Today was our LIPC Day, or Lot Inspection/Pre-Construction Meeting. We met with our field manager, Tim Payton, on our lot. I met with him, as well as my step-dad, at the lot to place the house and line out details. The first item on the agenda was to place the house. Mandie and I had already put some flags down based on the home measurements, so it didn't take long. We discussed where the best placement would be, whether it be more into the hillside, or turning the house at a different angle, but in the end, we kept the house where we had flagged it, so he took some wooden stakes, and measured it out and placed the wooden stakes. We did decide to flip the layout of the house, and put the garage on the high side of the lot. Once we had the house where we wanted it, he got out his laser equipment to actually shoot the grade, and get exact measurements as to where the house would sit. From there, we reviewed all of the plans to get a better idea of our choices, as well as to get an idea of how much block, gravel, and lot prep work would be needed based on the measurements. Looks like we were not going to vary much from the estimates, which was good. We had anticipated needing a high cushion, and we came out actually $10,000 less, which works out great in case anything pops up. My step-dad has a huge background with construction and concrete, so we lined out some details with our plans, such as adding rebar into the footers, putting durawire in the basement block, seemingly little things that will make a big difference in making sure the foundation and home is stable and as waterproof as possible. Once we had initialed all of the plans, Tim gave us our paperwork and we made our way up to the Belmont office.
Once we got up to the Belmont office, it was time to review the entire plans and updates that Tim made that morning, and to sign off on the final plans. We reviewed all of the selections we had made, as well as included some minor changes such as flipping the washer and dryer space within the laundry and bumping out that wall by 6 inches to make more space. We got some more questions answered that we had come up with on the drive up to the office, such as costs for more cabinets, whether or not we needed them, and so forth. In the end, we spent about 4 hours working with Mary, going over the final details, reviewing the updated changes from our colors appointment, and signing off on everything. Once the mortgage paperwork is completed, we should be a go. In the meantime, we need to get some utility work going such as the temporary power, getting the lot survey completed, and other things that are needed before construction starts. WE also need to get the access drive completed, and get the permit sent into DOH to get the culvert work put in. It was a pretty exciting day, though it does seem stressful all of the things we have to do, as well as worrying if the little costs will creep higher and higher. I guess we'll see in the end. We know we could afford it, it's just making sure everything works out.
I'll have Mandie add more later, she's much better at this than I am. More updates to come as we get closer to dig day!