faxed contract!

Late this morning, I got the general contractor's new proposal which included the stairs. It's more than we wanted to spend, but in the ballpark. Since we really need it done ASAP, we're going to go ahead with it. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of additional time to work this out. We are both feeling mad that the contractors are taking so long. The time frame is closing in, and it's not good to make snap decisions on big things.

Even though we really wanted to build a deck right now, we've decided not to because the price was just way higher than we expected and wanted to spend. We've come up with a temporary solution that will give us use of the yard and solve the grading issues so we can fence the place and join the various levels. In a way, I am relieved and glad. The temporary solution will buy us a few years to use the yard and see what we like and don't like. We'll have lots of design ideas by the time we go to build it. Some examples of things I think we'll make better decisions on after a few years use: number and placement of electrical outlets; number and placement of water faucets; location of grill (if built in); size, type, coverage of any cover (roof). I am also feeling a sense of relief at putting the brakes on a large expenditure. It seems like it makes more sense to do this in a few years. An added bonus is that depending on how complex a design we want, we may be able to build it ourselves. We'll see!

I called the landscaper in the morning because I had not received his contract. He called back at 3 and gave me the new price (the price went up due to there being more grass, sprinklers and edge beds because there's no deck now). He said he could fax the contract, but I didn't have it by the time I left at 5. It did come tonight and I looked it over and pencilled in a few minor adjustments. I'll fax it tomorrow.