May 4 - Meet with Builder, Bank, and City

We met the builder at the site to refine preliminary layout of the house. We decided to center the house off the circular, cul-de-sac street and moved it back to 48 feet back from the cul-de-sac. That still leaves our back yard at over 100 feet in depth!
Ed and Steve (builder) met with bank officers in regards to cash flow of a construction loan. A long discussion was held on how to handle lien waivers. The next trip was to City Hall to gather paperwork for building permits.
Ed, Steve, and I met over lunch to review the house plans and ask/answer other construction questions. Because one of the early questions from Steve concerned exterior colors, surfaces, and appearance, Ed and I chose to drive to Altoona in the afternoon to examine the townhomes in his addition for siding/shake shingle color, trim color, roof color and stone trim. One of the homes has the combination that we like best so those details are now in place. We are looking at beige siding/shake shingle, dark brown trim and a block-type stone trim in a wainscot effect.

May 2 - Site visit

Ed and I went to the house site and placed marker flags every 50 feet along the property lines. We placed markers for approximate location of the house and garage. We were chased away by a sudden afternoon rainstorm but got the basic things marked.

April 30 - Shopping with subcontractors

We spent much of the day visiting the subcontractor businesses that supply several of the interior elements for the house. We have been to the granite vendor before, but today picked up a 2nd sample of granite for possible use in the 2 baths. We checked with the vendor that handles both the gas fireplace and furnace, and also spent considerable time at the flooring vendor, matching carpet samples, wood flooring, and granite for the "right" combination. We have learned that "there are 72 shades of beige" and multiple types, colors, and thicknesses of granite!