FEBRUARY 8, 2024

I met with Drexel’s Design team this morning. I took my dad along – He’s a retired carpenter. I had sent Hannah, one of the designers, a document of house plans I liked, Pinterest houses, and a list of my non-negotiables. She was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Here’s the thing too – If she didn’t know something, she told me that and reiterated that she would find answers. 10/10.

Basically, here’s the design process broken down:

1. Preliminary plan. That’s what I was there to talk about. She wanted to get inside my head. In 2 weeks, I’ll have this back from her. 
2. Revisions. This might lead to 2-3 meetings in the following weeks to get it perfect. 
3. Bid Plan. This is where a project manager (or QB in Drexel terms) would come into play. We would talk about elevations, roof, foundation, and more things that I don’t understand.
4. Final Plan. This is where the notes from the inspector would be, wall bracing would be engineered, we’d pull permits, and GO. 

The lot I put an offer in on is 100’ wide. I need to find out what the setbacks are, but I’m going to the village later to ask those questions. We went through the interior and exterior visions. Here’s what I learned:

1. I don’t like when houses have the garage door front and center. BUT the lot I put an offer in on, is narrow as heck. Which means I probably won’t be able to have the garage door on the side unless I plan on becoming a really good driver overnight?!?
2. The size of the doors is important because the trim, casing, and hallway size is dependent on it. I guess that makes sense, but my brain never thought of it that way.
3. A home is considered 1 ½ stories vs 2 stories based on where the master bedroom is. If the master is on the second floor, it’s considered 2 floors. Otherwise, it’s 1 ½. 
4. I’d likely go with single hung windows… Well, possibly. They’re cheaper and energy efficient. But I do like the look of crank windows. And everyone says single hung are really hard to clean.
5. Roof pitch… I don’t understand this. But then there’s asphalt or steel roofing. Steel is more expensive than asphalt, but asphalt is kind of the default. But because the house is so small, the price difference might not be super huge?!
6. Siding choices… LP or Vinyl. LP won’t fade, but vinyl siding is cheaper. Kind of undecided on this. 

This was all really just the starting point. Designs will probably run me $1,500. I will also 1000000% be doing virtual design. I’m a visual learner, and this shows you exactly what your home will look like. It would likely tack on an additional $1,500. But Hannah made such a good point… Seeing what you do and don’t like before you break ground is going to save you SO MUCH MONEY in the long run than if you make changes after you build.

Phew. Okay. That was long. More to come.