and no first floor walls. At this rate - the shell of the house may be completed by mid next week (knock on wood). Missing from this picture is the garage framing (to the left) and the porch framing, to the right.


The staircase will be open - as in the part leading to the basement (the smaller hole) will have no door...railing will be placed along the perimeter leading down. At the last minute, we also placed a narrow awning window in the basement landing (can see at the left edge of photo)...will let in more light in that area...make it feel less like your going down to a basement.


This is the only "mess up" so far - the headers on those two awning windows should nearly touch the top of the wall...hopefully, tomorrow, they can adjust. You can notice the height difference in the ceiling here. The left of the picture, the wall is shorter...that is the den, where it is a 9ft ceiling. The great room, is 10ft. The white "hole" in the middle is where the fireplace will reside.

Framing Begins...

Framing has officially begun ... its seems like it took forever to get here, but was at the site this morning and met the framing crew...head guy is probably in his late 50's - splits time between Phoenix and Chicago - only reason he is up here is to do our house.

I was at the site at 8:30am and they were blow torching off the ice on the concrete and getting ready for the steel columns and beams. I had figured they would be lucky to get the steel set by the time I got back at 4:30 - however - to my pleasant surprise - they had gotten a very good start on setting all the joists/beams - so there is actually lumber in place.

Am anxious to see how quick they move over the next few days now - as temps forecast to be between 20-35, and no precip!!


I guess we are used to having an 8ft basement -looking down into the 9ft basement with the joists above seems large.

The very attractive "port-a-potty" in the front yard...

Jan 14th

Ahh, if only we had started framing the other week when it was 60 degrees...now its 5 and miserable.

The framing - which was supposed to start on Monday got as far as takign some final measurements - and with the snow on Tue/Wed and now temps of 0-10, looks like this week is down the crapper. Framing is likely off until next week.

As you see on HGTV - and you never think it will be you - nobody finishes on time - I can now vouch for that. Between are little blueprint change, the framer being out of town for a week and now this week weather delay - likely 3 weeks off pace - which is about the amount of time it would take to have the framing done - which then we wont be impacted by weather as much.

Other than that, at a stand still this week. Will work on getting ahead in some of the other areas - but really just want to see some lumber going up. 10-day forecast shows dry conditions and a return to normal temps next week, so hopefully we make some progress.

I have monday off (MLK day), so may try to get with the kitchen designer to get us on pace there with our revisions. Every time we think we have it figured out, we deviate somewhere else.

Our project has now made the website of the service we are using...

http://ubuildit.com/resource-center/projectgallery/mokena-illinois/

You Win Some...

…and so far, haven’t lost too many.

We are set to begin framing on Monday/Tuesday…go figure that it looks like the coldest weather in some time is headed for us next week, with highs forecasted to maybe be 12 degrees for Tue/Wed/Thu – so we will see what gets accomplished…

And as far as winning some – revised lumber price with 10ft ceilings figured in was virtually unchanged – partly due to lumbers slide (a great time to build, lumber is at 10 year + low).

We passed electrical service installation – meaning Naperville will now dig the underground service to the house and 1126 Webster will be back on the “grid”.

We also passed “top of foundation” survey – meaning the excavators and concrete crews did their jobs to precision – leaving exactly the required 6 ft side yards on each side – was pretty tight going giving the house uses ALL of the width it is allowed – was not an inch to spare – so pretty crazy how precise they can be.

Also came down to the wire on appliances – not that we needed to order them now – as we don’t need them anytime soon – but was able to get 2008 pricing yet on all appliances – so booked those now. Most are (or have already) gone up 5% in 2009.

And a word to the wise – you can negotiate the heck out of appliances…for example, a KitchenAid counterdepth French Door fridge that retails for over $3,000 in stores, was locked in at a hair over $2,400. An Electrolux Double Oven and Cooktop – that is price protected (meaning the price is fixed, can’t be moved)– was able to negotiate down $400 via a total order kick back. Same on washer, dryer and dishwasher….All in all, probably saved $1,500 just by engaging in some friendly negotiation. In addition, we will be eligible for any rebates that apply when we take “delivery”. Right now, that would save another $800 if we took delivery today (however, we are not doing that yet).

So with windows locked in, appliances locked in, and the framer set to start – next items up are finalizing are kitchen layout (which we thought we had done) and flooring (still struggling with wood floor type – solid or engineered, handscraped or normal, prefinished or site finished, etc)

After that, with framing progressing, things will come quick (like lighting, plumbing fixtures). I also plan to do extensive wiring while the house is “open” (no drywall) – as it costs very little to run speaker wire, cat5, satellite wires now – so the plan is to have ceiling speakers in kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, den, front porch and backyard (would just prewire out there). Also thought it would be wise to do cat5 in the house, but with wireless so prevalent – will cut back on that a bit –will just have a few “hard” land cat5 lines in a few places.

Have also been amazed at the number of people emailing me about my blog – have had several asking about the process – many from surrounding suburbs – trying to determine if they want to tackle the same project we are doing. Funny to see people at the same point we were at two years – not knowing if you can do it, if your capable, have the resources (mentally, financially), etc. Not wanting to live in a cookie cutter subdivision – but not knowing if they have the wherewithal to redevelop an in-town lot with amenities close at hand (and by foot). Not wanting to live far out in a cornfield - but not knowing if their budget allows to live closer in.

I have not responded to all of you yet – but if your reading this now, I will sooner than later.

Hopefully some pics of framing at some point next week!

Jan 4th Update - Progress Continues

It feels like we have been on the verge of starting framing now forever. It has actually only been 2-3 weeks...but am real anxious to start framing and see some above ground progress - it will actually look like we are making progress.

Things have been happening - its just the stuff that makes no "visual" progress. Sewer and water is hooked up and approved via Naperville. They had to dig into Webster St - so a cold patch of asphalt had to be laid - and they will do a hot patch sometime when the temp is more stable outside. Nothing surprising - as the patching was all in the original proposal - we would have gotten a credit had they not had to go into the street.

Electric contractor was out and has the service box installed. He should have called for inspection when he was out there, but did not, so Naperville will be out on Monday - hopefully it passes. If it does, Naperville (which runs their own Electric Company) will be out to install the new underground service. Previously, these old houses had overhead service - all new houses have to have it underground - the main lines run through the lot line in the back yard (actually, pretty smart of those folks back in 1930 - locating the lines in the back yards - not the front yards),

The "top of foundation" survey folks were also out - these are the people that determine the locations of all the foundation walls and their distance from the lot lines. I am not expert - but from viewing what they gave me - we should be good to go. We have the required 30ft in front - 6ft on the north side, and nearly 6ft on the south side (we are 2cm off - but they allow 6inches of deviation).

Nicor is taking their good ole time – but gas is not imperative to have now, however, hopefully, it is sooner than later

Spoke with the framer this week – the coordination with the steel guy, the lumber guys and the framers has now started. Apparently, the framer knows my lumber guy, so makes things a bit easier. Hopefully, the sounds of power nailers will be heard with 7-10 days. Weather has been very good every since a 62 degree day wiped out the snow pack – so missing some good weather – but hopefully it holds up.

Windows have been ordered - so that ordeal is done – photos of what we have settled on are below.

Of course – looking at the plans everyday causes you to second guess everything – so we are now contemplating the kitchen layout – good thing is we can change it at will – as we are just modifying the layout, no impact on walls, etc. We are thinking about going back to a large (massive) island – versus the setup we have now (breakfast bar wrapping around the kitchen, smaller island inside). I think the massive island layout is what we prefer – plus I think it will probably save $4,000 in countertop, edge, and cabinet costs - so could be a win-win, we shall see.


The windows...these are casements - ie, they crank out...however, the look like double hungs due to the grille pattern...windows will have actual grilles (not between the glass, but real wood on the inside and clad on the outside)

There is a mix of casments with fixed transoms above - they differ greatly in the drawings below - but great care has been taken to make sure most will line up with each other from room to room. For example, there will be two of the windows labled 'great' on the back wall in the great room. On the wall to the left, there will be two awning windows that will be the same size as the transoms on the windows on the back wall (ie, they will all line up visually). Also we are using more awning windows placed higher on the sides of the house (neighbors within 12 ft on each side) and making the back of the house heavy with windows (as it will look out to the backyard with trees). You quickly see how window selection goes from an afterthought to primary time "sucker".


This is a very very very very very large 4 panel french door that will be nearly 9 ft high and 10ft wide!! Yes, very very big - but it will let in a ton of light and add a lot to the hosue...in addition, the windows titled "breakfast" above will flank the 4 panel door at an angle, so even more light will be let in (again, the transoms, and heights will all be lined up). This door alone, ate up 20% of the window budget.


And we have decided to mimick that back door on the front of the house leading out to the porch (on a smaller, and cheaper scale). No transoms above, and sticking with a smaller height keeps costs down. The room where this goes in only 9ft high...the other door is in a 10ft room.

The exterior window cladding will be Chestnut Bronze (as in the picture below)...

Dec 18

Another picture-less update…Site was backfilled the other week – and WE DID, indeed, take it on the chin and put in a change order. So we are now back to what we originally had – we are just a bit lighter in the pocketbook. Now the first floor great room, breakfast area and kitchen will be 10ft ceilings. It is hard to describe how much impact 10ft makes over 9ft – but once you are in a house/room with it – it really changes the entire feeling of that area. Something we should have just kept in all along. Oh well, as long as this is the first and last change – we can live with it. Better to take it on the chin then regret for years to come.

Things have slowed a bit due to the change order – however, I was able to get the architect to do a quick turnaround and it is already approved through the city of Naperville – so we are pretty much back on track within 10days – pretty darn efficient considering 9 of the 10 pages of the blueprints had to be modified due to the 1ft change. It means on the 2nd floor – the kids area – bedrooms 2 and 3 and the 2nd bathroom – are now kind of set off from the others – as to get to “their” area – you need to go up two steps (as it is 10ft below those areas). That was the original intention when I drew the plan out – just glad it worked out in the final plan. The roof also becomes a bit taller now and thee master bedroom , because of the way the lumber lays out – gets a 1ft boost, virtually by default.

Elsewhere – we are finally – after 3 months of looking – narrowing down to the final window selections. I would have never imagined it to be such a complex decision with so many options. We are leaning towards going w/ casement windows that mimick the look of a double hung (via a grille pattern). This way, you get the best of both worlds – the clean look and efficiency of casements – and the more craftsman look of a double hung. Also, casements will allow us to integrate blinds to be flush with the wall. Double hungs will create issues with depth and we would need to get creative w/ blinds. I think the finished product will be a unique feature of the house - something you don’t see every day.

Also – we are planning on replacing the windows in the front dining room to a 4panel French door – this will allow the front covered porch to become more a part of the house. The two middle panels open up, to create a wide opening. You can see this feature on the pic I posted previously of the house being built up the street from is (yes, we stole another idea). Another reason for this change is we are unsure what that room will ultimately be used for – with the breakfast room probably becoming where we eat 99.9% of the time – this front room may transition to more of a multi-use room. I don’t know – we shall see. We will also be ditching any idea for a chandelier or hanging light in this room – we will go with recessed in here – again – to leave the options open for what this room will be. I think our (or at least my) concept for this room is it becomes a transition to the large 8x17 covered porch – and March through October – with the 4panel French door – really merges outside and inside together (Ok, I am veering to far off into HGTV land now).

Sewer and Water folks were out yesterday and today – meaning the house will actually be hooked into the sewer and water grid. Then, all that is left to do underground is the electric and the gas….which should come sooner than later.

Hope is to get the framer up and running asap – and start making some “above” ground progress – that is much more visual.

Rigid Foam Insulation and Possible CHANGE ORDER/

Finally got to put in some of that valuable "sweat equity" - as the 48 sheets of rigid foam insulation needed to be put up before we can backfill. I had planned to do it Friday, but damp proofers got behind and were at the site longer than anticipated. So today was the day, no matter what the weather. But, weather finally returned to a more "normal" temp - with temps in the mid to upper 30's today. Worked out very well, as was in and out of the ground in about 4 hours. Certainly not a job I care to do again anytime soon. Pretty easy, just very dirty. But given I was quoted $2300 for someone to do it for me - and the material only cost about $900 - I opted to save that $$.

Other news is we may put in place an "official" change order with the architect (a thing I had guaranteed I would not do) - but after much thought - its one of those items if we dont take time to get right now - it will be around 150 yrs until someone knocks this house down.

We had originally had 10ft cielings in the great room, breakfast room and kitchen. It all flowed well. We scaled back to jsut having it in the great room and while it works - it leaves a lot of changes in the cieling lines and am afraid it may look off - so we have a call into the architect to see costs/timing to get changed. The time I am not worried about - as we can continue working on the backfill and utility work while changes are being made - its the fees from the acrhitect and the city of Naperville that concern me - as the change will need to be reviwed and approved.

We shall see...

Foundation Up...

Well, we have hit some of the delays I knew would happen but hoped wouldnt. In the matter of 10 days we have done from some nice late fall temps in the mid-40's to a couple inches of snow and now some pretty cold temps, maxing out at 27 today and likely the same tomorrow.

The foundation walls are done - forms were pulled off Wednesday - with the hopes of damp proofing the foundation on Thu - however, the cold temps froze some of the guys lines on another job and he hopes to come out tomorrow do ours - but not sure if temps will allow. Its a pretty critical step, as it (damp proofing) is required by Naperville code - and we are at a standstill until that step is done. We can't backfill, which means we can't get the underground plumbing done nor the electric - nor start on framing. Its a string of dominoes being held up until dampproofing can be done.

Also got caught in left field on the code for rigid foam insulation - which needs to be placed over the dampproofing. I plan to just place the panels on myslef (2x4x8 panels) to save $1,000 - but again, dampproofing not being done is mucking up my plans to do that tomorrow...so we shall see.


9ft basement with 3 windows ... 1 large escape window (code) and 2 smaller windows on the north side...


Window wells with drainage system installed...

Foundation Forms Up, Inspected and Concrete Poured

Since Friday, the forms for the foundation walls went up and by the time I got back out to the site tonight - the walls had been poured. I did not think they would pour until Wednesday - as this morning, the forms were not complete yet - and those need a city inspection. Turns out, they had it all lined up tightly and it went smoothly.

Weather has cooperated so far, hanging in the 40's and no precip, so all has been well.





Its dark by 4:45, so hard to get good shots late in the day - but walls were poured (and covered to keep them warmer, as it has been dipping down well into the 20's at night).

Footers Poured

On Thursday the concrete crew was out and poured the footers. They had them laid out and inspected all in the same day. Looked more like an artifact excavation dig than anything, but still amazed at how fast these guys work.


It is amazing the precision and speed these guys work with...



While the garage being on this side of the house saved a lot of digging depth...several good chunks of root system from the right side of the 70 yr old cottonwood got "backhoed" - so hopefully it is not a fatal blow. Tree guy told me saving grace may be that the roots typically support the branches directly above them - and there nearly no branches above this area as they have all been trimmed back.

The house up the block from us in its final stages....it is very similar in style to what our house should appear like (arts/crafts, tapered beams, etc)...we are shooting for a more historic sage color though.

Excavation

Well, after taking months to get through permit - things are progressing at a break neck speed for the time being. Same crew that demo'd were out today to start excavating - and as hard as it is to believe - they will wrap up tomorrow!

It is amazing to see them work on such narrow city lots - literally digging within 9 ft of the neighbors house.

The "free" dirt dump site Bridget found out about via a friend worked out well - and given 50+ loads left the site - we saved $70 per load (so 50 loads x $70 each - works out to $3,500 savings). Now, we may not realize all that, as I think they probably spent a extra 20 minutes getting to that site - but either way - we should save some $$$.

So, plan is excavators will finish up tomorrow and the concrete folks will be out early Thursday to start the footings - in fact, they have already called for a Thursday inspection - so they plan to be done in a day as well.

All in all, progressing much faster than I could have imagined, considering I was worried we would not even get out of permit phase less than 7 days ago.





By mid morning the whole was already very deep...

While this kind of teardown is done in nearly every suburb in Chicago, and has been for years - it is certainly a nuisance to others though - as the crane was probably 6 feet from the neighbors the entire day. The house across the street from us (1125 webster) had been on the market as a teardown - but was recently taken off the market and rented out due to the soft market - but its only a matter of time before we get our share of the nusaince.

House "Fall Down"

Finally, after what seems like eternity, the house came tumbling down. Or as Connor said..."fall down."

It is quite amazing that a house that stood the test of time for 70 years, was completely wiped out and hauled away within a few hours. In fact, the house and garage were probably gone within 120 minutes...it was waiting for the dumpsters that took some time.

In the process this morning - all the gawkers were out in full force and we actually met quite a few of the neighbors we had never met - including several with kids Connor's age.

Anyways - I was able to salvage a couple shingles, a plank of flooring and a piece of siding that will go into the new den in some sort of collage of articifacts and articles concerning the house. Not much else was really salvageable.

Kudos to Calacci Excavating - who with a two man crew did a flawless job. I hope all my subcontractors end up being as top notch as they were. They will be back out Monday or Tuesday to dig the hole for the foundation - which again, they say they can do in one day.

Bridget gets major credit for what looks like may be a $3,000 to $5,000 cost savings discovery. Turns out we have a friend (who Bridget works with) who is building a custom home down in Plainfield. Turns out his builder is working on a large church project that is in need of clay/dirt. So I gave the guy a call and he is going to take ALL, yes, ALL, of our dirt that needs to be hauled off site. It may not sound like much - but it had the potential to be a major savings if all goes well. We are estimated to have 50 truck loads of dirt that will need to be trucked off site. At a charge of $210 a load ($140 for truck time/miles, $70 a per load dump fee) we can pretty much eliminate all those dump fees and possibly some of the mileage time.

Another great example how managing this process yourself can lead to big cost savings.

We also had some tree guys out last Wednesday to "prune" a massive 100yr old cottonwood tree, and take down two 70 yr old ash trees that were nothing but trouble waiting to happen. Tree firm ended up being fantastic too - couple guys my age - kind of reminded me of my sisters boyfriend - a real nononsense guy who pretty much came out, looked at the trees, and gave me a price on the spot. Versus a bunch of other guys that had to go back to their office and estimate it out. Plus this guys was 50% less than the others.

Hopefully updates on here will become almost daily now, as work will proceed quickly in the short term. Hope to be pouring the footings by wed/thu.


The tree guy up high bringing down one of the ash trees that would have been overhanging the house.


Takes a special person to being these beasts down...


The trees did not seem this big when looking at them from 70 ft below...


The 1930's 1126 Webster St house about to meets its demise...



I am not sure what is bigger - the 700 sq ft house or the equipment that is about to bring it down...


70 yrs of history about to tumble down.





Naperville requires water to be sprayed on the demo the entire time to keep dust down - with temps in the mid 50's and a light drizzle, probably was not needed.


A few whacks later - a good chunk of the house is gone.


Apparently, Carter was not as happy to see the house go away - although he never went inside, he did like playing in the yard.


Connor was fairly mesmerized..."truck" and "fall dawn" were frequently words out of his mouth.


The final wall still stands...




Who doesn't like an "open concept" kitchen?

Within 2 hours - not much remained.

By the time I ran home for an hour- the conrete foundation was busted up and all the house rubble was at a landfill.


An hour after that, the lot was empty...


And you can see, through the back yard, progress in the neighborhood, as a new house towers over its older neighbors.

Video of Demo

Sound did not transfer to web very good, so video only.

D-Day Nears...

Finally, after what does not even seem like reality anymore, demolition is set for this Friday. Stay tuned...

Permit Slowdowns

Got first comments back on permits the other week...turns out there are some grading issues and a few architecture issues. Overall, the dont appear to be anything major, but who knows. We resubmitted the corrections on Friday, so hopefully we are getting close.

Had a tree guy out the house on Saturday to examine some tree issues. I will need to trim back a couple of my neighbors trees, as they are impeding in my air space, and will hamper building. One of them is probably 150 yrs old, so no desire to trim too much off. Also, the Naperville Forester (who knew they had one) recommended I remove the lone crooked Ash tree in the front yard. It has certainly seen better days, as it is a bit hallowed out, but hate to see a tall tree come down. But better now than 5 yrs from now when it lands on the house!

Also, trying to get the loan closing scheduled. We have been approved for quite some time, but I dont like having a unclosed loan hanging loose in this financial environment...had it scheduled for Wednesday, but need to reschedule.

Other than that, just the continuous process of trying to make selections on what we are actually going to use in the house...which is endless.

Decisions, Decisions...

Way to many decisions to make in this process – our habit of spending weeks to make one decision now must go out the window – as decisions will have to be made much more quickly over the coming weeks, as there simply is no time to spend weeks and weeks pondering. Luckily, we have narrowed down options over the past year. However, the following areas are ones where no final decision has been made:

**Windows – down to two brands that best fit our needs and have the options we desire – JeldWen or Pella. All will be double-hung with the more standard grille patterns. It is amazing the number of options there are for grille patterns – however, basic colonial style is the most common for the style of house we are building. We tossed around the idea of casement windows, while I like the look better, I don’t like the functionality vs double hung. Plus, casements are more $$ than double hung – so pretty easy choice there.

One last decision is on exterior cladding/grille color – we were originally at two colors (white or cream). However, we saw several houses in Downers Grove that had black or stone colored cladding/grilles – really looked classy. So yet another decision to be made. Are hunch is we will go with cream if all the exterior trim is cream – but black is appealing (cost may be the determining factor).

Then of course there are the interior hardware options….

**Kitchen Cabinets – To go with a glazed, aged white style or a more traditional honey/chestnut type color? Costs are all over the map – and this will likely be one of the more difficult decisions to make.

**Interior Doors – Have it narrowed down to two styles – a two-panel and a 3-panel craftsman style.

**Flooring – I love the look of a darker prefinished handscraped floor – but dark shows more dirt. Plus there are the issues of matching up to the stairs (which will be wood). The other option is a site finished standard red oak floor (cheapest) or possibly a site finished brazillian cherry (more expensive). A lot depends on the kitchen cabinets – darker floor means lighter cabinets.

**Exterior color – fiber cement siding is the choice (Hardi Plank) most likely a historical shade of mossy green/sage…however, still like the look of the really old, deep, deep blue color.

**Appliances – too many options to even mention…double vs single oven, induction vs gas cooktop, side by side vs French door fridge, microwave location, venting, etc

**WaterHeater – Idea to go with a tankless is out after most plumbers I talked to said cost savings is often negated and then some by the upfront costs (more expensive unit, larger copper piping needed) and the required maintenance.

**Patio Door – really like the openness that a 4-unit sliding door provides (far left and far right panes are stationary – two middle panes open opposite of each other like a side by side refrigerator (but sliding on a track). Cost may drop that idea out quickly – thus may end up with a 3unit door – opens in the middle. We shall see.

**Interior colors – have not even given thought.

**Baseboard trim and casing – what happened to the day when you had two choices – ranch style or colonial style? Now there are 175 options…minimum baseboard height will be 5-1/2” – much higher than the standard builder grade 3-1/4”

**Roof – have not even given the color or style any thought.

**Interior hardware/faucets – its either the now standard brushed nickel or the more trendy aged bronze (almost looks black).

**Bathroom cabinets – have given no thought.

**Kitchen countertops – we are going to need over 100sq ft – so no matter what, it aint going to be cheap.

** Garage door – again, there are so many options now – its mind numbing…

**Fireplace – you would think this would be simple – not so much – a lot of options here too…of course the one I like is the most expensive.

So, needless to say, there are a few decisions to be made yet…