Bye bye big city!
- Thread starter Texas82GP
- Start date
Sean and I went back out to the lot on Saturday after breakfast. The contractor is making good progress on getting things wrapped up out there. The bridge itself is essentially done. Here's a look from the west side, looking east, near the top of the hill....
A closer look...
We're pleased to see the steady progress. It looks to me like all they have left is to:
Sean and I were out there to mow the Kudzu with our new field and brush mower. It made short work of it. Here's Sean in action. This also gives you some before perspective....
After....
Before....
After.....
We should be able to keep up with it by just going out there every few months. Of course, when we live there, it will get weekly maintenance so I don't have any fear of being able to keep it beat down at this point.
Sean and I also tagged all the remaining trees while we were out there. I initially ordered 50 tags when we had the site underbrushed. I vastly underestimated how many trees we have, even after underbrushing. We tied 179 trees when we did the survey so Sean and I tagged the remaining 129 trees. Each tag is an aluminum disk with a distinct number stamped in it. The tag numbers will appear in the table of trees on the survey and will ultimately be used to identify which trees will be removed and which will stay when construction starts.
I mentioned in a previous post that we were coordinating with the Architect regarding some minor revisions we wanted to the house plans. He came back with a quote last week and it was a minor expense to make the revisions so Sean put a check in the mail yesterday to pay for the revisions and to buy the plans. We'll need to buy the detailed foundation plans a bit later, I assume after the Geotechnical soil testing but even that is not a great expense, so the house is picked out and we've paid for the plans.
The survey is about 50% done (office work). I'm planning on coming in on Friday and knocking it out (I planned to take the day off, I'll just be here working for myself rather than staying home). Once the survey is done, we'll
A closer look...
We're pleased to see the steady progress. It looks to me like all they have left is to:
- Finish the utility crossings of the creek (water, phone, fiber)
- install some storm sewer down the east side of the hill where the grade is too steep for an open ditch (erosion). The precast concrete manhole and junction boxes, and corrugated plastic pipe have been sitting onsite waiting for this work for some time.
- Dig out the low water crossing adjacent to the bridge
- Pave the roadway approaches on either side of the bridge
Sean and I were out there to mow the Kudzu with our new field and brush mower. It made short work of it. Here's Sean in action. This also gives you some before perspective....
After....
Before....
After.....
We should be able to keep up with it by just going out there every few months. Of course, when we live there, it will get weekly maintenance so I don't have any fear of being able to keep it beat down at this point.
Sean and I also tagged all the remaining trees while we were out there. I initially ordered 50 tags when we had the site underbrushed. I vastly underestimated how many trees we have, even after underbrushing. We tied 179 trees when we did the survey so Sean and I tagged the remaining 129 trees. Each tag is an aluminum disk with a distinct number stamped in it. The tag numbers will appear in the table of trees on the survey and will ultimately be used to identify which trees will be removed and which will stay when construction starts.
I mentioned in a previous post that we were coordinating with the Architect regarding some minor revisions we wanted to the house plans. He came back with a quote last week and it was a minor expense to make the revisions so Sean put a check in the mail yesterday to pay for the revisions and to buy the plans. We'll need to buy the detailed foundation plans a bit later, I assume after the Geotechnical soil testing but even that is not a great expense, so the house is picked out and we've paid for the plans.
The survey is about 50% done (office work). I'm planning on coming in on Friday and knocking it out (I planned to take the day off, I'll just be here working for myself rather than staying home). Once the survey is done, we'll
- Get with the homebuilder, share the survey with him, and start the discussions with him on budget
- Hire the Geotechnical Engineer and get them to do the soil bores and soil report - this is needed for the foundation design
Man, just imagine when the construction starts... it's going to be surreal. Very exciting!
Just looking at that damn kudzu still makes me want to cringe.
Crews bring what they are, I'm guessing you'll still tie the trees to remove with pink/orange surveyors tape instead of hoping they could read the applicable numbers?
Yes sir. We'll see to flagging the trees for removal ourselves. We want to keep as many trees as we can while staying practical and won't take a chance on the wrong trees being removed.
I know there's some canopy there and all, and wouldn't encourage you to do things outside your comfort zone, but is there a semi open area the house/shop are destined for? Winter might be a good time to drop some yourself and get some firewood out of. Just leave the stumps.for the crew to remove.
The way they work there'd be plenty of mess. But if you did it you could make a brush pile and grab a winter burn permit for the branches, keep the good trunks for firewood. Who knows, not sure of your house design plans must maybe there's a decent straight trunk in there you could cut to length and pay a couple bucks to a guy with a portable mill in his yard to make a mantle for you out of. Maybe even a few straps of lumber, make a picnic bench for the yard out of lumber from the lot. Makes a cool story and talking point. We've don't that with some trees on our place before.
It's hard to believe that it's been more than a month since the last update. There's some progress to report:
Unfortunately, the building, doors and windows came back at like $39k and our budget is $45k so that's not going to work. What's interesting is that the same company offers a "standard" kit building in the same size for about $22k. At that price, it comes with only one framed opening for a 12'x12' roll up door. I'm going to reach out to this company to see what adding a few framed openings for doors and windows to this kit would cost.
I'm also going to reach out to a company that builds pole barn style buildings. They built a 40'x40'x14' for our painter. This is the guy that painted my Dad's Galaxie and my brother's Camaro. Sean and I are open to this type of construction and want to get an idea of how the pole barn option compares to the metal building, price wise. Big picture, we're looking to get the building in budget.
Another item on the to-do list is to get with the pool company to hone in on a design and validate the budget we have for the pool. We've pretty well settled on it being a gunite pool and have identified the features we want. We just need to figure out what will fit the budget.
I guess that's it for now friends. Thanks for following along.
- The minor revisions to the house plans have been made and we now own the plan set.
- We worked through the process with the County and have gotten them to assign an address to our lot.
- The survey is done.
- We have the proposal from the Structural Engineer to do the foundation design for the house.
- I reached out to two different Geotechnical Engineers before the holiday break and requested proposals to do the soil study/report. The Structural Engineer needs this so he can do his design. I'll likely reach out to one more Geotech firm next week. We're hopping to get this work done this month.
- We had the initial discussion with the homebuilder the day after Christmas. He's my sister-in-law's cousin. We saw him at his mom's house for a Christmas visit. We'll have him out to our house in the next month or so to have a more detailed discussion and hone in on a budget for the build.
Unfortunately, the building, doors and windows came back at like $39k and our budget is $45k so that's not going to work. What's interesting is that the same company offers a "standard" kit building in the same size for about $22k. At that price, it comes with only one framed opening for a 12'x12' roll up door. I'm going to reach out to this company to see what adding a few framed openings for doors and windows to this kit would cost.
I'm also going to reach out to a company that builds pole barn style buildings. They built a 40'x40'x14' for our painter. This is the guy that painted my Dad's Galaxie and my brother's Camaro. Sean and I are open to this type of construction and want to get an idea of how the pole barn option compares to the metal building, price wise. Big picture, we're looking to get the building in budget.
Another item on the to-do list is to get with the pool company to hone in on a design and validate the budget we have for the pool. We've pretty well settled on it being a gunite pool and have identified the features we want. We just need to figure out what will fit the budget.
I guess that's it for now friends. Thanks for following along.
The customization costs money probably for the certification. If you buy the standard kit, they spread the cost over multiple buildings.
Love hearing the progress.
One thing I'll throw out there, which I'm sure you've heard before and already considered, is when dealing with family/friends in a big project is make sure ANY expectations you have for materials and deadli es is written exactly into the contract - including what happens when something doesn't happen as agreed to.
There's so many times I've seen and had to be involved in a dispute where each side assumed something would work different ways. The paying party presumed something, and the performing party expected to use a method they deemed customary to how their company or industry normally operates - especially with delays or substitutions - that was very different than what the people paying expected.
Then there's a fight over what someone tried to do. Taking multiple contracts. Taking liberties delaying their family/friend projects because "they'll understand the pressures I'm under" to finish other paying opportunities. Diverting manpower or materials to other jobs because there's a shortage, but, 'don't worry, I'll take care of you.'
If it's not done in time and you want compensation reduced, put the penalty in writing up front. If the builder delays progress, even due to manpower shortages, and materials costs increase, put it in writing who absorbs that loss due to bigger expense. Put in writing who has to be notified, how, when, of anything that may need to be altered either in design/placement, style, or materials to be used.
It's a friend, but, it's also business. They shouldn't be offended by getting expectations up front. Don't rely on anything someone says they will do, make sure t is all written down.
It's not me saying you guys didn't know or do this already, if nothing else it's good advice for anyone reading along hoping for a similar move.
Your shop quote seems reasonable. My 36x48 polebarn came in about $45k with the hoist and me doing the lighting and electrical. It's insulated and plumbing stubbed for a bathroom. I'm using the building but it isn't "done".
