design finch

So, what’s going on with our house remodel you ask? Well, I regularly wonder the exact same thing.

Apparently molasses moves faster than the design/build process. The hammers haven’t even come out and yet I’ve already earned merit badges for patience. Granted, the middle of winter isn’t exactly the optimal time to start construction. Also, I forget that we’re now living on mountain time….everything moves at much slowwwwer pace around here. No one is in a hurry, everyone is just doing their thing, loving life. And, honestly, that’s what drew us to the mountains in the first place.

Our architect was able to put the whole thing in perspective for me, though. He regularly reminds us that we can only have two of these three things: a tight budget, high-quality construction, or an aggressive timeline. Since our budget and quality expectations are non-negotiable, the fast-paced timeline is the piece that gets sacrificed.

As a refresher, we began this fun little journey 5 months ago. You’d better believe that I’m keeping track of every milestone (for my patience merit badge):

• August 19 – House Went on Market
• August 25 – Submitted Offer on House
• August 27 – Received Counter Offer
• August 28 – Went Under Contract on House
• September 9 – Inspection / Consultation with Contractor
• September 27 – Sent Project Brief to Two Architects
• October 2 – Interviewed First Architect
• October 4 – Interviewed Second Architect
• October 28 – Closed on House
• November 5 – Hired Architect
• November 12 – Architect Began Measuring Existing Structure
• November 19 – Received “As Built” Floor Plan from Architect
• November 20 – Met with Structural Engineer
• December 11 – Surveyor Completed Improvement Survey
• December 18 – Met with Planning Dept. to Review Setback Requirements for the New Addition
• December 24 – Spent Our First Night in the House (on an Air Mattress!)
• December 31 – Received Two Floor Plan Options from Architect
• January 9 – Received Two More Floor Plan Options from Architect
• January 15 – Sent Floor Plan Revisions to Architect
• January 20 – Meeting with Architect and Contractor to Review Preliminary Construction Estimates

I’m learning that remodeling an existing home is a totally different animal than building a new home from scratch. It’s much like an onion – as you peel back the layers, you discover new surprises and perhaps shed a few tears along the way.

As of this past week, I feel like we’re finally making some progress. We have a functional floor plan that we’re really excited about and now we can begin to get preliminary estimates from contractors. Hopefully we can then move from the schematic design phase into 3-D massing and more detailed construction documents. Then perhaps we can finally get this party started. And you’ll all be invited! BYOHH (Bring your own hard hat).

Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on a sledge hammer.