"Some houses just go more smoothly than others"

Framing is completed. That is a nice feeling to have. I went over yesterday morning and found the HVAC people in there doing their stuff. I was surprised because the framers had just finished the day before. It was a very nice surprise.

This morning when I went over, as I pulled up, the HVAC guys recognized me and called out from the upstairs window, "HEY! I've got a question for you!" I went up and he was about to put our laundry room in the upstairs bathroom. Hmmmm. That would have been interesting. I quickly reminded him that the laundry room is downstairs in the LAUNDRY room.

I was taking some exterior pictures in the back and the superintendent was at our neighbor's house finishing up some stuff and he came over and talked with me for a little bit. He said that it is interesting that some houses go along really smoothly where everything seems to just fit together and go right after the other. And then in other houses run into problem after problem.

Am I (as the owner) the deciding factor? There were a couple of problems with the framing plans that I had the framers fix. The major ones (missing wall, walls where they shouldn't be) I took up with the sales staff - like I was supposed to do. But if I let them do something wrong that I know is wrong, if it was really small, I brought it up with them. To be honest, I think that they appreciated the fact that I took interest in their work. They even asked me a few questions on my preferences on a couple of items. And they were really good. They did high quality work. I was really impressed with them (see a future post on this subject). So if I wasn't in to building my home like I am, would the HVAC people have cut through my bathroom and put in the laundry room there?

As good as we say that the plans are perfect, all of the little details of the house cannot be planned and put on paper. The walls for the house came to the job site pre-assembled. But there were still a few errors with the walls. Four walls weren't built right and the framers had to fix them. Another wall wasn't even built. So why didn't the HVAC guys have a detailed drawing that specified where the laundry room was? They weren't even on the right floor?

I guess I am glad that I can "overlook" the construction process a little bit. The superintendent didn't say anything about me being on the construction site a lot or talking with the subs. Maybe he views me as someone who is helping him with his job? Maybe I shouldn't go that far.