proposed addition

Chiseling away at my mondo beyondo list included meeting with some nice folk about adding a garage onto our house. Although the acorn damage was already done to our car in our first year here, we have still hoped to shelter it eventually. So I meet with contractor and architect to figure out what is possible, and what is affordable, which seem diametrically opposed. Although this is the first pass at the design, we had to lop off the back corner at an angle to parallel our property line.

Getting the quote just about knocked the wind out of me as the cost for this addition is more than double what we paid for our house in florida. Upon receiving the "figure" whilst sitting with the two gents presenting it to me, I stiffled the OMG reflex on the outside and skipped to the next figure of "oh, it will only take you three months to build it, isn't that nice". On the inside I am desperately trying to figure out how to tell these fellas that a serious budget adjustment must occur. Back peddling a little I begin to ask questions to see what incremental options might there be like building a shell only and allowing my oh-so-handy husband and I to do the finishing. More quotes and research to follow. As I am typing this I am interrupted by a phone call from another company that is working up an estimate. Ug. It is going to be a loooooong process.