Oh man, I hate little "problems". We have not had many framing issues, just "in the ground" surprises. My GC is literally the BEST guy ever--got lucky with a reference from someone else. He has what I call the Holy Trinity of contractor skills: technical expertise, communication and patience, and most of all, a "can-do" attitude. No matter what the problem, he ALWAYS says, "Well, OK. Let's take a look at that" or "No problem, we'll figure it out". Mostly he prevents problems by pointing things out before they have already gotten to the stage where it doesn't work. Have been surprised at the number of "mock ups" that he will do just to make sure it ends up looking like I thought. In addition we have a meeting EVERY Wednesday where the GC, the architect, the PM and I walk the house for almost two hours going through items that are pertinent to that week--we first go through my check list then we go through each person's checklist, and we have the architect present so he can hear about all the problems and make the appropriate changes or comments to the issues. Demand excellence and attention! I admit we have had a few glitches where the plans didn't quite work or look the way I thought but after discussing everything with my GC and being VERY CLEAR about my vision, things always got changed. My architect is not local either and was hard to pin down but in the end it was imperative that he come to at least three weeks of meetings to get us "over the hump". The structural part is a whole 'nother thing though. Hired an engineer who drew up separate plans for all that. Can't change any of those plans without consulting him! Keep going! Your PM should be working for YOU! Make them give you a copy of everything so you can double-check--a pain, yes, but worth it for your project!

That siding was called T1-11 and because most of it was not properly sealed and flashed it rotted. sierraeast gave you good advice. Another thing to think about now is the paint you will be using. Sherwin William's has a paint called Duration that is wonderful on hardiboard. I have heard of some people stating that their paint blisters on hardiboard on the South sides of their homes. My mother's painter recommended this paint and she was very impressed with the results. It is very thick that will not blister or peel. I have used it as well. It is more expensive than some other paints but I was happy with it. I had a problem with mold that destroyed my T1-11. I went with this paint once I had my siding repaired and I did not have any problems. Here is a link that might be useful: Paint info

I have just the guy for you. Am I allowed to post here? Or do I need to email to you? He's not the cheapest guy in the block, but he shows up, he's very fussy and very neat about his work. He has a lot of experience, he's easy to work with, and he gets it done. He's done a lot of work for us and he redid kitchens for each of 2 GFs. He also has done a lot of work where he's cleaning up after the other guys have left leaving the homeowners in a real mess.

If it makes you feel better, Hoboken, my main early labor symptom for my last kid (#3) was extreme crankiness. When we got to the hospital, I told my husband that I'd changed my mind, we weren't really having this baby after all. We looked at each other and said, "But we don't have a name for a girl!" This was the days before ultrasounds and I was sure this baby was a girl. He wasn't, so we had a name after all. It could have been like my brother and SIL - it took them several more days after the birth of their kids to agree on names. That really causes issues on the birth certificate front. Good luck, keep breathing, she'll be here soon.