Actually, it began in early May when I started talking to Ronnie and came up two down payments for the original plan. The original plan was smaller and was Hardi Panel instead of Brick. Then, well, it's a long story, but the short version is I just went insane or something like that. I got the idea that brick would make the little building special. It will dominate the view from my master bedroom window, and also from the future extended patio and hot tub (that's why I'm calling it the Pool House, even though there isn't any pool, and I can't even imagine when I will get around to building the hot tub, especially after the growing costs of this project) so it had better look nice. I wanted it to feel nice also, like a place you would want to go to escape, or hang out with friends (even though the main purpose for the building is storage). Hardi Panel just didn't seem to cut it. My house is made of particleboard that looks just like Hardi Panel (the front sides have already been updated with Real Hardipanel now after the original rotted out, the rest will need the same update eventually) and I never really liked the wood look of Hardi Panel or Hardy Plank. I like masonry, and I've lusted after real brick homes, but can't afford to move to one, and my existing house just doesn't have the foundation design to support brick. But now, I get to do things the way I would have liked. On a small scale, but just how I would like it. One friend thinks I've lost my mind, but most are cheering me on.
Or perhaps you could say that it began 2 years ago, when I started talking to Tough Shed of San Antonio. They came out and drew up estimate, including estimate for concrete foundation done by one of their friends. I liked the Tough Shed plan, which would have included Hardi Panel at special request. But I didn't like the concrete foundation plan. It used wire mesh instead of rebar, and they couldn't guarantee that I would get concrete from a concrete truck (which I believe is better). I tried another concrete contractor and didn't like their plan either. Then the project got put on hold for summer. Then my house needed $5000 worth of repairs, so the Pool House project (then called The Shed Project) got shelved indefinitely. But that's when I met Ronnie, who did excellent work in repairing my fireplace, the rotted eaves, the gutters, and more in the front of my house. Ronnie was not inexpensive, but I thought the quality of his work was worth the price. He offered to do the shed and patio projects I had in mind, but I was feeling a little broke after doing those repairs.
Now as the month of May went on, the project ideas kept growing. And while it turned out I didn't need a building permit (the exterior dimensions are 187 square feet, permits only made for 200 square feet and up nowadays), I decided to get soil sample, foundation engineering, inspection, and certification, everything you would do to build a real house with a real building permit. Brick walls are very heavy, and my high clay soil is destructively expansive (many houses in my neighborhood have serious problems). From about the middle of May I was waiting for the project to start any day, as soon as the engineering design was delivered. Finally, it became available on May 29, but Ronnie was busy on another project and didn't pick it up until June 1, the day that the heavy lifting actually began.
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