Started New House

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the update. I'm surpised that the roofer went out of busines with a paying job already set up, but who knows what caused him to quite. I worrry about the paper being all that you have up there for too long. It starts to tear and come apart at the ends, and then some roofers will just patch it instead of replacing it. I like brand new, perfect paper on my roofs. It's the cheap part of the roof, and the most critical.

Eddie

 

[saltman]

Yes that's the 12 foot pole sitting 7 feet in a hole, ready to fill with concrete. I'll have to mix it myself in my PTO mixer "tractor Project" I tried to get a trailer of concrete but they have a two hour time limit and it will take me an hour each way.. Then I looked at getting a truck up there and it's just too expensive.

Not sure Eddie what happened, I heard they (the roofer) did a lot of big public jobs schools and stuff like that I suspect someone owes them a lot of money. My business had that problem with a certain School District. They owed us 100,000 for over 6 months almost killed us too.

The felts have been pretty beaten at this point, I'll lobby with the general to get them to replace the section that's partially torn off rather than cut and paste it back together.

So far so , good they are behind schedule and a few glitches here and there but I am happy with the General and most of his subs. I am having a problem finding a interior painter, seems they would rather sit in traffic on the way to the unemployment line than drive 60 miles to the country and work.

 

[saltman]

I worked up there all weekend, mostly painting the trim while the siding guys still had the scaffle set up. Getting the siding pre finished was one of the best things I did, I am almost done with my painting and I only used 3 gallons and two colors and about a day and a half.

The new roofer starts on Wednesday and once that's done drywall starts. The concrete guy came by to look at pouring the patio. He suggested stamped and stained but I haven't found a stamp I like yet. I like the idea of a granite look natural gray with a little stain to make it darker. Any ideas on stamping? I like the idea of it just being flat and smooth? He said it would be slick? no water will get on it since it's covered...

 

[dave1949]

Nice to see your house is coming along well.

The thing about stamping concrete for me, is very few stampings avoid the faux rock look. I have seen some I like too. Maybe like you say it's finding the right stamp pattern. Deep stampings would be a pain to sweep.

Don't know about smooth concrete and slippery in your climate. If you have it power troweled and it's done well, it can be very, very smooth. I think it would have to have water on it to be slick, or some dew/condensation. Something to think about as it will get slick under those conditions, especially with a sealer on it. Maybe a stain for color and a light brush finish would suit you.

Once the roofer is done, your house will look really nice.

Keep the updates coming.
Dave.

 

[mjncad]

Why not just go with a good old fashioned broom finish on the concrete? It has traction in wet weather, and can be swept. I would think that you won't see a lot of rain in your location.

 

[EddieWalker]

The concrete guy came by to look at pouring the patio. He suggested stamped and stained but I haven't found a stamp I like yet. I like the idea of a granite look natural gray with a little stain to make it darker. Any ideas on stamping? I like the idea of it just being flat and smooth? He said it would be slick? no water will get on it since it's covered...

Before commiting to stamped concrete and a pattern, be sure to take the time to go look at it where he's done it before. In a few cases, I really like it, but there is always something that I like better. If this is something that you are still unsure of, go to Barns and Noble, or some other book store, and spend a couple hours going through what they have there for ideas.

Eddie

 

[Obed]

Why not just go with a good old fashioned broom finish on the concrete? It has traction in wet weather, and can be swept. I would think that you won't see a lot of rain in your location.

I'm with mjncad on this one. In the house we are building, the garage floor is smooth. The roof is not yet up so the floor gets wet and is unbelievably slippery. Even though your patio is covered, rain will still get on the concrete patio. You might not ever get ice where you are; but if you ever did then just one hard to see patch of black ice on a smooth patio could do a permenant number on your physique. I almost busted it several times on our icy garage floor this winter.

Obed

 

[saltman]

The roofers started on Thursday, Once that's done they can do the drywall.

I used my PTO driven mixer and mixed about 1.75 yards of concrete on Friday still filling the 7 foot hole (solar pole mount footing)

I am thinking of an exposed aggregate finish on the patio. Looks good, lots of colors and slip resistant. Not sure yet but that's the thought of the day.

Here are some photos of the roofing.

 

[mikefromnh]

Looks good, but what is up with all the penetrations through the roof?

 

[saltman]

kitchen sink, bathroom sink/ toilet vent, dryer vent, hot water heater vent, stove vent, Heater vent, and bathroom fan vent & Washer drain vent.

I think that pretty much covers the back of the house. The front of the house will have less since the kitchen and laundry room and hvac are taken care of.

 

[mjncad]

kitchen sink, bathroom sink/ toilet vent, dryer vent, hot water heater vent, stove vent, Heater vent, and bathroom fan vent & Washer drain vent.

I think that pretty much covers the back of the house. The front of the house will have less since the kitchen and laundry room and hvac are taken care of.

With all the fees the county has soaked you for to date, I hope they don't have a penetration fee!

 

[Lt CHEG]

With all the fees the county has soaked you for to date, I hope they don't have a penetration fee!

Wait till he gets his property tax bill, that will be the penetration fee

 

[mjncad]

Wait till he gets his property tax bill, that will be the penetration fee

I'm still trying to get an adequate supply of K-Y to deal with our property taxes.

 

[Lt CHEG]

I'm still trying to get an adequate supply of K-Y to deal with our property taxes.

I can sympathize my friend.

 

[CosmoAU]

There is a product I use called "Shark Grip" to mix with your concrete sealer that will give it enough grit to not be slippery. I have about 1100 sq. ft. of stamped porches and have done a few acid stained ones with this product and it works very well. I personally like the acid staining the best. Whatever you decide, you may want to consider finding something similar to use. It is sold at Sherwin Williams paint stores around here, but I am on the other side of the country from you. A small container (maybe a quart) around $15 mixed with 5 gal. of sealer works pretty well. Just something to consider.

 

[Tractor Shopper]

Beautiful looking new home! I came into the thread a little late so I apologize for the potential Stupid questions. I'm not sure what state your building in but it looks like a very southren state and I from the look of the Pictures your house looks like it built on a slab. I may be wrong but building on slabs seems to be more popular down there than up here in Canada, in my area anyway and I was just curious why this was?

The other question is how does your taxes work? $5700 a years sounds very high unless your living in a mansion. Where I live in Canada it works out to a percentage of the value of your house per year, which where I live now is about 0.9%.

Anyhow the house looks teriffic and I can relate to the building experience as I build new last fall, sorry for the silly questions just curious.

 

[saltman]

Tractor Shopper I am in S. California. my complaints earlier in the thread were all the fees to build and taxes for everything associated with the project. The Property tax here is the only reasonable tax we have in California thanks to prop. 13. We pay 1% of what was paid for the property. So I pay 1678.00 a year for my 1952 home that I bought in 1993, plus school fees. This house will be appraised when it is done but I think they will base the value on what I spent rather than the market prices. They (tax man) has already notified me and wanted me to fill out a form telling them what I have spent so far.

I finally finished pouring the 7ft hole/ footing for my solar mount today. Here are some new photos, I plan on putting up the panels this weekend if I can do that prior to hooking up the inverter.

Oh and I am pretty sure slab buildings are only in areas that don't get a good freeze. No basements here either because of the earhquakes and nothing is made out of brick. I think the slab is suppose to move with the earth..

Thanks for the compliments. I can't wait to move out of town.

 

[Tractor Shopper]

I actually just read back throught the thread and was shocked to hear the building permit fees, they are crazy, I believe all mine with septic and everything were around $2000. But I guess on the other hand I don't live in Southren Cali. Makes sense with no basements in earthquake country, didn't think about that, we worry about 7 feet of snow and 5 feet of frost so deep basement usually stay deeper than the frost protecting the structure. The tax rate sounds similalar to here so I guess I don't feel over taxed if we are on par with California.

Nice looking tractor as well, I toyed with buying a Deere for a while as well but just couldn't pass up the price I got on a new McCormick.

 

[mjncad]

TractorShopper:

You've read about Saltman being soaked by the People's Republic of California; now check out the other extreme of a guy in Oklahoma building an earth sheltered home.

The only permit he had to get was for his septic system.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/145915-terra-dome-earth-shelter-build.html

 

[Tractor Shopper]

Wow, from one extreme to the other, I always heard we we're over taxed here in Canada but I guess we come up some where in the middle. Love hearing about everyone's experiences all over though, a really great learning experience.