The Architect is coming over tonight to go over our revised addition plans which have changed since we are now chukking the septic and well. Oy vey, that water/swewr upgrade alone is gonna run just under 20g's. *Gulp!*

Plus the design and  construction drawings will be another $1800.

The bad news: we will have alot less moolah left in our budget to do much of the addition! There will be MUCH of the project left unfinished by the end of the year, I'm sure. But as long as it gets framed, sided, roofed and drywalled (oh yeah, and heating and water, electricity, etc.) that's enough to tide us over. Hubby can paint, do crown moulding, install interior doors and closets. He can also install bathroom fixtures but it would make more sense to have the tub brought in, 'cause Lord knows I ain't gonna help with that! Technically we won't HAVE to have the bathroom stuff done at first, either, if we run our of money. Just those functional bedrooms will be the bare minimum until, say, we get our 2005 tax refund! I do dream about the EVENTUAL completion of all this stuff but considering what's in the bank, I'm getting more pragmatic about it.

The good news: getting rid of the well allows us to do my "ideal" plan which will be a 2-car side-load garage, 2-story with 2 bedrooms and bath above. This allows some savings in that we can do a slab-on-grade foundation instead of trying to match up to the exisiting house with a more expenisve trenched foundation and crawlspace. It also means we can attach it to the area at the back door which is a rather unnattractive entryway, currently. It also will allow us to put in (finally!) a "real" foyer, coat closet and possibly a powder room, too.

But first things first...

I am still waiting on a second bid for the well/septic conversion. Once that is done THEN I have to wait some more for permits from the Village. THEN I have to coordinate the water hookup with the well sealing. And once the construction designs are completed then I have to face the daunting task of finding a budget-friendly-but-non-crapulent General Contractor. It was bad enough trying to even get plumbers to BID on my current job - some people totally blew off their appointments to give me an estimate! I guess they don't need or want the work. Must be nice.

I just got in after making a few copies of our plat of survey at Kinkos. So technically I spent my first $ on this project: $5.21 for 2 oversize map copies.

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Post-script: oh fartypants, the Architect called; he had to reschedule for Monday.