When Wendy Zemanski envisioned the house she and her husband Rick would build in Kingsville, she wanted something open and inviting.

Now, a month after moving in and after six months of construction, she has her wish.

"I must have said it to Rick a million times, that if I said it one more time, Rick was going to kill me. I wanted a house to flow. That was the goal," said Mrs. Zemanski, a fireplace saleswoman for Thulman Eastern in Columbia.

With her vision in mind, it was Mr. Zemanski, a salesman for Alside Supply, a siding and window company in Arbutus, who set things into motion, using his experience in construction gained while in college and later as owner of a home improvement company.

"Rick is so knowledgeable so I had to trust him on the building parts," she said of her husband, who served as general contractor for the project.

Beginning with the groundbreaking in July, he spent most evenings and every weekend day working on the Baltimore County house.

A photo album prepared by his wife shows him digging the foundation, pouring concrete for the footers, putting on the siding, painting and trimming the interior, and installing hardwood floors in the kitchen and sun room.

He contracted out most of the masonry, the block work, framing, roofing, insulation, electric, plumbing and heating.

For the work he did on his own, he relied on a constant stream of friends. "We couldn't have done it without them," he said. "We're just so grateful that they were willing to help us."

The Zemanskis are planning a housewarming party and will be able to resume the family Thanksgiving celebration -- suspended last year -- for about 15 people.

"We wanted to have it here, but it just wasn't ready in time," she said, with her husband adding, "We just missed that one."

The "flow" Mrs. Zemanski sought manifests itself in how easily one moves from room to room. Entering from the brick stairway, visitors walk through the marble-floored foyer, which features white columns. She saw similar columns in several of the 15 to 20 home design magazines she thumbed through in the months before building the house.

"I saw them and we both really liked the way they look," she said.

"It works really well to define the areas in this kind of open house," he added.

The house design came from a magazine, Weathershield Windows. He enhanced the plans by adding a basement, converting a screened porch into a family room, and expanding the area behind the kitchen.

The living room has a light-colored shag carpet and tan leather sofas.

The formal dining room features a round glass table on a marble flooring that looks lighter with the wide windows looking out past the front entrance.

With those Thanksgiving meals in mind, the kitchen is an important component. Chrome appliances, maple-stained cabinets from Mr. Zemanski's employer, and a granite island provide an attractive and useful space for cooking, enhanced by the hardwood flooring he installed.

"The kitchen was really important to me and, the way it turned out, I just love it," Mrs. Zemanski said.

The house also has a guest bedroom, which will become a child's room at some point, and an unfinished basement.

The couple bought the 5.5-acre lot for $55,000 several years ago. They estimate that the 2,400-square-foot house cost about $175,000 to build, with about $50,000 saved through his work and help from friends.

As Mr. Zemanski built the house, a 30-foot crack occurred in the foundation because too much weight was placed on certain joists. The problem was quickly fixed.

"It seemed like a big deal when I found out, but it wasn't that bad to get fixed," he said.

The Zemanskis say the six-month construction process did not tax their six-year marriage.

In fact, at times the couple shared special moments together at the construction site. One night, Mrs. Zemanski prepared a picnic in what is now the sun room, and other times she would bring her husband a drink, food or welcome company as he was working late in the evening.

"The best thing she did was keep me company when I was doing stuff," he recalled.

For Mr. Zemanski, the one thing she couldn't replace was the two or three visits to Sparrows Point Country Club for golf games that were lost during the construction.

"That really hurt," he says.

But he takes solace in the fact that he will be installing a par-three hole on his property this summer.

Pub Date: 3/07/99