We Have a Wall – Yes!

We Have a Wall – Yes!

Our Albi Home - The House Takes Shape

The kids never get tired of visiting the construction site. We drive up to and go around the house building every day after school. Nick loves the action, especially with all the trucks and machinery and workers and assembling going on. When the foundation wall-structure is in, they deliver a prefab front entrance, porch and steps. Then they start work on the sub-floor. It takes weeks, more or less and then we actually can walk up and in to what will be our house. Next, a wall...

We Have a Wall – Yes!

We stop by the lot and see a wall going up. The kids' eyes are glued to the moving crane and chatty with excitement. Cody, the framer, operates the crane like a pro. As we watch, Nancy and I take pictures. Out of the corner of my eye I see that like me, she is grinning from ear to ear. Soon four walls are up. We leave but miss the house so later ...we drop by with a Subway sandwich for hard-working Cody.

Roof, Upper Floors, Windows then More Stairs

When the upper floor is done, the stairs go in. We get to finally go upstairs and then get a better feel for the house. We designed this house. We are proud and thrilled. The windows are installed. Things are getting really exciting. We get to see what the view will be like. The scene is interesting from up that high. We do see houses of course, but all around we get to see a bit of the escarpment. Nice.

More Framing – Interior Walls

With the interior walls framed in, we get a good sense for how big the rooms will be although we know if will feel different once the drywall is up. Our imaginations run wild with decorating ideas. In the plans our tall walls are over-engineered so could have pure glass and wood with a bulk head so we can hang curtains and install lights. The framer used actual floor joists for the bulkhead so it will reinforce the structure of the wall even more and I can walk on it? We love that decision. We have a lot to talk about. Meah walks into what will be her room. Later she calls, her grandmother, her Baba and says that she loves her room. What eight-year old wouldn't?

For any questions on custom-built dream homes please call 403-680-4479.

We Have a Hole! Hooray Albi

We have a hole!

Albi Custom-built Home - More Choices – Whew!

More meetings, more choices but what about the building? Delayed...still. At this point we don't care anymore. This is the sad thing. Weeks goes by...well months actually...sigh. We have more meetings and then finally...

We Have a Hole!

A year later, after the date of our deposit, we see some action. We now have a hole dug. All of a sudden we believe in the house-thing again. It was a house-thing but now it will be our home, our beautiful dream home. This is a reality! We drive by the hole many times. The kids talk about the hole at school. Grandparents hear all about the hole. Everybody within earshot, texting and social media knows that we have a hole. Soon, the foundation is laid and the windows arrive at the site. It is time for Nancy and me to celebrate. We hug and hold on tight. It will be a home very soon.

We Meet the Framer – He will Frame our House – Awesome!

We drop by the site to meet the man, named Cody. He is a one-man show, honest, who will build the house walls, subfloors, roof, and even install the windows. He has developed a building method where he will build everything himself. Then with the help of a crane he will assemble it. Wow, we think he is great!

Another Christmas and More Delays 

Windows have arrived.

The weather is not cooperating. It is the Holiday Season after all and the framer takes some time off. Things could be worse. It could be colder, really. Weather in the rest of Canada, like Ontario for instance, is -40 degrees Celsius with the wind chill. LOL, it's even warmer in the Antarctic. More LOL, Iquanas in Florida are freezing and falling from trees. Sheesh...okay a warm spell. We wait for a wall....just one wall please...still waiting...

If you have any questions about building a dream home please give me a call 403-680-4479

Albi Home - More Delays – Seriously?

Nancy Looks Over Albi Plans

Albi Home - More Delays – Seriously?

More Selection Meetings - Saving Money is Good

We do our research ahead of time before each meeting to find out what is important and what is not...what is worth the money… also where the builder is charging too much! It can happen. There are cases where getting things done, while building, can be practical and in fact can't feasibly be done after possession, like in floor heat, drains in the garage, extra hose bibs or a hot and cold tap on the back deck, extra soffit plugs and network wiring and plumbing in general.

 The Rental Unit – Still a Good Idea but...

I must say that I wonder what would have happened without my diligence and persistence. I probably would end up with a completely different house. I make about a dozen phone calls to the city bylaw office to correct mistakes the builder is telling me regarding the rental suite requirements. My floor-plans are always wrong and the line of communication, me-to-sales person-to-office-to-designer, and then back again often ends up in confusion. They even try to tell me my house will be one foot narrower. I have to tell the builder a few things! In the end I actually schedule a meeting directly with the designer at Albi, I come prepared with paperwork from the city and a few ideas of my own and together we work out some major decisions!

Electrical – So Much to Think About - Who Knew?

Now that the plans are finalized, (almost) it's time to get back to more selections meetings. Structured Media and Electrical Wiring is next. We decide to upgrade to Cat6 network cables, adding extra network hookups outside, for cameras and inside for wireless access points and wall-mounted tv locations. This costs $1,200 but will pay off in the long run. The cameras themselves must be done after possession, are not included in the house price and are about $2,000. Electrical is a bit more complicated. With the rental suite we want totally separate electrical panels installed for us vs. the tenants, so our panel ends up in the garage. After adding extra plugs, and extra wiring for lights we end up with another $3,500 bill.

Building Still Delayed

The wiring for lights is done at the electrician's and selections of the actual lights are done at the lighting supplier. These meetings take place close together time-wise and we go back and forth a couple of times in e-mails later. First electrical, then lighting, then back to electrical, then finalize with lighting then finalize with electrical. These decisions, when done prior to possession, can save an absolute fortune vs. doing them after.

We make time for all these meetings and feel good about our decisions. But the actual building is still delayed.

To find out more and if a custom-built dream home is right for you call me, 403-680-4479