We have the building permit...and the tears they flow like wine!

Day 2 with our building permit...
The lot has been cleared for a little over 2 weeks and the surveyor came out today to mark the corners of the house. It's great to finally see where the house and garage will sit.

The builder tells us that because we are using SIPs on the first floor our overall schedule will change. The lead time for the SIPs is approx 6 weeks (that will teach us to start building right before the holidays) ARghghghghgghg, so now the builder will excavate and pour the footing for our house but have to send his framing crew to another house until our first floor arrives from the factory in Louisville, KY...at the end of JANUARY. This is truly a test of patience for us both...but mostly Moose! Excavation is set to be completed by Wednesday, just in time for the family to see some progress when they visit for Christmas.

A few other random thoughs/points of interest:
-We got our temporary power and water paid for and scheduled for hookup.

-We've decided to use Alluriam Stone for the foundation (it's locally made in Birmingham so we'll be able to pick it up directly from the manufacturer)

-The garage will now be located approx 10 feet from the house without a covered walkway to meet code...we will add the roof at a later date to skirt around this little problem ;-)

-Hardi Siding is expensive!!! we should just cover this puppy in 14k gold...but alas, we won't have to paint for 15 years.

-Windows and exterior/interior doors have been selected. We're going with Anderson 400 series windows (Color: Terratone), Santa Cruz wooden exterior doors and Masonite 2 panel hollow core interior doors (8ft 1st floor, standard 2nd floor)

-The SIPs we are using are coming from Fisher SIPS Louie S. is the man!