I think I have been asked "would you do this again?" about one hundred times now. And about 80 of those have been this week. I don't know why it is that some weeks are way more stressful than others. Some of it because you can't put anything on hold to deal with building a house. All the other aspects of life just keep on moving ahead.
You have all the everyday things and some things just get ignored -- in my case I haven't cleaned house in awhile. Keeping the laundry done and meals cooked is about all the "normal" I can get to.
Spring has arrived, and between mowing at our current house and mowing at the new house, we always have mowing to do. And something always has a flat tire. And don't forget that school isn't out. We have term papers to deal with and final exams and don't forget to order those graduation announcements. Well, needless to say I've forgotten a few things.
That is just the normal everyday stuff we all deal with every year, right? Now for those of us crazy enough to add to this stress by building a house . . . .
It seems there aren't enough hours in a day for all the phone calls. Contractors are calling or we need to call them. Someone we need to talk to won't return calls and someone you don't have answers for calls several times. Orders don't come in or they have pieces missing. Someone misunderstood you. You misunderstood someone else. Something you never even knew existed comes in 14 colors, 3 shapes and 6 sizes. This guy is mad at this other guy and these people want those people to do something different. And whose to blame isn't my problem, but I don't want any of them mad at me! Somebody didn't show up for work and somebody else left without finishing. And no one remembers to clean up after themselves.
There is the constant searching: in stores, on the web, wherever. Lighting, plumbing, tile, appliances, countertop ... of course Pinterest and Houzz surfing for possible ideas. I have to get stuff ordered now or we'll be waiting on it. Then when I have a huge stack of "this is what I want" pictures, I can go somewhere and actually explain what I want. Most people have a tendency to think they know what you want and what you need. It helps to be really prepared with pictures and to be well-versed in using the word "no." But it also helps to have someone who will give you suggestions when you hit that one decision you didn't give a thought to. (What color on this flange?)
So now that I've rambled considerably about building a house, I still haven't answered the question, "would you do it again?" I guess I really can't say that I wouldn't. We're building this house to be our forever house so I don't want to build OUR house again. But I feel like we've learned so much that if we did build another house, we would be better at it. At least make different mistakes. I can definitely see why builders build the same house or similar houses over and over again.
"Has it been worth it?" Well, yes, I think so. The house will be great when it is done. And overall the experience has been a great education. I'm all for learning something new. And I think someday we'll look back and say it was not only good, it was fun.Yea, fun. It really has had it's fun moments. And so far my blood pressure has always come back down and Bryan hasn't landed a punch on a single person yet!
Final word on the subject: If you want to build your own house, call me. I can give you an earful.
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