The book and this site have been very valuable tools for me throughout the whole process. I knew nothing of owner-building a home prior to this and had not even planned on doing it until I was forced to with the loss of my other house, so I had to learn everything and learn it quick. The book and this site helped me thru it all. You really can't do enough planning. 1,000 hours is not enough. Alvin in FL

Alan's Forum Posts: 3
Journal Entries: 25
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Average Forum Rating: 3.67



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Fired GC

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 8/26/2007

Got this email and thought I'd make a general reply and give a general update:

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Posted by Guy in San Luis Obispo, CA on 10/22/2007 Guy's Forum Posts: 64 Interview Answers: 1 Average Forum Rating: 3.70 Randomly Selected Image 10/22/2007

Alan, I am really fascinated with your project as you give a ton of real world snafus to be aware of, especially with the AHJ's (authorities having jurisdiction) we have to deal with.  I am curious though about the budget that seems to have gone from $150/sf to $250/sf.  Does the higher price include soft costs and site work that weren't factored in the initial budget?  I would also appreciate it if you posted a list of suppliers such as the etodoors you gave.  We are in the early stages of planning our house in Hawaii, so I need to also find out what I can buy cheaper here and ship out to the islands from Long Beach in 2010 or so.  Thanks and Aloha, Guy.

earthwork + photos

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 8/16/2007

The work has finally really started.  It took about 2 weeks to dig a massive hole in the ground and some of the basic grading around the site.  I've also finally gotten around to uploading some photos so I'll post a bunch. 

Photos: demo, grading, basement excavation, trenches for retaining wall.  The photos of the super steep area in the back is where the massive new concrete deck is going in.

Some background on the pics - basement is 10' deep approx 2,800 sq feet in size.  The retaining walls that the trenches are being dug for are part of approx 1,200 linear feet of retaining wall that needs to be put in, not including the basement or deck in back.  The deck in back is a little over 1,000 sq feet in size.  At the far end it will be approx 25 feet off the ground.  Before anyone gets the great idea of a basement or a massive concrete deck let's point out that they are going to cost over $100K each...certainly not the cheapest part of the project...

The deck in back is interesting - it consists of 14 caissons, 2' diameter each, 20 feet into bedrock.  Then there's a grade beam, about 2'x2' that connects the tops of each of the caissons (grade beam is partially buried in the ground - should be touching bedrock).  On top of the grade beam they build a concrete block wall.  When they get it to grade, they shore it and pour an 8" concrete deck over the top - it basically forms a big box.  I can't wait to see it actually happen.

The basement also had a little catch - the lid over the top of it is 12" of concrete, rather than wood subfloor.  This will make the basement like a large box also and will be made to withstand almost anything thrown at it (such as a massive earthquake).

A funny(?) fact about the project - we're expecting to use about 1,000 yards of concrete for everything - probably end up more like 1,200....that's 120 truckloads...can't even imagine where it's all going to go..

Photos

Starting the work

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 8/7/2007

It's been a little while since I last posted - a few things have happened, not nearly as much as I'd like, but what can you do? Here's a quick overview of the high points and what I've learned. As usual, this post will be stream of consciousness and won't make much sense to anyone other than the clinically insane.

1. Financing: not sure where I left off with this, but the loan has closed and funded. The fees, etc. are outrageous for a loan of this size, but to be expected I suppose since they were the same/higher for the other offers I got. Actually I should be happy that I closed when I did, given how much rates have gone up - and that I wouldn't even qualify for the loan with the new more strict rules they have in place. My recommendation for funding - start early, get all the paperwork ready so you can pull the trigger at any time then when rates take a little dip, you can move on it.

2. Permit: Finally got approved to pull my permit. I got the demo permit a couple months ago (see Demo below) and my final grading and construction permit are now ready to be pulled. I just need to pay the fees. For the school fees, you pay a set rate per square foot of livable space. Thus your goal is to minimize your livable space - make sure they don't include any balconies, entries, basements, garages, etc. Also - you get to reduce the sq footage by the sq footage of the house that you demoed - just bring in the demo permit sheet and they'll do the math for you. All in all, my school fees will work out to something like $18K - the first item on my budget that came in lower than my original estimate! The actual grading and building permits came in right at $30K.

3. Demo: Pulled the demo permit a couple months ago - it was cheap. Had a couple parties at the house with friends - drank lots of beer and destroyed the place (bricks through windows, spray painted everything, tore down walls) - it was the most fun I've had since we started this project. Then the bulldozer came (actually a small Bobcat) and tore the whole place down in a couple days and hauled it all off. Had to hook up the temporary electric pole ($1,400). They also ripped out a number of tree trunks, flatwork, etc. They still have some flatwork in the back and the old septic tank (oh yeah - had that pumped before removal). I'll post some pics of this tonight when I get home.

4. Grading: Had the surveyor come out and mark the corners of the basement and shoot some of the elevations. The guys started today moving some of the dirt so we can start putting in the retaining walls and the basement. The grading will take several weeks. The key is to make sure they are doing things in the right order - need to get stuff going so there can be multiple crews on site at the same time doing things (pouring basement, building retaining walls, etc) but also need to make sure that nobody is doing something that will get in someone else's way in the future.

5. Foundation: Bids are coming in on the foundation work. It's very complex stuff, apparently. The deck in the back looks to be about $100K. The basement (2,800 sq feet) with a 12" lid seems to be another $100K or so... the slab for the rest of the house - fairly cheap... the retaining walls all over the property another $150K or so... all in all, bids are looking to be about $450K - I'm pushing however and want to see if I can get it done for about $350K. I put together a little spreadsheet (attached) to try and get to the bottom of why the foundation costs so darn much.  I mean - really - it's just rebar, concrete and block when you get down to it - not that much magic. 

The key here is that I was able to pull out the full materials cost and the rental costs. If you want to change the cost of a yard of concrete, great, do it and the spreadsheet will automatically update. Once you agree on the materials costs (and the rental costs) the rest of the cost is labor. This too can be broken down - you can find out how long they expect to be on site, how many guys, etc. When you break it down like this, it's much easier to bargain than when they come in with a total cost of $450K to do "everything"... I fully plan on doing this breakout with a number of other trades as well - for example - you could do this for plumbing, electrical, drywall, framing, etc - really helps to bring out the hidden costs and overhead so you can bargain better.

6. Doors and windows. I have the framing lined up and the guy will install my doors and windows so long as they are on site when he is ready to put them in. Since there can be a pretty long lead time on these items, I figure to get them lined up now. I found a really cool door place at etodoors.com. I went and visited their warehouse - they have tons of doors in stock and do lots of their own work - very good stuff, but without the foo-foo overhead you'll find in other places. Most of their stuff is Brazilian mahogany, which is what I'm looking for. Even better - their 9 and 10' interior doors are a solid two and a quarter inch thick... now that's a door! The guy I spoke to seemed willing to bargain as well, so I'm sure I'll be able to work something out given the large number of doors I need. 

They also do the iron front doors - I've seen a few of these and I like them... I also like the wood doors, but I think the iron doors give a better look to the front. I need to come up with the design for the door so I bought a book that just shows hundreds of different types of wrought iron design. I figure the interior doors are about $1,000/each (after bargaining) and the front door is about $10-$15K. They also had some nice mahogany, iron and glass doors that would look nice for the other exterior doors... 

Windows are a bit of a pain. I've looked at tons of different types, styles, etc. The first thing I needed to do was go through the entire house, looking at both the floor plan and elevations and decide what type of window would fit best in each place - sliding, gliding, casement, awning, fixed, etc. The next step was figuring out the type. I knew I didn't want the vinyl because they look horrible, so it was a tossup between wood and wood clad. I think I'm going to end up going with the wood clad however, because the thought of staining the windows outside frame every few years is not appealing. The first bid I got for windows was from a top of the line store for their top of the line windows (Loewen's). It came in at $150K. I'll now take it to a few other places (Home Depot, Lowe's, local window stores) and get it priced out there as well. Make sure you tell the guys you want to have a few different options. Once they do the takeoff (exact size of each of the windows), getting quotes is as easy as pushing a button, so don't be shy asking for multiple quotes from one place. My goal for windows is $50K - we'll see how I do...

7. General: If you're just starting out and you try to put a budget or schedule together and it doesn't seem to make sense or come together right, don't worry - keep working on it and it will eventually all start to make sense. I use my budget sheet and schedule every day now - they are like guiding posts - they also remind me what's coming up and what I need to be preparing for.

SAVE money using a GC?

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 2/21/2007

Here's an interesting twist - I may actually be able to SAVE money using a GC rather than doing an O-B...

During the past month or so of getting bids from each of the different trades, I've also met with some GC's who are interested in bidding on the entire job. I've told them that they are welcome to bid, but given that I'm going to O-B, chances are good their prices will be too high. The first GC's price was so high it wasn't even worth calling him back ($1.9M just to get the house roughed in!) There was one GC though, that I felt comfortable with and he came back with a price that is about 10-15% below what I can get if I do it O-B.

I spent a few hours talking with him about how he can get the prices so low and basically it's as follows - he can get the materials cheaper than I can because he knows and goes directly to the manufacturer (example, he is going to Portland, Oregon to buy the lumber directly from where Home Depot buys their lumber from - and at a price only slightly higher than HD pays) Also - he has a crew of 26 guys which he augments with additional crews as needed (example - more framers, more bricklayers, etc.) to get the job done quicker, but it is always his guys leading the work. Using his own crew, he is able to handle the small things that come up that end up costing a lot if you want someone to come out and take care of them - no one wants to come out for a half day to fix something - they will typically charge more for this. Tons of examples of this - plumber bids don't include connection to septic tank or fire sprinklers, demo bids don't include monthly trash pickup, foundation drainage and waterproofing is extra charge from foundation contractor, etc.

For my due diligence, I've gone out and visited four job sites that he is currently working on - two are hillside homes with difficult foundations. I will also be calling some references for homes he's completed. He's licensed, bonded, insured.

The deal we've come up with is as follows - we have a base price for everything except the fixtures (the price of these can vary greatly). The GC will be locking in the price of the materials, etc. over the next 60 days and will work to bring the price down from our agreed-upon price - any savings he's able to get we will split 60/40 - payable at the end of the project. The contract will be written at the end of the 60 days after he has the final cost of everything. The fixtures and other not-included items I will buy directly (with his help and contractor's account) and he will install.

Any thoughts, questions, things I should be looking out for?

Posted by Matthias in Sunnyvale, CA on 2/22/2007 Matthias's Forum Posts: 0 Interview Answers: 1 Randomly Selected Image 2/22/2007

Hi Alan, Always good to hear from you. I think hiring a GC is a good idea worth investigating. Especially for a very large project like yours. Even with a GC you will still have plenty of things to worry about :) Anyway, here is one other thought: I would try to find out how long this GC has been in business. If he has been doing this for a long time that could also work in your favor with the lender. Lily Shen mentioned something about that. Maybe check with her and see if that is relevant in your situation. On the other hand it sounds a little concerning to hire a GC that claims to be cheaper than everybody else. This reminds me a little bit of the framer that I hired. He came to my job site several times saying "I can save you money". So I worked some numbers with him and eventually ended up hiring him. Before the job was done he came to me numerous times with all kinds of excuses (unexpected issues, framing of the stairs was not included...) why he needed to charge me more. I argued, complained... but more money was leaving my wallet to get the job done. The total cost for framing was approximately in line with most of the other offers I had. The only difference was his sales pitch "I can save you money", which got him this job and all the other companies that were more honest with the initial estimate didn't get the business. Matthias

Posted by Bert in Southern, CA on 4/20/2007 Bert's Forum Posts: 2 Journal Entries: 3 Interview Answers: 1 Average Forum Rating: 4.00 Image from Bert's blog 4/20/2007

I am also in the process of building a home in Southern California, and I would love to know more about how your project is going and I would absolutely love and appreciate a copy of the Excel spreadsheet you are using if you don't mind sharing. You can PM me. Good Luck, Bert

Fire Sprinkler Update

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 1/25/2007

Got a few more bids on fire sprinklers. The lead candidate right now is estimating $15K for 10,200 sq feet, and has already said that any stainless pipe needed (they typically use orange plastic pipe for non-exposed areas) would be covered for a couple hundred bucks - he's also okay with the high ceilings, etc. As a side note, he said that there would likely be more than 100 heads! And would thus require a fire alarm system (to be installed by someone else so I don't think he is trying to rip me off). The $15K covers plans, permits, installation and inspections. Fire alarm and wiring is separate, and the plumber is required to bring the water line to the house (the line splits once it enters the house; one line is solely for fire sprinklers and the other is for the rest of the house.)

Structural plan complete

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 1/22/2007

Another update:

The Structural plans are complete.  This is a massive amount of inforamation that includes everything from how thick the walls are to how big the windows are and everything in between.  There are dozens of detailed drawings of how the roof lines should come together, how joists should be done, etc.  Also loads of calculations for the basement, house foundation, decks, etc.  To be honest I haven't even had the time/energy to read through everything, but think it's important because this is the time to find out and make changes.  For example, how long do you want your roof eaves to be?  Correct it now or regret it later...  I turned these into the city and they should get back to me within 2 weeks.

Permits - along with the structural drawings, I submit for permits for the grading and new construction.  They get approved at the same time (used to be able to get grading approved first so you could get started, but no more).  As an FYI - they do a valuation on your home based on square footage of house/garage/etc and charge you a plan check fee (paid when submit) and a permit fee (to be paid when permits are issued).  For me each of these things is about 20k, so 40k total.

Next steps:

Fire sprinklers: I called a few places for fire sprinkler bids (required).  Basically I just need the fire sprinkler plan now (as part of plan check) and the work itself won't be done until the finish plumbing is done.  I've gotten one bid so far and it is 20k (seems to be my lucky number this week).  This appears to be in the range, but I'm going to get a few more bids before deciding next week.

Septic tank/Seepage pits: Based on the size of the house, the county of LA has sized my septic tank based on 9 bedrooms (even though there are only 6).  This means that I'll need to get a 2500 gallon tank and percolate for 2100 gallons.  Here's the process (as I understand it) that needs to be followed: Septic guy will design the placement of tank and pits (1 current and 1 expansion).  He will then dig and place the tank, and dig the pits with 2' diameter.  My engineer will then come out and fill the pits with water and test the percolation to make sure everything is ok.  The Septic guy then digs the pit to 5' diameter and lines one of the pits.  Problem in getting a bid for this is you don't know exactly how deep the pit will need to be, what kind of rocks they may hit..and the worst - if it doesn't percolate well, a 2nd or 3rd pit will need to be dug.  I'm going to get a few guys out at the site to look around, give me a general price for some of the known pieces of work, then choose based on who I trust not to screw me when things change.

Bank loan - I was told several months ago by the banks that I should begin applying for a loan when I submit my structural drawings - looks like it's time to dust off the rolodex and start calling back some of the people I was working with before to get locked.  The thing here is that you don't want to lock too early because the clock starts once you get the loan - then you have 18 months to complete and if you're late, it can be very expensive...don't want to start the clock and then not start construction for a few months...

Posted by Matthias in Sunnyvale, CA on 1/25/2007 Matthias's Forum Posts: 0 Interview Answers: 1 Randomly Selected Image 1/25/2007	Hi Alan, It's Matthias again. Nice progress on your project! Quick comment on your loan. I just refinanced my project last week. I called around for a few days and it was quite frustrating at times to talk with loan agents. I now have a loan agent: - that knows what she is talking about, especially for owner-builders - has the lowest rates and best conditions - very responsive with phone calls and emails (I like to communicate via email because I can't really talk over the phone during the day while sitting in a cubicle) I can send you the contact info if you are interested. Are you looking for a construction loan or are you looking to borrow money on your current home so you can fund your construction project? Matthias
Posted by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 1/25/2007 Alan's Forum Posts: 3 Journal Entries: 25 Interview Answers: 66 Average Forum Rating: 3.67 Image from Alan's blog 1/25/2007	Matthias - good to hear from you again - I would love to get the name/number of your agent.  I am planning on getting a construction loan (construction to permanent) ideally with an 18month build and 30 year fixed conversion for approx 2M.  After more than a year of just looking at things on paper I'm excited to almost get started with some real work!
Posted by Matthias in Sunnyvale, CA on 1/30/2007 Matthias's Forum Posts: 0 Interview Answers: 1 Randomly Selected Image 1/30/2007	Hi Alan, here is the loan agent that I am working with: Lily Shen, her email is lily.shen@gmail.com Very responsive over email. I will get you the phone number as well. Matthias
Posted by Matthias in Sunnyvale, CA on 2/7/2007 Matthias's Forum Posts: 0 Interview Answers: 1 Randomly Selected Image 2/7/2007	Hi Alan, just talked briefly with the loan agent. Apparently there are some interesting construction loan programs coming out. Still owe you the phone number: Lily Shen lily.shen@gmail.com 408 394 3050

Floorplans

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 10/27/2006

Here are my floorplans... there have been a few changes since these were done, but the basic stuff is there...

Photos

Story poles

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 10/27/2006

The story poles went up several weeks ago. I was thinking about doing it myself, then thought how little fun it would be working with sticks 30+ feet tall. My architect recommended a guy, and he did it for about $2,000 for an approx 10,000 sq foot house. This included labor and materials, a staking plan and a formal sign-off from a surveyor that they were accurate. The city came by and checked them out and didn't have a problem with them. Sorry the pictures were taken in the evening, so the lighting isn't very good... If I had to do it again, I'd probably do it myself and save about $1,500 - it really doesn't need to be very exact and you can do a really shoddy job and it's still okay - won't affect the final outcome of your house... If you're going to hire someone, call around - I got bids as high as $5,000.

Photos

Finally Approved

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 10/27/2006

Wow... after what seems like forever, the day has finally arrived... I have my final approval from the city!! The first three steps from my previous entry have been completed. I got all my plans submitted, got the story poles erected, got approval from the city and then lasted through the two-week approval appeal period. And all this was JUST in the nick of time. The city I live in just approved a new set of building codes, which would make my house impossible to build - these new codes go into effect for all plans approved after November 6th of this year... I was grandfathered in by one month! Talk about just in the nick of time...

I have some pictures of the story poles, so I'll write another entry right after this one to include those...

Current Steps:

1. The engineer is currently working on the detailed drawings for the property. This means everything from the footings, to how thick the walls need to be, to how many windows there are, etc. Once these are done (end of the year) they need to be approved by the city engineers - not that big a deal.

2. Sewer system report - this is a report that is required by the County of Los Angeles for new septic systems. My soil guy is working on this now - it basically shows information of the percolation test and plans for where the new septic tank and seepage pits are going to go. The county has a specific form (many pages) that needs to be filled out, then there is about an 8-week turnaround time for them to think about it, spend the permit money you gave them, and finally approve it.

3. The other thing that's ongoing is coming up with the details for the home. My mom (discussed in an earlier entry) is coming up with a color palette for the house to make it easier to choose things out like flooring (which color wood and marble), countertops (marble), walls, lighting, cabinets, etc. She also put together a book that lists out all the interior finish details for the house, room by room, so nothing would be forgotten. For example, the entry listing has entry doors, flooring, base molding, crown molding, electrical fixtures, lighting, columns, paint, etc, etc. There are 18 pages of listings! I can't tell you how nice it is to have someone else (professional) looking out for these things; otherwise my mind would explode.

Semi-interesting learnings:

For the detailed drawings, two things are required (at least for me) that are a bit out of the ordinary. First is a detailed landscape plan. This isn't too big a deal, because I've already spent a lot of time thinking about it, but it could have been... My architect is going to take care of putting this together formally (for free) - what a lifesaver - this can easily cost 100's to 1,000's of $$ for an acre lot. Second is that I need to have a complete fire sprinkler plan for the house including the attached garage. You get this from the guy who will be installing the fire sprinklers -- I suppose it's all part of the package.

P.S. - I know that the pictures didn't load - I will attempt to re-upload them in a new journal entry...

Elevations and Sections

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 5/18/2006 3:15:49 PM

Here are the elevations and sections submit to the city

Floorplans

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 5/18/2006 3:13:35 PM

Here are the actual floorplans submit to the city...

Posted by William in Port Republic, MD on 6/16/2006 William's Forum Posts: 14 Interview Answers: 2 Average Forum Rating: 2.67 Randomly Selected Image 6/16/2006	for some reason, i cannot see the floor plan. :(
Posted by P in North, FL on 6/18/2006 P's Forum Posts: 293 Interview Answers: 44 Average Forum Rating: 3.92 Randomly Selected Image 6/18/2006	I can not see the floor pans on my computers.

Topo and Site Plan

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 5/18/2006 3:06:25 PM

Here are the actual Topo and Site plans that were submit to the city...

Waiting for city approval

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 5/18/2006 2:59:47 PM

The Soil engineer finally finished which allowed the grading engineer to finish his work.  The punchline is that the entire site is bedrock - great for foundations, bad for septic tanks.  There are no signs of uneven earth movement and the bedrock doesn't appear to have any large boulders to complicate digging.

This last Monday I was finally able to take the package down to the planning dept and submit it.  To be honest it was quite anti-climatic.  The city engineers will now spend the next 2 weeks reviewing the plans, then the city planner will spend 1-2 weeks compiling the issues, recommendations, etc.  I will be receiving a letter on or before June 15th letting me know what needs to be fixed before I can get approval.

Here are the remaining steps that need to happen before I can begin any construction:

1. Preliminary approval from the city.  This will take a minimum of 2 months - in 4 weeks I get a letter telling me what's wrong.  Resubmit, then 1 more month to get verificiation of the corrections.  This could get dramatically extended if they find major problems - a huge variable for a project like this.

2. Story poles and building sign put up.  Basically they put up 2x4's and flag lines to show the future outline of the property.  Any city residents who have a problem with the builiding come out and complain at this time.  The poles must be up for 30 days.  Any resident complaints must be addressed - another big variable.  About this time I (and anyone reading this) am wondering why in the world anyone would want to build in a city like this.... the up side is that your neighbors can't build something horrible either...

3. Final city approval - Once all this is done, the city will give approval of the plans.  You'd think the pain was over and the fun could begin - however, you'd be forgetting the next few painful steps...

4. Design firm needs to provide structural drawings.  This is part of the fixed bid package with the Architect and is one of their most time consuming steps.  They need to identify every piece of wood, cubic yard of concrete, metal post, etc that goes into the house.  This is estimated to take 6 weeks to complete.

5. Estimates - Once the structural drawings are complete I can finally get some actual bids on the work.  These bids will make up the overall budget, which must be submit to the bank to get funding.

6. Funding - see previous posts for the fun I'm having with this one... 

7. City approval of structural - this comes in many different steps and isn't that big of a deal (although the approval costs do add up)

8. If I haven't died of old age yet I can finally begin building the home of my dreams.  I figure by the time the house is finally done I'll have new dreams by then and need to begin again....

I've realized one thing (lots of things actually, but only one which I'll share right now) - you need to enjoy the journey.  If your not able to do so, don't do this!  I realize for a house like this it really is going to be a 3 year journey - that's way too long not to be having fun....

more pictures - soil testing 2

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/14/2006 3:26:50 PM

pictures are too big - had to add under a second post...

Photos

more pictures - soil testing

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/14/2006 3:25:43 PM

Drill truck came out and dug some 4" diameter holes 50' deep.  They said they would dig till they hit water or 50' whichever came first - didn't even get close to water.  The engineer who came out said everything looked good - clays, no sand.  Entire process took about 4 hours.

Photos

pictures

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/14/2006 3:21:28 PM

Soil testing - backhoe came out and dug some 8' deep holes.  First one was bedrock after about 6 inches of topsoil.  2nd was clay after a couple inches of topsoil.

Photos

Application process and soil testing

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/14/2006

Went in on Wednesday to have the planning dept look over our plans. I didn't review the finalized plans from the architect prior to submission and I paid the price for it. They were incomplete in some areas, too complete in other areas and the attention to detail was missing. For example - they specifically asked for dashed lines to mark setbacks, my plans had them in solid lines. Little things - but they added up to a fairly annoyed planning dept. member. From the notes I took, I came up with 3.5 pages of bullets items that needed to be fixed before we re-submit the plans.

For my city at least, they tell you exactly what they want - spend the time to make sure you get them exactly what they want. Don't expect others to be detail-oriented enough to get it all right the first time - I found it's up to you to take responsibility for every deliverable (need to earn your 20% O-B price savings :) I've spent an additional 15 hours working on cleaning up the application - making sure, double-sure, and triple-sure that I have everything nailed down perfectly before I take it back to the planning commission. The architect will have the updated plans by Monday, but I'll still need to review (and I imagine update) before going back to the city - I hope to have this done by next Tuesday or Wednesday...

The soil team is coming back out on Saturday for their third visit (see previous posts for pics of previous visits.) I believe this time they will be drilling some 50' holes by hand auger in places where the truck couldn't go. This includes the hillside in back where we are intending to put a massive new deck... I'm praying for bedrock in that area!

Minor update

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/6/2006 3:33:12 PM

So I got my first comment on this journal so I guess that means that at least one person read it!  Given how unorganized the thoughts are I feel like I should apologize to my one reader :)  Any recommendations on how I should structure this journal for easier reading would be great.  My initial idea was to organize it like I organize my job folder - a tab (or journal entry) for each functional area - I could then just keep adding to each journal entry as things came up so when you went to say the "survey" tab, you could see everything that happend with the surveyor.  The other option is to do it by date - that way you could see everything that happened this week as opposed to last week... decisions decisions...any comments would be helpful.

For a quick update on the project (in chronological format - I'll move these comments to the appropriate journal entry if we decide to go with the functional area format)...

1. On the building height - I've talked with the city and the surveyor - I think I know what needs to get done on this key roadblock.  I'm heading to the city again tonight to confirm - as mentioned earlier in regards to the planning department, ask early ask often.  Personally working through this particular issue is the only way I'm going to be able to get my roofline at 34' rather than the 25' that my neighbors are stuck with.  Architect couldn't do it, surveyor couldn't do it - only by sitting down and talking with the city on a personal level was I able to find the leverage necessary to work through the complex city rules (hopefully).

2. Financing - Getting the money doesn't appear to be an issue - getting a fixed 30 year loan however, is a problem.  I've been offered fixed 18 month construction loan @ 6-8%, and either nothing after that (need to find a permanent loan at that time) or a 5 year arm.  I'd really like that 30 year fixed, although I may have to be flexible on this...  I've heard good things about IndyMac, so I'm going to try and sit down with them this weekend...

3. It finally stopped raining (who said SUNNY southern california??) so the soil guy is coming out this Saturday to do some more serious drilling.  I'll take a bunch of pictures also and finally post so people can see the site...

Posted by Cara in Orlando, FL on 4/6/2006 Cara's Forum Posts: 38 Journal Entries: 136 Interview Answers: 59 Average Forum Rating: 4.04 My Construction Website Image from Cara's blog 4/6/2006

I wasn't the first person to comment but I happened upon your journal, and I can tell you, I am glad I laid out our journal the way you are currently doing it (in each entry I go through the list of trades). It's nice to be able to reference back and see when you last dealt with which sub and what was said. I have a really bad memory, so it helps with that, too :) Also, we are using IndyMac and are probably about two weeks from closing. So far we are very pleased. We called an IndyMac guy that was recommended by another OB on this site, and our rep has been beyond helpful. Looking forward to reading the rest of your journal! Cara

Financing

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/4/2006 3:41:44 PM

Financing a house like this is an interesting thing...

Total loan amount = approx 1.8M

Existing loan amount = 460k

Cash out of pocket that we have to spend = approx 200k

Money to spend on the house = approx 1.5M

I have a corporate job and my wife owns her own dental practice.  We would like to do stated income...for the reasons that small business owners typically like to do stated income.

Given that we can only write off 1.1M of mortgage interest, I think ideally I would like a 30 year fixed for 1.1M and a 700k second either fixed or 5 year ARM.  Given our cash flow I would expect to pay off the second in the 5-7 year timeframe.

I would prefer not to have a GC on the job since this will add approx 200k to the cost of the house.  I am comfortable working with my architect and my mentor who is nearly complete building a house almost identical to mine.  I expect that I'll need a site supervisor which I have budgeted at $50/hour 20 hours a week.

Estimated cost of the house = $150/foot or 1.5M.  As an interesting note - my mentor building basically the same house got quoted 300-400/foot and he ended up in the $150/foot range doing exactly what I'm planning on doing.  He's even already done most of my homework on getting the subs to bid given how similar our houses are :)  Doing the math a conservative estimate for this high end custom home will be in the mid to high 3M range.  Even with a 1.8M mortgage, there is still plenty of room to account for a softening market and still have lots of equity left over.

The problem that I've run into on the loan is this - for stated income at this amount, some companies want to do a 5 year arm for the whole amount.  Unfortunately I'm fairly risk adverse when it comes to something like losing my house so I'm going to keep pushing for the loan arrangement mentioned above.

Creating a cost sheet has been interesting.  I started with an online excel template (which I probably got at this site).  I then spent several hours adding everything that I could possibly think of to expand it out.  I then categorized all the items.  To check myself, I ran it by my mentor so he could verify my costs and list of items.  I also got a cost sheet from another custom home builder in the area for a sort of similar home - all these things combined has allowed me to come up with a fairly detailed breakdown for the cost sheet - over 300 total items which I'm sure will expand to over 1000 items before I'm finished.  Every sink, faucet and door needs to be included otherwise you might leave something out and have to hit your contingency fund - never a good idea if you can avoid it - there will be enough real suprises.

I'd like to get the loan process going over the next month or so - if anyone knows a bank/broker that can help - please send them my way.

Posted by Matthias in Sunnyvale, CA on 4/6/2006 Matthias's Forum Posts: 0 Interview Answers: 1 Randomly Selected Image 4/6/2006	Hi Alan, sounds like a fine house that you are planning.
Posted by Matthias in Sunnyvale, CA on 4/6/2006 Matthias's Forum Posts: 0 Interview Answers: 1 Randomly Selected Image 4/6/2006	Would you sell your plans as a 'study set' to get ideas for a project in northern cal?
Posted by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/6/2006 Alan's Forum Posts: 3 Journal Entries: 25 Interview Answers: 66 Average Forum Rating: 3.67 Image from Alan's blog 4/6/2006	Sell my plans? You mean actually earn money rather than just spending it on this project all the time?? of course I'd be interested :)  You can email me directly at alanboval@hotmail.com.  Please put the words "home plan" in the subject line so I know its not junk mail.  Let me know what you're interested in (copy of the final set of drawings, initial elevations and floorplans, or ???) and what you think they're worth.  I'll need to get approval from my architect (that feels like the right thing to do) but I don't think that will be a problem.  Timing for final plans is the next few months as we get through the city.  I've got intial siteplans, floorplans and elevations on 11x17 paper now.  Eventually I also have drainage plans, landscape plans and a color rendering of the project...  Where are you in your dream home process?  Have the location picked out?  Design?

Plan Approval

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/4/2006 3:17:59 PM

Get to know the people who work in your city planning department.  In our city, people have waited for 2+ years and had to make dramatic changes to their plans before getting approval.  It doesn't have to be like this.  Get to know the people there, be nice, and ask for lots of help.  Getting questions answered early will save you time and aggravation in the long run (I havn't gotten submit yet, so we'll see how true this is in the future.)

Our city has very strict rules on building height - I did the legwork to find out exactly what they needed and now I have another change request for the surveyor to help me out with.  I believe that doing this kind of analysis will make the difference between my plans getting approved and having to make several changes to get them through.  Ask early and ask often.  I hope to have the surveyor work done late this week and submit next week (early April.)

Soil

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/4/2006 3:13:48 PM

Our city is on septic systems and for a house of this size, a septic replacement is required.  I got multiple bids for soil work - pick up the phone book and start calling.  prices were all in the 10k range for soil testing and percolation tests.  Since I know there will be many change requests for the soil engineer, I wanted to get someone who wouldn't stick me with high charges.  I got a referral from my architect and so far it's going fine.  Total costs including all changes shouldn't be over 10k although the work isn't complete yet.

Architect

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/4/2006 3:03:16 PM

The architect is the key resource when building a custom home.  I got 4 bids for an architect - 2 from local resources, 2 online - one full service, one minimal service.  The minimal service bid was for $8K - blueprints only from someone who would never see the plot or be involved in the construction.  Full service online was approx. $8/sq foot of finished space.  At this point we were thinking of 6,000 sq feet or $48K.  Local resources - I had one that made me feel uneasy and his full service price was $48K.  The last one (that I had gotten the referral for) started at $8/square foot - but I wanted a fixed price.  We ended up at $65K complete - this was to include the plans, all structural including numerous retaining walls, basement, driveway, drainage plans, landscape plans, energy calculations, etc. required for plan check.  While this sounds like a lot of money - I have found to this point that it is a great bargain.  I shudder to think of where I'd be had I gone with someone else. 

Working with the architect should be a give and take.  I had initial drawings going in, and we have spent approx 3 months getting the floorplan and elevations ready to submit to the city.  My mother (the designer) helped tremendously by looking over the floorplans and determining things like traffic patterns, furniture size and placement, room envelopes, light and noise concerns, etc.  I HIGHLY recommend getting a professional in this area as well.  They will point out things that you just know would have bugged you forever had you not fixed them in the plans.  Examples: I had a breakfast nook sticking out the side of the house - original size was 10x10, back side open to the kitchen - French doors on 2 sides - front was glass with city view.  Sounds decent - looked good on paper.  Now figure in your furniture - a 5-6' round table in the middle - this gives you about 2' on either side for someone to sit - not enough room - and those French doors? Forget about ever opening them - the traffic pattern just doesn't work.  We liked the nook but expanded it - 17x10 - French doors have 17' between them - now you have a 6' table and 5+' for chairs on each side - more than enough room to sit and have someone walk behind you.  There are MANY other examples like that where something looked good on paper, but would have been disastrous in practice.  Assuming you're building to live in - find an expert in this area - save your money elsewhere.

After much back and forth - we have come close to finalizing on a design - approx 1,600 sq ft basement, 4,075 first floor, 4,319 second floor, 800 attached garage.  Given this - you can see the value in a fixed bid - at $8/sq foot - I could have easily paid $15K+ more!

Initial Planning

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/4/2006 2:39:31 PM

We followed these steps in coming up with the initial ideas for the house.

1. Location - obvious that it needs to get done, but incredibly challenging, as it's one thing that you definately can't change about your house once it's done!  After much thinking we've decided to stay in our current location (see Background)

2. Determine how much money you can spend on the house - forget construction costs for now - figure out your monthly payment that you can make.  Remember to include Principle, interest, taxes and insurance.  Yes - they will revalue your house, so your taxes will go up.  For us the final number was 15k/month.  Once we had that number we could back into a total loan amount.  For us the number was about 1.7M based on conservative interest rates, etc.  Remember that you have to pay off your old loan so for us that meant 1.2M left to spend on the house itself.

3. Create the initial design.  Since we had an existing house that we lived in for 6 years, we had many ideas about what we liked and didn't like.  I spent approx 200 hours on sketches of my own - draw it out and then close your eyes and try to visualize walking through that part of the house.  Buy books with plans in them.  Get a tape measure and measure out existing rooms in your house so you have an idea of what it will actually look like.

4. Find an architect.  For a custom home, the architect is one of the key people on your project.  Going with the lowest price is NOT the best idea.  Since our city is fairly unique (and difficult to get plans approved), we decided to drive through the city to try and find a house close to what we wanted.  I figured that if it was built recently enough I could probably knock on the door and find out who the architect was.  As it turns out, we lucked out - there was a house that was under construction that was extremely close to the ideal we had come up with.  Amazingly, the builder of this house was doing an OB as well and had TONS of great information to share.  Since he's about a year ahead of me, he's paving the way - which will end up saving me time, money and heartache.  I would say that discovering this house and this OB is the single most important factor that (I hope) will lead to the success of my project.  I think first time OB's should keep their eye open for at least one key mentor like this that can help out.  The first referral I received from him was for an architect.

Now it was time to get serious about the project!

Background

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/4/2006 2:25:16 PM

Background:

Current house = 2100 square feet single story ranch style built in 1948.  Purchased in 2000 for 450k.  Current value about 900k, 600k land value (conservative).  460k owed on house (took 100k out to start a business).

Land = approx 1.08 acres on a ridgeline (slope on front of lot, flat pad on top, steep slope at rear of lot.)

Area = La Habra Heights, CA 90631 (southern california).  Area is all 1 acre+ lots, all custom homes.  Home prices approx 750k (for tear down) to 4M+

After contemplating for about a year whether to build new or sell and move, we decided to build a new home on the lot.

Construction experience: My mother worked as a designer for several years.  I worked doing general construction activities as a summer job when I was in school.  I have lots of experience working as a project manager (although not for home construction), so schedules, deadlines, and lining up subcontractors is nothing new to me.

Definition of OB - I don't intend to do any of the actual labor myself - I'll leave that to the skilled tradespeople.  Rather, I'll focus my time on doing the job that you would want your General Contractor to do - lining up the subcontractors, getting the best prices, making sure that everything is operating as it should be, taking care of issues as they come up, finding the right (and lowest price) materials for the job, etc.

Survey

Posted to 10000-sq-feet by Alan in La Habra Heights, CA on 4/4/2006

One of the first things your architect will ask for is a survey. This is where you want to start saving money. Get multiple bids - find someone that you're comfortable with. I got bids ranging from $3K-$7K for basically the same job. Some offered bells and whistles that I didn't need, and since they weren't adding to the quality of the house, I went with the lowest bid. Also - ask even the lowest bidder for a better price. I saved over $500 just for asking. Surveys can be done much cheaper than this, but mine is on a ridge line, so lots of measurements need to be taken.

Here's your first opportunity to save some money. The surveyor has to come and walk all over your property in order to plot the contours. Get out the trimmer and do some serious gardening before they come to do their bids. The easier the job is for them, the cheaper they are willing to do it for. 

April - The city bases building height on the average slope of the lot - this is called a slope calculation. Getting this done for my lot cost me an extra $600.