AZ ranch

[BoFuller]

Looking at the bright side now you can have a crawl space with lots of overhead and room to work in. Rick

Well, I would LOVE to have a 6 foot crawl space (4 from removed dirt and 2 from block above ground).
I'm debating that now. I have to consider;
the availability of the backhoe,
the additional cost of removing the dirt (30 x 30 x 4 ft),
how much it delays the concrete guy and what his schedule availability is,
if the engineer says the integrity of the walls and footers will be affected,
and most important of all, will the County say anything or require anything additional.

 

[R_Walter]

First day and the first delay? I love it. The "expansive" clay was estimated to be 2 to 2.5 feet deep. It is 4 feet deep. So now my footers have to be 48 inches deep instead of 30. Another day of backhoe work and probably a few hundred more block.

Did you have some test holes drilled first at the site?

 

[R_Walter]

Application fee was $400 and Septic was $265 for the county. Then their nitpicking caused me to spend $2500 on the engineer and $2000 for a soils test.
Now the rest of the building permit fee is about $1500, the Road Use fee is about $3500, and then fees for Solar permit, and other misc items. They get you coming and going.

Wasn't there any way to meet at the county first to understand all of their requirements? I guess you were acting as your own GC, huh? Construction and home building is a little different from bookkeeping & accounting. You probably have eaten up any gen'l contractor fee you thought you saved.

 

[MoKelly]

Wasn't there any way to meet at the county first to understand all of their requirements? I guess you were acting as your own GC, huh? Construction and home building is a little different from bookkeeping & accounting. You probably have eaten up any gen'l contractor fee you thought you saved.

Now that was just plain mean. Life is way too short to be mean.

MoKelly

 

[BoFuller]

I had test holes dug a year and a half ago but since then we moved the build site about 300 feet, so we picked an area with more clay unfortunately. No biggie. The digging is all finished and the soils engineer signed off. We're good to go.

Eaten up my savings on contractor fees? No way. Not even a fraction. Besides, there's probably not a contractor in the state who could build this style nearly as inexpensively as I can. I've built before and have no problem managing the project, even if I'm not up-to-date on all building practices.

This is my labor of love. The building process is just as important to me as the finished project.

 

[BoFuller]

This is my labor of love. The building process is just as important to me as the finished project.

Actually, saving money was not even a major consideration in deciding not to have a GC. I just want to do this myself. I wouldn't even let a GC be in charge even if it didn't cost me anything at all.

 

[treetopflyer]

Bo, I understand completely about no GC and labors of love...there's always naysayers out there and I know they roll of your back like water off a duck. The best part of doing it yourself/ supervising is that you know how it was done and to your standards. If there are mistakes or short comings YOU know about them up front vs. finding out about them down the road. As far as saving money, if it doesn't occur upfront I'm sure it will overtime because of your intimate knowledge of how the structure and systems were designed and built when it comes for maintenance or retrofit. There will always be things we would have liked to different...when and if that time comes you will be well armed. Great build, thanks for sharing.

 

[brin]

Now that was just plain mean. Life is way too short to be mean.

MoKelly

Yeah that was a low blow ....not true either....around here Gen. Contractores charge 10 to 15% on total cost of construction...that's why I did my own...that and I also wanted to hire all the subs, look 'em in the eye ...it worked out just fine...no major mistakes ...some minor ones we caught and corrected but that happens to the most experienced builder.....

Lookin' good Bo....keep at it...:thumbsup:

 

[BoFuller]

No worries. It would take a lot more than that to rain on my parade. I'm building my dream and having a heck of a ride while doing it!

 

[ShaneG]

Wasn't there any way to meet at the county first to understand all of their requirements? I guess you were acting as your own GC, huh? Construction and home building is a little different from bookkeeping & accounting. You probably have eaten up any gen'l contractor fee you thought you saved.

Just go read through the "Building a house in 90 days" and see a fine example of what you get with a GC.