Buildings

Before I get to the topic, I'm going to include the Bergeron quote of the day...

Seth: "Mom, I'm really tired out tonight."
Mom: "Really, Seth?"
Seth: "Yes. I spent all day with you and that has me REALLY tired out."

The following is a reality list of many sorts. If you ever desire to be your own general contractor, this is the list that will help you--and perhaps scare you a bit. Brian and I invested our "one thousand hours"--the requisite number of hours required to be well-prepared and reality-checked if you desire to GC a house yourself--before we finally hired Travis (our GC). "What a waste," some might say. But we believe in the God of processes--the God of the "long obedience in the same direction" (Eugene Peterson?). More on those processes at the end.

In order to build, we began by searching numerous databases of ready-made house plans. Time amounts expended are approximate and, for us, just as well forgotten.

Searching through house plans--80 hours
Measuring rooms and mocking up potential spaces--5 hours
Measuring our furniture--5 hours
Redesigning potential house plans--20 hours
Talking/e-mailing with our architect--20 hours
Talking to potential general contractors--5 hours
Resketching proposed houseplans to-scale for input to architect--8 hours
Researching building efficiencies, cost savings techniques, energy efficiencies and building materials--40 hours
Phone calls/e-mails to friends who've been through the building process--17 hours
Searching for interior and exterior finishes--150 hours
Driving to and from subcontractors' houses to drop off/pick up plans--40 hours
Talking with subcontractors on the phone and in person--20 hours
Crunching numbers on Excel to make the budget work--80 hours
Talking with lenders--20 hours
Meeting with the Architectural Review Committee--2 hours
Reviewing plans with County--2 hours
Talking with each other about the project--30 hours
Talking to the Engineer/Reengineering the plans--8 hours
Finding and comparing bids from the
Excavator
Plumber
Electrician
Framer
Structural Insulated Panel manufacturer
Insulated Concrete Forms
Engineering staking
Asphalt paving
Concrete foundation and flatwork
In-floor rading heating
HVAC
Roofer
Photovoltaic Panels (didn't do those because of the orientation of our house)
Roof Trusses
Lumber Supplier
Door Manufacturers
Window Manufacturers
Fireplace
Plumbing Fixtures
Painter
Deck Carpenter
Flooring
Appliances
Cabinetry
Countertops
Finish Carpentry
Tile and Tile Labor
Garage Door
THOSE BIDS AND CONVERSATIONS finish off the remaining 480-ish hours!!!

Shocking, huh? Further complicating the process is the fact that every single part of the process hinges on another part. Should we minimize the master bath space and run the risk that we can't find a bathtub narrow enough to fit the space (anyone know where I can find a bathtub 72"x32"?) Should you put a double-hung window with mullions in a spot that needs to be screened since the screen will block the view of the mullions? Do you design the house around a kitchen faucet or the great room ceiling? Do you choose your paint colors first or your countertops? The tradeoffs and interrelationships sometimes make my head ache--and I literally don't care nearly as much as most people I know! The ideal and the real deal will never meet up. Our act of creation will require countless people working countless hours to make a product that will, Lord willing, meet our needs; but it will not be perfect by any stretch of the imagination. If all goes as it ought, it will be a strong building that warms peoples bodies and nurtures their souls when they enter--but there will be divots and dings and gaping seams even before we move in.

Last night, in preparation to show our children the wonder of the Incarnation during the month of December, I happened to be reading through a marvelous book called "From Conception to Birth" by Alexander Tsiaras and Barry Worth (caution: not even for older children without some discretionary supervision). It is a secular pondering and showing, through in utero photography, of the wonder of a human being growing from fertilized egg to full-term baby. Here is Worth's commentary:

"Imagine yourself as the world's tallest skyscraper, built in 9 months and germinating from a single brick. As that "seed" brick divides, it gives rise to every other type of material needed to construct and operate the finished tower--a million tons of steel, concrete, mortar, insulation, tile, wood, granite, solvents, carpet, cable, pipe, and glass as well as all furniture, phone systems, heating and cooling units, plumbing, electrical wiring, artwork, and computer networks, including software. This brick and its daughter bricks also know exactly how much of each to make, where to send them, and when and how to piece it all together. Now imagine further that when the building is done it has the capacity to love, hate, converse, do calculus, compose symphonies, and have rapturous physical relations with other towers, a prime result of which is to create new buildings even more elaborate than itself (p. 5)."

Now imagine that the men who so poetically acknowledge the breathtaking perfection of a creative system unequaled and unreplicated--imagine that these men do not acknowledge the Creator of that creative system. They use plenty of divine language--phrases like "a miracle every day" and "drama" and "a grand plan for human reproduction" and "triumph in shape and structure" and the "whole magnificent design"; but no understanding that if the process were up to us--our trying, our reaching, our EVOLVING, we'd never even make it to the next breath. These men are visually and verbally SMART. But they are also blind. They probably haven't tried to build a house (or a skyscraper) either.

Brian and I have made so many rookie blunders in this house building process-and that with what we believed to be the utmost care and plenty of research! How thankful I am to God that He did the creating of our four children--and that He is not only the author of our "birth by water" but He is also the author of our "birth by the Spirit" (John 3). And God has so graciously designed the processes of physical birth AND growing in His grace so that it is slow enough for the human mind to take in a bit of it here and there. For more on this from a Christian perspective (though not as visually stunning), I highly recommend Dr. David Menton's lecture on DVD "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made," available through Answers in Genesis.

Ephesians 2:19-22
"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."