Anytime we do a custom project our unique designs seem to create a whole new set of challenges. Since we are often doing things in ways not done before it quickly becomes obvious that the normal materials and ways of doing things are not going to work. The job we first need to do is solve all the problems we just created.

On the house project we are quickly gathering a group of very knowledgable folks who are willing to work with us. The list will be long. Planners, engineers, heating specialists, carpenters, concrete specialists, window experts, electicians and a host of others. Each will bring their expertise to the table and together we will get the job done.

It is going well already, and we are learning lots in the process. Instead of compromising, the standards are often raised as we look at the options. Often with the help of these experienced people we find we can do things in even more imaginative ways than we dreamed.

One of the many things we are working on are the windows. The bulk of the windows, although not common, are pretty standard stuff. The large round windows are much more of a challenge. The easy thing to do wold be to change the windows to be much more conventional but that would mean we would have to radically change the design and in the process make it pretty ordinary. It's not at all what we want to do. We went through a number of window manufacturers to find one who said 'No problem - we'll figure out a way to make this happen.' Those are the kind of people I love to work with.

This is going to be a whole lot of fun!

-grampa dan