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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 8/26/2009
After 7 weeks we have the first round of floorplans from the designer. I don't think he was listening, and I cannot imagine it took him 7 weeks to produce this. I could do better myself- and probably will.
We are planning a 4,000 +/- sq. ft. home. We need three kids bedrooms, playroom, and two master suites (my Mom is going to live with us). We told him we wanted an open floorplan kitchen/nook, family room, dining room, office and laundry room. I gave him a half dozen floorplans that we liked but would need some changes, gave him approximate room sizes that are flexible and also gave him some details, such as we want a fireplace in the family room and a double door front entry... and we showed him the light fixture for the foyer. I even gave him the complete layout for the master bath.
Somehow, this is an extremely hard setup, because this floorplan is NOTHING like what we showed him and talked about. The entryway is divided into two atriums that are open at the top making the roof look like a fish bowl and the perfect setup for flooding! You have to walk through the playroom to get to any kids' room, and the door to that is IN the kitchen. The bathroom I gave him was not used and a boring, standard bathroom was put in its place. The garage door is even on the wrong side!
I am a little upset that for $5,000 it looks like I am going to have to design my own floorplan and then he can add the structural components to my drawings. I don't want to be "sold" on a house he drew, I want to build MY house!
Okay... I'm calmer now...
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 8/14/2009
Hi everyone -
Not a lot has been going on except dreaming and worrying. The designer is still working on the preliminary drawings, and we have talked with him a few times on some ideas he had. He provided us with the mock drawings and is working on the site plan, so we can change the zone use for the property from single family to family farm.
In the meantime, my worries center around whether I just bought $5,000 worth of building plans for a house I cannot afford to build, which would leave me with a $5,000 wall hanging! We are banking on the O-B route saving us enough to make this happen.
In the meantime, I have found it amazing the things you notice when you are planning a build. I just realized that we have at least one truss company, at least three cabinet shops, two granite-countertop stores, and a stonework place between the house and work. Who knew?! I just paid any attention before but certainly good to know now!
I'll write back soon. Hope your projects are all going well!
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 7/13/2009
So we met with the designer on Saturday and it was fantastic! He arrived early to the appointment and when we asked how to begin, his answer wasn't "write me a check."
He reviewed all of our cut-out floorplan ideas, looked through our scrapbook of ideas, took all our grid-paper drawings, and asked some really great questions! For example, the front of our house faces east and the back faces west - he had some concerns and some ideas about all the sunlight exposure and the heat it would bring in.
We talked about exterior wall construction, our existing well, and whether it is adequate for the new house, and many other details I really had not thought too deeply about.
We are happy with our designer choice. I sure hope it stays that way! He says he will have a floorplan sketch in a couple of weeks with some alternative kitchen layout, etc. to choose from. Once we settle on some of those things, we will meet with him to play on the computer and see what some different options will look like on his 3D system. Very cool. After that, it will take 4-6 weeks to finalize the prelims. It is at that point that we need to carefully review all of choices, and details. Once we release the prelims, he will begin adding in the structural requirements, etc.
We are hoping to have final stamped plans around October so we can stop guessing at what our cost to build will be and start taking some real bids!
Oh, and I wrote that check without hesitation!
Very exciting stuff.
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 7/8/2009
The designer is coming to the house on Saturday to go over the plans for our "dream house". The scrapbook is basically complete, so he should have a pretty good idea where we are going with this project. It is time to write that first big check - the one that basically commits us to the project! I have to give him a deposit of $1,500.
On another note, we went to IKEA to check some things out. They have a lot of great ideas, although I am not sure I will buy from them. We took pictures and measured rooms. It was actually a lot of fun.
I'll let you all know how the designer appointment goes. I'm excited!
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 6/29/2009
We are scheduled to meet with the designer (Jason) on Saturday, July 11, 2009. Between now and then we will be putting together a scrapbook of floor plans we like, exterior designs we like, and some of the details of the interior. It is going pretty well. Having gone to the home show last weekend, we have a small mountain of stuff to wade through. It has actually been fun to look at everything.
So, the scrapbook assembly has begun. I'll let you know what happens after we meet with Jason.
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 6/24/2009
I have spoken to several designers, and have discovered that too many of them only have a limited idea of what they are talking about! I think we found a designer that we are comfortable with, and are in the "haggling" process right now.
Things are so tight right now, people are willing to wheel and deal, but I don't want to "low-ball" him to the point he is unhappy that he took the bid.
We are planning to build a 4,000 sq. ft. total footprint house and I am countering his bid of $5,100 with $4,650 which includes full plans, site plans, engineer stamp and four copies (three stamped and sealed for the county) and one reproducable set for us.
I calculated it at $1/sq. ft. less the porch and patio area, as they are not living space.
Waiting on his reply...
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 6/18/2009
So I have started the process to find out just where we sit with the whole debt-to-income ratio, the equity in the property as compared to the amount we need to build- plus the payoff of the existing mortgage and the credit score requirements. While it appears that we are in fair shape, I have been advised by my bank that things change almost every day, and although they currently require a 700 credit score and a 75% LTV for a construction loan, that may change by the time we are ready to go.
I wish I had rock solid answers, but it seems we are going to have to spend the money and put the time in before we will ever know if all our plans are even possible.
I'm still dreaming!
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 6/16/2009
The picture is starting to come together - with a few holes...
While we are in the design phase, I am also researching the construction loan process. The difference between lenders is tremendous. Since we are about a year away from ground-breaking and the current economy is driving the lenders right now, we have decided to focus on increasing our credit score as high as we can get it over the next year while we continue to forge ahead as O-B's.
I found a draftsman yesterday who quoted $1/sq. ft. for drawing up our plans and included two sealed sets for the county, and two for us. The only thing not included was the site plan, and he charges $200 for that. I like the guy and it appears he went to high school with my husband some-many odd-years ago! BUT, we are going to stick to the rules and get at least three bids on every aspect of the project and check out everyone we are considering using. So although I liked the guy - he has to pass muster!
In the meantime, I have calmed down a little and started realizing that there are major construction decisions that have to be made before the designer can even begin- like what will the walls be made of! Being in Florida, we are considering solid wall construction and I have discovered that there are at least two types of walls done that way. So- more homework!
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 6/15/2009
The more homework I do - the more homework I have to do! Like I said in the last post, I decided to make sure the stock plans from online would cut the mustard in Florida. Guess what? They won't. From what I have learned, Florida has one of the most strict building codes, and in Hillsborough County the plans must be stamped by an engineer. So, I went shopping for a draftsman, architect, structural engineer, etc. I have only spoken with one company so far and was told that if I bought the CAD file for the house we selected, they would have to bring it to code, make the somewhat minor modification we have specified, and then review it structurally - altogether including plans, it could cost over $7,000. It was also suggested that I just allow them to custom design my house for $6,000. These numbers just seem a little high, so I am going to keep looking.
In the meantime, I haven't heard from the county Plan Examiner that I left a message for last Thursday - lol - an omen of things to come...?
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 6/11/2009
After continuing to read posts here, it occurred to me that we should not have the website company that we plan to purchase our plans from, make changes to them. It appears it would be a waste of money because I still need to have them reviewed by a structural engineer to make sure they meet Florida codes. I am assuming this is one mistakes that has been avoided- yeah me!
I have been doing some homework on the best way to get plans modified and approved. In my case, it appears having a draftsman make my minor changes then passing them off to a structural engineer would be the most cost-effective. I have put a call into the County to speak with a residential plans examiner so I can "pick her brain." In the meantime, the call into the County yielded another question- what about impact fees? In my mind I had that since we already live on the property that they would not be as much as if we just bought the place. The well and the septic are already here so what is the impact at this point? I have more calls to make.
Once I talk with the examiner, I can be better informed as to what a draftsman will do, or if I will need an archtect. I'll keep you posted.
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Posted to Massive-Undertaking by Donna in Wimauma, FL
on 6/10/2009
Hello everyone! Wow, what a site! I have read, and read, and then read some more! You all are an inspiration and an incredible wealth of information!
So, please allow me to introduce you to my family. My name is Donna and my husband is Ronnie. We have four kids all together, but one is grown and out of the house (he turns 19 next week!) Then we have Matthew who is 8, Ashley who is four and Donnie, who just turned 8 months! Plus, my Mom, Lee.
Well, one day while sitting around the kitchen table, my Mom had this wonderful idea, "...Why don't we build a house together here?..." My Mom owns just under 9 acres in southern Hillsborough County. She has a double-wide trailer on it in which we are all currently living (a whole topic in and of itself.) Anyway, we gave it some thought, jotted down some ideas, and generally kicked it around for a while. Since Mom and I generally like the same things (styles, colors, etc.), we all get along incredibly well, and Ronnie has been in construction all of his life, we decided it was not only a good idea, but that we would be an owner-builder!
Mom and I began in earnest. I spent two weeks researching house plans. We need a lot of space for three kids, and for Mom to have her own suite. Just as every floor plan was beginning to look the same, we came across this one. Out came the measuring tape so we could visualize the size of every room. The point is to have our blueprints modified exactly the way we want them before we buy them. Every inch of the floor plan was reviewed with a magnifying glass - literally! This is going to work perfectly! After reading some of the journals here, I am afraid that is the last time I am going to feel that way for at least a year!
We are at the point now of creating our sketches of the modifications we want so we can take bids on modifying our plans. Once that is determined I think the next step is to have them reviewed by a local architect for code compliance, and to get the stamp of approval so the county will accept them when we submit our permit application. (Are we really doing this???!)
So far, I am creating spreadsheets and reading everything I can so we can get a feel for how much money we are actually looking at and if this whole thing is really just a dream. We are not going to purchase the plans until the bid comes back from the site offering the plans.
I have already saved us money! I found the same house plans on another site for cheaper and they do modifications too, so we'll see what happens. After that, I plan to see if the modifications could be done by the same architect doing the review at a comparable cost.
Here we go!
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