Vi's home construction blog: Spring 2011 Update - Landscape Torment

[vi edit]

Including under the slab? If not, do it.

I think my contractor has 3/4" foam spec'ed out under the basement slab. We're doing radiant heating in the basment and the tubes will go over that. My builder is a big time energy saving geek. Our house will be tested and (hopefully) energy star certified when it's done. Along with the insulating properties, I guess the foam also really helps keep down radon. We're in a very high radon area. His houses with the foam all around the foundation and under the slab have the lowest radon readings he's ever seen.

 

[Barrak]

That looks to be an awesome home. I think many of us would love to see you updating the thread and the pics.

 

[rh71]

congrats, but I didn't know you were 2-dimensional just like your house.

 

[lupi]

Over 1500 basement aka hobby room, drool.

 

[boomerang]

I got bumped to afternoon shift a few days after they broke ground on my place. I was pissed at first. I soon learned that it was the best thing that could have ever happened. I was there all but two days for the entire construction of the house.

The trades quit for the day about 15 minutes after I had to leave to get to work. I caught so many problems and nipped them in the bud before they snowballed.

It's a fun process watching it all happen. Hope you get a lot of enjoyment from it.

 

[The-Noid]

Home theater in the basement?

We ended up building last September. With the price to build, no selling commissions, contractors basically working one house at a time. It was a no brainer.

Our house ended up a wee bit bigger than we had originally planned but looking back I am glad we overbuilt. As people have stated go for overbuilding instead of underbuilding as you more than likely aren't going to find a cheaper time any time soon (hopefully).

 

[HannibalX]

Very cool. :thumbsup:

 

[vi edit]

Home theater in the basement?

Here's the "main" floor plan:
http://cid-e46bb480e134a82a.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/house/house2.jpg

If you look in the back left corner there's a "mid level den". That's a column of the house that is offset from the rest. It sits about half a level above the main floor. There's a second den below it that sits lofted up about 4 feet off the basement floor that will be the dedicated theatre. Not as big of a room as I would have liked, but it's virtually the perfect location. It's away from most living spaces, elevated off the basement floor so no worries about water and I get added room energy from a wood subfloor. Plus I have 4 feet of crawl space under it for easy cable management.

And yeah, building really was a decent choice. I can't buy the level of house I'm building for anything close to what I'm paying for it. Plus you just can't get lots like I have in my area any more for what I paid for it. The control you have and choices are exactly what you want and you can choose where to spend money and where to save it.

We overbuilt a bit by going with very large bedrooms, but we didn't want any builders remorse when it was done and we left wishing we did some things different. We'll have that on some things (theatre room for sure) but it really is a lot of house and I'm actually kind of embarassed to talk about it with coworkers.

 

[skyking]

so, did you have staking in the corners before they started the dig?
edit:
That live floor theatre room looks cool. Nice touch. Have you made arrrangements for running network wiring, will the general let you do it yourself right before sheetrock?

 

[vi edit]

so, did you have staking in the corners before they started the dig?

Yes, they had pins in all corners and they also spray painted the outline of the house before digging.

 

[Kroze]

Hopefully under $350k. And that includes damn near $30k in well & septic. My well is going to be over $20,000. Probably looking at 450ft before I hit water. Bleh. I don't care if city people have a water bill....I'll have the 30 year mortgage paid off before I come out ahead ahead on water bills.

That's amazing, take several pics. Water is pretty cheap, i don't know why you would want a well. I pay $16 a month for water.

 

[Kroze]

Why is the dining room so far away from the kitchen?

 

[skyking]

That's amazing, take several pics. Water is pretty cheap, i don't know why you would want a well. I pay $16 a month for water.

I'm sure he has no choice in the matter.
The county won't give you a well permit if there is municipal water available at the street.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Remember that a big house needs to be filled with children.()

 

[vi edit]

It's a "formal dining" room. Honestly I'd rather it been an office/library/extra BR/whatever...but I have a wife that wanted one. There's a decent sized eat in kitchen and the island will actually be a full peninsula connecting to the rest of the counters for a big breakfast bar. The dining room will be used much less...so proximity isn't as important.

Re: Water
Trust me...if I could have had city water I would of. But to get a 1.5 acre wooded lot in an upscale subdivsion in a school district as good as the one I'm in would have run me easily 2x-3x as much as I paid for mine. Instead of $43k it would have been $85k to over $150k. Ridiculous. I like my location and the lot. And the price was right. The well was something that you put up with in rural areas.

 

[crab]

Very cool..its a neat process. Seeing those pics is kinda sentimental. By the time we were finished building ours, I swore I'd never do it again. Now, a few years later, I realize what fun it actually was.

Ground breaking 11-04-06:

12-07-06:

Random framing pic...I think this is the first floor 01-17-07:

 

[skyking]

Do you have a landscape plan on paper?
Either way, be sure to include several sleeves across the driveway and sidewalks. I run excavators like that one for my day job. I preach the "install more sleeves than you will ever use" mantra on every job.
Bury them about 16" below grade on the drive and just below the walk, at both the street end and garage end.
It is a real ah heck to NOT have one when you need it. $100 worth of pipe is cheap insurance against changes in landscape lighting, irrigation, power to gates, intercoms, security systems.

 

[Rubycon]

Do you have a landscape plan on paper?
Either way, be sure to include several sleeves across the driveway and sidewalks. I run excavators like that one for my day job. I preach the "install more sleeves than you will ever use" mantra on every job.
Bury them about 16" below grade on the drive and just below the walk, at both the street end and garage end.
It is a real ah heck to NOT have one when you need it. $100 worth of pipe is cheap insurance against changes in landscape lighting, irrigation, power to gates, intercoms, security systems.

If this is done in December are they green?

 

[CRXican]

mini mc-mansion

 

[skyking]

If this is done in December are they green?

A minstrel! BURN HER!

 

[vi edit]

mini mc-mansion

For sure. At least I get some control over quality and went with a builder that has been in business since the 60's and only builds one house at a time. My neighborhood has about 50 houses in it. Everyone has acre plus lots and there are some fairly high end requirements for size/styles of the house to keep it consistent in quality. The development went in around 1996. Since then only two houses have ever been listed on the market and they both sold within weeks of being for sale.

It's not a high turnover market and people are there for the long haul. I'm only 32 and fully intend to be in this place until I retire.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

mini mc-mansion

If he can afford it (as I'm sure he can, the OP doesn't seem to be an irresponsible person from what I've seen on here), what does it matter?

Remember that a big house needs to be filled with children.()

While we are on the subject, your view "that a big house needs to be filled with children" is not fact. I happen to know very happy couples who have big houses, no kids, and couldn't be happier. I don't know if Vi and his SO want kids or not, but it's their choice either way and their "big house" does not need to be filled with kids unless they want it to be.

 

[vi edit]

I've got a 2 year old and I've forced my wife to put the biological alarm clock on snooze until this place gets done. We're putting in a decent amount of sweat equity on some of the finishing details and I don't need her 7 months pregnant when we're supposed to be painting and landscaping. Once we're done Operation Procreation will commence.

As far as financial responsibility goes...we're way way way under the conventional 3x gross income rule of thumb. And outside of day care have really minimal debts relative to income. Would I have loved something half the price and done a 15 year mortgage? Yeh. Would my wife have ever gone with it knowing what we can comfortably afford? No.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Remember that a big house needs to be filled with children.()

While we are on the subject, your view "that a big house needs to be filled with children" is not fact. I happen to know very happy couples who have big houses, no kids, and couldn't be happier. I don't know if Vi and his SO want kids or not, but it's their choice either way and their "big house" does not need to be filled with kids unless they want it to be.

My view is based on personal knowing the two of them.

 

[BornStar]

Congratulations! I can't wait to build my own house some day.