Absolutely incredible. Thank you all so much for your perspective and advice. I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am. You have helped me tremendously! Many thanks. Ian Lilkendey

Footings and Well Pump

Posted to Seven-Peaks-Faswall-ICF by Craig in Graeagle, CA on 6/13/2008

6/2/08- after substantial deliberation, I contacted a concrete contractor out of Loyalton and although the price (16k) is steep, we will have him and his crew pours the footings. The price is all-inclusive.

6/10/08- The footings are in.  Ron’s crew used 45 yards of concrete and lots of steel to complete the pour.  Only one small issue in that the pipes running from the utility shed to the garage did not go in under the footings.  I will need to come up with a solution.  May require digging out the space between the buildings and “tunneling” under the footings to set the pipes.  Not to happy about that nor were the footings as “perfect” as I was expecting.  Not all that smooth, rebar that floated up etc.  I will be much more thorough in communicating my expectations for the slabs.  Ron did mention held like to help (free?) lay up some of the block walls after the slab is poured.  He is also willing to trade some labor for firewood.  That works for me.

6/13/08- I helped Dickens drilling (Quincy) drop the water pump.  When we sent the probe down to locate the water and bottom we hit at 335 feet.  Looks like 35 feet of well caved in.  The good news seems to be that after hooking up the pump it is setting under ~five feet of water that is of good quality.  Looks like we hit that underground stream after all.  Also, found out that we have a talking well, one of the few around.  Seems that our underground stream also produces an air current.  That would explain why we heard what we thought was wind whistling out of the cover last winter.  I’m debating on whether or not to contact our original drilling company to find out why they did not case the well all the way done.  Probably should.  After a couple of calls it appears that they hit fractured rock and could not case any deeper.  Keeping my fingers crossed that we will be ok.  Will get the biggest pressure tank I can so as not to ware out the pump prematurely.

Photos

Footing layout	#5 rebar for footings	Vertical rebar from the footings
Plumbing trench from garage to utility shed

Footings

Posted to The-Ridges by Brett in Logan, UT on 6/12/2008 2:56:03 PM

So it won't stop pouring rain in Utah.  There is a fair amount of clay in the dirt on the lot and that gets very greasy when wet.  Anyway, a ton has happened over the last week, and it was sort of a fiasco.

I got the guys up there to form in the footings one morning and it was an absolute downpour.  I get a call at work saying that my setbacks are incorrect.  I tell him that I was pretty sure they were right and he responds that he took the liberty of calling the inspector to double check so as not to cost me money.  Sure enough, the house needed to be five feet further east, and five feet further south.  Just in case anyone is wondering, this type of stuff costs money.

Fortunately I got that excavation crew up there to jump over and adjust the hole.  They gave me 7' extra in both directions.  It took them two hours.  I told the guy to do it just as fast and dirty as possible because it would just be costing me extra money.  Two hours was blazing fast for the amount that they had to dig.  It also looks like I'm gonna be able to trade them some of my dirt straight across for the extra hoe time.  That will eliminate that cost, but not the extra fill that I'm gonna need now.  I'm still trying to figure that out.  It is a question of whether I will need to bring in 1" gravel or simply use the dirt they pulled out and compact it.  The latter is obviously cheaper but much more time intensive.

Yesterday they were finally able to get the footings formed and they should be pouring them this afternoon.  I was hoping not to need a pump truck, but the grade makes it hard to pour without it.  Bummer...  Good thing that I've been trying so hard to get the budget down.  I might be looking at about $1K in unexpected cost.

I ended up having to fill the footing forms with a bit of gravel (about 3-4 yards).  The last minute excavation adjustment messed up the nice pretty dig and we had to raise the forms to get everything level.

Decided on a monolithic pour for the basement slab and interior footings.  This will save me the cost of forming 80 linear feet worth of interior footings as well as a couple yards of concrete.  That is about $500 in savings, so that will hopefully offset some of the unexpected costs.  I also realized that I could save a 13' long, 8' tall pour for the front of the porch if I simply increased the size of the cold storage room in the basement to include the area underneath the porch.  That is gonna save me another $400 in concrete and wall forming as well as adding 50ft² of space to the cold storage room.  If I build this house again later, that will become a room safe.

Here are the tips of the day:

1. Speed is crucial in saving money on the excavation.  This means bigger is better in terms of bucket size.  36" bucket is ok and 40" is even better.  Any less than that and the hourly charge starts jumping quick.  If you have a good layer of topsoil on the lot, have them bring up a front-end loader before you do anything else, and scrape that soil to the back corner of the lot.  This shouldn't take more than an hour and will cost around $100. 
2. After they have removed the good top-soil, go ahead and stake off the building.  Then before having them dig the hole, get the footing guys to stop by and check the location of the stakes to make sure things are in order.  Ask them while they are there, how much room they are gonna need to work with.  IOW, how far outside the foundation walls should the walls of the pit be.  Less digging = less cost, so don't dig 5' to much if you don't have to.
3. Don't have anything that will get in the way of the excavator.  I thought I would save some time by having them work around the batter-boards.  That probably cost me a couple hundred bucks and we put the new batter-boards up within 20 minutes after the hole was dug.  Tell the excavator that you'll only hire him if he has a big bucket and a fast operator, but keep in mind that they'll still need to be accurate enough not to dig your footings 6-8" too deep, or heaven forbid >12" too deep. 
4. While everything else with the excavator is focused on speeding things up, slow them down a bit and have them accurately dig the footings separate from the slab.  Common practice in many places is to simply dig the hole all to the same depth and then backfill underneath the slab with gravel once the footers are poured.  I'll use my house as an example.  My basement slab is about 1400ft².  The footings are 10" deep.  The footings generally have to be raised a bit to be leveled, which means the top of the footer is really close to 12" higher than the hole that they dug if they didn't dig the footers separate.   That means that every 27ft² of slab area will need 1yd³ of gravel.  This gravel is about 1.4 tons per yard at a cost of $11.50/ton delivered.  That means my house would need about $900 worth of gravel to backfill underneath the slab.  Or they can simply spend 1-2 extra hours and leave the virgin soil inside while digging the footing separately.  If it is virgin soil there, then you don't need any compaction before pouring the slab.
5. As I mentioned above, a monolithic pour for the interior footings will save you money if done correctly, but there are a few different ways to do this, so I will explain a bit.
1. Standard practice is to pour the footings and, if you're in a hot climate, they will usually do a keyed footing, but in cold climates like mine they insert j-bend rebar that will project up into the poured walls.  After the walls are poured they will fill the slab areas with gravel until the gravel is flush with the top of the footing.  Then they pour a 4" slab over the gravel and the inside of the footings.  Some points to keep in mind here:
1. You will lose ceiling height in the basement equal to the thickness of the slab.
2. If they didn't dig separate footings then you'll need about 10-12" of fill beneath the slab.
3. The interior footings must be formed & poured 10" thick, which costs more money in both forming and concrete.
2. Monolithic pours can be done two ways depending on ground water issues.  If groundwater might be an issue, then you simply pour the salb the same as above except that you don't dig/form/pour the interior footings separately.  You don't form the interior footings at all.  You simply dig a shovel footing about 6" deep as the slab makes up the other 4", run rebar through it and pour the entire thing.
1. This is very similar to the method above except that you'll save a bit of concrete on interior footings.
   
3. You can also do a complete monolithic pour, where the perimeter footings are poured along with the slab.  This is common in slab-on-grade builds but might present water issues with basements, so be sure to eliminate that possibility.  You can mimic this by form/pouring the perimeter footings and then doing a monoliths slab for interior footings, but instead of capping the perimeter footings with the slab, you pour the top of the slab flush with the top of the footings.
   
1. The nice thing about this is that you get true 8' ceilings in the basement.
2. If done correctly this will also save you about $500 in concrete and fill.
   

pre approval

Posted to PhilesBryant by carrie in graham, WA on 6/12/2008 12:29:06 PM

Docs sent to bank 6/11/2008

Joe's Forum Posts: 26 Interview Answers: 58 Average Forum Rating: 3.65 Randomly Selected Image 6/12/2008	Carrie,      What kind of project are you working on?
carrie's Forum Posts: 3 Journal Entries: 2 Interview Answers: 73 Average Forum Rating: 3.60 Image from carrie's blog 6/12/2008	Were building a 2347 sq ft  home on our land in graham, If anyone has recomendations for subs we would appreciate the info Carrie

Meeting with the Architects #3

Posted to tanglewood by Steve in Colorado Springs, CO on 6/12/2008

Had a long and exhaustive meeting with the architects today. Spent a good three hours with them but it was productive and covered a lot of ground:

• The architects had worked very hard to dig up information on European window shutters.  We really like them (they're on the house of a friend of ours) and they seem perfect for this application, but there's one big problem--they are frack'in expensive!  They run $800-$1000 per window installation, which is anywhere from double to triple the price of the window itself (on average)! With roughly 70 windows on the house we're already looking at a large outlay for this particular line item, so it didn't seem prudent to more than double that cost.  We sadly had to defer that particular cost item, though we will engineer the house to allow for later addition--electrical to all windows and separate circuits to handle the load, probably one per floor.  This is a perfect example of something that can be easily done during construction with an eye towards the future, and the kind of "smart thinking" that we're trying to incorporate throughout the house.
  
• We spent a lot of time talking about the surface to put on the various fireplaces and the main house masonry heater.  Both Colleen and I liked the brick idea but felt it would look better to bring some element of the stone veneer into the house, so that's our plan for now.  The architects didn't know that I wanted basically every fireplace to be propane except for the masonry heater, so we tweaked the plans accordingly. 
• The masonry heater itself was the subject of much discussion.  I have a homework assignment to find a style that I like, and Scott gave me a great book on masonry heaters to browse through.  (Side appeal:  If anybody out there has some advice on this issue I'd love to hear it--I know virtually nothing about them except that they're a great way for me to reduce propane use while making better use of my 30 acres of trees!
• We also kicked around the idea of making the living room larger again (longer, actually).  More truthfully I was the one who brought it up--I've had this nagging concern that the living room is just too short (even though it's a good 1/3 larger than the one here at Wyrdhaven).  Both Colleen and the architects talked me down from the idea--really it's not an area we're going to use all that much so....okay.  I'm fine now.  It's good the way it is.
• We also briefly talked about placement of lights and outlets.  Turns out that El Paso County doesn't have many rules about such things, and (a bit odd I thought) they don't care about actually specifying where everything will be on the plans.  The inspector will make sure the basic rules are observed (light switches near each door, switches must control either an overhead light or an outlet in each bedroom, etc.).  We'll go ahead and lay out what we need to do for the SIPs (mostly for any overheads) as they have to be pre-drilled, but otherwise we have the freedom to decide a lot of this "as we go", so to speak.  That's cool.
• I had recently learned about a style of septic tank called a "stair step" septic, which seemed appropriate for our leach field area.  Turned out the architects were thinking that exact same design--yay!
• Big breakthrough on the media room!  Scott had done some more research and found out that the media room ventilation system can actually have an off switch.  That means it doesn't have to run all the time, and it won't suck down my home-brewed power.  That means in turn that we could dispose of the two windows we had put into the layout earlier. I'm very happy!

It has begun!

Posted to OwensNewHome by Justin in Chandler, AZ on 6/11/2008 9:11:32 PM

Yesterday the excavation started and tomorrow it will finish.

If breaking ground isn't enough my dear wife, Audra, is out of town this week leaving me with our two wonderful children, a job to do and house to get started. It's a busy week but a good one.

We have found old water lines, old footings, roots, and a rocky (small rocks) layer about 8 feet down. The kids and I were playing in the hole today and after my son doused himself in dirt I decided it was time to go home.

While the Wall Company has their excavator onsite I will also have them tear out the old barn foundation in the backyard.

Photos

Water meter box	View out of the family room - I know I have some landscaping to do . . .	First scoop!
That thing digs pretty fast.

GROUND BREAKING.

Posted to SOPHIA--SAMUELDELAWARE by Samuel in Smyrna, DE on 6/11/2008 7:51:50 PM

Basement dug today, they did this really quick. Footing should start tomorrow.

Photos

Our project

Posted to TheBeachHouse by Tami in Shoreline, WA on 6/11/2008 11:02:43 AM

This is a bit out of order, but I thought I would give the basics of our project.  We are building a 6,200 sq ft house on a sloped 10K sq ft view lot.  The house is giant and we are really not happy about the size of it at all.  We asked for a house in the 3,500-4,000 sq ft. range.  Ever heard of Architects Gone Wild?  As it turns out, our architect is the star.  Ugh.  Basically what happened is that we ended up with a 4,550 sq ft house that we loved.  Because we have sloped view property with a big house in front of us, we needed a basement (or a giant crawl space) to push us up to our height restriction.  So, we added a 1,700 sq ft basement.  That is how our house grew to ridiculous proportions. Ridiculous.  At this point, the basement will be unfinished.

We purchased our property five years ago and lived in it for nearly four years.  We had initially hoped to simply add on to the existing house, but after digging in a bit we realized that it was not going to work out that way.  So, in January of this year (2008) we tore our house down.  (We actually destroyed the house in August of 2007 when we donated it the fire department for training.) 

We broke ground on our project on March 16th.  Excavation took about two weeks.  It was absolutely amazing to watch the shape of our property change with the excavation.  Weird almost.  Foundation started going in the first week of April and took most of April to complete.  We have about 120 yards of concrete in our footings and foundation.  It is massive!  After foundation we had waterproofing and then tight lines and drainage systems went in, then backfill and preparations for the slab. 

Photos

Our home for four years. It was sad and exciting to see it go.

House no more. Our lot from the front.

RogerC's Forum Posts: 51 Interview Answers: 3 Average Forum Rating: 3.36 Randomly Selected Image 6/11/2008

Congratulations!  Now that you're finally building, it sounds like you're moving along at a great pace. I completely understand  your frustration with the size of your house.  I too have a sloping lot with a beautiful view.  The approach to my lot from the street is at the lower elevation and the view is at the back, on the highest point of the lot.  The house needs to sit up on the highest part of the lot to take advantage of the view behind, so I'll either have to build a two-story with the bottom floor cut into the slope and exposed only on the front of the house where the entry will be so the upper floor will be up at 'view level'.  Or if I build a single-story up on the highest point of the lot I'll have to fill-in a huge amount of the front yard to raise the entry up to the level of the house.  I think the more practical approach will be a two-story, but if I put all of the rooms that I'd like to take advantage of the views up on the upper floor, it's going to end up being a very big house. I'm actually ok with that though.  The way I see it, although it's more house than I need, it will be a spectacular home that I might someday sell, buy something smaller and have fun with the profit.  :) Good luck with getting your window problems worked out.  Keep us posted!

2008, 2009 Merit Award Winner Grant's Forum Posts: 362 Journal Entries: 19 Interview Answers: 164 Average Forum Rating: 4.05 Grant's Selected Image 8/9/2008

Tami, I'm my own "architect gone wild" and I am going through the exact same issues.  My lot slopes similarly to your and in order to take advantage of the views I have to build "up."  We are going to completely finish two floors and then decide whether we want to finish bedrooms and bathrooms in the attic or the basement to meet our appraisal requirements, but most of the attic and basement area will be left unfinished at the time of the build for budgetary limitation reasons. I haven't started my cost estimates yet, but as a percentage (since construction costs are quite different in Washington and podunk Alabama) how much cost increase do you have for adding the full length unfinished basement???  I'm trying to figure out how all of the additional unfinished space is going to affect my budget.  I do like that I can gradually finish the unfinished space over time and thereby greatly enhance my equity position. My draft floorplans are in my journal entries... Our houses appear to be roughly the same footprint size and I'd love to learn from your experiences.  I intend to break ground within 18 months. regards, Grant

Framing progress

Posted to TheBeachHouse by Tami in Shoreline, WA on 6/11/2008 10:29:51 AM

Framing is coming along.  Right now I think is one of the best points in construction as you see a lot of progress in a short period of time.  We are in our 3rd week of framing and they are easily half way done.  It is so exciting to see the house take shape!  After staring at it on paper for over two years, it is almost surreal to have it exist. 

A couple of things with regard to framing.  Once the house started taking shape we realized a couple of things.  1. Our basement is going to be a dark cave 2. We have the biggest windows in the world and some in really stupid places (a 6ft window over a bathtub and in a closet)  3. Some "view" windows have no view.  4. Some places that we didn't think needed a window have a great view and now need a window. 

We corrected the dark cave as much as possible by eliminating about a 1/3rd of the deck on the main floor.  We initially were going to have a deck across the entire back of the house.  On the main floor, we have a awesome view from both ends of the house, but in the middle we only have a view of the big house in front of us.  So we cut out the middle portion of deck.  It will save us money (to build) and it will allow more light into the cave. 

As far as windows go, we are making necessary adjustments as we go along.  We are just trying to stay one step ahead of the framers so that we don't have to deal with any change orders!  Not the easiest thing to do when you realize several of your windows are wacky.

On our way

Posted to Victor--Susan-08 by Victor in Ruckersville, VA on 6/11/2008

The framing crew is now in their second week of framing and the structure is really beginning to take shape. They took about a day to build the floor and walls for the kitchen/laundry room addition. They are now building the walls for the master bedroom suite. Everything is going along on schedule pretty well. The framer told me that he has ordered the crane for this Friday morning to lift and set the roof trusses for the big addition. The kitchen addition will get a stick-built hip roof instead of using trusses and that will go on next week. The framers also told me that their next job got delayed. so they will move right on into setting windows and doors and then siding and exterior trim, so we will be ahead of schedule on some things.

I had the septic tank pumped and cleaned yesterday and he marked the pipe from the house -- so today I will dig around it so that we will be ready to do the ground plumbing for the big addition early next week. I hope to be able to get the concrete pad poured next week as well. I have not mentioned that we are getting married on June 23rd; so my hope is to have the concrete pad done by that time, so as we give tours to visiting family members, we can take them into the new basement.

Photos

Looking up at the new back wall of the house...	Looking pretty tall...	From the back.
Another look from the back.	The kitchen/laundry room addition from the driveway.	Looking down on the kitchen addition from the back window of the great room.

Pictures To Date

Posted to AlaskaICFREMOTEHouse by K in Wasilla, AK on 6/10/2008 7:16:33 PM

These last few days were the hardest, laying the rock around the foundation for the drainage pipe, and the radon pipe. 

Photos

Footers Poured	ICF	Bituthane
Sonotubes for Portico	Drain tile	Washed gravel placed over drain tile
ICF shown with frost footer	Basement door and window bucks	Radon pipe

Still waiting...

Posted to 302 by Jeff in Belfair, WA on 6/10/2008 12:04:38 PM

Seven months later...

After singing Kumbaya for pileated woodpeckers and preparing an alternative habitat for them, apparently not endangered but a species of concern, we have continued to wait.  (Translated - either cut down 2 woodpecker snags and REPLANT THE DEAD TREES somewhere else, or pay $1500 to a biologist to kill two other trees and make sure they stay dead for 2 years!   I'm NOT kidding. I thought those birds had wings and could fly to any one of the other wood pecker snags on this 6-acre parcel, but apparently not.) 

Public Works appears to be the picture of inefficiency.  It took them 5 months to tell us they didn't like our storm water management plan, and another 1 month to say they like it, but now they need to ask the state about it.  

We've built in Mason County before, but never had to deal with public works.  The Building Department is Great.  The people in Planning are fine.  We've recently learned that other folks have had similar issues with Public Works here as well.

So, here we are, still waiting to log.   Would really like for it to happen this summer.

RogerC's Forum Posts: 51 Interview Answers: 3 Average Forum Rating: 3.36 Randomly Selected Image 6/11/2008	Yikes!  I feel for you.  That is just crazy.  As a lover of birds, I can't help thinking there just has to be a better way to make all parties happy...  land-owners, biologists, and Dryocopus pileatus alike. By the way, that is a beautiful lot!  If you ever get beyond the Public Works, what type of house are you planning?
Jeff's Forum Posts: 2 Journal Entries: 10 Average Forum Rating: 3.50 Image from Jeff's blog 6/11/2008	Struggling between keeping the size down and "having what we want."    We can't even get a complete take on the view because it is so heavily treed.  Definitely a view though.  Because of the slope of the lot, we're going to end up with a basement, but probably won't finish the basement.   Probably will be about 3500-4000 sq ft. at this point.   Looking to build a high-end house on a budget.  Still LOTs of site prep to do though.
RogerC's Forum Posts: 51 Interview Answers: 3 Average Forum Rating: 3.36 Randomly Selected Image 7/17/2008	Your project sounds very similar to mine, which is yet to begin.  I'm planning on around 4000 sq ft with basement, on a hillside 1.25 acres, hoping to do high-end finishes (we'll see how that goes).   All I've done so far is purchase the land.  Very different terrains though...  you'll cutting down trees; I'll be moving saguaros.   It looks like you're making great progress!...  I'll be watching your journal closely.  :)

Started Electrical

Posted to Quail-Bluff-Pasco by Brent in Pasco, WA on 6/10/2008 11:03:27 AM

Been a while since I've posted with pictures, so I have included some with this entry.  I started nailing boxes and drilling holes about a week ago and along with a few friends and my dad and father-in-law were able to pull about 95% of our wire in this past Saturday.  May not seem like much, but there is at least 6,000 feet of wire in the house and shop at this point.  We really accomplished a lot of work in one Saturday.  My friend and I will wire in the panels and make up all the boxes this week and hopefully I can get a rough-in inspection the first part of next week. 

The plumbing is ready to inspect and I have hired the insulation contractor and am really close to settling on a drywall subcontractor.  Things keep moving along, but I will admit that the plumbing took longer than I expected.  I have most of the blame on this one because of other commitments I made.  The exterior doors showed up yesterday and we had quite a windstorm last night and you guessed it, I was out at the house at 1:00 this morning making sure my doors hadn't tipped over in the garage.  I don't think any general contractor would have done that?  Maybe.  Here are some pictures to enjoy.  More pictures and posts to come.

Photos

Launch Week

Posted to Spyders-Web by Ken in Norman, OK on 6/10/2008

Today I am starting the journal, and I hope I can keep it updated. I have been planning for the past few months on my design and construction methods. I appreciate all the wonderful comments (and humor) of the contributors. I am including an almost-complete house plan. I elected to go ICF and my designer is making the final changes on wall sides. We selected radiant floor heat with LPG and have a safe room designed in the master closet (Oklahoma is known for tornadoes!). We are building on a 11+ acre lot. My current house lies on 23 acres and we divided the land into two parcels. We are in a wooded area of eastern Oklahoma, about 15 miles east of University of Oklahoma.

This is my first and probably last build. I am 62 and retired now so I will be really on-site a lot. My neighbor built his house last year and used The O-B Book. He has been a real asset since his lessons learned. Our city (Norman) has a history of severe inspections, so we are trying to prepare for that.

Anyone have experience with Dryvit or artificial stucco? We are still deciding on a finish. Brick or stucco.

I hope to have the permits by the end of the week, and have the site prepared for the layout and footings for next week. The ICF contractor (ICH) of OKC, is doing the footings, setting the blocks and pouring. I have elected to have the walls poured first and then do the slab later after I do the rough plumbing and electric. My intent is to have a roof built before the slab is poured so we can do much of the work under cover. The issue I just realized is that I wouldn't have the interior load-bearing walls in place. Something I need to negotiate with the city.

We are also building a 24x36 foot ICF barn/storage building next to the house.

I'll try to post some current pictures of the site in the next entry. I just wrote my first check on the construction loan, and reality is starting to sink in. I can't believe how many of you have done this and still had to attend to your job and family. My hat is off to you all!

Cheers

Spyder

Digging Our Well

Posted to Collins-on-Cobblestone by Bill in Waynesville, NC on 6/10/2008

When you dig a well on a mountain, it is really just a guess how deep you will have to go to get water. I say "how" deep, as opposed to "if", because everyone else on this mountain has hit water so naturally, I was confident I would also. Now the depth does not correlate to how high up on the mountain one is. Some wells below me are deeper than some above me. So after learning how deep everyone else dug a well, I guessed I might have to go as deep as 750 feet: so that is what I budgeted.

The day has arrived for the well to be dug, and I am excited and full of anticipation. I stayed all day and watched as they past 600 feet with no sign of water. I went home (2 1/5 hours away) dreading how much deeper we may need to go.

The next day they called and said they were at 750 feet and still no water: should they go deeper? I sucked in air and said go another 100 feet if needed and call again. The call came and they were hitting just a trickle of water: not enough to be adequate. What do I want to do? Go another 100 feet and call again. Again the call, still not enough water. Go another 50 feet and call me. I got the call yet again: still not enough. At this point, I had just been talking with my neighbor below me on the mountain. I was teasing him that I would have to go deep enough to tap into his water reservoir: he didn't laugh too hard. I agreed to another 50 feet.

I got another call. We are now at 950 feet. What should I do? I had three choices: 1) Go deeper, 2) Pull up and try somewhere else on the property, or 3) Fracture the well. Going deeper would be the least expensive option, but what if we don't hit water...? Okay, I was really struggling what to do now. Then it dawned on me, my daughter's birth father is a hydro-geologist in Colorado. Paul knows all about underground water. We have never spoken, so this would surely be a strange first conversation between us. As it turned out, Paul is easy to talk with. After discussing my options, his advice was to go deeper: maybe another 150 feet. So another 100 feet we went and we started to hit adequate water: not high pressure but solid volume. With a sore throat, I said go another 50 feet. The water supply improved, and we finished off with another 25 feet and stopped at 1,125. After two days of testing (pumping the well dry and seeing how much is there in 24 hours) showed that I would have over 900 gallons per day in a 600 foot column.

You may know this but the drilling price past 1,000 feet goes up by a 1/3: I went way over budget. And I know this is not done. The well completion doubles to drilling price! Deep wells, like mine, require heavy duty everything, and the costs are much higher. So much for my budget. I like the view, but not without water.

After it was all over, it dawned on me I was drilling in the middle of a four-year drought. I hope the well will improve when we get back to normal precipitation...

Photos

Water Tap

Posted to OwensNewHome by Justin in Chandler, AZ on 6/9/2008 10:53:52 AM

We had the water tap put in last week. I dug down and located the pipe myself so I wouldn't have to pay for someone else to locate it. It took about three hours. Once the contractor got there they enlarged the hole, tapped the line and put in the one-inch service.

The City was supposed to take a look at it Friday morning. I didn't hear from them and didn't want to leave it exposed all week for some copper thief to get any ideas so I buried it back up and set the meter box. I'll call today for the meter.

The box sits real high now, but once we grade the site and raise the old pasture, soon to be front yard and berm, it will look fine.

Photos

1" service saddle tap on a 12" main line.

1" water service.

The First Bids Go Out!

Posted to tanglewood by Steve in Colorado Springs, CO on 6/9/2008

The house plans are far enough along for the first set of bids to go out!  In this case we're letting them to three different ICF companies, telling them to give us bids for both simply supplying the parts (we do the work) and bringing in a crew (they do the work).  I strongly suspect that it'll be far, FAR more desirable for us to do the work ourselves (and that's what we've always planned to do anyway), but I wouldn't be a good engineer if I didn't explore all the options.

I've done a ton of research on the various ICF products, read various comparisons and user experiences, and talked to the various reps and customers at the Home and Garden shows. For the moment I've let the bids out to three ICF companies that were selected in part because I like their products and in part because, well, they're local.  That will make it a lot easier to get parts and/or help if we need it.  Here's who we're exploring right now:

• Polysteel - The biggest company in the industry and the one I took the installation class with, this is probably the product I know the best. I like the steel straps but worry about the block fitting mechanism being prone to blowouts for newbies like us.
• Greenblock - I like their Lego-style interface, which looks to make things very forgiving for newbies putting things together.  They've got a good rep and have done a number of projects in the area.
• Reward - Another Lego-style interface with the same pluses as the Greenblock system. I only met them once at one of the Home and Garden shows but was very impressed.

HOUSE STAKE-OUT

Posted to SOPHIA--SAMUELDELAWARE by Samuel in Smyrna, DE on 6/8/2008 6:21:41 PM

I started to stake out the septic, house and driveway areas with the help of our 11-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. The weather was hot - very HOT!! and brutal, but we managed to get it done on Saturday. Our kids will be helping out a lot this summer to earn their rooms. We are currently renting a two-bedroom townhouse so they will be happy when we move into our new home.  HVAC has been a challenge to get the right people to do it, but we have settle on a company now and hope it gets done right. I'll be monitoring this one very closely.

Photos

Profile Holes done

Posted to Arnold-CA-Alpine-chalet by Pat in Arnold, CA on 6/7/2008 10:23:50 AM

The profile holes for the perk test on the suggested septic area were completely a couple days ago.  The soil is good, however the area is considered by the county to be in the moratorium area so regardless that it is good soil and a gravity flow system it still will have to be engineered.  We have contracted SJB Consulting who did our grading plan to design the septic.  We also are having SJB revise the grading plan to add our house and Sisile driveway to the plan so it is more complete.

I contacted Gold Electric for advice on how to proceed on a bid for bringing in the electric line.  They said they need PG&E to make a site survey first, because it's their decision on the how and where to bring in the line.  Once we have that information we can get bids on it.  I filled out the application for the electric line with PG&E on their website and submitted it two weeks ago.  They are suppose to have your team project manager call you within five days.  Ooops.  Haven't heard from them.  I called to follow up and now a supervisor is getting involved and we are to hear from them by this coming Tuesday.  Being the fact we live 6 hours from the job site I hope to coordinate our meeting with them when we can be there, otherwise I'll have our site supervisor meet with them.  I would like to go solar if the line is too expensive to bring in but that causes issues with the bank.  Our bank said they don't finance off-grid homes unless we can find three comps in the area for off-grids homes being sold.  So, I contacted our local Realtor and I'm having him get a hold of the appraiser and see if there are comps out there. 

Guy's Forum Posts: 64 Interview Answers: 1 Average Forum Rating: 3.71 Randomly Selected Image 6/7/2008

PG&E is horrible these days.  I worked on a new office building in Santa Maria, CA and we needed PG&E to ok moving a power pole.  6 months later, building is complete and no word from PG&E yet.  The guyline still goes through a hole in the eave until we get the move ok!

Foundation Wall & Waterproofing

Posted to AlaskaICFREMOTEHouse by K in Wasilla, AK on 6/6/2008 11:21:39 AM

The ICF block for the house and garage was finished on 6.3.08 and they poured the walls.  There was one small blowout on the bottom in the garage, but they got it under control right away.  There was a bit of a scare when the house ICF started bulging and the integrated scaffolding started pulling out of the ground.  They stopped pouring for a bit while they braced the outside of the walls.  We had some small spruce tree logs that they used - I wish I had taken a picture of that.  As a result of this scrambling, the J-bolts were going in late, so they won't be as straight as the framer would like.  The foundation walls look great.

On 6.4.08 the Bituthane was put on the foundation walls, and the rebar was set for the Portico.  The contractor will come back before backfill and get the sonotubes poured. 

We met with the electrician and discussed our requirements, and told him we had a lot of leftover 12/2 from our previous house, and he said he would credit us for it. 

We met with the plumbing/heating contractor and they will finish our bid now that we've got the plan for the solar hot water integration. 

Rebates/Credits  -- we've discovered that we may be eligible for a $7,500 rebate from the state of Alaska if our home is rated as a five-star plus home.  The good news is that one of the energy raters is from the same company that we are using for our ICBO inspections.  We are also eligible for a $3,000 tax credit for the solar panels. 

Inspections -- we've passed our first three inspections (footer, foundation, and waterproofing). 

Next week:  The rock for the waterproofing was delivered so now we'll have the back breaking work of placing it around the foundation walls.  The interior backfill and compaction should begin late next week, and then underground plumbing can start.  We are also getting ready to build our remote electrical panel and run the underground line up to the house.  The electric company will dig the trench and run the line to the panel.  When they do that, I am going to put my wire in there for the driveway light. 

I've been doing a lot of research on cabinets.   I am going to take advantage of the big box stores to help with a design, but I probably won't buy them there.  I have to get cabinets going ASAP.

Kitchen

Posted to Working-Wilton by Barbara in Wilton, NH on 6/6/2008 10:00:19 AM

Never thought the day would come!!  The cabinets went in last week and the granite countertops went in yesterday.  The kitchen has come together amazingly.  I was very concerned because we had shopped cabinets at one place, granite at another, flooring and backsplash at another and then to top it off we added in a deco floor tile to go around the perimeter of the kitchen a few weeks ago.

TABLE OF STONE in Merrimack, NH did an absolutely fabulous job, they were very precise in their fit and believe me our counters were not easy by any means, they had to fit around our posts and beams.  The installers Parker and Josh were excellent and very professional, they answered all of my questions and I really enjoyed watching them work, it was very fascinating to learn about granite.  I would highly recommend this company, their prices were better than either Home Depot or Lowe's, and they had some great colors.  We looked for the color we picked from them, but couldn't even come close.

WE LOVE OUR NEW Kitchen.  Now I have to get going on the backsplash and flooring and Josh (mine, not TOS) needs to get the up and down lighting installed.  Les will be finishing off the raised breakfast bar, we selected a remnant piece of absolute black for that; TOS could not install it because of the tight fit. The wall needed to be built after the lower granite counter was installed.  They left the piece with us, and instructions, so Les and I will do that one ourselves.  We loved TOS so much that we are going to go look at more remnants for the master bath vanity tops.

The cabinets are Wellborn and we purchased them through Norfolk Kitchens in Nashua NH.  I worked with Paula Foley, and she helped us along nicely and encouraged us to go with our initial gut feel and do the lower cabinets the dark coffee stain and the upper ones the natural wheat.  Turns out the counter is what tied it together so well given it has both colors in it.  The pricing we very good and believe me, we shopped cabinets until we dropped, looked at online-put-together-yourself, pre-assembled online, went to of course Lowe's and HD, and a few of our local cabinet places as well.  Norfolk Kitchens were the only ones who could give us exactly what we wanted at the price we budgeted and they gave us half off the installation charges. With all we have to do already, having someone else install the cabinets was a blessing.

Our back hallway is also finished, I tiled and Les put in our sliding doors that we got for $50 (regularly $250).  I'm getting so I can't bring myself to pay full price for anything these days, I shop it like crazy and in the end, with enough wheeling and dealing, if you are patient and stick to your price, someone will make it happen to get the business.

Photos

Installing the microwave.	Les having fun installing microwave, no really he is!	Just cleaned the fridge, had to take the picture - Norfolk sending small filler for gap above fridge.
Will have a black granite raised breakfast bar over these two cabinets. Highly recommend the large pot drawers - Love them!	We saw a raised dishwasher on display and had to have it. No bending to get the dishes in and out, love it.	Wider view.
Luan countertops - can't wait for the granite.	Wide sink view	Now for the granite from Table of Stone in Merrimack, NH. Here is the raised DW, the cabinet has no bottom rail, so it opens and is used like an appliance garage.
Love the variations in the granite	Even put the backsplash around the posts and did such a great job.	Love the colors, it has a lot of mica, so it sparkles.
Our sink is a black Moen and looks great in. Les just needs to practice his plumbing skills for awhile before hookup.	The sink is the finishing touch, hopefully tonight.	Only one small seam in the middle of the sink area, everything fit like a glove when they went to install, very impressive.
Love the closeups.	Stove view.	Another closeup.
Cutting in around these angled posts was very detailed.	Real closeup of the breakfast bar area.	Look at that fit - amazing. Don't look at the cat scratching pole - Darn cats, maybe now that it is not just a big pole in the middle of the room they will stop getting a good run and competing on who can get the highest! Looks like I have a little sanding touchup work to do.
Again, cutting and fitting these angles so tight was amazing. Nice job highly recommend Table of Stone in Merrimack, NH.

Joe's Forum Posts: 26 Interview Answers: 58 Average Forum Rating: 3.65 Randomly Selected Image 6/9/2008

I agree! The TOS guys did a great job and there's nothing that can't be had by a little Yankee frugality.

Finishing Up

Posted to Arkansas-First-Timer by Jack in Trumann, AR on 6/6/2008

Before starting a new post, I always read my previous post so I don't repeat myself, and so I can gauge where to start in my effort to keep the blog up to date. After reading my last post about the air conditioner turn up, I was suddenly stunned at how much progress we've made this month. Besides the heat pump, which works great by the way, we managed to get our cabinets installed, I finished almost all of the floor tile (I just like a half bath and two small closets having the floor tile finished (I was held up by the supplier on those rooms), our carpet is finished, I've trimmed almost all of the windows and my wife is working on painting the interior doors, about a third of which I’ve already hung. Also, I got the hot water heaters, the refrigerator, the wall oven/microwave combo, the dishwasher, the washer and dryer all installed. And, I've installed all of the ceiling fans, five in total. I’ve already finish-wired almost the entire house; all I lack is a closet or two, the chandelier in the foyer (which my wife can’t seem to settle on), the under-cabinet lights and the bonus room, plus some minor outside wiring and I'll be finished with all of the electrical!

We've been spending so much time over there lately, it's like we're already living there. The only things we do at our old house are shower and sleep; we even take supper at the new one. In fact, when the countertop people finish in the kitchen, I should be able to get the sink and cooktop working fairly quickly and then we can even cook over there.

Oh, and the countertop folks have started installing in the kitchen. They came out and made their templates two weeks ago, and they had the granite mostly ready last week, but had to wait on the cabinet guy to come back and correct the island in the kitchen before coming out to install. He forgot and made the island flat; it was supposed to step up into a bar on the back side. He fixed that on Tuesday and finished some odds and ends that he had remaining. The cabinets look great. I have some pictures, but I’m not sure how well they turned out. I’ll post what I have.

Anyway, the countertop guys showed up yesterday morning and got one corner piece and the long piece where the sink is installed. We have a pretty large kitchen and a lot of countertop, so they had to make three seams to get it all in. They managed to hide two of the seams under cabinetry that hanged down all the way to the countertop which is good. The only one out in the open is to the right of the sink by a couple of feet. Most people won’t notice it, and they glued it together well. I stayed for part of the install because I’ve never seen granite installed, but they were having problems with the cabinets, which apparently aren’t quite level. So, they’ll have to come back to finish the rest. They have to come back anyway for the island which they couldn’t measure until yesterday and because they didn’t have the vanities ready to install yet. Hopefully it won’t be long before they come back and finish. I was hoping to have the countertops all in by this weekend.

I've got pictures of the carpet too, but the pictures don't do it justice. We opted for a very plush, thick carpet and we ended up doing the whole house in the same color. It is called peppermint and is a light brownish-green color, depending on the light. It actually turned out more brown than I remember it looking in the store, but it looks good with all of our paint. Hopefully, our two boys won't mess it up with stains and such, but I wouldn't bet on that.

Anyway, we still have several items to finish, but it's exciting at this point because we are so close, and the house is starting to look like it will when we are finished. In fact, some of the rooms are almost completely finished. The bedrooms for instance, all we lack there is baseboard and doors and they will be basically finished except for moving in. I've already put in most of the baseboard in the laundry room, I just left out the last pieces that go on either side of the door and I still have to hang the door; then that room will be complete. Heck, we've even used the washer and dryer several times already.

Back on the A/C, the outside temperature has been hitting in the 90's already in NE Arkansas so we've been running the A/C while we're at the house. I am pretty proud of the house though, even without any A/C, the inside temp stayed below 70° until two weeks ago and even then, I've not seen it over 80° except when we have subs there and all the doors are open. It's hard to say for certain, but I think my energy features may really pay off. Anyway, over the last few days, we've started running the A/C and I don't know how well it is performing from an energy standpoint, but it is doing an excellent job at cooling the house. I'm very pleased so far. In my last post, I stated that the unit was so quiet I couldn’t hear it. That’s true, on that day I couldn’t hear it, but since we’ve been using it regularly, I can hear it now. It’s still hard to tell if it’s running sometimes; the refrigerator, which is pretty quiet as fridges go, is louder than the A/C. Basically, when you hear the A/C, all you hear is a low hum and maybe the air flowing through the registers a little (only in stage three though). I really hope this geothermal unit saves as much on the electric bill as everyone says they do.

Well, that’s about it for today. We’ll likely be moved in by the next post. We’ll either be moving in next week or the week after. I’d like to completely finish the house before we move in and that was my goal, but that’s not going to happen. I’m working on getting the main house bathroom going (all I like is tiling the tub/shower) and hooking up the sinks when the vanities get here. I should be able to finish most of the tile this weekend; I probably won’t get it grouted until next week though. I will need to get the baseboard installed in most of the rooms too, but mainly where furniture will sit. I hate to move in like that, but we’ve sold our house and need to get out. After we’re moved in, the work will continue; I’m not one to let it go, and all we will lack will be some trimwork and the master bathroom, where I still have to tile the shower and the tub; and of course, the little odds and ends that we will likely be working on for the next year or so. 

Photos

I realized recently that I never did post any pictures of the outside of the house after it was completed. So here are a few.	Due to how close I sat the house to the road and the closeness of trees on the opposite side of the road, it's hard to get a frontal picture of the entire house from directly in front of it. You have to go off to one side or the other. I plan on taking some frontal shots from different vantage points and merging them into one eventually; just haven't done that yet.
	I took more pictures of the carpet but none of them turned out very well; not even this one really.	This and the following photos don't do the kitchen justice. It's a little too dark in the kitchen right now and the photos didn't show the colors the way they truly look. Maybe you can get an idea though.
	This is a closeup of the countertop that has been installed so far; they haven't installed the backsplashes yet and they scratched the wall during the install. Anyway, if you look real close, you can barely make out the seam in this shot. It's a little more noticable in the next one which is at an angle to the seam.
	This shot captures the colors better than any of the others and it still doesn't "feel" right to me. But you can see the contrast between the cherry stain and the verde butterfly (green) granite.

Mt. Mudd gone, Lake Mudd still persists

Posted to CastleHeims by douglas in cedar rapids, IA on 6/5/2008 5:03:55 AM

The anxiety and frustration is turning to more of a feeling of impending defeat.  You win mother nature, you win.  But we're still fighting.  Set up a temporary sump pump a couple feet deep to handle the surface water.  Not sure what help it will be without trenching and tiling the area, but at this point any help will do.  The recent frequency of wet weather is just astounding -- picking up where winter left off.  In the last month we have had maybe three or four days without rain or clouds.  Not enough.  Not nearly enough...

Photos

Brett's Forum Posts: 2 Journal Entries: 11 Interview Answers: 169 Average Forum Rating: 4.00 Image from Brett's blog 6/5/2008

Same weather out here in Utah.  Driving me nuts!!!!  Good luck with the water problems.

GOT PERMIT!

Posted to SOPHIA--SAMUELDELAWARE by Samuel in Smyrna, DE on 6/4/2008 6:13:24 PM

We went to pick up our permit today and were surprised to learn that it was $1,000 more than what they said it was back in February, but we had no choice but to pay it, so that is the first hit on our budget; hopefully there will be no more!  Called up a couple of surveyors to get an idea on cost to stake out the house. Everyone we talked with wanted $600 - $700 to do it, so we will be doing it ourselves, I stopped by Lowe's today and picked up some stakes and marking paint to do it this weekend. Hopefully it does not rain. We are looking at 6/10/08 to break ground.

Footer is dug

Posted to Latest-update by Cannon in Sierra Vista, AZ on 6/4/2008 2:01:37 PM

The footers are dug, the rebar is run, and the first inspection is ordered.

Photos

RogerC's Forum Posts: 51 Interview Answers: 3 Average Forum Rating: 3.36 Randomly Selected Image 6/7/2008	Congratulations on the progress and good luck to you with the inspection.   By the way, that's a beautiful lot!  I didn't realize the Sierra Vista area was so hilly.
Cannon's Forum Posts: 2 Journal Entries: 8 Interview Answers: 63 Average Forum Rating: 3.00 Image from Cannon's blog 6/7/2008	Sierra Vista sits at 4,600 feet and has mountains and hills all around.  I love it here.

Design/ Materials Considerations

Posted to The-Ridges by Brett in Logan, UT on 6/4/2008 1:47:30 PM

I've received much inquiry regarding material/design choices and the process was a bit detailed, so I figured that I would designate an entire entry to this topic.

There were a few issues that we planned around based on current market conditions.  I work in the securities market and could see as a result of significant construction slowdown that there was going to be a large drop in lumber futures.  This lead to a huge fast drop in all things lumber; dimensional, OSB, etc.  I could also quite easily predict increases in other building materials.

Steel, concrete, and petroleum based products keep rising, but especially steel and oil which have simply launched higher. So, when we considered what materials to build with, we wanted to maximize the use of lumber and minimize the use of concrete and oil based products. We are building this house for maximum profit as this is not our dream home. 

There are a few main categories of building that we had considered while brainstorming:

• Traditional Stick Built
• ICF
• SIPs
• Light Guage Steel

• Small Footprint- this would result in less steel and concrete usage.
• This resulted in a choice to go 2-story with full basement.
• One nice side effect is that above ground s.f. appraises higher than below ground areas.
• Use as much lumber as possible.
• Dimensional lumber is anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of what it was just more than a year ago.
  
• This ruled out the following:
• ICF
• SIP
• Light Guage Steel
• Very few (if any) bump-outs or projections.
• IOW, try to stay with a simple square plan that saves time and money.
• This led us to a neo-colonial because they are meant to be flat and square as part of their charm.
• Conversely, high-end cape cods and other styles look very plain and lose a ton of curb appeal without the 10 bump-outs and siding transitions.

• Top notch energy efficiency.
• Hallways
• Upgraded windows
• Stay-in-place expanding foam insulation
• Solar Power
• Water Recirc System
• Overdone Electrical, like using all 12 guage instead of 14 guage wire.
• Overpriced designer hardware like doorknobs and hinges
  

• Bigger kitchens
• Bigger dining rooms
• Closets
• Garage Space
• Luxurious Bathrooms
• Above Ground Living Areas
• Views
• Exterior materials
• Flooring
• Custom Cabinetry/Carpentry

RogerC's Forum Posts: 51 Interview Answers: 3 Average Forum Rating: 3.36 Randomly Selected Image 6/7/2008

Thanks for the detailed and very informative post.  At this point I haven't decided which construction materials I'll be going with, but I'm planning on getting quotes for both traditional stick-frame and panelized construction.  I also plan to look into Energy Panel Systems ( www.energypanelsystems.com ), although your comments about the relative price of wood make me wonder if they'll be a good alternative.   Do you know where you'll be getting your panels? I have to agree all the way with your list of items perceived worth paying extra for.  For the most part, those are the same considerations I'm taking into account.  Thanks!

Brett's Forum Posts: 2 Journal Entries: 11 Interview Answers: 169 Average Forum Rating: 4.00 Image from Brett's blog 6/7/2008

There is a guy here locally who does the panels.  I'll be going through him for the walls.   I'll be getting my trusses and floor joists separately though.

Working with the county +16 weeks for plans review

Posted to AirparkHome-Remodel by Ross in Hillsboro, OR on 6/4/2008 1:36:47 PM

Last week on Tuesday (after Memorial Day), I went down to the county to find out how much longer my remodel plans would be in for structural review.  My architect expected 2-4 weeks... and then it's 16 weeks.  The plans examiner and the structural engineer reviewing the plans were on vacation... but I was told to call them the next day.  I wasn't happy with that, so it turned out there was a county commissioners' meeting that night.  I wasn't sure how to approach that, but decided I would make my concerns about the lengthy review process known.  If I were paying interest on a construction loan, this delay would have cost thousands of dollars.
 
At the meeting I was one of two citizens to speak beforehand.  (That was scary, but seems so far to have been worthwhile.)  I stressed that all my contacts with the county had been positive except for the delays.  The results have been promising. Last Saturday I received an apologetic letter from the plans examiner with a list of issues.  I went to the architect Monday (two days ago), and he is working on those issues... hopefully I can get permitted in a couple of more months! (sigh... hopefully by the end of June).

So the good news is I didn't want permitting to be on the critical path, so this delay is acceptable.  (There are financial reasons why this wait is OK... if I had $$$ I would be more peeved than I am.)  Part of the "time, money, quality" triangle.

We have received two more bids from generals for the entire project... and now are weighing the costs.  If we owner-build, we are unsure if we can secure financing... if we go with a general... we might be able to get financing, but it would be painful to make the payments.

'Til next time!

Photos

Backyard view to the runway.

carol's Forum Posts: 0 Randomly Selected Image 6/9/2008	Just read your journal entries and found them very informative and interesting.  We will be starting a new home build in the Pumpkin Ridge area soon and will continue to veiw your entries for more info. Thanks C. Wolf
Ross's Forum Posts: 15 Journal Entries: 21 Interview Answers: 165 Average Forum Rating: 3.69 My Construction Website Ross's Selected Image 6/9/2008	The county hhas generally been good to deal with. But I fear they will grow tired of us... More later. I'm on Boston on business at the moment hope to have some project updated soon.

asbestos abatement costs

Posted to AirparkHome-Remodel by Ross in Hillsboro, OR on 6/4/2008 1:27:23 PM

Just hauled 33 hazmat bags to the landfill last weekend. The local landfill requires a 24-hour advance appointment and only accepts the waste Tuesdays and Thursdays. Other than that and a brief wait at the landfill, I paid $115 to drop the waste off. We removed a houseful of popcorn ceiling for about $600. This includes the $50 we paid to test to see if we actually had asbestos before starting. We used about 6 Tyvek suits, and had to purchase a second respirator and new HEPA filters. $80 at the safety store to get the required 6-mil hazmat bags. Double bag a yellow bag inside a clear bag... You will eventually decide that double bagging is a good idea as you move the darn water-soaked bags filled with muck around. We don't know what we saved, but estimate it to be $5,000-$7,000 that a licensed hazmat team would charge. The states of Oregon, Utah and Washington had good information on procedures on how to do this.

Photos

Nancy wetting down living room.

Seems a shame, but all this structure will be torn down for the addition of a second story. The wall with cabinets will be removed making one larger first floor kitchen.

Plans v. 4.1

Posted to tanglewood by Steve in Colorado Springs, CO on 6/4/2008

After our last meeting with the architects they've huffed and puffed and come up with some revised plans!  See pics below.

This is getting pretty danged close to what we're looking for.  They've tweaked the living room and finalized the central stairs leading up to the library, and the media room has been lengthened a bit at the expense of (unnecessarily large) upstairs bedroom #1. The windows have been 97% finalized (we're still kicking around the media room windows--Scott thinks he might have found something there) and we've cleaned up and widened the spiral staircase up to the computer room (third floor).

All in all, not a bad evolution of the earlier plans.  Let me know what you think.


Steve

Photos

A front view of Tanglewood. Note how we've clarified the "castle look" with the crennelations along the deck.	A garage-side view of Tanglewood. You can see the over-sized windows in the living room quite well, as well as the chimneys for both main fireplaces (one in the center of the house, one in the apartment). They've forgotten the one coming out of the master bedroom though.	The back side of Tanglewood. Note larger window out of the library overlooking what is essentially a wooded hillside. No windows in the master bedroom on this side, of course.
The basic house outline on the site itself. The various markings are deciduous trees, pine/cedar trees, and boulders.	Updated diagram of the first floor.	Updated diagram of the second floor.
Updated diagram of the third floor. Not as much changed here, though the spiral stair got wider.

Other views

Posted to 1860s-Texas-Rehab-New-Constr by Dave in Boerne, TX on 6/3/2008 6:29:27 PM

Just additional looks of the colors we chose. I'm sure that after the porch columns (front and side) are on and the metal roof installed it will all come together . We hope.

Photos

The color combination seems to work together quite well.	Once the new windows are installed into the 1860's house and trimmed out, the overall look will be complete. Sorry about the rotation.	The arbor will come off of the rear door, left of the tree.
The 8-foot columns for the side porch are on site waiting to be installed. The roofing company may start as early as tomorrow... The weather has been unusually hot, even for Texas,99 degrees today.	This is the corrected view... not!	OK finally... yeesh.

Layout and digging begun

Posted to Latest-update by Cannon in Sierra Vista, AZ on 6/3/2008 6:27:43 PM

The house was laid out and the digging for the footers commenced today.  All going well so far.  Our concrete guy, Matt Tawney, is very good.  We have enjoyed working with him.  He and his people have a great attitude.  I need to get out tomorrow to install the tube with the onsite house plans.  Taking pictures tomorrow morning.

Construction Update 6/3/08

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 6/3/2008 1:21:25 PM

Well, our week's "vacation" was all work this time, but we knew that before we even left our home in Santa Rosa.  The weather was pretty bad up there and it rained just about every day, except for Friday and Sunday (end of the week).  The worst part was I had to do all my cutting up on the deck, under cover, which got saw dust everywhere!  Well, at least I was dry.  The only good thing about the rain was that I didn't feel like I was missing being inside laying the flooring all day, every day.

We started off by first painting the last of the upper window casings, then Lori had to clean the windows.  Doesn't she look thrilled to be up there ? :-)

After that I wiped down all the Glue-Lam beams, because they still had little bits of insulation hair stuck to them from when the ceiling was insulated.

Once that was finished I had to vacuum the fan blades... not an easy task, since they are hanging at 11 feet above the floor.  Good thing I have a 12-foot ladder!  OSHA would love that photo. :-)

Then it was time to scrape the floor of any lumps of sheetrock mud, glue and whatever was sticking up.  All the nail heads had to be checked in the plywood subfloor to be sure they were completely flat, which they weren't so I had to hammer a ton of those down.  You find them while scraping - what a pain that was!

After that was to install the moisture barrier.

Then I added furring strips along the wall to keep the wood flooring away for expansion and contraction.

Finally, it was time to lay the flooring.  The first two rows took forever since it had to be perfect for the rest of the room was going to be set from these two rows, one of which went back into the stairs, wet bar and entertainment center recessed areas.

Once I reached the wood stove hearths I had to sand the face of the slate to get the mortar off so it wouldn't show when the wood butted up against it.  What a dusty mess that was!

We were constantly vacuuming to get any debris off the floor before the new flooring went down.

Once the floor was finished ( I still have the area in front of the entry closet to do and the closet itself) I started on the steps.  Those took longer than I expected, but then again everything does!

Once the wood was installed on the steps, it was on to cutting slate for the stair risers (thanks to Ray for that idea!).

Still have two more stairs to add slate to, then they all have to be grouted.  After that, the baseboards can be painted and installed.  Oh, the fun never ends!

Photos

Douglas's Forum Posts: 21 Journal Entries: 7 Interview Answers: 69 Average Forum Rating: 3.61 Image from Douglas's blog 6/4/2008

Wow, your great room is gorgeous.

When To Give Up

Posted to dream-home-ohio by Greg in Zanesville, OH on 6/3/2008

I have always wanted to do most of the construction on my house, and that included laying the block for my basement, but after two days and about 300 blocks later, I'm going to get someone to do it. I'm not afraid to try anything, and I watched some guys lay block and thought it looked fairly easy, was that a mistake! My father-in-law can lay block but not real fast. I had another friend who is a real good mason and he came over and started the corners for me. Luckily, my father-in-law is currently working for a block layer and concrete guy and he doesn't have any jobs right now. I'm supposed to meet with him tonight, hopefully he can give me a decent price and start soon. Oh well, nothing hurt except my pride, we'll roll with it and move on. I have a new respect for block layers.

Landscape Design

Posted to ICF-Keller-Tx by Eric in Roanoke, TX on 6/2/2008 9:55:13 PM

We have our building permit!

Posted to mike-and-tori-darnley by Victorie in Rainbow, CA on 6/2/2008 2:17:09 PM

We got our building permit last Friday! I had an appointment and it still took three hours at the counter before we got our permit.

I kept a notebook with every important piece of  info that the county has given me in the past year (original submission date 6/13/07). I knew that if it was not in there, I did not have it. At one point during the review, I was missing a fire mitigation form. I called the fire dept. and they still had the original! They were able to fax it to the building dept, they said that they should not accept a faxed copy; but after convincing, they took it. We paid $5,500 for the remaining fees and got our permit. We also applied for temp. power ($107). Total for permits and fees we paid $27,053! That is not including the $17,476 for the 1" water meter.

Next step is moving our 43' 5th wheel and getting the septic in.

Brett's Forum Posts: 2 Journal Entries: 11 Interview Answers: 169 Average Forum Rating: 4.00 Image from Brett's blog 6/2/2008

$27,000 for the permits?!?!?  Not including the meter?  We are at about $7,500 including the meter and all hookups, fees, permits, etc...

Victorie's Forum Posts: 3 Journal Entries: 5 Interview Answers: 64 Average Forum Rating: 2.75 My Construction Website Image from Victorie's blog 6/2/2008

I guess that's the premium we pay for living in sunny san diego...Just our Transportation Impact Fee (TIF, set price based on region of county) and Park fees (priced per sq ft) came to over $17K! And the $17K for water meter is pretty outrageous too but drilling a well at this point seems like a huge gamble since drilling likely would cost equal to a water meter without the guarantee of hitting water. We're looking forward to getting past these "set" fees and putting our "owner builder" skills to work!!

Paint on!

Posted to 1860s-Texas-Rehab-New-Constr by Dave in Boerne, TX on 6/2/2008 6:25:45 AM

The look of the 1860's house has seen its first major transformation in over 140 years as a new color was applied.

Photos

The base coat is on, trim coat should follow today or tomorrow.	Hope to have the porch columns by tomorrow. That will balance out the look.	The trim paint will go around all of the doors and windows. Thats a lot to be considered, but it should look great.
Finally we can move forward with the metal roof, done by River City Roofing of San Antonio.

It's Showtime!

Posted to 95821-Addition by Douglas in Sacramento, CA on 6/2/2008

The plan checker told us we needed seismic engineering for the shear walls, which our architect/designer had hoped we could avoid.  So another $1000 for the engineering and minor edits by our designer, and back to plan check. 

With these corrections, the plan checker gave me a verbal ok on the phone.  At this point I wanted to get final bids from our subs with the shear engineering changes before spending more money on permits and taxes.  The only difference was the hold downs added about $250 - pretty minimal - and the trusses were also about $250 more, but this must be unrelated.  Meanwhile I rebid the lumber from another lumberyard and they thought that the other takeoff was a little bit excessive and trimmed it down by $1000.  (I sent this revised takeoff to my framer and he hasn't gotten back to me about it yet so I'm assuming it will have what he needs.)

So, everything is still more or less what I had anticipated.  My wife has 2 weeks left on maternity leave and she has been busy.  Went to the school district and paid $1400 in school tax, and then today back to the building department and another $1200 in fees, and 2 hours of waiting for them to find our stamped plans, while porting a 3 month old baby (which apparently helped to expedite the process), and we have our building permit.

Our demolition started over the weekend, while we were out of town.  By this evening the concrete had been cleared and we now have a place to build!

Of course, we are already spending more than I had hoped, as some of our demo people are working hourly.  We had expected this and planned for it but it still is scary, and I'm trying to make sure everything else is accounted for.  A lot of little things too...extra tools that I didn't realize I needed, etc.

Meanwhile, my foundation contractor seems to be having an issue with his liability insurance but hopefully it will be resolved by tomorrow when he is supposed to start.  I told him it is important that he have it. I thought I had asked him before when I originally interviewed him but I may have missed that question - I guess better to think of it now than never.  We have a few backup candidates if necessary, but despite his insurance issue I like him more than the other people I talked to.  In addition to being the lowest bidder he has consistently seemed to know what he is talking about, his references checked out, and has always been honest and forthright with me. One of his references did note that he is not well funded and this seems to have been the cause of his insurance situation. 

Photos

Nothing much more fun than spray painting what you want removed.	Wow, it's really started! No turning back now.	This formerly was how we step from the family room into the backyard. No longer.

Permit fees

Posted to OwensNewHome by Justin in Chandler, AZ on 6/1/2008 11:01:43 PM

I don't like how cities keep increasing the fees they charge to homeowners. I would think to make your city/town attractive you would not want to penalize people for moving to it. I understand the idea behind "impact" and paying for services, but look through what I had to pay on Friday just to get my permit:

1" Meter Complete: $184.21

Arterial Street Fee: $2,896

Building Permit: $2,395

Community Parks Fee: $4,175

Fire Fee: $564

General Government Fee: $573

Microfilm Fee: $63

Neighborhood Park Impact: $2,483

Police Fee: $241

Solid Waste Development Fee: $102

Solid Waste System Development/Operator: $46

Water Meter City Tax: $11.67

Water Meter Installation: $240

Water Meter State Tax: $26.73

Water Resource Fee: $754

Water System Development Fee: $3,959

Water Buy-in Fee: $2,244

Plan Review: $1,556.75

Variance Application: $100

Grand Total: $22,605.36!

How absurd! We are building on a lot in a 20-year old subdivision. No extra development will be needed to provide utilities to my lot. I don't have sewer or gray water lines (my fees would have been at least another $4,000 for those). Our street isn't even paved so the City doesn't maintain that.

It is pretty frustrating they way they are now. If we ever do this again, I will definitely shop permit/impact fees prior to buying property. Unfortunately, this is our town where we grew up, where we went to school, where we wanted to send our kids to school. Oh well...

Brett's Forum Posts: 2 Journal Entries: 11 Interview Answers: 169 Average Forum Rating: 4.00 Image from Brett's blog 6/2/2008

That is insane!!  Mine will come in between $6,500 and $7,500 depending on how much electric capacity I want.  This is for a 4200s.f. custom build.   I would die if they said $22,000 for permits alone.

2008 Merit Award Winner Pat's Forum Posts: 210 Journal Entries: 22 Interview Answers: 61 Average Forum Rating: 3.50 Pat's Selected Image 6/7/2008

There is a bright side to your fees - be glad you aren't building in California.  Our fees are just over $30,000 in a 58 year old subdivision high up in the sierras.  There is a $10,600 water hook up fee just for starters.  The budget for just three things - the county fees $30,000, electric line fees $40,000 and driveway mitigation $30,000 all total $100,000.  That is 1/3 of our budget.....and people wonder why we are building such a small house at 1700 sf.  Ha!

Final Appraisal/Inspection Done

Posted to PennsmithLostValleyTX by Michael Penn in Dripping Springs, TX on 6/1/2008 9:06:42 PM

I've been really busy finishing up the house over the last few months, and have skipped out on regular postings to my blog--I'll do a few catchup posts after this one.

Lots has happened since last posting.  The tilework was finished, then trim carpentry, then woodwork staining, with more electrical, hvac, plumbing and bobcat work mixed in.  Many trips to HD, Lowes and McCoys.  I did a big push staying onsite straight thru the last two weeks, culminating with the lender's final appraisal inspection on Friday.  If it was satisfactory (haven't heard yet), then all steps will be complete to convert my construction loan into a permanent mortgage, although the paperwork will take a few weeks to percolate.  I got a quite good rate locked in last week, 5.75% for a 30yr.

The house was supposed to be finished for the final appraisal, and I got as much as possible punched out by then.  Just this week got a lot of electrical finished out, shower door and mirrors, carpet laid, grass laid, pictures hung, etc.

But the reality is that my remaining punchout list seems a mile long, and in particular substantially all the laminate flooring remains undone, and the HVAC still had maybe a couple dozen manhours to go.  But I got my hvac guy to install the thermostats, and the outside units have been in place for some weeks, so it at least looks like the hvac might be finished.  As to the laminate, which I'm doing myself, I laid down the underlayment, and laid out a lot of the laminate on top of it, without any trimming to fit.  Although 95% of the work is in the trimming to fit, maybe it looks further along than it is.  My holdup on the laminate flooring, besides having all the other finishout to supervise, buy for, and do some of, has been cutting the door trim for fitting the laminate under it.  Bought my 3rd or 4th tool for the purpose last week, which I'm hopeful will make it go quicker next week.

Photos

Kitchen pretty well finished--recent completions have included installing the real rough cedar beams, hooking up the oven, dishwasher, sink with garbage disposer, finishing the lites and ceiling fan, and installing the venthood. Still have to mount the counter trim, and cafe doors into the pantry.

Plans approved

Posted to Latest-update by Cannon in Sierra Vista, AZ on 6/1/2008 9:07:04 AM

So the plans are finally approved!  Actually it was pretty quick since I was prepared for them to suggest changes etc. but all passed without a hitch.  In the interim we found a pair of nice wood front doors that we think we can strip and restain off Craig's list for $40.  If they don't take the stain the way we want we will just resell them as they were a steal for that price.  We hope to hear back from the concrete contractor as to when they can get started Monday so we can get this show on the road. 

Photos

Land clearning

The Weather Station Part 2

Posted to tanglewood by Steve in Colorado Springs, CO on 6/1/2008

Well now--I ran into one (small) problem with the Weather Station--it seemed to me that it didn't seem to be a good idea for the anemometer (the wind speed measuring device) to be hooked up to the main weather station with a big long cable.  Not that this didn't work--it works great--but since the anemometer is stuck up on a big honking metal pole I figured that it might just attract Mr. Lightning, and I really didn't want that traveling down said cable and frying my weather station!

So I did some poking around and found that the weather guys sell a wireless transmitter (solar powered) for the anemometer.  It didn't cost all that much and now I feel much, much happier with sticking this puppy up on the ridge at Tanglewood.

In the next couple of weeks I'll need to get all this stuff set up though.  It's a curiosity having it here at Wyrdhaven, but I need to get it up there so I can start measuring the wind potential.


Steve

Construction Loan Close

Posted to Ingraham-House-Chapel-Hill by Carl in Cary, NC on 5/31/2008 2:26:55 PM

After three months I finally have a closing date scheduled for June 5th.  My loan is with ctploans.com with MidCountry bank providing the financing.

Susan's Forum Posts: 9 Interview Answers: 26 Average Forum Rating: 4.24 Randomly Selected Image 6/3/2008

Ok so that makes me feel better.. we started working with Mid Country directly late February... and our loan is in underwriting now.. I was starting to take it personal .. and worry.. We should have our closing date by the end of the week. I guess 3 months is normal... a lot different than a refinance

"Cheap" As Dirt

Posted to The-Ridges by Brett in Logan, UT on 5/31/2008

It's only been a couple of days, but a lot has happened, so I figured I would write a little bit about it.

Getting the hole dug has been an ordeal to say the least.  Here's the story in a nut shell...
I originally arranged for the excavator to show up on Saturday 24th.  The holiday left them a man short and they said, "First thing Tuesday after the holiday."  Saturday I ran into the whole HOA approval thing I described in the last post.  So I left a message telling him to cancel the dig on Tuesday.  I spent the weekend trying to get the approval, but everyone was gone on holiday. 

Tuesday morning at about 9:00am a little voice tells me that I should call to confirm that the dig had been canceled.  Sure enough, it hadn't! He didn't get the message, so he scrambles to call the guy and tell him to stop.  Luckily, he hadn't started because he was waiting for me to direct him.  They then said if it would only be a couple days, that they would rather just leave the hoe up there because things are slow anyway. 

Thursday morning I contacted the developer (at a funeral... oops) and got the go ahead to dig.  I called the excavator and was informed that they had moved the hoe to another job that morning not too far away but would be finished there by Friday afternoon.  I was bummed but thought I would make use of the time to review some stuff.  I visited the lot again and realized that I really wanted the driveway to be longer, so I re-staked the house again, making the driveway 5' longer.

Friday morning I was thinking things over and had a big debate in my head going about the 2 vs 3-car garage.  I decided that I would call the appraiser to ask what kind of value would be created by doing the 3-car vs a 2-car with an RV pad.  He said about $7500.  That was a bit tempting since it will only cost me about $2500 to do the 3-car vs the RV pad.  So I decided to call the 2 biggest Realtors in the area and get their advice, since we'll be looking to sell it in a couple years.  Glad I did!  It went something like this.

Realtors:      What price range is the house in?
Me:              Conservatively, I'd say $#####.
Realtors:       You don't have a choice in that neighborhoods at that price.  If you don't do a 3-car we won't even be able to show it.
Me:              Really?!?
Realtors:      19 out of 20 buyers won't even walk through it if we tell them 2-car garage at that price.

Luckily, I'd already had my aunt draw up a set of plans with a 3-car garage just in case, so I went up again Friday morning at 10:00am to re-stake the garage for the fourth time with only an hour before I was expecting a call from the excavator saying they were on their way.

12:30pm rolls around and no excavator, so I am piddling around getting all the batter boards up to locate footings and foundation corners.  All the while there is a big local excavation company (50 man outfit) with a 15-man crew working on the roads and storm drains for phase two of the development.  They're running four track hoes, two big front end loaders, and three dump trucks.   The foreman comes over to tell me that his guys are making fun of me.  They'd been watching me getting my corners dialed in as accurately as possible and thought I was doing it for the excavator, knowing that he was only gonna be accurate +- 1-2 feet.  After talking with me he realized that I was doing a bunch of work myself and that I was locating my own footings.

He then asked if I wanted them to jump over and dig the hole really quick for me, saying that a couple of them could use a little extra cash.  I turned him down figuring that the guy I'd hired would be there shortly.  Well... no such luck.  Friday ended without a hole.  Today (Saturday) I was frustrated and called the owner of that big outfit and met him up on the lot.  We joked for an hour and he gave me a bunch of advice because he knew the conditions of the land really well, having done all the roadways around it.  He informed me of exactly what issues I would be running into on that lot.  In the end he said that he would have two of his guys dig my hole for me first thing Monday.  Not only that, because they are already up there he's doing it 25% cheaper per hour than the other guys, and running two machines cutting the time almost in half.  Needless to say, I called and canceled the other guys.

I'll be needing a bunch of big landscaping boulders now for the front of the lot and they usually run about $85 for a 4' diameter rock.  I'll need about 10 of those and a bunch of smaller ones that are about $500 for 20 of them.  He informed me that I'll likely get several of them from my own lot when we dig a certain area, and I'm trying to get a bunch free from the piles they are digging up each day doing those storm drains.  He also buys about $1Millon worth of concrete each year for curb/gutter and sidewalks, so I'm gonna try to run my concrete purchase through his account.  If all that worked out, the savings will be as follows:

1. $500 for the cheaper excavation
2. $1,350 for the free boulders
3. $600-$1,500 for the cheaper concrete, depending on if I can buy through him for my flatwork later.

Photos

I guess the land really is ours. You can see the slope of the front of the lot that I have to deal with behind us.	Staking out the lot.	Finally finished re-staking for the last time.
Me carrying Amber across the threshold. Or at least that is where it will be.

Pat's Forum Posts: 8 Journal Entries: 2 Interview Answers: 80 Average Forum Rating: 3.73 Randomly Selected Image 6/1/2008	Great information for the rest of us OB's here in Utah.  Keep it coming.
Brett's Forum Posts: 2 Journal Entries: 11 Interview Answers: 169 Average Forum Rating: 4.00 Image from Brett's blog 6/1/2008	Let me know if you have any specific questions.  I'd be happy to help you however I can.

Concrete

Posted to AlaskaICFREMOTEHouse by K in Wasilla, AK on 5/30/2008 10:40:07 AM

The weather continues to cooperate.  The footers including the step footers were poured.  The ICF wall block was delivered and ICF is going up and will finish today.  We are using the ARXX ICF wall system.  Pretty cool stuff.  The scaffolding integrates with the wall system and also acts as a bracing system.  You can make fine adjustments with the braces, keeping the wall straight at all times.  I also like that ARXX has a 4" height adjusting form, which minimizes cutting forms. 

I spent an entire day researching the most efficient appliances.  There is a significant difference among energy star appliances.  I also checked out the govt's website for credits and rebates.  Fine Homebuilding magazine had several helpful articles on buying efficient appliances, and I used that as a resource along with Consumer Reports to select those I purchased.  Over the Memorial weekend, Lowes and HD had appliance sales and rebates.  They also offered an extra 10% off for military, so that was a bonus.  I purchased my refrigerator, cooktop and dishwasher.  The dishwasher was 114% more efficient than the federal standard, and the refrigerator was 27%.  The federal standard has been raised on refrigerators.  So, I got 10% off from the sale + 10% off for military + the rebates + a HD $100 gift card!  It was worth the effort. 

Next week:  foundation walls poured and our waterproofing work will start. :(  Not looking forward to that back breaking work.  The plumbers will also get the underground work going, and some of the backfill will get done. 

Framing begins

Posted to Victor--Susan-08 by Victor in Ruckersville, VA on 5/30/2008 8:23:47 AM

Well, the block work is done. The guys did a fantastic job and the crew was great to work with. If anyone in the Central Virginia area is looking for masonry work - I highly recommend Moore Masonry. On-time, on-schedule and on-budget and very easy to work with!

My framers have started on the floor framing for our great room and I expect we will get to setting a wall or two today as well. My hands are cut and sore from splinters and nails. I had to tear off part of the old deck and dig a footer for a pier at the back corner of the house where the new kitchen addition is going on. I wanted to get that done so the masons could set a pier there for me before they finished up (yesterday). I think I will invest in a good quality pair of working gloves to protect my hands, because playing keyboards is hard with my hands hurting from the cuts.

We are also having a container delivered this morning to handle all of the trash and debris leftover from the building process. Very exciting stuff. Unfortunately, we are expecting rain this weekend, so I probably won't be renting the Bobcat excavator this weekend. I have a lot of dirt to move around and also some trenching to do for the electric and water lines for the irrigation system and also to our new "Tiki Lounge" patio area at the bottom of the yard. Hopefully it will be dry enough next week to get that done.

More to follow...

Photos

Block work complete on front wall of main addition.	Block work from below.	First sill boards going on.
Piers for the kitchen/laundry room and pantry addition.	The old deck gets torn off!	The floor for the new Great room goes in!
New floor from office window.

More on the Fire

Posted to tanglewood by Steve in Colorado Springs, CO on 5/29/2008 9:14:39 PM

Folks who have been following this blog probably remember my post from a month or so ago about the big Ft. Carson fire.  It was a monster and came very close to Tanglewood--there were even a couple of short-lived "hot spots" where the fire jumped the road and settled in the canyon.

Or so we thought.  I got a report from the local volunteer fire department that protects the area.  Turns out that the two fires in the canyon were arson!!

That's right.  Some dumb-ass thought that setting a fire while the Ft. Carson fire was blazing away would be funny.  Or something.

Boy do I look forward to them catching the S.O.B.s........

Steve

Photos

Page 1 of the report.	Page 2 of the report.	Page 3 of the report. Note the map in the middle, showing the fire and the two arson fires. Note too the location of the plane that crashed fighting the fire; we drive directly past that field.
Close-up of the map.

It worked!

Posted to OwensNewHome by Justin in Chandler, AZ on 5/29/2008 12:51:21 PM

Sugar and spice seems to do better than calls, anger and meanness in this case. I am told that my permits are approved and ready for pick up.

I also received an email about the recipe. We had zucchini from the garden and I am not a big vegetable fan, though I will eat it because it is good for me. This bread is more like a muffin than bread but it does have a vegetable in it. The recipe is attached. I had to convert the PDF to a JPEG because it isn't accepting the PDF. Mark help!

Photos

Yummy recipe. Good for speeding up plans, rescuing babies from burning buildings, and pleasing family and friends.

Porch, painting and plumbers

Posted to 1860s-Texas-Rehab-New-Constr by Dave in Boerne, TX on 5/29/2008 6:41:25 AM

The front porch is finally beginning to take shape... we've encountered some scheduling issues and/or "who's going to show up today " and finish the framing and start other phases, but we seem to be regaining momentum.

Photos

The garage is nearly complete... garage door is on order. Building the porch under the shed roof will be a weekend project.	Prep for painting is moving forward...	The front porch looks similiar to the original...
The framers will finish this today... along with a few changes inside and the plumbers should be on site today.

GC Bids

Posted to Lin-Washington by Linda in Fresno, CA on 5/29/2008

Hello Owner-Builders,

I have levels of excitement and fear. I've been getting my bids during my 1,000 hours of homework. Several generals contractors have been calling me stating that I cannot do it myself. We hired a project manager because it is a bank requirement for us, but we are still saving. I have bids with $20,000 of difference! Has anyone else notice this problem? Most GC's have been quoting $125 to $158/sq. ft. (and they refuse to do breakdowns...)

Starting Foundation

Posted to Plant-City-Craftsman by Richard in Plant City, FL on 5/29/2008

Well my subcontractor started to form up the foundation and set the steel. I called him the week before and he was ready to go to work. The slope of the lot was of some concern when the survey showed that the lot had a 12-ft rise from front to back property line. But after talking with the sub, it looked like it was going to be OK. It only took one day for the crew to form up the foundation for the house and the 30x40 shop that we are building at the same time. Easy digging in the Florida sand.

Photos

House foundation dug and steel set ready for inspection.	Another shot of the house foundation.	Shop foundation with steel and one of my protected Palm Trees

Busy, Busy, Busy

Posted to Quail-Bluff-Pasco by Brent in Pasco, WA on 5/28/2008 10:59:37 PM

I know, I know.  I have been a bad owner-builder-reporter.  We have been very busy in the last month with the plumbing and the electrical work.  These were the two things I was taking on to save money.  The roofers finished the roof for the shop and house last Thursday.  It has rained hard twice since they finished and all is well.  They did a nice job. 

My dad came over two weeks ago and I took the week off and we finished about 60% of the plumbing.  Since he left, I have almost finished the rest by myself with one more Saturday to go.  I have also started the electrical work in the last week.  The shop is ready for wire and all the can lights and fixture boxes are up in the house.  The next task is to mount all the switch and outlet boxes and start drilling holes.  We are planning on having a wiring party in the next week. 

The HVAC guys are in and they are about 25% done with the rough-in and told me they will be done on Friday.  I met with two insulation contractors today and need to pull the trigger on someone soon so they can do some piecework around the other subs.  We have ordered our exterior doors, they should be in next week and I will install them.  We will probably order all of our cabinets next week because I hope to be drywalling in four weeks from now.  The siding sub is slated to start June 15th and is giving me a great price and does nice work.  All these details and no pictures.  I took some tonight, but the inside pictures didn't turn out too well because of the low light.  Stay tuned, I promise to TRY to be more diligent with my reporting, but no promises.  I will post some pics, though.