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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 8/26/2008 10:56:58 AM
Below is a special post from Jason- he has never blogged in this journal before and he asked me to make a special entry for y'all. Enjoy!
A synopsis from the other half of the equation.
I believe this may be the first time I ever posted anything to this
blog...I usually troll the msg boards and help out there. But since
this has been the top rated blog for some time now, I will get more
mileage out of my comments here. So here goes my attempt to bring you
the journey of your life.
For many of you, and you know who you are...the simple idea of Owner
Building is exhilarating. The thought that you can be your own boss and
save money on the total project, or use the saved money for major
upgrades and keep the costs the same has got you convinced that not
owner building is the wrong way to go and I would have to agree. If you
are a member of this board you probably already have you mind made up
that this is how you are going to do it....I mean why not...others
have...and if they can do it well so can I!
Well let me invite you into the dark...yet enthralling world that we call owner building......
Like all of you, when we started we came to this board for advice.
Besides our local contacts it was the most significant source of
information we had. One of the neatest things about this board was that
almost everyone on here was concerned about quality of the build,
rather than a builders approach...quantity. Because of this approach
"Green Building", taboo at the time of our beginning phase in mid 2005,
was alive and well. Everyone wanted the best materials with the best
results for the trade off of spending a little more for the product.
Sure ICF, Solid Walls, aerated concrete, spray foam insulation, r-board
etc... were being used...but it was only widespread in commercial
design or hign end consumer. We know, because we shopped it. No builder
wanted to touch this approach to building because it was new,
expensive, and not "proven." The most common excuse was..."ahh that
stuff...its only commercial." My thought was that the builder was
either to stubborn to try something new, or did not have the aptitude
to understand what was going on around them. This bad vibe and high
price we got from the custom builders was all we needed to jump start
our life changing journey into owner building. They made the decision
clear for us. We will have to do it ourselves if we want it done
right...for the right price.
In todays homes going up, you would be hard pressed to not find at
least one major "Green" attribute going into the home if not multiples
of them. I guess the old industry standards were wrong...and it showed.
Lots of closed businesses, the ones that survived were the ones that
adapted. This is exactly what you will need to do through out the owner
building process. ADAPT. If there is one word that describes the
process that is it.
I will not bore you all with the details of selecting subs, getting
bids and all that jazz. There is a wealth of info in the Florida boards
created by us during the course of construction. What I want to write
about is how you will need to react to the inevitable. The problems
with subs, the wrong materials delivered, the county inspections, the
delays, the finances, etc. You must prepare yourself for this. If not,
as we found out the hard way, it can strike a devastating blow to your
ego, your relationship, your pocket book, and your general well being.
Plan for failure, when it happens, you will not be thrown off your
game. Remember, its not just you that can drop the ball, in fact it may
never be you...anyone part of the massive team you will be in control
or those outside of it can drop the ball at any given time causing
setbacks or loss.
First and foremost take advice. But advice is just that. It is someones
else's thought process projected on how they would do something.
Remember though, in owner building, it is only variables. There are no
constants to lean on...well there is one...you can expect to be let
down on more than one occasion through out the process. The advice you
receive is always with good intention but remember it is different.
Your have different subs, different knowledge base, cash flow, and a
different house! Take what you can and...adapt.
In our particular case, I would say that I took on more than I could
chew work/labor wise. It all ended up working out well for us in the
end but it was a very bumpy road. The main driving force to this was
money. We wanted the biggest bang for the buck and if it meant me
busting my tail for it, I had no problem. When I realized that I had
grossly miscalculated what was expected out of playing General
Contractor the snow ball effect had already begun. I attribute this to
my personality and my drive to learn. Every time a trade was out there
doing their thing I felt compelled to be near by and check up. There
was two reasons for this, the first was to see if they were doing what
they were supposed to according to our contract, and the second was to
learn how to do their trade and its little secrets. This satisfied my
personality type.
Now hanging around is nothing unusual for a GC to do except most GC's
do not have any thing else. They just hang out, give guidance and go to
lunch. Me on the other hand...wow...I had a massive work load for just
me to deal with. I had to do the GC thing and all my other duties. I
will list what I was responsible for so you can get an overview of how
to much of good intentions can be just that. This is not meant to brag
or show it can be done, but as a guide for how foolish I was to take on
all this stuff. Seriously...if I do it again I will not do it like this.
My jobs during course of construction:
General contractor (this is a full time job by itself)
Plan and land developer
Land clearing
Materials purchase dept.
Framing duties outside my framers scope of work
Electrical work. Hang all overhead lighting (41 pieces)
Drywalled Garage
Hung all windows
Hung Sliding doors
Hung all exterior and interior doors except roll up garage door
Primed and painted all of exterior and trim
Primed and painted all of interior and trim
Custom design and build from scratch all cabinets and built ins
This includes kitchen, wet bar, and bathrooms and all installations
Install all appliances
Set generator (had some help)
Install all base, chair rail, crown
Install underground drainage system for gutter water control
Final grading (had some invaluable help from a local neighborhood guy)
Deal with local governing bodies constantly
Constant clean up duty. Dumpster, sweeping, materials organization
Irrigation system (did a little less than half the work on this)
Total landscape from scratch 3/4 acre (had a few guys help lay sod...other than that everything else was us)
Massive floor prep and materials purchase and delivery for tiling
Finished entire garage for shop
Oh...I am adding this in after this was all written...I almost
forgot!!! The whole time I was doing this I was working 4 days a week
at my real job! Pretty reckless thinking huh...only in hindsight do you
see this stuff.
I am sure I left out quite a few things here and that is my point. I
never really has time to do this stuff like I wanted because I was
playing GC with all the trades making sure everything was going right
and answering constant questions related to plan designs, materials,
failed inspections and so on. The task of GC was daunting enough with
out all the above duties lying solely on my shoulders. There was really
no one to turn to for help...unless you flashed dollar bills. It was a
very low point in my life.
Now there is probably a few of you that are going to take on more than
what I listed above yourself (remember that this is just my side...my
wife had a side all of her own)...and all I can say is beware. Your
heart is bigger for the project than your minds ability to see reality.
I suffered from this. However, if time is on your side, and you are
bank rolling the project than these task and the time it takes will be
of no consequence. Have at it! Ours was unfortunately controlled by a
strict bank schedule that had no problems extending our time line...for
a fee of course.
Like Cara mentioned in the last post...the house is still not yet
"completely" finished. All tha is left is just the rest of my trim work
that is getting wrapped up on a weekly basis between my real job, my
new side business, and planning for a child. It could have been done a
long time ago if we would have went with the so so standards built in
every cookie cutter home, but I am a perfectionist and take pride in my
wood work (meaning it takes me a long time to do these individual
custom pieces) and all the custom trim has a high end look that has
really paid off. The house came out great and looks the part. We get
nothing but compliments and we know we made it all happen. Thats a
great felling of accomplishment and hey ...YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE.
For the most part this synopsis may sound mostly negative to those who
read it and have not owner built...and well...it kind of is. Those who
are owner building will see not see it negatively but as comfort
because they are going through it as well. Owner building is a
hassel...it can even flat out suck. Even though we had a somewhat
smooth process compared to other horror stories it was not a fairy tale
ride. There were good days, bad days, and very bad days. If you add
them all up...there were more bads than goods. But for those OB's that
had complete disasters...I sometimes wonder if it was because of
improper planning and management..or if it was just terrible luck. I
suppose both play a huge roll in your completion. In the end I would
say that we had great success only because we planned like crazy and
adapted the best we could.
If OBing was easy there would be no need for GC's. Thats why they get
paid lots of money. So for those of you who can adapt and
compartmentalize you WILL succeed...if you can not do this with even
daily activities of normal life I would say do not even attempt this.
OBing is not for everyone. Cara swears she will never do it again...I
know I would give it another go. Things wold be different this time
around. Lots more knowledge about the process than before...it can only
get easier right.........?
F.Y.I. My mind is scrambled after reminiscing on the days of
construction. I don't even know how this all will read. If there is
anything in particular any of you have questions about (not relating to
which subs are better or stuff meant for the message boards) I would
love to provide specific insight of the process.
Post comments and we will get back to you and hopefully give you a leg to stand on when they both get kicked out from under you.
Best of luck-
Jason in Orlando
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 8/25/2008 2:26:56 AM
Nothing like feeling guilty for not responding to a comment to get the posting going again, right?! :) Just kidding, Grant, thank you for reminding me that I swore up and down to post here more often and keep you all updated on the completion of the house. First, a general update... The kitchen cabinets are just about all done, and Jason is now working on the bar top. He does have pics but I don't know which memory card they are on. It has been tough because he's been working a lot of hours. Gotta save up, as... drumroll... We've got a little owner-builder on the way, due in February! :)
I also want to let you all know that the house and property weathered TS Fay extremely well. I have never felt more comfortable in a house during a storm- it's just rock solid.
Grant, now I will try to answer your questions. The main limitation here is going to be my memory, but we'll give it the old college try.
Here is tough question #1: Did the DIY savings more than off-set
the financial costs or would you have financially come out better
hiring in a few of the trades your husband is capable of doing and
saving the fees and interest? Some yes and some no. Even though we both have business degrees, I think he found it harder to weigh those hidden costs against the value of doing the work himself. This is particularly odd because he's usually sharp at weighing return on investment, but I think emotions play a big part in how you PERCEIVE return on investment. Also, our house is still not entirely done, a problem (well a problem for me, anyways) that wouldn't exist if the work had been subbed out. That's not a financial cost at this point, but it's a mental health/well-being cost. In retrospect, I wish we'd subbed out a few things in particular: window installation, which took Jason and his family days and much stress, hanging closet doors, which still is not done (arghh!!!!), and the bar top, which could have been done in granite and looked just fine (we tried to save $1 or $2k and up the value with custom maple tops, but they are still plywood at this point).
Tough question #2: Did you do a project schedule showing critical
tasks and mandatory completion dates required to avoid the added
financial costs. I know you were very tactful in your posts, but it
sounded like many hours were spent on items that wouldn't have
prevented C/O while ultimately missing deadlines for the C/O cost you
guys A LOT of extra money. Do you have advice for other O-B's from
"hindsight" on what items need to be fast-tracked (and ideally in a
logical order) and what kind of items can be finished, if need be,
after C/O and mortgage closing... I think the fast-tracked items depend on your locale's code and also your inspectors. I've heard that some inspectors will let things slide while others will not- if you skimp on things that will come up in inspection, that will cost you a lot of time and money. It was really hard to judge the critical path because the target kept moving as we would find out little nuances in the process. Yes, I did initially have a critical path chart with completion dates and all, but it became a frustration more than anything because it kept getting pushed- even with tons of slack time built in. Also, I remember once when I was at my breaking point sitting down with Jason and reworking the critical path because I wanted to relay to him how much time was being wasted on silly things. That may sort of be the reason the closet doors aren't done... So what goes around comes around :). Again, Jason is usually as sharp as I am when it comes to project management, but I think he got wrapped up in the emotion and overwheming-ness of the project.
I hope this helped. Thank you for keeping me on track. I welcome comments and questions because that may be about the only thing that can suck me into posting again! :)
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 1/16/2008 5:58:31 PM
Cara??? Is that really you???? Yes it is, dear readers. I have a particularly virulent strain of procastinationitis that I am trying hard to work through. Lest you think that I'm making that up, here's one for you- I'm just now getting around to getting my name change on my SS card and passport (for those of you who've forgotten, I got married in November of 2006) :).
So, where are we? Well, we're living in the new house, and we love it. To those of you who are wondering if insulation and energy efficiency upgrades are worth the costs, yes they are. Our electric bill, for roughly 2,700 sf under air, is hovering around $100 (keep in mind that we have a gas dryer, stove, and hot water heater that combined cost about $15/month. That's with me taking superlong/superhot showers).
Our kitchen cabinets (and the cabs in the rest of the house) are a "minimalist European design," meaning that, um, well, they're still not done. Also left on our (Jason's) to-do list are: stain the front door, finish window molding, hang closet doors, complete closet shelving, install all crown molding, paint garage door, install kitchen backsplash... The list goes on. Not that Jason's been twiddling his thumbs. He has built all the kitchen drawers (from scratch!) and stained them beautifully. He has installed paneling on the bar, completed one bar top (not finished yet though), and just finished building a media center (our pride and joy big flat panel TV has been doing a precarious balancing act on our two end tables.
You will see pictures of all these wondrous changes just as soon as I'm home during daylight hours.
Other updates-
We hosted our first family gathering at the house on New Year's Day and the house came through like a champ. We really tested the room and seating capacity, as well as how well the design handles the kind of gatherings we like to have. We were both really pleased.
The carpet. Ah, the carpet. As if we haven't had enough issues with the Orange Store to last a lifetime... We got a very high end carpet installed in both the dining and game rooms. Only a month or so after moving, we noticed pulls in the thread, which Jason pointed out were only in the "highlight" colors, not the main body of the carpet. At first I thought just maybe it was from the dogs, but I have NEVER had a carpet run linke this, especially not a high end one. I called HD and was given to "The Expeditor." Oh how I wish I had been journaling this whole time, as in the past I've used it as a record of when we made calls and what responses we received. We were bounced back and forth from the store to the manufacturer over and over again. Bottom line, we made the initial call probably in October and only just this past week were notified- No, strike that, we harrassed them until they were forced to give us a response- that it is indeed a manufacturing error and that we'll need to reselect carpet.
Our marriage. Finally improving. Let's put all pretenses aside and admit openly that building a house is HARD on a relationship. In retrospect, I do believe that the push and pull, the digging in of our respective heels, and the interminable arguing was caused by the house. I'm only now learning how to back off and not get pissed at all the minutiae, and Jason's productivity has skyrocketed since I removed the pressure from him.
Oh, and that couch we lost to the spider? We replaced it. We went to Ashley furniture and bought the exact same couch. I'll never forget that spider.
Looking forward to rejoining the journal crew and posting some nice pics!
Cara
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 7/15/2007
I am proud, no wait scratch that... Happy, hmmm, no, strike that... RELIEVED to announce that we are operational at the new house! After a nail-biting few days trying to get the power hooked up, the gas in, and the HVAC up and running, we are now on day two of our new life. I will post pictures as soon as the house is even remotely clean. We have been gradually moving things over, and finally today I think will finish that process. So all that's left now is (roughly in order of priority)...
Cabinet doors and drawers (kitchen, laundry, MBa, Ba2, bar)
Finish window trim
Finish crown
Paint touch-ups (and repaint MBa)
Build bar countertops
Paint garage door
Stain front door
Install closet doors and trim (MBR, BR2, BR3, hall)
Kitchen backsplash
Grout bar backsplash
Trim out outdoor kitchen
Finish porch and patio floors
Plus:
landscaping in 3 front beds, maintenance in remaining beds, spread mulch around
clear back 1/3 of property to lake
install permanent fence
I love the house, Jason hates it. I love the space, the serenity of the property, and the individual
character that each room has. Yeah, there are some design flaws, but
overall, it's great, in my opinion. He hates that there's so much still
left to do, and he also gets very anxious that things are going to
break, flood, etc. It's funny, because I don't think he'd feel that way
if we purchased a "used" house. But somehow the fact that he watched it
go up and knows what's behind the walls makes him nervous. I pretty
much can guarantee that this house is better built than just about any that
he's ever lived in, but there it is.
It's been a long ride. It's taken a big toll on our relationship and
quality of life. We have learned a lot about building homes, each
other, and can name more Behr paint colors than any sane person should.
Will we ever build again? I'm going to go with no at this point. Maybe
in a different state and with a better understanding of the scope of
our self-work. But I doubt it.
I'll be continuing to post updates and pictures as things come together. But first, we're FINALLY going to take a well-deserved and much needed vacation. And cook in our awesome kitchen. And actually spend quality time together, not doing house-related stuff. Right after we just get a few more things done at the new house...
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 6/30/2007
the 3rd bedroom, the dining room detail, the fridge
Photos
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 6/30/2007
Well here we are over a week later and still no permanent power. Which also means no a/c, no septic, and no gas. We are hopeful that we'll be able to finally move in around July 4th. In the meantime, we're starting to move stuff in, finish closets, and scrub floors. Here are a few pictures of the latest look. I LOVE our bookcase (Costco, $200) so I included a picture of that. It's the first "real" bookcase I've ever owned. Many family and friends reading this may recognize books that you've given me over the years. Thanks! If you look really closely you may even be able to see the good old Owner Builder Book there on the right hand side. The couple in the "I Do" photo frame is, unfortunately, the stock couple that came with the frame.
I have a few more pics which will be added in a new post momentarily.
Photos
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 6/23/2007
Yesterday morning didn't start off too promising. Jason's computer
showed that we had passed our low voltage final inspection, but mine
showed a sad n/a under completion. Around 11 am I stopped at
Environmental Health to inquire about our operating permit. They
magically couldn't find my papers, nor could they tell me what to do to
complete our septic process. Joy. After about 10 minutes, a gentleman
came up to help me. I told him exactly what I'd provided them with and
asked what to do next. He was a slooooooow talker, which I was so not
in the mood for, and couldn't give me a straight answer. Fantastic.
Finally I ascertained that I needed to pay a fee (surprise). Why
someone didn't call me to tell me that once I faxed in my forms is
beyond me. I gladly wrote the check and asked him what the time frame
might be to get the hold released. He hemmed and hawed some more and
told me the entire process it had to go through to get cleared (I don't
care! Just tell me how many days!). Tuesday or Wednesday was his best
guess. Great. I left the office feeling a little sick, as that would be
cutting it very close with our loan deadline.
Around 4pm I called County, just for the heck of it. And lo and
behold.... "No holds on that permit." YES! I asked her what I needed to
do to get my c/o and she said it was already done. Great, but I need to
physically have it in my hands. She said I just needed to go to
building before 5 pm and it was mine! WOOHOO! Of course, I hauled out
of my office and flew up there. I waited about 15 minutes, and there it
was, a c/o in my hot little hands. This, I thought, would be a perfect
opportunity to play the ultimate prank on my husband. I called from
right around the corner (I didn't want him to suffer TOO long) to tell
him that it would be two weeks, but unfortunately he was standing
outside and could see my stupid grin from all the way up the block.
So here we are, all c/o'ed. We began moving things over, although we
won't be able to actually move in until HVAC, electric, and gas are all
permanently hooked up. There are also many tasks still to be done. But,
we did it. We built a house. I have to say it's sort of anti-climactic.
Disappointinly, I have nothing profound to say. Maybe I'm just buzzing
from the disbelief of it a little too much to wax nostalgic right now.
I've attached a few mediocre pictures, please enjoy.
Photos
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 6/23/2007
more...
Photos
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 6/19/2007
Carpet install went swimmingly last Friday- what a difference it made in the "doneness" of the house! We are both disappointed with the game and dining room carpet- it just didn't live up to its high expectations. This is a carpet that I'd had my heart set on since the very beginning, too. It's not terrible, it's just not... WOW. The master bedroom on the other hand is a whole different story. It's plush, luxurious, soft, just perfect for a bedroom. The color goes perfectly and looks nice leading into the slate bath, too. The secondary bedrooms are fine- we'd chosen a less expensive and durable option for those rooms, and the office came out great too. For those who are carpet shopping, I can tell you that at the very beginning, I couldn't tell the difference between any of the brands or materials. But after enough hours of perusal, I can tell a nylon from a polyester, and even can differentiate the nylon "Tactesse" from the other nylons. In my opinion, the Tactesse has the best feel.
Jason has been temporarily hooking up central power so as to add a few extra work hours in the evening. What a difference! The house does look entirely lit up, and it's sort of odd that I have no idea what all the light switches do, even though I've spent many hours in the house, because they never WORKED before. It was really neat to actually see the laundry room in all its glory (it's the darkest room in the house). Jason is using the extra hours to wrap up doors and closets, and we've hired my brother to caulk and touch up paint. This is working out really well because we can trust him and this keeps Jason focused and gives him fewer chances to get all spread out among various tasks. I have been spending goodly amounts of time scrubbing the grout: first by hand and then by machine. It has yet to be sealed, and I'm reluctant to do it as it's very volatile and evil smelling.
When I left the property the other night, I was rudely initiated into the "country living" world. Upon pulling out of our driveway, the world essentially disappears. Man it's dark. About 100 feet into the drive, a deer bounded by. It's probably only a matter of time until one ventures in front of my poor Corolla, given my luck. I keep thinking of the signs in Maine: "watch out for moose, 61 lives lost this year." Their legs are so weak, if you hit them you will end up with their full bulk across your windshield. Made a left and immediately saw a (sorry mom) rather large snake in the middle of the road. I swerved around it and then decided to go back and check it out, since it kind of looked like a snake I'd narrowly missed stepping on during a twilight run several weeks ago. The snake from my run looked suspiciously like a Copperhead, so I wanted to observe this one. I pulled a U and shone my headlights on it... Stepped out of the car and towards the snake... And man, it is SO dark out there that you literally feel like the darkness might consume you, cloaking you to the point where you can't even see your hand in front of your face. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I was more freaked out by that sensation than I was the snake, so I hurried back to my car without reaching a solid conclusion as to the species of snake.
Getting back to the title of this entry... As of today we have passed our final inspections and paid our outstanding fees. All that is standing in the way of our c/o is a paper that gets faxed to septic, and a permit re-pull and install of our alarm system. Once those "holds" are cleared, the county will automatically issue a c/o that we can look up on their website. They'll contact our utility provider and hook up our electric. Tentatively, this will happen early next week.
Notice that I've said "begins to draw to a close." Once we c/o, we still have a long road ahead of us. Among other things:
- bar top (maple, built and installed by Jason)
- cabinet doors and drawers
- closet and pantry organizers
- crown molding throughout
- fence
- outdoor kitchen (not even started!)
plus all the shopping that needs to be done
- random things that we don't know we need
- bedroom set, office furniture, maybe living room sofas, assorted furniture for 2nd and 3rd bedroom
- art and other acoutrements
- a few palm trees, if we can find the funds
- patio furniture
I'm thinking I'll probably hang in there with the journaling, until it's DONE. We shall see. In the meantime, I'll try to get some new pictures up soon (I know, been promising that for weeks!).
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 6/13/2007
Well, the punch list really turned out to be more MY punch list- he had taped it to the front door, presumably so I couldn't miss it. I painted, cleaned, caulked, and more.
The subs are beginning to wrap up- our final electric inspection has passed and we are very close to finals on plumbing, gas, and HVAC. This puts us in a position to possibly c/o next week. Possibly. The conundrum I spoke of in the title is the carpet. The installers had shown up on their scheduled date only to inform us that they couldn't do an install without central air and power. However, we can't get power and air until we c/o. And we can't c/o without floor coverings in all rooms. Hmmmmm. There is a way to "pre-power" the house, but it's a convulted process, leading me to doubt that it's a common practice among builders. Which, dear Watson, means that the problem lies with the installers. Sure enough, a little digging revealed that there was no policy at the installers' regarding power and air. They simply didn't WANT to work without A/C. After a few minutes convincing the lady that there is perfectly good power on site and that yes, I would even allow them to open windows and have a fan blowing on them, she half-assured me that they would actually install on Friday. The truth of her promise remains to be seen.
Trim and finish carpentry is moving along, Jason has been steadily making a dent in door hanging and baseboard install. The major holes at this point are our fence, cabinet doors and drawers, and bar tops.
So, that's really all there is to tell... Someday soon we will be moving in, although it's hard for me to imagine!
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 6/8/2007
Last weekend I took a little time to work backwards from this month's c/o drop dead date and figure out the requisite timeline. I reviewed it with Jason and basically said "ok, in order for so-and-so to finish their part, what happens before?" I gave him dates when certain things would have to be done in order to make the timeline work, and I think it sunk in. YES.
I can truly say we are making rapid and significant progress. This week both the electrician and the plumber wrapped up. Electric inspection was passed today, our first inspection in quite a while. I have 2 parts on order for the plumber and then he can call in his inspection, too. Phone service and the all-important DSL has been ordered, and HVAC and carpet are tentatively scheduled. If you remember, carpet had refused to install because there was no A/C and no power to the house. Well, according to Jason (which is according to the electrical inspector), you absolutely cannot get power to the house until AFTER c/o. If you want it before, you have to do some sort of pre-power thingmajig, pay a $100 application fee, and get every trade to sign off on the app. Hmmmm. Sounds very fishy to me. Because we need carpet to pass the final inspection, and the carpet can't get installed without the A/C and power (per th carpet installers). Somebody is definitely telling me a fib here, because there's no way that every builder is doing one of these pre-power applications. We're looking into it and will let you know what we find out.
I've been thrown for a bit of a budget loop by IndyMac. When we got our extensions on our loan, I sort of just assumed (admittedly my fault) that the extension fee came out of interest reserve. That turned out not to be the case, as I found out when I checked our online loan balance remaining. They pulled it from our contingency line item, bringing us pretty significantly short of where we need to be. We will pull through, but will probably need to continue floating the carpet, stove, and micro on our no payment/no interest HD card. This is another reason I encourage people to use zero int/zero pay promotions- you might have ready cash to pay now, but if something unexpected happens, the float buys you time and frees up your funds.
This weekend is bathtub scrubbing time for me- significant because I have held off on scrubbing them until I could actually run water in them to scrub them out. I also have a bit of trim and windowsill painting to do, and then I think Jason will be about set to install the interior doors. Last I talked to him, he was piling various things in the middle of the living room that were minor punch-list things with the plan to grab something new and complete that task each time he walks by. He's finished almost all of the baseboards, with my brother and I coming behind him to fill and touch up the nail holes. It looks pretty great.
The yard and landscaping is looking fantastic. Unfortunately, some of our tree purchases have been put on hold until we see how bad the budget ends up. Trees are about the only thing we can cut out for now. I am glad that we set all the planting beds beforehand, although it bothers my perfectionist side to see an uncompleted bed.
Let's see, what else? Ah, yes, note to self to pay our remaining impact fees next week (and parenthetically please let them not give me a hard time about increases since we are only supposed to owe what the fee was when we filed our permit papers).
I'd like to have some pictures for you soon, gotta remember to get the camera out there.
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Posted to QuarterlyHouse by Cara in Orlando, FL
on 5/24/2007
It's been over 2 weeks since an update, sorry about that! I've been busy with my job and also took a trip to NC to watch my brother graduate from UNC Chapel Hill (go heels!). Things have been progressing a moderate pace, and the stress on our relationship has eased slightly. We filed for a second extension, which was painful to do since it feels like money down the tubes, but we had no option.
We had a visit from Jim and Linda, who as many of you Central Floridians know regularly make their rounds and check out our projects to pick up tips and get ideas of things to avoid. It's always nice to show off our project a bit :).
Jason has been working on baseboards this week, and I am pleased to report that he's moving pretty quickly with this particular task! They look great- hopefully I can share some pictures soon. He's also completed the bar top and second bath counter with granite tile. Our master vanity top was installed last week, and while I don't love it, I don't hate it either.
I have been squeezing in landscaping when I can and am slowly making progress. This is something that would have been easier to do once we moved it, but that's just not the way things worked out, eh?
We had the carpet installers out on Monday, only to have them tell us that they would not be able to install without central A/C and electricity. Home Depot, who KNEW that our project was a new construction home failed to mention this. Now they want to charge us a trip fee, which we will of course battle them on.
Jason has calls in to both our plumber and electrician, who need to wrap up (yay, toilets!!). After that, the gas sub can tie everything in, carpet can get installed, and we could... possibly... maybe... C/O and move in????? Oh wait, we still have no cabinet drawers or doors. Ah, the life of an owner-builder- you build a house and then move into a fixer upper. :)
Because I can, I am going to put in a plug and throw something out to you all. My new job is as Executive Director of an organization called Helping Others Make the Effort, a nonprofit in Osceola County. We have a 5 acre campus that will provide apartments and supportive services for homeless women and children. The first two buildings are near completion, but I need about $200,000 to C/O. We are in the process of signing a $417,000 grant that will help, but we are short because our original budg |