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Angela's Forum Posts: 24
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Posted to Angie-Mossy-Oak-Acres by Angela in Lake Helen, FL on 8/15/2006

I'm gonna try and post some pictures

Hope it works

Photos

The Longest Process of My Life

Posted to Angie-Mossy-Oak-Acres by Angela in Lake Helen, FL on 8/15/2006

I must say that this is the longest, most stressful process I have ever been through. We are not much further ahead than we were a month ago, but we are moving forward.

The engineer has been really great about keeping us updated. He has sent several images to us via e-mail and also sent us preliminary images in the mail for us to study and change if we wished. He did make an error on one of the first prints. He had turned our stairs around to come into our area in front of the kitchen instead of coming into our entry way that is open to the great room. At first it really bothered me for someone to have made such an error, but after much thought and conversation with my husband and sister I decided we were going to keep it that way. It works well for our plan. Other than that, we have added one window in the upstairs bathroom and changed the wall height of the basement, but nothing too extreme.

The biggest development is that we finally OWN the land - free and clear! Yay! The next stop was at the bank to start the whole loan process. It was pretty exciting. I think we have decided that if it works out for us we are going to go with a collateral/interest only loan for construction. First, we have to wait and see what the appraisal comes back at. We can only get 90% of the appraised value, so ... I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but land around here is selling for over $100,000 an acre, so we should be fine. The appraiser contacted us yesterday and it will be sometime this week that they will be out to take a picture. Will really wanted to be there for the appraisal, but we were told that all they do is come out and take a picture and do a comparative market analysis. 

AND we finally have an address! I really really wanted to name our easement, but I couldn't find anyone that knew how to handle that. It seems like when I want to get something done I have to call about 4 or 5 different places and no one I talk with usually knows what they are talking about! I try to be humorous about it instead of getting frustrated with it, but I ended up having to give in and get a "regular" street address. But hey, that step is done and now I don't have to use a parcel number or legal description when talking about our land.

Another exciting step is finally deciding on an insulation. We went with a great product that is very much like a structurally insulated panel. Really, it is exactly that. It is made by AlumaShield and is known to be used to make the large coolers that they use in fernery and floral businesses. It is structural, easy to assemble and provides great insulation. It was less than a third of the cost for any other brand SIP. I am pleased with our choice and relieved that we found something just as good as what we originally wanted to go with, with a much lower price tag.

So, we are still at the beginning of this long process and it seems like it has taken forever to get to this point. I'm hoping that once we get the loan and we start, things will move along quickly. I am really nervous. Even though I am excited and can't wait to have my OWN home that I designed and know inside out, I am still kind of scared. It's funny. I just want everything to go smoothly and I know at this point that there are no guarantees.

Next time I write, I will have good things to tell!

Slowly but surely

Posted to Angie-Mossy-Oak-Acres by Angela in Lake Helen, FL on 6/26/2006

Gosh - I can't believe it has been over 2 months since i've written anything. Little has happened over that period of time, but we have finally sent the plans to the engineer and we are 6 weeks away from being able to pull our permits. That is very good news considering that getting this far has been over a years worth of planning and researching and we're still not sure on all of the products we want to use.

The engineer has been wonderful. I feel like we picked the best guy for the job. He has been very helpful and informative and has put me totally at ease in my selection of an engineer. He will be emailing us with his progress each week until the 6 weeks are up.

We decided that ICF's are going to be too big of an expense. We had chosen PolySteel for a quote. The man I had spoke with was very nice and ALWAYS returned my emails or calls in a timely manner ... so far, one of the best at letting you know something when you need to know it. Also, PolySteel is the ONLY ICF company that can install the ICF below grade, which is what we needed for a basement. Unfortunately, the quote was over double what it will cost to use concrete block. While I still think that ICF are a good product & I would definitely recommend PolySteel, we really don't need the insulating (the ground is a great insulator), and I think the concrete block will work out just as well. We have spoken with a masonry person who has looked at our site and as soon as we have those plans back and permits pulled he's ready to get to work!How exciting!

We are still butting heads on the insulation. Icynene was recommended to me and after much research, I really liked the product. However, it was going to be more expensive than traditional fiberglass batting. That was OK with me. I would rather spend more and conserve energy. My husband has other ideas. We've looked into SIP's and their brother product, the stressed skin panel. That product has sparked our interest from the beginning, but it's just so darn expensive! At this point, my husband is thinking of using foil backed foam insulation. I'm still for the Icynene.

We have spoken with the excavating company we want to use and they have been very pleasant. We've also set up an appointment to have someone come and look at our pond. We would like to have it cleaned and dug out. The permit for the cleaning is only $100, while for the digging out it is a bit pricier. That might be something we will have to do later. We plan on having a boardwalk area out around the pond with a gazebo or fire tower. I can envision the peace and tranquility as we sit in our gazebo and watch the wildlife around us.

We've talked to several more people along the way ... and we're still doing some figuring on many things, but we're getting there. Slowly but surely.

Changing plans

Posted to Angie-Mossy-Oak-Acres by Angela in Lake Helen, FL on 4/19/2006 1:43:20 PM

I must be getting ahead of myself. Every time I think we're getting close to starting the actual ground breaking we're really still many months away. Why did I think this would be easy?

The realization has set in that while I really want to start building my house tomorrow, I am still only in the "planning & research phase" and have many decisions left to be made. While there are many knowledgeable people on this website who are more than happy to offer me advice, the decisions still rest on my shoulders. And with so many options out there - which one is right for me?

I thought I had this all planned out a year ago. How naive. There are so many things to consider when building and I am lost in a sea of information trying to fish out what appeals to me and sounds like something that is affordable,  practical and beneficial for my family. Just when I think I've set my hook and I'm reeling one in, I see a bigger fish out there .....

So I guess this could go on for a while, but I'm OK with that. I would rather take my time and learn everything there is to learn about every product out there. Then I will make informed decisions that we can live with. Until then I will stare longingly at my house plans.

Right now this is where we're at: We've located someone new to do our engineering. We've done this only because this guy has been recommended over and over again by several companies. Also, he has used hardware that we plan on using, but our architect doesn't know much about. Nothing is written in stone, so this too could change, but I think this is our best prospect yet.

Our idea to do a full basement has been tossed around, tossed in the trash and then put back on the table. It has got it's pros and cons. It would offer a lot of space, but we didn't really budget a bsmt. in. However, with all the talk of ICF's on here, I thought I should investigate that option. So far I have been told by one company that they could do a full basement 44X30X8 for $17000 turnkey. Thats not so bad. But we haven't yet made any decisions and we will probably look into a few more companies before we do.

Builders Risk Insurance. Turns out I may get a better deal than what I budgeted in. It is always exciting to learn I am going to save money.

It seems as though everywhere I go I try to make contacts. Do you know a good electrician, plumber, HVAC, GC (to use for consulting only) .... I have so many names and recommendations that I don't know how I could possibly talk to all of these people. But here and there I get some good advice and by talking to some people of the trades they are able to offer me ideas that I haven't thought of and have given me a general idea on what costs might be or directed me to change something in my plan because it really wouldn't work the way we had it.

One step at a time ... we're forging ahead and learning as we go. It's a great and stressful experience that I wouldn't want to pass up. I'm proud to say that I'm owner building my house. Most people pass this opportunity up because of lack of time and experience, but it's worth what you have to learn and all the extra time you have to put into it. I think the end result will be an amazingly beautiful home and it will feel awesome to know that I designed and built it myself.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

Posted to Angie-Mossy-Oak-Acres by Angela in Lake Helen, FL on 3/27/2006

Tomorrow we are supposed to have someone come and give us an estimate for doing our foundation work. We really wanted to put in a partial basement, because where we have the house to be placed has a gentle slope and on one end we're going to have it up on 6 1/2 ft. piers so a basement would fit perfectly. Originally, we had it figured just for storage purposes... lawnmower, garden rakes - outside access only. Now that we've talked about it - why not put in a full basement? We have to figure out what that will run us - probably a lot more than I would like it to, but it would add a lot of square footage to the home. If we are going to do a basement might as well go all the way, right? So I guess I will have a better idea tomorrow.

Saturday we went and visited a family member of my husband's who is in the stucco business. He bought a house, but pretty much gutted it and remodeled the whole house - it looks great! He has a lot of contact with subs and has gotten to know some quite well and said he would give us some names and recommendations. Also, he can get us some materials at wholesale prices, so that's exciting.

There are still a lot of decisions to be made. Originally we had wanted to go with SIPs, but I'm not sure that is in our budget. I was thinking I would have to spend around $13,000 on them, but the more I research, I am not finding them that cheap. We don't really need them structurally, really only for insulation purposes, so maybe it would be a waste of money anyway. I guess that is my goal for this week: Figure out what we will use to dry-in and insulate our house. I didn't realize how complex this would be.

When we initially decided to do this, I thought it would go like this: Get house plans drawn up, get some bids from subs for foundation, electrical, and plumbing and get on my working gloves and get to work. I went to Lowe's and priced light fixtures, faucets, tubs and showers, tile, doors, ceiling fans, etc. I created a budget of $100K. I thought it would be, not easy, but not as complex as it really is. I am learning a lot as I go. Sometimes I feel like I am not ready for this and we are in way over our heads, but after being on here - reading and talking to people who are doing this or have already done this I know I can do it. I think my budget is realistic. I might go over a little - especially if we do a basement, but that's OK. In the end, my house will be worth a lot more than it cost us to build.

Hopefully I will have some news tomorrow.

Snails Pace

Posted to Angie-Mossy-Oak-Acres by Angela in Lake Helen, FL on 3/23/2006 2:14:12 PM

Lack of experience has caught up with me. It seems as though we might have to get our plans redrawn - At least that is what one of the several engineers has told me that I sent our plans to. He says he can't engineer a frame around my plans rather he needs to engineer our plans to suit our frame. That makes sense, but that is why we went to an architect that was experienced in the type of home we are building. Basically, it seems as though we have to start over. I am still waiting to see what the other engineer has to say and I am also going to go back and talk with our architect to see if he can engineer our plans. I feel like everything is moving at a snails pace.

Other than that ..... We still have about an acre and a half of wetlands that we want to clear. We tried to walk the property line in waders, but we couldn't make it all the way back to the far corner because of some trees that have fallen down. I really can't wait until we are able to see the whole piece of property. It is so beautiful out there! There are live oaks and bay trees - cypress and magnolias - and it is really peaceful. We have turkeys and deer. My son found a grass snake last weekend and told me it was " The best day of his life ". My children love going to the "property". We still need to name our easement. We are thinking about naming it WILLIAM WAY since my great grandfather, my grandfather, my father, my husband & my son are all named William AND the property was originally owned by my great grandfather before being sold out of the family and now it is back in the family . I also like Mossy Oak Acres. We have also thought of Magnolia Manor. Decisions Decisions ....

We have not made any decisions yet on insulation. We did get a quote for our roofing materials and it was something I could live with. We are thinking about going ahead and building a barn now for storage purposes, but who knows? This weekend we are going to talk to someone about getting some concrete block wholesale. We need a lot of it for our foundation, however I will not know exactly how much until I get my plans engineered .......... Oh what a long road I have ahead of me!!!

The Beginning

Posted to Angie-Mossy-Oak-Acres by Angela in Lake Helen, FL on 3/14/2006 12:45:40 PM

Wow! So much to do but I don't really know where to start. It already seems like it has been a forever process. We had plans drawn up last June - not engineered, just preliminary plans. That was a small fortune within itself. I don't have any idea yet what they will cost to engineer.

For the past 4 months we have been tied up in litigation over our property. Thank God it is almost over. We have reached the safety zone. It should be in our name within two months. We will have some major equity!

 We have had some of our land cleared. That was exciting. We have about an acre and a half of wetlands that we need to clear. I think we will fill in some and dig out a pond. Not sure yet.

We aren't sure where we are on financing. My husband changed jobs about 8 months ago. Now he's part owner in a sawmill business and he does contracting work on the railroad. We make out OK, but the connections are great!

I have faith that everything will progress in time. I only hope that it doesn't take forever. This is really exciting. It will be our first home. I can't wait!!! 2600 square foot TIMBERFRAME - I designed myself ( but paid an architect a small fortune to draw it up for me ) - I think we will have a real show piece when this house is complete!