Juggling skills needed to build a house

My materials list is 28 pages long

Making decisions, trying to stay organized, maintaining clear communications, keeping everyone happy…the life of a woman who is having a house built. 

I feel good about my ability, at age 71 no less, to stay flexible and make decisions based on new information, often having to change course to move forward with the building process.  I have been able to (for the most part) stay relaxed and enjoy it.  For me, what’s not to enjoy?!  It’s a privilege to have enough resources to be able to do this.  For a girl who grew up, not poor, but also not living with excess, this is fun…it is like getting to shop or choose beautiful things and watch them come to life. 

I can remember a woman building a house, years ago, who needed to be freed up to have more time to put into her house project.  I worked for her as a store clerk.  At the time, straight out of college, it gave me a huge opportunity to become manager of a retail Garden Center to take over for her there.  I remember times when this woman (the owner of the Garden Center) would be stressed out to the breaking point, holding back tears, breathing hard, upset.  When I asked what was wrong she said she couldn’t handle all of the decisions she was being forced to make about the new house.  That day it was what kind of handles she wanted on the kitchen cabinets. 

For me, I already have a document where I have chosen the handles for kitchen cabinets and saved a link and a photo of these for the builder (well before he needs them). 

Granted, she had a full-time job with General Electric at the time, with the Garden Center being a retail establishment she opened on the side as almost a hobby.  She worked with her husband and his two brothers on that venture.  She didn’t have the internet to search for house items, she was probably lucky if she had brochures.

I am a retired person with lower demands on my time (animals with the related barn chores and two granddaughters nearby to help with).  She was a 40-something woman juggling a lot.  Maybe retirement is the best time to build your dream home! 

I have gone through the house in my mind, from top to bottom, imagining the materials, finishes, fixtures, all the details.  My document is 28 pages. 

Our goal for building the house was to start in 2027.  Most builders were fully booked as of 2024.  By searching early, I was able to find builders who said yes, they could fit us in during 2027.  We would be in their books with a plan. 

I imagined I would handle the ‘accessory items’ (like the septic system and drilling an artesian well) on my own ahead of time.  As the process has evolved, I have learned that some builders like to handle everything themselves.  It makes sense to me now.  A builder can coordinate everything better with the building process if they are in charge of timing and decisions.  Also, many builders already have related contractors in mind for services, people they have worked with before and trust the quality of the work.  So instead of helping or simplifying the process I had unintentionally made it more complicated. 

We have had a couple of ‘go-arounds’ between outside contractors and my builder.  I don’t blame them.  Again, I took responsibility for complicating the process by hiring these outside contractors.  We are now down to just the builder who will fold in the septic system when it works for him, using a septic builder of his choice.  We do have a design and plan ready to go.

The building site has left-over large piles of dirt, huge stones, and a tree root the size of a VW, all of which need to be dealt with since our excavator operator (my hire) decided he was done at our job site.  We have a well head sticking up very close to the driveway which will have to be protected from snowplows, etc.  It will be OK.  The builder will eventually find another excavator operator of his choice, dirt will be moved and used, the well head will have a stone wall in front of it, built by “the best stone mason in Vermont” who works with our builder.

As of now, the garage has doors, the first floor of the house is framed.  The timetable is different from what I imagined, but I am able to go with the flow.

Always smart to build a garage FIRST...then you won't decide later, "Oh maybe we should skip the garage to save money!" This garage is spacious for two cars with automatic doors that will open at the touch of a button from inside your car. But it is also basic- no finishing inside the garage, just studs. OK, maybe it isn't smart to build the garage first, but I'd say it might be a helpful way to GET a garage by building it first.

It may be hard to tell from this distance, but this is the first floor of the house framed, with some plywood and protective Tyvek applied.

Our builder guarantees that the house will be turn-key ready by the end of 2027. We may have started building earlier than I planned, but the end product will be the same.  It will be landscaped and all the details finished.  "The only thing you might have to do is mow the lawn," he says.  So even though I enjoy organizing and decision-making, it is nice to have a builder who wants to take over much of that job.