Starting our new life

[Rustyiron]

Thinking about this; it might be to my benefit to not let the building contractor know I'll being paying without a loan. I'll give this one some thought.

Well then you know as a former contractor a few things. Your contractor is only as good as his subs, and they can be hard to come by at times and may require a little flexibility on your part. They more you understand (up front & in writing) each other as far as the progress/payment the happier you'll both be. :thumbsup:

Looking forward to watching your new home come to life!

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I'm shocked, surprised and excited for you. After all you did with your barn, and your pasture, I figured you where there for good.

I've thought about moving to the mountains off and on, but then when we go there, we notice all the little things that we don't want to deal with, and appreciate where we are already. Then after a year or two, the mountains start to sound good again, and the cycle continues. I doubt that it will ever happen, we get more attached to where we are now every year.

I'm looking forward to following your progress and see what you create!!!!

Count me in as one of the most SURPRISED! Late to the party and just read the whole thing. Sounds like you have things well under control. Hiring a contractor can surely help with handling the subs. Might just be worth it. But, don't hire your friend as a contractor if you want him to be your friend for the long haul...

Hope you and your wife end up happy.

 

[aczlan]

Around here you can barely get a contractor to quote work, things are so busy. So it is a balance.

That is the truth. We have been trying to get a contractor to give us a quote on a pole barn since March. I finally was able to catch him when he was at home this morning and was able to sit right down at his books and make up the quote before he went on to the next job.
It was worth it, he was almost $5000 less for the pole barn with concrete than the other contractor was for just the barn, no concrete.
We had them put up another pole barn a couple years back and were very happy with it, so we really wanted to get a quote from him.

Aaron Z

 

[cat fever]

So the builder we met with yesterday sounded all good, but I think he was over promising and will end up under delivering. There is a home show happening next weekend. You can bet we'll be there. My wife talked to one of the builders that has 2 homes in the show. On the phone he sounded very honest and upfront about how long it will really take to get the home built. Also by then the home designer might have our plans done.

Sadly, I don't think I can get the home built for the price I wanted. :thumbdown: I'll have to up my price if I want a nice long lasting home. I'll post how the home show goes and what we think of the homes.

 

[JRobyn]

There are a few things that a really good builder/contractor can do that will really increase your very long-term sense of "solid" in a house. Examples: 1) ours used 4" square steel columns with fully welded bases/caps - MUCH stouter than the typical 3" steel columns. You can tell when you walk our floors. 2) all of our major spans are glue-lam. Very stiff stuff. Another thing you can tell just by walking the floor. 3) engineered I-beam floor joists. Ditto.

IIRC our builder said that the standard residential code was for floors to be built for 60 lb/ft sq. They engineered ours for 75 lb/ft sq.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

When you get house plans, post them. TBN is good at critiquing other plans, spending other's money,.etc.. LOL.

 

[cat fever]

When you get house plans, post them. TBN is good at critiquing other plans, spending other's money,.etc.. LOL.

That's the truth. :laughing: I'm guilty too.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I designed my house, and built it. Next one (retirement) will be different. If i built this one again, i would make changes. My house is too big and the barn is too small.

 

[goeduck]

I designed my house, and built it. Next one (retirement) will be different. If i built this one again, i would make changes. My house is too big and the barn is too small.

My house is too big for just the wife and me, but we like it that way. Lots of visitors and family gatherings since we have the room and are on the water. Most every week this time of the year someone is staying, mostly weekends.

 

[ovrszd]

I designed my house, and built it. Next one (retirement) will be different. If i built this one again, i would make changes. My house is too big and the barn is too small.

We are building a 1900 sq ft slab house with no steps and handicap accessible doorways. 40ft away will be a 1900 sq ft shop with heated floor. Minimizing wood stove use.