Show Me the Money

I went to the bank today to meet with the load officers and basically ask them to load me money so I can start making the plan into reality. It can be a little daunting not knowing what to expect. Luckily the ladies were very nice and friendly. Of course, they have to further evaluate the project and make sure that the project is a sensible one that it's going to be a house that I can afford to live in after I built it. I'll have to fill out applications and let the bank process the application, and simultaneously we'll need to get the drawing finalized so the contractor can start working on the numbers for the bank.
After comparing the plan of the lot that the previous architect prepared with the survey plan, I realized that they're not the same. The measurement on the south side of the lot is off by about 7 feet. Of course, the survey plan came up a little smaller, therefore the house sticks out a little. The previous owner of the lot asked to to call the architect who prepared the plan directly to find out which measurement we should go with. I hope they're cooperate with us.

"Oh Sh*t!" - Paul

Today was our first official meeting with the contractor - John Noblit of Noblit Didier Development. He's a very nice guy. He's enthusiastic about the design, and Paul seems to like him. I sort of let them talk tech and quietly observed the process. One little glitch that came up today was that the very northeast corner of the house sticks out pass the build-able area by inches! Paul asked me to quote him what he said when he found out about it, hence the title of this post. Hopefully the modification is not going to throw off the rest of the design that we like so much. I guess Paul's going back to his drawing board to figure that out while I go to the bank to ask for money. As far as a rough timeline for construction, the contractor told me if we start on June 1, we're looking at the completion date of January 1, 2008. This is the first deadline of this project. I'm sure things will change along the way. We'll see how far off the actual deadline is going to be in the end.

Perfecting the Design

After voicing several minor concerns about the previous plans, Paul came back with this modification and I am very thrilled by the changes.
The big change is the master bath, in which the walk-in closet and laundry room can be accessed while someone is using the bathroom. The shower is widen so there's added elbow room. The staircase is rotated, which allows a little more room to the dining room, and we now have more cabinet space for the kitchen. Also, there's added storage at the lounge upstairs.
The studio is much bigger with an easier access to the storage under the stairs.
The size of the living room is slightly reduced, which I think it's better. The interesting thing is that this floor plan is right at 1,700 sq. ft., not counting the lower level.
The master bedroom is also reduced and now, it is slightly smaller than the guest bedroom. However, if the sliding doors are open, the room doubles in size, which I think we'll do most of the time unless we have guests.
I think this design is very very close. Anything from now on will be fine tuning it, like positioning of windows, or sliding doors vs. regular doors.
I'll be meeting with the contractor on Monday, and the bank on Tuesday. It's going to be interesting see if we can actually afford to make what's on paper into reality.

A Different Option

After several sketches and discussions, Paul presented me another set of plans. Most rooms are becoming more squarish, and the spaces are more compact, which maximizes the uses of every area. Even the stairs are more compact by adding one more step on every landing. This looks like a very well designed space. There are more cabinets in the kitchen, and the closets in both bedrooms are much larger. My concern is the location of the laundry room being in the master bathroom. It seems very luxurious by have our very own washer and dryer right inside the closet but will it be an inconvenience if we have house guests who wants to make their own laundry? But then again, how many times in a year do we have guests who would make their laundry at the house? The next concern is the powder room being located very close to the front door. Aside from being a little more private locating the WC closer to the back of the house, I don't have any major issue of its location.
As for the Studio in the lower level, between the closet and the studio itself, looks like it is large enough. There's more storage underneath the stairs which can be access at the bottom landing of the stairs.