Final Design and Coordination

So this week started out with some calls to the original surveyor on the project. The property came with a survey and a soils report (a savings of about $5,000), but verifying these documents is critical. Since I know the soils engineer, I confirmed with him that the project was buildable and then authorized an addendum to the report. The survey company, after some harassment, is sending a "wet stamped" copy of the project. This is necessary in case the building department asks for it. Usually they don't, but with hillside projects it comes up from time to time. It is important when you are starting a new project to at least be aware of the lot perameters. You can do this by going to the local tax accessors web site or office and asking for a "tract map". Having your lot information (tax id, address, etc...) is also helpful.

In any case here we are after about 8-10 weeks of schematic design and we have a building design! For a diagram showing the way the design developed formally, check here.

In other news I spoke with the structural engineers office this morning and they are in the beginning phases of engineering. There is still no word on when the drawings will be ready, but we are hoping to submit for permit in late July.

During the rest of the week, we'll be working on tweaking the details, such as the kitchen layout, bathrooms, etc... Once we have a set of preliminary structural drawings back from the engineer, we'll begin to finalize the Design Development package. I'll post more images of the finished design during the week.