littlemrslarge, congrats on building as well. I am sure you are just as excited as we are to get the ball rolling and build a new home! Also, thanks so much for finding the threads. They were super helpful! theballs, glad you found my thread and are going to follow me. We are building in the West Knoxville/Farragut area (off of Kingston pike at Pellissippi) and could not be more pleased with the location. Our family and friends all live in west Knoxville and we just didn't want to settle for a so so location, but really find a location that worked for us and our families! So it is out there if you do decide to move to Knoxville! ash6181, congrats to you as well on building in Vonore! littlemrslarge and ash6181, keep me updated on your progress since we are all in the same area!

We are in the process of building the Collinwood. We liked the outside (except the gazebo), but we rearranged things to make larger bathrooms, a smaller master suite and large bonus room. We basically eliminated some bathrooms and then made some modifications in the kitchen/office/mud hall areas. We also enlarged the garage and added an upstairs laundry. Frank Betz was great to work with - we were assigned an architect. I sent a list and a drawing of the changes we wanted and they sent us a quote. It was cheaper than hiring an architect, but we didn't have a PE, architect and structural engineers at our disposal, so depending on the extent of your changes, you may not need to pay for the modification. We still ended up making a few changes as it was being framed, which was no problem for our builder. We had a good framer and he said the plans were fine to follow, but some of the measurements went from inside wall to outside wall, some from outside to outside. In one case something didn't add up right, so he was a few inches off which made our foyer 4" narrower. Not a big deal, but we aren't sure if it was his fault or the blueprints. Our modification fee included a full set of working drawings that consisted of the foundation plan, floor plans with schematic electrical layout, elevations, stair/building sections, cornice and miscellaneous details and a roof overview plan. We paid extra for drawings showing the floor and ceiling joist layout and the roof rafter layout at the request of our builder. We made EXTENSIVE changes (basically almost gutted the inside and moved walls all around), keeping the outside elevation the same except removing the gazebo. We also specified brick exterior, which affected the blueprints. We had to pay for the plan itself, a fee to reverse the blueprint (roughly $200) and then a modification fee of roughly $2,600, so overall it was about $4,200. Considering the extent of our changes, we thought it was a reasonable price. Something to note though, the plans are not stamped by an architect so if that is something required by your local permitting office then you will need to get a local architect or engineer to review and stamp the plans for you. It wasn't required it in our area, but we wish we had ours checked by a local architect who knew our soil conditions and we would have done our foundation a little different. Oh, they also need to know where you are building, because some areas require special hurricane accommodations. We love the house and had a great experience with Frank Betz. I don't think you will be disappointed. We even called them a few times into the build for clarifications and we wanted to add a window, but weren't sure of the placement and our architect sent us a revised drawing for no additional fee. After we agreed to the modifications, the architect communicated well with us and sent us a draft for review. We went thru three drafts before the final. We would highly recommend them as we had a great experience. One more thing, due to our extensive changes, the turn around time was 5-8 weeks. Not a problem for us, but worth noting if you are in a hurry.

Moody: WOW! You are there!!! Looks so lovely! Post more pictures soon! Love to see your master bedroom and other baths and bonus room too!!! Congrats! bevangel: What house plan are your building? We are just waiting on a driveway, but the blasted rain has kept on coming :( Post pictures of your home, I'd love to see it! ggj123: Look on this website for homes for sale: Many are very similar to Candler Park and most look like Frank Betz plans. THis is in the Greenville SC area, if it is not too far away, you can go see many homes and get great ideas! Here is a link that might be useful: Custom Homes in Greenville, SC

Looks like the OP deleted their account, maybe because they didn't like the truth. But the rest of the folks here can learn from this. Improper flashing and window installs WILL end up ruining a home in short order. Just after the warranty runs out, and you own the rebuild of the entire exterior and drainage plane. Water management is the #1 priority in building a shelter. Be sure your builder actually knows what he's doing.