Awaiting Offer Accepance

Ok, I'm going to do it. I've dreamt about it; I've thought about it and I've envisioned every feature, appliance, piece of hardware and floor covering. I've visited the biggest and best custom homes of the parade of homes. In my mind I have chosen the colors, the styles and the sizes. I have prioritized the most intricate details...the view, the proximity to work and restaurants, to the right schools. I have waited patiently through the slow economy. I have discussed it a thousand times with my wife.

Front entrance to our custom home

But now, it is time. And so I made the offer...a lot that I can build on. But not just any lot. This lot sits atop a ridge. Imagine a residence sitting there, up above it all with a scene of the valley below, and foothills behind; what will this structure look like? What kind of vegetation will I plant? ...Oh, and will there be water to tap into at all below the dry ground. How much will it cost to excavate the road, and what will limited funds accomplish? How many years ahead will it affect a family's lives?

It all started a long time ago. You see, my father had these visions too. He felt so strongly about it that he quit his job teaching at 30 and went into building. We moved from rental to build job, from city to money pit. As I think of the septic tank that I must put in, I remember the septic tank that Mr. Curtis sunk into in my dad's last project house. Cedar Lane became his crown jewel, the French style home with a turret and curved staircase in the front entrance.

From building my father went into the concrete business, driving his concrete pump trailer from dream home to dream patio to 500 square foot addition. We moved a lot of concrete, up hills and down in the poison oak covered slopes of the East Bay. I followed the family business for a while, where I learned do-it-yourself equipment manufacturing and diesel mechanics.

Our third concrete pump truck

Before long I got tired of being dirty and hot, then cold and wet; covered from head to toe with mud and concrete. Late nights working were not pencil pushing or keyboard tapping (I guess it was mostly type writing back then). We were sledge hammering hardened concrete out of our precious pump hoses, or jack hammering chunks out of the equipment.

And so I went to school to be in the computer software business. Here I am, selling the software I wish I had to keep the books and track the location of workers. But I still long to have the experience of building a home. Concrete and wood, stucco and glass; the materials and the designs call to me.

Being a do-it-yourselfer doesn't mean I will do everything myself; but what I can do, I will. Here, in this blog, I will catalog the journey and document the methods, plans and designs to build a custom home. I hope this information is helpful. I look forward to your feedback. All I need now is the counter offer from the developer.