It has been a crazy 5 weeks of ups and downs. We kicked off February with getting the lot staked and having the forester mark all of the trees that need to come down to create a defensible space around our property for firefighters. It felt like we were making real progress.

Then we started getting final pricing back based on our recently completed structural engineering. The foundation quote was more than double the original estimate and there were significantly increases for the radiant heat, lumber, and tree removal. Fortunately, some pricing came in lower than the original estimate, but when everything was added up, we were almost $100,000 higher than our previous total.

We worked with Dan and Derek to sharpen our pencils and go through the budget line by line to find places to save or cut back. In the end we were able to make the budget work, but it was a roller coaster ride of emotions the entire time.

It felt good to finally sign our construction contract and send all the final documentation over to the bank in preparation for closing our loan later this month. Hopefully that will go smoothly to make up for all the recent drama!