My husband and I have been planning our log home for over two years now, reading numerous books, articles, speaking with lots of people, etc., and your book is by far the best we have read. Pat and Norman West

Brian's Forum Posts: 3
Journal Entries: 5
Interview Answers: 242
Average Forum Rating: 3.00



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Some Final Pictures

Posted to Sowle-Family-House by Brian in South Burlington, VT on 4/29/2008

Well, we are almost ready to move in. This week we will be cleaning all the floors (lots of drywall dust) and starting to paint the walls. I hand-made each one of the headpieces for every doorway and closet in the entire house. Man, did it take longer than I thought! But everyone who has seen the interior trim has said it looks beautiful.

Photos

Posted by Dave in Richmond, CA on 4/30/2008 Dave's Forum Posts: 7 Average Forum Rating: 3.50 Randomly Selected Image 4/30/2008

The house looks really nice! Great work. How did the final cost compare to the $65 psf you were estimating back in summer 2007? Any more budget numbers? Estimates vs. actual? What was most surprising part in the process? Any other comments on the process? Much appreciated! Dave

Winter is coming

Posted to Sowle-Family-House by Brian in South Burlington, VT on 11/6/2007 1:56:42 PM

Well, we finally got the house completely dried in.   Sheetrock has been completed on the 2nd floor.

Boiler is going in tonight.   We have slowed down the building process because we haven't sold our current house yet.  Has anyone else run into this?  The Vermont market isn't as bad as the rest of the country.

Below is the latest pictures.

Photos

house dry in

Posted to Sowle-Family-House by Brian in South Burlington, VT on 9/2/2007 8:28:36 PM

Well, we finally got dried in last week.  The garage door company had some problems with sizing but everything came out all right.

Started running all the PEX tubing in the 1st and 2nd floor today.  Man, it's a tough job by yourself.  Next time I will hire a helper.

Electrical and DWV have been completed in the house.  In a couple of weeks the drywallers get here.

At  the half way point, we were in the $64 a square foot range but I hired out the siding/trim and that took our costs up to around $68 per foot.  Still not bad for the New England area.

Photos

Man, it's flying up!!

Posted to Sowle-Family-House by Brian in South Burlington, VT on 7/11/2007

Hey Everybody:

Well, progress on the new house has been continuing at a frenzied pace.  We broke ground on May 29th and within a little over a month we have a 3 car datached garage and the first floor of the house done.  I'm really surprised at how smooth everything has gone.  Here's a little tip for you new owner-builders!  Plan Plan and then spend another 200 hours planning some more.  It pays off in the end. 

At this pace we should be done in around 4-5 months.  And under budget!  It's coming in so far at $64 per foot.  The appraised value will be in the $150-160 per foot range.  Two more houses like this and no more mortgage!  YEHA!

Photos

Land View

Posted to Sowle-Family-House by Brian in South Burlington, VT on 5/28/2007

Hi Everybody:

Well, here are pictures of the land we just purchased in Vermont.  It's 10 acres of beautiful country.  Over the next 5 months we will be putting up a 3100 sq. ft. center hall colonial house and 5 car garage.  We should be breaking ground on Wednesday, May 30th. 

Brian

Photos

Posted by Rich in Irasburg, VT on 6/2/2007 Rich's Forum Posts: 0 Randomly Selected Image 6/2/2007	Nice view.  We are hoping to build in the North-East kingdom area of Vermont.  It's very beautiful even though the taxes are pretty scary. What are your plans to heat the house?  We are hoping to use radiant flooring with a wood stove as our backup.
Posted by Anonymous on 6/13/2007 6/13/2007	We will be using all radiant heat.  Even the 5 car garage will be radiant. Taxes are crazy here.  $8000 / year!