At some point I am going to collect my thoughts and really go in to detail about my experience building. I will say this forum was beyond helpful and a great reliever of stress. I will start in reverse and post some of the finished pictures and over time really break it down and cover the whole process!! Bryan in Reynoldsburg, OH

Jennifer's Forum Posts: 0
Journal Entries: 4
Interview Answers: 2




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More Drywall, Starting to Spackle!!

Posted to Keener-Road by Jennifer in Elizabethtown, PA on 3/11/2009

Well... it's March and it seems like it's going sooo slow, though everyone who visits comments on how fast it's going... guess they are not waiting to move in like I am! Harry, my better half, says that we will be starting to paint bedrooms this weekend. Now that is very exciting. We have been spackling, drywalling fools! Pictures are attached (I hope.)

I also added our Excel spreadsheet, it has four worksheets on it that get increasingly more detailed. I just kept playing with it 'til I found something that worked for me, the final worksheet did... the worksheet, labeled "room-to-room" is what I presented to our lender, and it really won him over that I knew exactly what everything would cost... basically what I did was price EVERYTHING (well, almost) on Home Depot's website. I could have built a Home Depot home with that budget, then the name of the game was to get better quality, cheaper... as a result, except for things like drywall tape and the fan/light combo for the bathrooms, I have bought everything elsewhere... I have found amazing bargains.

This home will be very high quality and as you can see, we are basically building a 1,600 sq. ft. ranch (with only a crawl space - that's the downer) for $75K. Not too shabby. I have made a small career out of bargain shopping! I could write a book about all the deals I found. DO NOT underestimate eBay. I bought lights/fans/closet organizers... oh - too much to write on eBay always doing my homework to make sure that even with shipping and handling it was saving me money. I literally spent at least four hours every day from October to February shopping for deals... two very good ones: I bought a $12,000 kitchen for $1,800 from a photo studio that puts sets together to shoot kitchens for magazines! I had a friend on the inside for that one, but it was unexpected. Also bought $4/sq. ft. ceramic tile for $.71/sq. ft. at, of all places, Carpet Mart, back in their bargain racks... I have learned to be diligent. I went over budget for lights (they were worth it) and where I priced pine doors for my lender, I bought Knotty Alder. But I could do this, since I keep saving so much everywhere else...

Photos

Husband and brother-in-law spackling...	Friend, Krista scraping the drywall after the first coat.	Drywall is finally over the wall that that was part of the existing structure... I did this wall MYSELF! GIRL POWER!!
Me balancing dangerously on ladders fastening the drywall... this is what NOT to do.

Drywall 90% Done! (and too much to write about)

Posted to Keener-Road by Jennifer in Elizabethtown, PA on 2/20/2009

Well, here we are again, it's nearing the end of February and I haven't written since July...

On 8/5/08 we went to settlement on our dream 27 acres in Lancaster County, PA. We dealt briefly with squatters (it's true), and then moved in with my brother-in-law, who lives just minutes from the property. That way we're close. By 9/5/08 we were able to start demolition on a 70-ft. trailer that was already there. That was done within three weeks (by us) and our footers/block started on Oct. 6th. Beside the fact that the cement-truck guy poured too much cement in one spot, and we had to wade in to spread it around in the footer, there was nothing really exciting about the footers...

Framing went SO fast that for us first-timers, we thought we'd be all done and moved in the next few weeks... NOT! Anyway! Fast forward to today, 2/20 and we have the drywall 90% done. We're exhausted, working full-time, raising two kids - and I go to college full-time. It's trying... oh, well!

Jen

Photos

Footers, and first day of stone. The good looking guy is my hubby.	A little framing makes a difference... good picture to see how it's attaching to the existing garage.	Siding!
View from hallway into what will be the dining room; plastic is covering entrance way to living room, which is in existing structure.	Start of the chimney in living room (this part was here, we are gutting and re-drywalling, etc.)	Ceiling drywalled - the insulators came in the next day to blow the insulation in, and do the exterior walls. Maybe we won't freeze our butts off now!

Posted by Ross in Hillsboro, OR on 3/10/2009 Ross's Forum Posts: 15 Journal Entries: 22 Interview Answers: 164 Average Forum Rating: 3.69 My Construction Website Ross's Selected Image 3/10/2009

Jennifer, Exciting! We are preparing to do demolition on a re-build in Oregon. Did you and your husband do your own framing and concrete? Just curious how it went. We have limited funds so are wondering how much we might be able to do ourselves with respect to concrete and framing. I have bids from framers for the entire job, but we could start now if we did materials only... and we are pondering this.

Posted by Jennifer in Elizabethtown, PA on 3/11/2009 Jennifer's Forum Posts: 0 Journal Entries: 4 Interview Answers: 2 Image from Jennifer's blog 3/11/2009

Ross - We have hired subs for the footers/concrete. We checked around and got good prices. We felt like it was something that we should hire a professional to do, same with the framing, mostly because of us working full-time... so basically we had someone else do the entire shell of the house... what we have done and will do ourselves: all plumbing (father-in-law was plumber, so he helped), electrical (ex-neighbor and good friend does this professionally so he got us started), some small framing inside the house like adding a wall, closet, mud room, framing out a door from the existing garage to the new part, drywall, paint, trim, all tiling, a chimney in the living room; we are even laying our own carpet as we have a cousin who has the tools to do this.... ONE BIG piece of advice. DO NOT count on friends. If you totally couldn't do it yourself, hire it out. We were left stranded by well-meaning friends who do have their own lives and didn't realize that we were counting on them. Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK! JEN

SEPTIC A-OK

Posted to Keener-Road by Jennifer in Elizabethtown, PA on 7/8/2008

Great News!!

Harry called the septic guy for Lancaster County and explained what we were wanting to do. The gentleman told Harry that as long as we're just taking away the trailer and adding no more than three bedrooms, that we have the green light... that was it! No inspection! I am very happy about that.

We're waiting on the GC who will be doing the following, to come back with a bid: excavating, block, concrete, electric, installing windows and doors (that we'll purchase) roofing, siding, and insulation. I will be double-checking that bid with two others.

We're in charge of plumbing, flooring, windows/doors (purchase), drywall, trim, and cabinetry/appliances, etc.

Still very nervous and waiting for someone to tell us that we can't do this. We are remodeling 496 sf, and building 1,003 new - total cost/sq. ft. equals out to about $50... avg. cost in Lancaster County for new construction is $153/sf. I am not sure how to figure the cost for the remodeling part.

I'm attaching our floor plan. We've made a few changes to this -- but I don't have them uploaded yet. Also - ignore the diagonal lines... I do not know why they printed out!

HAPPY IN PA!

Posted by RogerC in Phoenix, AZ on 7/15/2008 RogerC's Forum Posts: 53 Interview Answers: 3 Average Forum Rating: 3.38 Randomly Selected Image 7/15/2008

Congratulations!  It sounds like you are now fully committed.   :)  That's an interesting approach...  splitting the project with a GC.  Makes sense to me.    (Did you forget to upload your plan)?

July 4, 2008

Posted to Keener-Road by Jennifer in Elizabethtown, PA on 7/4/2008

As of this very moment -- Harry and I are one month from settlement on 26 acres in the middle of what he terms, "white-tail paradise." It is happening way too fast! We were simply in the middle of "looking" when Harry spotted this property FSBO. That was three weeks ago, and three days ago we rec'd the agreement of sale back... signed. We were supposed to stay here in our townhouse; the same one we've lived in for 9 years, as we built equity into the land and eventually built; BUT the appraisal came in so nicely that we are building right away.

Instead of having 50% budget for land and 50% budget for the house, we just spent 90% on the land and only have 10% left for the house. I went from a 3,000+ sf dream house to a starter rancher that will be 1,493 sf. That's OK, because the land is what we're truly ecstatic over. And that little rancher is going to be to die for!! Now, how to build this house in budget and on time?

In our favor: the property has an OLD trailer on it that we will haul away, but, the seller had added an addition less than 10 years ago that consisted of a kitchen, laundry, bath and what will be our daughters' bedrooms... we are gutting that and adding less than 1,000 sq. ft. Our framing costs and plumbing will be lower than we were initially expecting.

I am so thankful (and so is Harry) that I've been researching this for over a year now. Unfortunately, I don't have 1,000 hours of planning in. I think I am only 1/5 of the way to those hours. If I had never read that one piece of advice I may have went for it. But I honestly don't have enough time into the planning. Just enough to be dangerous! We have decided to hire a GC for excavating/footers/framing. He's a long-time friend and we feel we can trust him. We will sub out the rest and that will fall to me. I am waiting on his bid, and even though he is a friend, I will double check, particularly his "block-guy's" bid. I don't know him, and I am sure the GC isn't going to get more than one estimate if this is "his guy."

I can't sleep. I can't work. I haven't cleaned our house since this started. I CAN still eat... unfortunately! :) I'm fairly certain I have exhausted friend and family on this subject matter. Cool thing: due to this process, the GC that will start this off for us said that he had never seen plans as complete as mine. The floor plans and individual room detail (plus 3D pics that I'll post when I can.) That was awesome.

The well/septic/utilities are already there on site due to the trailer. Harry has already started the process with the township to be sure septic will be OK (we feel good that it will be, as it was built "oversized" and sometime in the early 90's - also Harry called local septic guy who knew the place and the system and he felt strongly it will be okay. We have to wait until Tuesday for the main septic guy to be talked to.)

Well, I'm not a very exciting writer at this late hour. I was just reviewing The Owner-Builder Book and wanted to journal this process somewhere... Also, encouragement and/or advice is more than appreciated if anyone feels the urge...

I'll be baaacckk... JEN

Posted by Bettie in Harlem, GA on 7/7/2008 Bettie's Forum Posts: 12 Journal Entries: 6 Interview Answers: 26 Average Forum Rating: 3.85 Image from Bettie's blog 7/7/2008

Jennifer, I too have been reading this site for about two years and decided to take the plunge. I have been planning for more than a year. I had my plans drawn up in 2007 and made many many changes. I am building a 4,287 sf house in Georgia. My biggest frustration has been dealing with subcontractors. First I tried to hire a builder/GC and their prices were way out of my budget. One GC quoted me $560 for a garbage disposal, that is when I say, "...hold up, I think I can do this." His $560 quote did not include his 15% markup. Right now, I have obtained my builders risk insurance, paid the city to tap into the sewer and water line, paid for my permits. Yes, I have my permits. Cleared the land. I am ready to begin but still do not have my lumber bids. One lumber company has had my bid for more than two months. So I called on Thursday 7/3 and he faxed me over an incomplete proposal.  I sent out over 30 sets of plans, which cost a pretty penny. I do have a framer, foundation, plumber and electrician. They are ready to begin once I get some lumber.  I would love to stay in touch throughout our mutual project to vent and bounce ideas.

Posted by Jennifer in Elizabethtown, PA on 7/8/2008 Jennifer's Forum Posts: 0 Journal Entries: 4 Interview Answers: 2 Image from Jennifer's blog 7/8/2008

Bettie - WOW! I am very excited for you. You are building the house I WANTED TOO!!! lol. That's okay, we're very happy anyway. We had the septic come back in GREAT shape, so we're still moving forward. Yesterday was four weeks to settlement. We need our estimate from the GC. That's what we're waiting on. He will be doing: excavating, block, concrete, electric, installing windows and doors (that we're buying) roofing, siding and insulation. We are doing: plumbing, flooring, windows and doors, drywall, trim work and cabinets. July 25th is the drop-dead date for the final bids and contracts for our lender. We are having it priced out with and without - basement vs. crawl space, AC vs. not (oh my - I hope we're putting central air in... my husband seems strangely uncaring about this) vinyl siding vs. cedar, cathedral ceiling vs. not. Harry (husband) is checking on a metal roof. Though we're building a smaller home, we're hoping to make it very nice. There will be two stone sections on the exterior... I just need to post the plan. I'm eager to do that, but it's not cemented quite yet. Anyway - thanks for your response and I'll try to keep in touch. I work full-time and am in my last year of college full-time (I need to be building a house right now like I need a hole in the head - AND we have two "tween" daughters, so life is crazy! :)) Thanks - JEN