Here's the photo of what I'm taking about.

Why was the power not run underground?

Why was someone allowed to place it there?

If it bothers you, have it moved.

You need to talk to the power company to see what rules they have. Often these cannot be covered up or enclosed.

Attach a sliding closet door type of cover with the same siding as the house. You cant permanently block the meter. It need to be accessible.

This board should not be against the siding, but out maybe 2". This lets dirt and water pass through instead of getting trapped. It also helps prevent splitting of the treads when they are screwed down.

The concrete pad that's under the steps doesn't need to be under the steps. It should be under the bottom most step and extend out in front several feet.

I'm sure you will want a mat there for people to clean that red Georgia clay off their feet.

This shows 2 sets of steps, yours are on the left, my suggestion is on the right.

Note how they differ at the top where they connect to the deck. Your steps have an extra tread at the top that is not needed, mine have one less tread. This makes the steps shorter (shown in the 2nd picture).

Presuming the elec. meter will not be moved, a good starting point for making it better is to paint all of it (boxes conduit, wires) the exact same color as the house siding. Later, some plantings may help conceal or distract from it. (We can't see enough of the surroundings to know how plantings might be arranged.)

Teri, your builder sounds like a mess. Im so sorry. Why would you need more support on the carport, with the shorter stairs. Hmm.

the Builder says he can't do your idea for the shorter stairs because he would need to put extra support under the carport

Of course it can be done, he just doesn't want to. He maybe needs a bit more structure where the steps attach to the deck, nothing else -- nothing that holds up the carport.

No additional photos showing up on this end.

oops, here are the photos moving around my yard from left to right.

In spite of the GP restrictions about planting in front of, or at the side of the meter, you're going to end up with something planted below it, which will probably be ignored by everyone who is "supposed" to care, as they probably won't ... especially since meters are read remotely. An objection would probably come only if you allow something to grow in front of the meter, covering it. If you paint the hardware same color as siding in order to camouflage it, and plant something below, it will probably shrink the problem enough that you'll eventually get used to it and not think about it much.

Insofar as planting goes, you've got to work out the hardscape first. And it's a mystery to me, how the existing slab is going to work with the steps. In the first picture of the thread, it's not working with the steps that are mocked up. I like wide steps, but making them span the full length of the deck end, since it also demands a landing at the base of the steps, kills any possibility of foundation planting at the house. I actually don't understand your deck occupying half of the house overhang. Maybe you could explain what that's about ...?

It is not the build quality of the house that I am (constructively) criticizing. It is the design. Is the builder designing it at he goes along? My question about the deck is that it seemingly occupies less than half the spaced covered by the roof extension. So what is the other (ground level) portion of the covered space for? It looks like it's made for a car to drive through -- like a porte cochere (sp?) But then it almost doesn't look quite wide enough for a car to be there and its doors having room to open. How will the roof-covered ground level space be used? Is there a plan showing where drives, walk and any landscape walls will be placed? If not, I would get on that ASAP. If such a plan exists, you could post it here if you would like to get constructive feedback on it.

Yardvark the other issue is Terry’s husband is trying to GC the job. I don’t think it’s all on the contractor. Cut too many corners this is what you get.

It's not unexpected or odd that redesigning on the fly might happen. But it needs to be thought through to the conclusion in order to make sure that it's an improvement. The steps work in the plan (though the landing at their base is too tight for my taste.) Placed outside of the deck causes a couple of new problems: insufficient space for normal planting, and steps exposed to precipitation. This well illustrates how design decisions are trade-offs rather than the product of consequence-free decision making.

Teri, it would be useful to you to bring future changes to the forum while they're being contemplated, as opposed to after they are completed.

It would be good to show how the proposed steps will be worked out. And you must have a driveway coming ...? And maybe some walks ...? It would good to get those in plan form and run them by the forum before discovering they are mistakes made in concrete.

Yardvaark, there is no written plan for any of this. It's just my husband and I telling the Builder what we want and he figures it out as it goes. I mean, we are kind of following the original blueprint except for some changes.
I did not realize how half-brained this was until we were halfway into building. I was naively trusting the Builder and my husband to take our blueprints and build a house. As we began, there was a new idea here and a new idea there and right now this is the plan for the carport. I do not know how to draw but I have done my best here to show you what the plan is. Feel free to ask me questions and I'll answer the best I can. I do value the input here and actually need it, as you can see. My husband isn't willing to spend much money on making changes at this point, so I'm trying to make the most of what we have and is still coming.