Maybe. I hope. Eventually.
All of these words, and a lot more, continually echo through our daily conversations as we continue to wait - seemingly endlessly - for construction to start.
Where are we at right now? Waiting. We received approval for our well drilling permit in mid-May. Unfortunately, the well drilling company is backed up on drilling. They told us, with not a lot of confidence, that it will be a month (!) before they can start drilling. Our guy tells us he has equipment to field three drilling rigs, but only has one crew. He's got people out injured and says he simply can't find anyone to man his other rigs.
What frustrates us is that he told us this when we drove the well stake in the ground on April 6. We asked (pleaded!) then that he put us into their queue. It appears that, despite some vague assurances, that didn't happen.
Once the well is dug (3-5 days) the water has to be tested and the test report submitted to the county. Once the county approves the report, the actual building permit will be issued. Our engineering contractor assures us that everything else is ready to go on the permit. We'll see. I am enough of a pessimist to believe that all of the above work will take 2-3 weeks at a minimum. So, we are fervently hoping for construction startup some time in early July.
So, the endless waiting continues. It's been seven months since the permits were issued.
One very fortunate happening: MHS, the local manufactured home vendor, received a model home that is nearly identical to the one we are purchasing. Although some of the interior finishes and accessories are different, the actual size and layout of the kitchen/dining/living areas is identical. This has allowed us to make numerous visits to do a lot of planning, and check sizes, colors, etc. Most of these tasks are things that would otherwise be done after the house is done. As such, we've been able to do the following:
1.Flooring: we don't care for the flooring offered in the house. We're going to keep the carpeting in the bedrooms, but the rest of the house will be covered in a high-quality waterproof laminate. We found a flooring that we both like that will nicely complement the wall and cabinet colors. We'll order it and coordinate the installation when we get closer; we don't have space right now to store the flooring.
2. Bar stools: we found, bought and checked for suitability a set of bar stools. Our kitchen has a 9-ft long island with seating; the bar stools will come in hand, especially since we aren't going to have a dining room table right away.
3. Living room furniture: we were able to measure the living room and, with those measurements, order two recliners and a sofa for the living room.
4. Dining room sizing: Our dining area is not large. The lack of size is exacerbated by having a sliding glass door into the back yard at one end of the area. Balanced against that, of course, is our desire to have lots of room for family gatherings. We decided that a 60" round table will fit nicely in the space. For big gatherings, we'll simply spill into the adjacent living area; it's all one big room, anyhow. In a moment of weakness and perhaps misplaced confidence I committed to building a farmhouse-style base for said tabletop. I've got some ideas for building the table top, but we might end up purchasing one. So, we won't have dining room furniture right away.
5. Closets: Cathy spotted this. The linen closet is in a hallway immediately adjacent to the garage entrance to the house. Around the corner, next to the guest bathroom, is a coat closet. To us, it makes more sense to switch these locations. We got the home builders to simply leave the built-in shelves, clothes rod, and other stuff loose in the closets and we'll switch them when we move in.
6. Tile backsplash: the model home has a subway tile backsplash as an option. While we didn't particularly care for this specific tile, it got us thinking about a tile backsplash for our kitchen; we're no strangers to installing ceramic tile, having done a backsplash, countertops and floors in the past. We found a lovely tile that goes well with the kitchen decor and matches nicely with the tile found in the shower; we'll probably end up putting a backsplash in the master bathroom, as well.
7.Cabinets/shelving: while staring at the kitchen wall, I noticed that two of the cabinets are really weird. Flanking the hood over the range are a pair of 12" cabinets - in spaces that are probably 20" wide. It's one of those things that once you notice you can't help staring at - these cabinets are way too small for the space. Cathy wants some open shelving for display in the kitchen, so at some point in the future we'll rip these cabinets out and install a tile backsplash and open shelving in part of the kitchen.
8. Bathroom fixtures: Cathy tracked down the manufacturer of the towel bars and related hardware in the bathrooms. We ordered additional towel bars for both bathrooms, identical to what comes in the house.
9. Bed: We found and ordered a bed frame for the master bedroom. We've got room in our storage unit for it, but not for the mattress, which we'll order when we get closer.
10. Ceiling fans: We ordered the house prewired for ceiling fans in the living room, the three bedrooms and the den. We found a fan that we like that we'll use in all five locations. By an astonishing coincidence - not because he's a paragon of good taste! - both the bed frame and the fans are identical to what my brother Brian put into his new house in Arizona!
As you can see, we've got a number of inside projects already planned when we finally get into our new home. In some ways, the timing will work out well: late summer or fall is a lousy time to try to plant anything in California, so we won't be running around like mad doing a bunch of planting. We'll take care of some of the inside tasks and then start building the infrastructure outside... whenever we get done!
