Stakes All Around!

Things are starting to move! On a rainy Sunday morning I met Ed at the lot and we checked out the surveyor's work. We now finally have the property corners and the setbacks marked. We cleared a shit load of brush and established lines of sight so that Ed could bang in some stakes on the marks and run lines. We also marked the corners of the house, and it looks like it will just fit within the setbacks at the correct angle (turned about 35º NNW) to face the ocean. At this point it's unclear whether or not we'll be able to fit in a garage or carport next to the house - that's still TBD.

Very grateful to get some help from someone I don't even know, Bill Drury, who is clearing his own lot in San Rafael with the intention of building an LV Home, or something similar. Bill kindly volunteered his time and spent a couple of hours helping to cut down and clear shrubs. Thanks Bill!

Next step is to meet the surveyor at the lot and have him give us exact spots for the four corners of the house, and then we'll run lines and got a more accurate idea of how everything looks. We should get the actual survey map by Thursday, and the soils report some time next week.


In the meantime, I'm still getting quotes for the windows, and compiling a window and door spreadsheet, which I'll share with the LV Home Yahoo! group at some point soon. The best quotes have been from 1st Windows in LA, very reasonable prices for Milgards (50% less than my local quote!) and Jeld-Wen. I also now know that, if I want to have four full height 9' aluminum sliding doors at the back of the house, my main choices are Jeld-Wenn or Bonelli's, as neither Milgard nor Blomberg make them that high. The Jeld-Wen sliders are around $2500.00 each, while the Bonelli's are double that, at $4850.00 each. In the interests of completeness, I'll add that 9' Fleetwood sliders are nearly double that again, at $8918.00 each. I presume they are made of gold rather than aluminum.

Numbers in a nutshell: Milgard windows and doors all around for $10,753; Jeld-Wen all around for $17,140; Blomberg all around for $31,721; Bonelli's all around for $34,595; and Fleetwood all around for just over $60K!!! I'm leaning towards the Jeld-Wen, if I can get a good close-up look at them.