Roof problems solved

We met with the builder and the structural engineer has changed some things to allow the roof to be the way I want it to be. Yay!

Meeting with the builder on Saturday

We'll be meeting with the builder this Saturday to go over the changes to the roof. Hopefully we can come to some sort of resolution that I am happy with!

Roof problems

Today I was looking at the finalized plans and found a problem with the roof design. Unfortunately the builder is out on vacation this week but I sent an email anyway. Hopefully next week we can get the problem resolved.

Finalized plans

The plans have been updated and redrawn for Virginia building codes and today I finalized them with the builder and architect. Wooo.

Met with the builder!

Yesterday I met with the builder to go over the plans and various details. They were extremely nice, and enthusiastic about the project. I also gave the architect a deposit to begin his work on updating the plans for Virginia code.

Introducing the Architect

Yay! The builder met with an architect and he is willing to take on the project. He is going to spend the next couple of days going over the plans and then we plan on discussing. Progress!

Plans sent to builder

I send a copy of the plans to the builder we're talking to. They are going to run them past a couple folks and see if we need just an Engineer or an Architect.

Plans - original vs updated (revisited)

Even though I said I would work from the original plans and update them myself it was too tempting to buy the updated plans from Modern Homes Realty. So now I have both sets! It's nice because now I can see what the original plans said to do vs what updated plans say. There aren't many differences since the updated plans are to California code (things will have to be changed quite a bit to get them to meet Virginia code) but they are 100x easier to read than the vintage plans.

Here's an example.

Original Plans

Updated Plans

So much easier to read! I'm sure the builder will appreciate having the updated set. Huge thanks again to Monique Lombardelli for getting the plans updated for me. As it turns out, they didn't have the plans completed and had set them aside until I ordered a set. So I sort of feel special like the plans were completed just for me! :-)

Things I am worried about building in Virginia:

1. The long wood roof beams may have to be replaced with wood-wrapped steel I-beams to help with the snow loads in winter
2. The roof is extremely thin. To meet energy requirements we will probably end up having to thicken the roof up to allow for spray insulation to be put up there. The fascia board that runs around the edge of the roof is 6" wide so that allows me to thicken the roof up to 6" thick without changing the look of the house. Hopefully that is enough, although that thickness will require I go with a conventional gutter system instead of the downspout system the house was designed for. I don't think it will look too bad as the gutter would only be along the left side of the house where you can't really see it from the front and the two small overhangs on the other side. If I have to go thicker than 6" it's going to change the look of the house and I'm not going to be happy.
3. The plans call for single pane glass everywhere, which I know won't fly in Virginia. Hopefully going with double pane glass won't change the look.

Overall, it's going to be very challenging and probably very expensive to update the plans for Virginia. But - that's part of the fun I suppose.

Got the copy of the plans today! Thanks Monique Lombardelli!

Plans - original vs updated

I've been chatting with my builder more about costs and stuff. There's only so much we can do without the actual plans but the estimate is still coming in a lot higher than I want it to be. We may end up building in North Carolina instead of Virginia to save some money on construction costs.

I also got a quote for all the glass from Palo Alto Glass. To do the entire house the glass cost is around $60k. Glass is very expensive. That's my new motto.

Also the builder said he'd rather work with the original Eichler plans than the updated plans because the updated plans are for building in California and apparently there are a lot of additional considerations when building a home in Virginia like snow loads and such. His thinking is we might as well start from scratch with the original plans.

I've been working with the very kind and helpful Monique Lombardelli of Modern Homes Realty for the updated plans we wanted to purchase. I'm trying to find out if I can get a copy of the original unaltered historical plans from her. Fingers crossed!

Today I came across another supplier of Eichler plans and found a floorplan/design that I preferred to the one I was going to get from houseplans.com.

Here is the house that I am planning to build.

They are available from http://www.modernhomesrealty.com and have been redrawn from the original plans and updated to today's building codes!