These forums are a tremendous resource as my wife and I are about to plunge into our first owner-build. Scott in Lacombe, LA

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Paint, Cabinets, and the rest

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 3/22/2009 9:20:33 PM

Just putting the finishing touches on the apartment.

Photos

7-17-2007	7-17-2007	7-17-2007
7-17-2007	7-22-2007	7-22-2007
7-22-2007

Here we go again... two years later!

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 3/22/2009

It's been about two years since we moved out here. We are ready to get out of this RV and back into a real house. So, here we go again!

Photos

Here's where our house will be... 3-10-2009	Another shot of where the house will be. 3-10-2009	Finally broke ground!!! 3-11-2009
Three-foot slope from one corner to the other. 3-11-2009	We got our traditional four-day rainstorm the day after we broke ground. 3-12-2009	Our first dump truck load of select fill. 3-17-2009
First two loads. 3-17-2009	We're gonna need A LOT more! 3-17-2009	Five more loads. 3-19-2009
It doesn't seem to go far when it's spread out. 3-19-2009	Eleven more loads... 3-20-2009	Jason hard at it. 3-21-2009
3-21-2009	18 dump truck loads later and the pad is just about level. Now we can start to build it up for the slab! 3-21-2009	18 MORE dump truck loads of select fill and I think we have a nice pad ready for concrete. 3-23-2009
3-23-2009	3-23-2009	This picture really shows how much the pad has been built-up. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 3-23-2009

Insulation and Sheetrock

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 2/20/2009 8:40:34 PM

Insulated every wall to help with sound deadening.

Photos

7-4-2007	7-4-2007	7-4-2007
7-4-2007	7-4-2007	7-4-2007
7-4-2007	7-4-2007	7-4-2007
7-4-2007	7-11-2007	7-11-2007
7-11-2007
7-11-2007	7-11-2007

Driveway

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 1/4/2009 10:42:23 PM

Finally the rain stopped & the ground dried enough to allow concrete trucks to drive on it... Reset the forms & rebar, put the sand back that had washed away & then - Aaahhhh - Solid concrete! Soooo nice!

Photos

7-11-2007	7-11-2007	7-13-2007
7-11-2007	7-13-2007

Waiting for concrete

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 1/4/2009 12:02:10 PM

At 4:00 AM the morning we were going to pour concrete for our driveway I was awakened by thunder... The rainstorm that followed washed away most of the sand & some of the forms. The rain lasted for weeks! Almost exactly one month after the rain started, we were finally able to pour our driveway. After walking through the forms & rebar in mud boots for a month, we were ecstatic! Even though she didn't say so, I have to say it was pretty funny to see my wife walking to her truck to go to work in a dress & mud boots...

Photos

7-4-07	7-4-2007	7-4-2007
7-4-2007	7-4-2007

Septic System

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 1/1/2009 8:32:56 PM

The septic system was more than I wanted to tackle, so I hired a plumber (family friend) to do it. To say the least, it was not a good experience... It rained a lot. The person I dealt with mostly was actually a distant cousin (the owner) he was just an A**. The biggest problem was getting them to finish the job. It turned out in the end they were out here finishing the job the day after we moved in.

The system actually works fine. I just chose the wrong contractor.

I just try to write it off in my mind as lessons learned.

Photos

5-29-2007	5-29-2007	5-29-2007
5-29-2007	5-29-2007	5-29-2007
5-29-2007	5-29-2007

Stained Concrete floor

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 12/31/2008 10:03:10 PM

After we poured the slab, we scored grout lines and came back after the framing to stain the floors. The problem I encountered is that I bought the wrong product. I purchased something that was more like paint rather than stain. IT LOOKED TERRIBLE!! It apparently was good paint though, it was pure Hell getting that stuff off the floor. I ended up having to sandblast the entire floor to remove the stuff.

After that learning curve... I found what I actually needed. We used H&C Acid Concrete Stain. WOW, what a difference! After the stain we put two coats of sealer. The floors turned out really nice.

Photos

4-2-2007 The mess-up...	4-2-2007 mess!	4-2-2007 Mess!
4-2-2007 Mess!	4-24-2007 Starting over with the right stuff...	4-25-2007
4-27-2007	4-27-2007	4-27-2007
4-27-2007

Back to the 40'x50' Building

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 12/31/2008 8:58:21 PM

We're taking a break from the 30'x40' building & working on getting the 40'x50' building weathertight. We have someone interested in buying our house so we may be living in the building soon...

Photos

2-17-2007	3-31-2007 It rained alot!	3-31-2007 It rained a whole lot!
2-17-2007	2-17-2007	3-9-2007
3-9-2007	3-17-2007	3-19-2007
3-19-2007	3-19-2007	3-16-2007
3-27-2007	3-25-2007	3-27-2007
3-27-2007 Framed a small bathroom for the 40' x 50' building

Framing the apartment in the 30x40 building

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 12/19/2008

The apartment in the 30x40 steel building is 810 sq ft. The only two things I hired out were the electrical, and the tape, bed & texture. (Tape, bed & texture is truly an art form!)

Photos

3-23-2007	2-13-2007	2-13-2007
2-13-2007	2-17-2007	2-25-2007
2-26-2007	2-26-2007	2-26-2007
2-26-2007	2-26-2007	3-19-2007
3-19-2007	3-23-2007	3-23-2007
3-23-2007	3-23-2007	3-23-2007

Lost & Found Pictures

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 12/15/2008

I have taken pictures of the progress we made over time. I downloaded them on my PC and I thought I had backed them up. We bought a laptop and it became our primary computer. So, I wanted to clean out the PC so the kids can use it. Well, I formatted the hard drive thinking that I had backed-up everything. I did, everything but the construction pictures... After I quit being so sick at my stomach. I found a software program that was able to retrieve the photos from my formatted hard drive. I was ecstatic! That was also kinda scary knowing when you delete or format you don't really get rid of things... Anyway, I was able to get my pictures back.

Here is what we accomplished in a years time. From dirt to two finished steel buildings. One building has a full apartment in it with garage. Me, my wife and a couple friends on occasion.

Oh, also a lot of Advil!

Photos

12-3-2006	12-7-2006	12-7-2006
12-10-2006 I just finished our front gate	12-10-2006 30x40 building	12-10-2006 I just finished our gate by the house
12-10-2006	12-10-2006	12-12-2006
12-12-2006	12-12-2006	12-22-2006 Supervisors!!
12-30-2006	12-31-2006	12-31-2006
12-31-2006	12-31-2006	1-27-2007
1-1-2007	1-1-2007	1-1-2007
1-7-2007 Scored "grout" lines for stained concrete floor	1-7-2007 Another angle - "grout" lines	1-7-2007 Started on the 40x50 building
1-7-2007	1-27-2007	1-27-2007
1-27-2007	2-10-2007 Skunk crossing	2-10-2007 Only passing through!
2-17-2007	2-17-2007	2-17-2007
7-13-2007	7-13-2007	9-24-2007
9-24-2007	9-24-2007	9-24-2007

Catching-up

Posted to Back-Home-In-Crisp by Bob in Ennis, TX on 11/11/2008 10:37:47 PM

I just found this website. It looks to be exactly what I've been looking for. There are many like-minded people here who love doing things for themselves.

I've been working on my project for about three years now. It's a lot of hard work but, I'm proud of what I have accomplished so far.

Hmm... It all started with rough pasture land and Mesquite trees...

More to come...

Photos

Looking from the main road	Looking back to the main road	My first pile of dirt for the drive
Added lots of dirt and plowed it into a big row	View back to the main road	My first test drive
Then it rained	My ditches drained well