Building the Retirement Place

[bobm6996]

Life has finally put the wife and I in a place where all the planets have aligned and we can build on the 15 acre retirement property we bought a couple years ago. I am 64 and plan to retire in Feb 2017 (this is my second retirement, retired from the Army after 26 yrs in 1994). This thread will probably span the next 12 months or so to capture and share our experience with the member community. I will post updates and pictures as often as I can and the work should start in the next month. Waiting on the final plats, which I pick up today and then at a high level here are the next steps:

Take the new plat survey maps to our attorney so he can create the new warranty deed. We have an old farmhouse on the property that is and will be rented going forward allowing us to build a new house on the property and our very low mortgage will be covered by the rent collected.

After the warranty deed is filed and recorded get septic permit, building permit for the house and horse barn and get a driveway permit for the new drive being added.

We are building a post frame (pole barn) home with a basement under part of it and crawlspace under the rest. Not going to get into much detail yet, but will share more soon on the design. House will be a 50 x 90 (or something close to that size) with 50 x 60 for the house and 30 x 50 for the garage, there will be dormers and partial upstairs. The basement will be approximately 30 x 40, we need to keep at least 10 feet of undisturbed soil around the perimeter for the posts. Walls will be 12 foot so we end up with 9 ft walls in the house and good height for the crawlspace. Basement will have 9 ft walls as well.

We will be putting up a 40 x 60 x 12 pole barn for the horses and two years ago we put up a 40 x 80 x 14 pole barn that we use to store the hay grown on the property and later on a shop will be added in one corner to it.

Wow, after reading this back maybe I should retire today, I have a ton of work to do.

First request (of many to come) for advice: any thoughts/suggestions/gottchas I need to consider before I have the basement started?

 

[MoKelly]

Congratulations and good luck. Sounds exciting.

MoKelly

 

[dave1949]

Congratulations!

I dunno. A basement inside a pole building is a new one on me. It sounds strange not to use the basement as part of the building foundation for a difference of 10' all around the house portion. You are paying for a foundation, may as well use it. Unless there is a really compelling reason to have to use one, I would avoid crawlspaces.

 

[EddieWalker]

Congratulations, sounds like exciting times ahead for you!!!!

Hard for me to imagine having to go through all that permitting and paperwork just to build on your land. The driveway one probably surprised me the most. Here in East Texas, there are no permits or rules on what you do on your land. Build what you want, how you want.

While I'm a huge fan of pole barns, I question the advantage of going with one for a building that will have a basement. Once you have the walls of the basement built, why not put the framing of the house on top of the basement walls? I'm also curious how the poles will affect the basement walls if they are close together or somehow connected to each other? Seems like trying to do both will result them being weaker then they would be if just one or the other system was used.

Eddie

 

[MacLawn]

Congratulations on ye second retirement! Now wait, wha'?!?!?! 50x90?? Wow! Let's see, 5x9=45, so that's 4,500 square feet house? Man bob, when can we move in?:laughing::laughing:

I agree with old Eddie (why not? he's a builder!) about the pole barn for house with basement part. Anyway, sounds like a plan bob!

 

[flusher]

Congratulations, sounds like exciting times ahead for you!!!!

Hard for me to imagine having to go through all that permitting and paperwork just to build on your land. The driveway one probably surprised me the most. Here in East Texas, there are no permits or rules on what you do on your land. Build what you want, how you want.

Eddie

That's all well and good until it comes time to sell the place. Then the buyer's lender sends out the appraiser and the building inspector and they find all the construction defects that you have to fix before the mortgage loan is approved and the escrow closes.

 

[lutt]

Way it is here too Eddie, never heard of so many permits or what have just to build a place or do what ya want with it, as I have heard in other places. If a feller buys a place, it should be his to do what he wants. Plain and simple! Too much government. But that's another topic! Congrats on your property purchase . I have never seen a pole barn with a basement, I have seen several pole barns with homes and apartments built in the back and the shop in the front! Getting popular around here. This will be interesting to follow. LUTT

 

[hcallaway]

The basement is my only question. It is a new one on me. Current temporary living quarters are in the pole barn garage I have sold to a friend. It is like a house in a shell. I think it heats and cools really well with high R values in ceiling and walls. I would have thought that a system like Superior precast walls would have been more cost efficient. I don't think a pole barn design with a basement would get approved. Good Luck I look forward to seeing progress. Also thanks for your service not only this Holiday but everyday.

 

[ultrarunner]

I could not be happier for you!

It is great when I hear years of planning are finally coming together... it gives hope to many of us.

Good luck...

 

[CurlyDave]

Congratulations of your upcoming retirement.

DW and I built our retirement home 7 or 8 years ago, and I designed most of it, including the complete layout

From our experience, I have some advice.

One of the things many people overlook in a retirement home is that you should design it to be able to stay in it for as long as possible, even if physical infirmities start to catch up with you. A lot of these things are uncomfortable to think about, but if you need these features sometime in the future, the need will come at a time when medical issues will have drained both your energy and finances. They are much more expensive to add later than to build in at the start.

1. We put a handicap ramp inside the attached oversize garage when we built. You will always be able to get into you car without going out into the weather and the outside appearance of the house is not changed.

2. Speaking of garages, our double garage door is 18' wide vs. the "standard" 16'. The extra space is very nice, and we all know our driving does not improve with age.

3. Every interior door is 36" wide. If, God forbid, you should ever need a wheelchair, this will accommodate.

4. Master bath has a very oversize shower, large enough for a seat and an attendant if necessary.

5. Master bath toilet is located so it would be easy for an attendant to assist on and off.

On the outside, don't forget to provide hookups for an RV so that when friends and relatives, kids and grandkids visit they have a place to park.

If you have pets, an outside faucet with both hot and cold water makes washing them a lot easier for both of you.

* * * * * *

You don't say what your place looks like, but consider the orientation of your house with respect to the points of the compass before you finalize your design. We have a view and the large living room windows face due North. This means that whatever you are looking at is lit by the sun, and the sun never shines directly in the window. Both very nice features. This did not happen by accident.