Started New House

[saltman]

There is a lot of room up there if anyone wanted to add on later & it should keep me cool, I have ceiling fans in all the rooms, an attic fan and an AC unit that I hope to never use since it will require me to start up he generator.

Not as much progress this week due to the Holiday and some archtectual issues. Seems a "strong wall" was put across my fire place area which meant I had to downsize my fireplace, something I didn't want to do since it will be my main heat source. Now we need to add anchor bolts and some brackets to accomidate the 45 inch framing required for my fire place.

Interior wallls are almost done so I suspect they will put the trusses up next week if the foundation guy gets out to add the hardware to the slab.

 

[Obed]

Looks like you have a wonderful view out there. I'll bet that sundown and the night skies are incredible out there!

Saltman, are you going to use those Juniper "bushes" for your firewood?

Obed

 

[saltman]

Obed, yes the night skys out there are something esle, that is one of the reasons I had the 700 square foot patio designed into the home.

There was a fire out there in the 50's so there are a lot of Junipers that are dead, I use them outside in my fire pit. Some of the live Junipers have large trunks but no I will not burn them, I'll by fire wood near my current home.

I can't wait to use my fireplace extrodinare 36' and see if it will heat the entire house. They calim it will heat 2,500 square feet but with my ceiling height I am guess in I will have to close the bedroom doors.

 

[Obed]

For the house we are currently building, we are using a high efficiency fireplace with glass doors. We are running a duct from the fireplace to a H&A return so we can use the H&A fan and ductwork to circulate the heat from the fireplace. This is all theory right now. We've read in forums online about other people doing something similar. I have to say it is taking some wrangling from my wife to get the subcontractors (framer, fireplace guy, and H&A) to make this happen. If we're not careful, one of them will build something that will get in the way of our intentions. My impression is that subs very often only think about their own stuff and don't think much about how their work could impact a different subcontractor. This complication just gets worse when you try to do something out of the ordinary that the subs haven't seen before.

Obed

 

[saltman]

The have about half the trusses up now and are going to try to finish them and get the house sheeted by the time the rain/snow comes on Monday.

Looking pretty spacious at this point.

 

[saltman]

Here are a few photos I took today. They plan on having the sheeting and all framing done this week!

 

[EddieWalker]

Looks like they have the right tools to get the job done!!!!!

Thanks for the update, it's really coming together.

Eddie

 

[mikefromnh]

Looks good -- I love the steep/cape style roof. I know it saves on the cost, but those trusses sure look like they take up a lot of potential attic space.

 

[saltman]

The original plan used a truss that would allow me to have a vaulted ceiling in the living room and dinning area but a huge attic in the back of the house, about 800 sq feet of nice flat attic space.

The County Of San Diego said no way, unless I put a bathroom up there, heat, and a bedroom, and include this on my square footage total for taxes and for county permit fees.

So the house would have gone from a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 1700 square foot house to a 4 bedroom 3 bathroom 2400 - 2500 squar foot house, county fees would have been an additional 10,000 (guess) and annual taxes would be much more as well. Plus building costs. I just couldn't swing it and for a family of two we will have enough room.

As is I paid over 20,000.00 in county fees to build this house.
There is a reason California has one of the worst economies in the country, too much government with their hands out taking peoples hard earned cash, most of the good people and businesses are running out of the state! meanwhile the legislature keeps passing more taxes and legislation and wonders why the economy is so bad. & We have a Socialist European as a Governor who wants to build high speed rail instead of creating jobs.

Ok sorry for the political ramble.

 

[dave1949]

The original plan used a truss that would allow me to have a vaulted ceiling in the living room and dinning area but a huge attic in the back of the house, about 800 sq feet of nice flat attic space.

The County Of San Diego said no way, unless I put a bathroom up there, heat, and a bedroom, and include this on my square footage total for taxes and for county permit fees.

So the house would have gone from a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 1700 square foot house to a 4 bedroom 3 bathroom 2400 - 2500 squar foot house, county fees would have been an additional 10,000 (guess) and annual taxes would be much more as well. Plus building costs. I just couldn't swing it and for a family of two we will have enough room.

As is I paid over 20,000.00 in county fees to build this house.
There is a reason California has one of the worst economies in the country, too much government with their hands out taking peoples hard earned cash, most of the good people and businesses are running out of the state! meanwhile the legislature keeps passing more taxes and legislation and wonders why the economy is so bad. & We have a Socialist European as a Governor who wants to build high speed rail instead of creating jobs.

Ok sorry for the political ramble.

That's unbelievable I had no idea there were such fees in CA. Not that I know anything about CA. except it is where movies come from Now I can understand your choices there.
Dave.

 

[EddieWalker]

In 2002, I moved away from CA. Sometimes, I worked on a few new houses being built. It would cost over $200 a sq ft to build those homes. They were half a million dollar homes, and not very fancy. Minimal trim, stucco siding and allot of carpet flooring. The big money was in the fees for permits and engineering. Then building them to earthquate code was pretty extreme. How a family could afford to buy a 2,000 sq ft track home for $500,000 was just beyond my comprehension, but even more amazing to me was why would they buy such a house. It's a big part of why I moved away. There are allot of nicer places to live where you can buy a VERY nice house for a quarter of what the were selling for in California.

I have a bunch of friends still there, and my parents still live near Jackson. I think they are just resigned to life there and have decided that they don't have a choice. It's sad, but I know that they would be happier in another place, but they feel they can't leave because of a job that really doesn't pay very much, or family is close by.

Eddie

 

[buckeyefarmer]

As is I paid over 20,000.00 in county fees to build this house.
There is a reason California has one of the worst economies in the country, too much government with their hands out taking peoples hard earned cash, most of the good people and businesses are running out of the state! meanwhile the legislature keeps passing more taxes and legislation and wonders why the economy is so bad.

I feel your pain. I'm working on a building project that is about to cost $70K more for "environmental" fees because the town is dragging their feet on a zoning change. New environmental requirements coming in effect soon will make it very hard and very expensive for anyone to build around here.

 

[saltman]

Eddie things have changed here as you know with the huge realestate slump, but what hasn't changed are all the fees and the big government. So nobody or few are building here or anywhere it appears where fees are too high.

Seems if you wanted to stimulate the building economy here all you would need to do would get the banks to loan money and reduce government fees.

Anyway I got a pretty good deal due to the slow down and am paying about 200,000 for the house, I still have to do the cabinets, appliances, plumbing fixtures, solar and all painting but they are doing everything else. Oh an I had to pay all building permit fees.

My plan to tolerate California was to move 60 miles from anywhere buy a lot of land and build a comfortable house that was totally self sufficient, no water bill no electric bill.
So far it's working out but if I didn't have a daughter I would have left this state 10 years ago.

Buckeyefarmer, I got lucky with the Environmental Review only because I was so far from town otherwise I would have been hit with that as well.

I even had to pay a 2,500 dollar traffic tax for all the traffic I am causing by building a house and having so many people drive out there?

Anway I am glad I did it and it's going to be a great escape for me.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Great looking project! Amazing how different your terrain is than what we have on the east coast.

 

[jayste]

I even had to pay a 2,500 dollar traffic tax for all the traffic I am causing by building a house and having so many people drive out there?

Traffic tax? You've got to be kidding! Where's the harm in the traffic when you're 60 miles from the city? Even in the city it seems crazy! I guess it's time for another "Tea Party"!

Jay

 

[saltman]

The framing is almost done, they are suppose get the inspection on Monday. Really looking like a house now!

 

[EddieWalker]

I really like the porch. I'm wondering why part of it is smaller the the other part? Did you consider making it all the same size? With the fireplace already in there, could you have an outdoor fireplace?

I sure like that lift they are using!!!

Eddie

 

[mjncad]

Do you have a floor plan you can post Saltman? California is a pretty state; but as you've said, it's screwed up big time. Sadly Colorado is following Cali's path to ruin.

Keep the pix coming!

 

[dave1949]

Looks like it is coming together. That outside dining will be great atmoshere I bet. A few candles, some wine, the starry sky - who knows what it could lead to?

The traffic tax must be for all the road wear by the inpectors

I think it is going to be a nice home.
Dave.