When we started this process of building a house, a friend at work who had gone through the process warned me that there would be an endless stream of little decisions. Well, today we spent four hours with the architect making lots of little (preliminary) decisions. But before going into any details, let me update you on where we stand.
We are currently working on two broad activities. The first activity is preparing to get approval from the Concord Natural Resources Commission. This entails nailing down the exterior footprint, decisions about the septic system, details about which trees need to be removed, and proposed mitigation plans for removing those trees and increasing the footprint of the house. We are unlikely to make the end of October date to submit our proposal, so we are working towards the November 20th submission date, which would mean that our first hearing would happen on December 11th. A second hearing will also be required.
In addition to the Natural Resource Commission, as of today, we decided to seek a zoning exemption. Specifically, we want permission to raise the peak of the house 2 feet past the 35′ limit (measured from the lowest corner of the basement). This will allow us to avoid steeply sloping sides on the second floor (although there will still be some slope). Since we are going through the special permit process, we might as well also ask to install the breezeway now instead of waiting 5 years. I do not know the dates for this process, but we will figure it out. Since the zoning exemptions do not really impact what the Natural Resource Commission cares about, we should not need to go back and forth between the two committees if one asks for changes.
The second broad activity we are working on is preparing a packet to give to contractors to get pricing and availability information. The architect has assembled a list of five builders whom we will initially approach. The goal is to get them a plan for the proposed house with as much detail as possible, so they can come up with reasonably accurate pricing proposals. It is this need to work out as much of the proposal as possible that led to today’s discussions.
Our architect had prepared a detailed list of questions and discussion points, and the three of us sat down at the dining room table and worked through the list. This included details like roofing, siding, windows, doors, flooring, interior and exterior trim, fixtures (kitchen, bathroom, shower), counter tops, initial lighting plans, deck material, water filters, etc.
With any luck, we will avoid having to custom order things like non-standard window sizes or Italian counter tops. Meanwhile, I am working out proposed locations for Ethernet and phone connections (we will not have any WiFi in the main house). We still need to meet with an MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) person to work out such details as the heating system. We have someone in mind, but have not hooked up with him yet. We also need to figure out placement for the exterior infrastructure – condenser units and the back-up generator and its propane tank.
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