GRANTED!!!
Ron the builder just received word from the Southampton Town Building Inspector's office. Apparently, due to some mixup (where one hand did not know what the other was doing), the building inspector thought that my house was still up for approval by the Architectural Review Board. In fact, the Architectural Review Board approved the design (conditional upon some landscaping concessions) back on March 15 by a 4-1 majority vote (I understand that the sole dissenter was basically against ANYTHING modern). So for the past 2+ weeks the permit sign-off was sitting on some bureacrats desk waiting for this last piece of information. Needless to say, the administrator who called Ron the builder today was extremely contrite and committed to getting the final paperwork out to us ASAP. In the end, this cost us a couple of weeks, but in the process, we managed to elicit some sympathy, which is always a good thing. Also, we did not spend the past couple of weeks sitting idle twiddling our thumbs... And after a series of snowstorms and rainstorms, everything is fully defrosted. Some updates:
1. Finalized the Superior Walls drawings. Although I had originally insisted on having a poured slab on grade, I was eventually talked into doing a crawlspace due to the relative ease (and lower labor costs) of running plumbing and ductwork under the first floor, rather than trying to channel this through concrete. However, after some more consideration, I have finally resigned myself to going with a full-height basement. Why? When I did the math, I realized that I can have a full height basement for nominally more ($2000) money than a crawlspace. And this would also alleviate the issue of basement/crawlspace access (the crawlspace would have required unsightly exterior bilco doors or cellar doors); I can now access this space from inside of the house with a regular pass-through door. I am hoping to finalize the order by the end of this week so that the construction of the walls at the factory can commence in earnest. They can supposedly turn this around and start laying down the walls on site within two weeks!
2. Hired a new surveyor and staked out the site. My old surveyor was, to put it mildly, a passive-aggressive idiot. He was impossible to reach by telephone, he never called us to point out potential problems/issues, and he was not cheap. Don't go away mad, just go away!
3. Designated an excavator to perform the initial excavation, haul away the excavated sand, lay down the crushed stone and footings, backfill, install a septic system, lay down gravel for the driveway bed. The total estimate for this work (for a roughly 1800-2000 sf footprint) was $10,930. This is a tad higher than I had originally estimated, but then again, I was not expecting that much crushed stone to cost over $3000! I am *hoping* to get all of this started by some time next week (weather permitting).
4. Kitchen design. After some consideration of the various options (and constraints) I had to work with, I finally decided on a small but efficient kitchen layout:
After seeing what's out there in terms of cabinetry, I went back to a custom furniture manufacturer in Manhattan, Metropolitan Design Center, who said they could do my kitchen in "rift cut" ash/birch plywood base cabinets (with integrated extruded aluminum handles) and sandblasted glass and aluminum canopy wall cabinets (that resemble Ikea's, but with MUCH better build quality). Along with a 6" metal veneer toekick, the final estimate was $10,800 + $1900 delivery and installation. Plus I could get 5% off if I paid in cash. So for a smidge over $12,000 I think I would be getting a high-end European look (with arguably better build quality) for a fraction of the cost. By comparison, the same kitchen at Chelsea Kitchens by the "lower priced" Italian maker (forget the name) was estimated at $26,000 plus $2,500 design fee plus $1000 delivery (no installation).
Anyway, after typing a longer blog entry and having the changes lost due to some snafu with "Save," I am cutting this blog short.
More to come!
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