At Home In The Woods

[shane]

Obed, I actually like trimming a house after the walls and ceilings are painted because you can just about bet there won't be any drywall dust around. I hate that stuff.

As far the sequence, with construction work as slow as it is most subs are not going to be to picky.

I sure have enjoy following your home building adventure. Hope you keep it up until the furniture is in.

 

[dcyrilc]

Obed, I actually like trimming a house after the walls and ceilings are painted because you can just about bet there won't be any drywall dust around. I hate that stuff.

As far the sequence, with construction work as slow as it is most subs are not going to be to picky.

I sure have enjoy following your home building adventure. Hope you keep it up until the furniture is in.

Until the furniture is in??? I was hoping he would go all the way through the outside landscaping.:laughing::laughing:

 

[tommu56]

Or through the pole barn build to house the tractor and other equipment!

 

[PAGUY]

and the doll house in the backyard for the little lady. A doll house that is an exact replica of Mommy and Daddy's house.

 

[scoutcub]

Obed -

Obviously I spoke too soon about ending the thread....my sincerest apologies! As other have said, it should continue on "ad infinitum" ......! (sp)?

 

[Obed]

The brick crew finally came back today to finish the brick above the soldier strip at the top of the back porch.

My wife had left the brick mason multiple phone messages; he would never answer or return her calls. He no-showed 2 times when he had said he would be here and never called to let us know. My wife had told him she wanted to be here when they came and wanted a heads-up so she could plan her schedule accordingly. Today the brick crew just showed up without calling or giving any notice.

My wife asked one of the workers if they have been busy. He said they haven't been busy. The brick mason was out of town the past week and the crew hasn't worked. They could have been here a week ago if the brick mason had just sent them out here. I wish I could say we don't have to deal with this brick mason any more because I don't deal well with such discourteous and unprofessional behavior. Unfortunately we will have to get him back out here, or find someone else, to brick the front porch steps after the porch concrete is poured.

End of rant.
Obed

 

[Obed]

Obed -
I'm trying to read between the lines here....would you say this has been an overall good experience, or one that you would have preferred not doing, if you had originally hired a GC?

You're coming up on the final stretch, and you've done a fabulous job documenting each phase of the process. I know you're ready for the thread to end, but many of us will be sad to see it finish... As one poster said, thanks for taking us on the ride!
Has there been any interest in the 61 acres?
And, I think you were working from home at one point, and then had a job 30 minutes away....during the entire process have you been working a full time job? 9-5, or flexible schedule?

Frank

Frank,
It's too early to give a complete answer. This past year hasn't been easy considering I have a demanding full-time job plus the work required for the house project. If I were retired and building the house I'm sure it would be a lot more fun. I do work from home 2 days a week; that's something I was able to negotiate when I accepted the job offer 3 years ago. I normally work about 50 hours/week at my regular job but have lowered it to 45+ hours for the past 6 months due to the house project. My wife has been mostly a full-time mom since our daughter was born 7 months ago so her schedule has been very flexible. She has done a little part-time work but not much that last 3 months. She has really been the GC on the house.

Do I wish we had hired a GC? Probably not due to the high prices they bid the job. I couldn't justify paying 50% more to build the house than the price for which I could sell when finished. That just doesn't make sense. I got a lot of criticism in this thread for not hiring a GC. I know good GCs earn their pay. However, we have caught important things that a GC never would have caught (or fixed if he did catch them). Also, it has been nice not having a GC between us and the subs. We have really had to watch the subs closely to get things done correctly and even under our watchful eye, some things still got missed. I doubt a GC would have watched the subs as closely. I'm sure the subs would rather do work for a GC who doesn't pay close attention than to work for us.

There are some things I might have done differently if we had it to do over. After seeing how big the house is, I would try to make it smaller and simpler. If starting over, I might not put in a basement and might not build an upstairs. No basement would have greatly simplified the house project and lowered the risk. Basements are risky; they can leak and plumbing under basement slabs is tough to repair if there are problems. Thankfully, our basement is not leaking. I won't know how good the plumbing drains are under the slab until we move into the house.

We've had some lookers at the 61 acres but no bites. This isn't a great economy for selling that kind of property.

This thread could continue for a while if there is interest. After we move into the house there will still be lots to do and stuff to talk about. I suspect the thread will end when people get bored with it and stop making posts. I've enjoyed posting and have appreciated all the help I've gotten from TBNers. I'm sure we have a better house because of you guys. Thanks!

Obed

 

[dcyrilc]

My wife has been mostly a full-time mom since our daughter was born 7 months ago so her schedule has been very flexible.

Obed

Wow. Has it really be 7 months since she was born? Seems like it was just a month or two ago.

 

[Obed]

Wow. Has it really be 7 months since she was born? Seems like it was just a month or two ago.

Yes, she's moving all around now.

 

[dcyrilc]

Yes, she's moving all around now.

That's awesome. Nice to see some famiily pix.:thumbsup: She must get her looks from her momma though.:laughing:

Looking at the way she's growing, I'm thinking that one of the first outside projects, after the house is done, is going to need to be a lawn so she has a place to run and play.

Thinking about the family, how's your cat doing? Complete recovery I hope.