Hechimovich Homes, Inc. - A Construction Journal

A Construction Journal
If you're pondering what it may be like to plan for and build your new Wausau Home, here's a chronological summary of some of the typical (and not so typical) experiences from a recent homeowner's point of view:

January 15, 2001: The Dam Breaks.
That's it. We've had it with this old dump! I had to crawl down into the mosquito-infested crawl space to drain the pipes so they wouldn't freeze, and I got a mosquito bite. In the dead of winter! Even though not one local builder has been able to come up with a reasonable price, we're at our wits' end. I'll check around with some family and friends for advice. But I'm not hopeful.

February 10: A New Hope.
My brother suggested looking into what a Wausau Home might offer us. He told me he visited their factory once on the way to Tomahawk and was really impressed. (And that says a lot coming from my brother!) We searched the Internet for any Wausau Home builders near us in Hustisford. We located a builder in Fond Du Lac and contacted them to get more information.

February 13: Builder Referral.
We heard back from the Wausau Homes builder in Fond Du Lac. They referred us to Hank Hechimovich at Hechimovich Homes, who is just a bit closer (Horicon / West Bend).

March 1: Home Plans Arrive.
Hechimovich Homes sent us some brochures. We can't help but be impressed! I thought a Wausau Home was supposed to look like someone bolted some wooden boxes together. These plans are exactly what we're looking for: plenty of room, distinctive rooflines, great features (especially the kitchen, which the wife loves!), and best of all lickety-split construction times. Since we want to be done before the snow falls, it looks like this may be exactly what we need. Now if we can just afford it ...

March 26: Pricing Details.
Cindy, Hank's wife, sent us pricing for the models we've chosen. We can't believe how reasonably priced these homes are! The model we chose, the Northland, breaks out to well under $100 per square foot. Compared to the other "custom" builders we talked to, we're going to save a lot of bread. We're optimistic for a change! But I still need to check out Hank's references - Cindy sent us five clients to contact.

April 5: Referrals.
This just gets better and better. Every single reference has checked out. Everyone tells me working with Hank is like working with George Bailey from It's A Wonderful Life. Most of the references had horror stories from previous homebuilding experiences, and told us that by comparison, they could only highly recommend Hank and his crew as our builders. We're going to take the next step: Hank is coming to meet with us face to face in three weeks.

April 28: Our First Builder Meeting.
We just finished meeting with Hank for the first time. I have to admit this is getting exciting. It looks like every single one of our requirements for the new home can be met within our budget and construction deadlines. We toured one of his nearby construction sites and were impressed by the quality of the building materials and workmanship. And Hank is completely down-to-earth and easy to deal with (even though I'm a Bears fan and he's a Packers fan).

May 28: It's A Go.
Well, it's a go. We met with Hank to finalize details of the contract and to make our final decisions on interior and exterior options and colors. We've added a lot of options, like a full deck on the lake side of the house, a walkout basement, and a computer-controlled security system, but we're still within our budget (whew). Hank's crew has targeted demolition of the old property for early July.

June 10: Financing Secured.
Hank recommended a local mortgage broker to help us secure a construction loan. We got a great deal - the construction loan converts automatically to a 30-year ARM upon construction completion. Best of all, the broker is in the same building as Hechimovich Homes's office, so it's one-stop shopping.

June 30. A Glitch (Resolved).
Well, we knew sooner or later we'd hit a glitch. Hank called me today and told us that we needed to get a commitment letter from our mortgage broker so that we could secure final pricing with Wausau Homes by July 1 - apparently there's a price increase coming. Hank's team came through with flying colors: They managed to get the broker to issue whatever paperwork was necessary so that we could get the lower prices. Crisis averted (whew). Since we now live 120 miles from the job site, it was really nice to work with a construction company that's fully plugged in to e-mail and the Internet - it makes it a lot easier to communicate exacly what both of us needed to get done.

July 8: Destruction!
The old house is gone! It only took a few days to remove that old eyesore. And the trees we needed to remove to allow for the house are gone as well.

July 18: Construction!
We finished closing on the construction loan today. We also visited the construction site for the first time in three weeks. The old homesite has been transformed into the foundation and basement of our new home. All this in a matter of days - impressive!

July 25: Modules Arrive.
The modules for the house began arriving today, and already the Hechimovich Homes team has begun attaching the flooring with the walls to follow soon.

August 8: "Instant House."
Amazingly, the outer shell of the house is almost completed already! All the walls are up, the roof shingles are being applied, and we even have a front door. One of the advantages of modular building: All the windows are already installed, so the house is extremely secure and water-tight. Several neighbors have been e-mailing us about our "instant house"! We also saw folks parking their pontoon boats out on the lake to watch the construction. We're thinking of charging admission.

August 20: Exterior Complete.
All the siding is on, gutters are up, and we got our first view of a sunrise off the lake. The new great room has fantastic views of the lake, and so does the sun room off our master bedroom. The interior is beginning to take shape, too.

September 7: Lookin' Good!
We finalized our flooring choices today at our local carpet store. We've gone a bit overboard, but our new great room demanded some special attention because of the magnificent view of the lake. And our gas fireplace is in! I can imagine long winter nights, sitting on the hearth, looking at the stars while the moon rises over the lake.

September 30: Wallboarding and Decking.
The interior is really starting to take shape. Insulation has been blown in, and wallboard is going up. The house is even bigger than we thought! The architectural details are also really nice - lots of angles to catch the eye. And our deck is also coming together. We've decided to go with 1/8" stainless steel cabling between the posts instead of the traditional upright cedar posts to preserve the sightlines to the lake. Hank's team is working on hand-drilling the posts to accommodate the cabling.

October 9: Lighting and Details.
The deck cabling is installed, and it looks great! Even though Hank's team has never done anything like this before, they came through as the professionals they are. And all our lighting is installed and working. Hank's master electrician did a fantastic job, and anticipated a lot of our needs, down to the more modern switches.

October 23: Painting.
The painters have been busy. It's amazing how neat everything has been kept though the process is a messy one. We also finalized some details for the fireplace mantle and wood accessories in the great room.

November 7: Finish Plumbing.
The baths are taking shape with the installation of cabinetry and plumbing. Our ceramic tile guy has finished installing the flooring tile in two rooms and the entryway already, and the fireplace is looking great, too, with accent tile all around the hearth - a nice touch suggested by Hank.

November 24: Getting Close.
We can taste it! The finish carpentry is underway. We have a great-looking staircase up to the loft on the second floor, and all of the window moulding is up. The kitchen has all its cabinetry installed, and the countertops are in. My wife is overjoyed with her kitchen bay window overlooking the lake - she promises to do dishes without complaining!

December 10: Flooring And Finishing.
A lot has happened in two weeks. All the finish carpentry is done, and the flooring is being installed. Somehow, Hank has kept us within the original budget for the house, even with some of the extras we added. We're on target for occupying the house in one week.

December 17: Moving Day.
We got here early (7:30 AM) to begin moving in all our stuff from storage today - but not early enough: One of Hank's cleanup crew had been here all night getting the house ready for us. It's amazing how the new house dwarfs our old furniture! We also brought the computer control system on-line today. I can now control the heating and cooling of this house from anywhere in the world via telephone.

December 30: Celebration.
I can't believe that it's not even a year since we started thinking about buying and building a Wausau Home. Considering all the things that could've gone wrong with a traditional "stick" house, as well as the usual problems we could've encountered - bad weather, short labor supply, material defects -- this has been an incredibly smooth process. Time to put up our feet and enjoy!

The previous journal has been compiled from our homeowner's memories and notes. However, it is merely intended to illustrate the homebuilding process. Your results may vary depending upon the complexity of the home plan you choose, the time of year when your home is built, and other factors beyond the control of Hechimovich Homes, Inc.