The OwnerBuilderBook.com web site is one of my favorite resources. Jerome from Durham, NC

Update 03/20/2008 - Plan Review, Budgeting Talking to Contractors, Looking at Kitchen Appliances

Posted to AirparkRemodel by Ross in Hillsboro, OR on 3/20/2008 11:09:47 PM

    Finally received plans from my Architect (Michael Lewellan in Portland)  on February 12th and ran them to Washington county.  The preliminary plans review fee was around $590 and should be 4-6 weeks.  I should hear from them soon the word is that Washington county is one of the tougher counties for permits... so we shall see how this goes.
I also ran a set to the fire department for approval of a fire wall.   Our combined square footage of building, garage and airplane hangar will exceed 3000 square feet, and we are on a well, so they may require water storage and a sprinkler system.  Our Architect thinks a 1 hour fire wall between the hangar and the house will do, and my initial phone calls with the Fire Inspector seemed to concur, but that was weeks ago.  I need to talk with him and make sure things were approved.
    So far the most difficult task is project management and forcing myself to do the phone calls to line up subcontractors.  I have had terrific success with getting fast turnaround on materials bids with spreadsheets called "take-offs" which is the term used by the trade to refer to the estimates or in my case hopefully accurate materials requirements for beams, joists, plywood.  Some of the materials vendors have called now that my permit application showed up on the web. 
   In our case so far, the Architect's and the first Generals cost-estimates are very rough since we have no detailed specifications, but both are in the stratosphere for us $450-500K which is over our $200-300K budget for the remodel.  Using the Owner Builder book we are hoping to get the best informationn on costs before we start slashing our plans.  Architects can be great at design, but it seems they loose sight of the budget.  On the other hand, our first architect was good to budget, but bad on creativity and listening to what we wanted.
   Since we have 2000+ square feet of flat roof to view from the planned second story room addition, the architect suggested a green (live plants) roof.  How much? was the question... oh an additional $7.00-9.00 per square foot.  Hmmm OK.  But we learn that the structural engineer added the weight of snow-load, green roof (soil,water), and a live load of people for a total load of 165 pounds per square foot.  This meant that all the portions of our home which we didn't want to remodel (garage, shop) get reinforcing joists, beams posts, and concrete piers... UGH!   So this is being re-designed OUT of the plans for cost reasons.  Some of the glued laminate beams spanning the 45' hangar are $3500 each (pressure treated)... the beams are custom made someplace in Oregon, then trucked on a semi trailer to a pressure treatment plant, then to the job site.  I need 4 of these babys ... so $12K just in big beams.  The new beams should be smaller, but may still be too large. 
    So far we have spent perhaps 13K on Architecture/Design work.  Much of that was spent prior to purchasing the owner builder book. The first 3K on the first architect to get as-built drawings and some initial design ideas she was great, but we had problems getting a walk in closet to appear on any sketches... so we found the new guy who was wonderful, but slow, and not as detailed oriented as I would like.  He is more $$$ so I'm torn between thinking I'm getting a great deal for his time, or thinking I over did things in choosing him.   We knew up front from discussions that Architectural design costs would be 8-10% of our estimated budget of $200-300K.  But last year in March '07 when the budget came in at $531K, we started thinking the architect wanted 10% of that amount, which was 25% of our initial construction budget... buyer beware.  I don't think this is done on purpose... it seems more that the people who can really afford an architect, don't care about the costs... and pay it.  From my research Frank Lloyd Wright was similar, very creative, and always over budget and late.
    In retrospect, we could have spent the first 3K on demolition of the entire house, and 2K on house plans, and saved 8K.  But where is the fun in that?
   Now we are deep into budgeting.  We have materials quotes for lumber which look reasonable.  And are looking at windows.  The design has 8 double french doors.  Those babies are Expensive $$  Vetter windows are $2800 EA which is what the Architect specified.  The local Vetter window rep can just substitute standard (possibly non Vetter) all wood double french doors for $1500.
So in areas where we don't get direct driving rain and are sheltered by a roof, we will go that route.  Sliding doors are even cheaper.
I have priced Anderson doors and windows, you can get list pricing from the Anderson website...very tedious, but do-able.
Generally based on list pricing the Anderson 200 series windows are 25% cheaper than the same 400 series window.  And they share the same base part number (at least from the website data.)
   Also... for French doors that open outward.. these are $$$ more than French doors that open inward.  There are security issues (hinges on the outside, so more expensive), and rain/water control issues with the seal.  We have CertainTeed vinyl windows and a open-out CertainTeed Fiberglass double French door that we had installed in our current house.  It has the internal shade and looks fine for this house, but for the new house we are hoping to spring for wooden doors.  The CertainTeed double french door was about $1300 or so if I recall installed (this is a fuzzy recollection).  
    We have also looked into Kitchen cabinets and appliances.  We are looking at the Kenmore Pro-Line, primarily because Kenmore has the best deal on an electric induction cooktop, and the dual oven is well priced and has KNOBS.  We spent a lot of time in a nice local appliance store (Standard TV and Appliance in Beaverton OR)... most of the mid-high range ovens have touch panels.  I work with computers all the time, and when I get home, I don't want to fuss with a touch pad that gives me no tactile feedback... we looked for KNOBS.  Fisher-Paykel and Sears have the best knobs on the ovens... that was our take on this.
    The other activity... I worked with PGE (Portland General and Electric) to arrange relocation of my 200Amp electrical service to underground.  PGE has a great ESR (Electric Service Requirements) PDF file that discusses how to go about digging a trench.  I rented heavy equipment, and we have a web Album (private) Picasa that show the fun of renting a backhoe (first time), then later renting a front end loader (first time), having that break, and driving a BIG front end loader (first time)... it's amazing what the rental company would let me play with... total Tonka Toy Fest.  About $230 for the backhoe, including delivery/pick-up and replacement of fuel ($30) that I didn't top off.  The loader was about $150.     The bids I had for excavation were at $2500, so I had way more fun for $500.  I probably could have gotten lower bids for excavation, but where is the fun in that?
      PGE approved the trench, and we filled it in.  One contractor mentioned that for a house as big as we are planning, we probably should have gone for a 400A service.   I'm going to pretend that as an Electrical engineer I can manage this issue, but basicly he was 100% right, I failed to do my homework here.... guess what, moving to 400A means re-digging the trench as that requires 2 seperate 3" conduits... .so I think I will be happy with 200A.  FineHomebuilding.com has a great site, with info on how to calculate your amperage.  I should have reviewed this.  Actually I think I will be OK, but if I choose point-of-use water heat for both hot water and hydronic heat boiler... I could be at or close to the 200A panels limits.  So this may force the use of propane for heat.
     I'm going to have some electricians come out for bids, and can chat with them on this.

Photos

The grass runway in this photograph is shared by 15 homes... third from the far end of the runway is where this remodel project is ongoing.

Just bought the book

Posted to AirparkRemodel by Ross in Hillsboro, OR on 8/3/2007

Hello!
  Love the book (Still reading it).  We are in the early phases of a near full tear down remodel of a 1966 "rambler" modern style house based on a grass airstrip in the Portland OR metro area.
Working with an architect the last six months we have beautiful plans. (Three stories), but the estimated cost for a turnkey build is $531,000.  We are hoping to get as much done as possible for around $350,000-400,000. 
  I found this home last year when my airplane was at my mechanics for the annual inspection. Unfortunatly it is rather dark and dreary, other than having this really nifty runway thingy in the back yard, there isn't much to say about it, other than it is "interesting".

Our addition involves rotating the airplane hangar (35x40 roughly) so you don't have to taxi the airplane onto the patio (nearly into the kitchen window) to get it into the hangar. And we are adding a second floor master suite, with bathroom and laundry room, and a small 3rd floor "70sq ft crows nest.  At least that's the wish list.

Photos

Ross in Hillsboro, OR 3 forum posts and 2 journal entries and 62 interview answers Send Private Message My Construction Website 3/20/2008	Had a reference from Five Star Construction in Banks, Greg the owner looked over our project and didn't think it could be built for the budget we have in mind.  Thats not a surprise for us.  Generally if we had the money we would consider using FiveStar.  They have built some other projects in the area and have a website Google for FiveStar Construction.
S.A. in Grass Valley, CA 2 forum posts and 1 interview answer Send Private Message 11/18/2007	Hope you'll keep posting as your project progresses. Pass along any tips using local subcontractors. We hope to benefit from your successes. We are in the design phase to build a home in Forest Grove. We know very little about building and will appreciate any help you pass along.                                                steve and laura

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