For over a year I have been researching and planning various aspects of what my future home might look like when I retire. One thing I realized was the longer I spent researching and planning, the more I kept changing the floor plan design… I was falling into the analysis-paralysis trap and I needed to $hit or get off the pot regarding the floor plan design. Regardless of how many times I modified the floor plan design, there were certain aspects that were design constants. I know I would like to incorporate both electric and gas so in the event of a power outage, I still have the ability to cook and generate hot water. I would also like to incorporate a wood cook stove. Wood stoves are a common source of home heat in the area during the winter, and with a cook stove I will have the added benefit of having a stove and oven at the ready whenever there is a fire in the stove… saving on gas and electricity usage. In my designs I have also included a dumbwaiter that would be accessible in the garage and travel directly into the pantry in the upper level. This would make it much easier getting groceries upstairs, as well as fire wood in the winter. As we get older, stairs are not our friends…
From a timeline perspective, I estimate it will take about 18 months to complete once construction starts, and this doesn’t factor in any of the preparation work that’s needed. Based on this estimated timeline, if I were to begin construction in early spring of next year, everything should be done roughly around the time my youngest daughter graduates from school. Before construction can begin there is a laundry list of tasks that must be completed first… such as clearing the lot, creating a rough driveway for heavy equipment access, septic system design and installation, architecture plans, etc. Knowing this, I have decided to start addressing as many of the preliminary tasks this year as possible. In an effort to get started on some of the pre-construction tasks, I decided to spend several days in the area where the land is, to meet with potential builders and to clear some of the trees on the property.
Earlier this month I made that trip. I only had a few days and my goals were to cut as many trees as I could to open the lot for the foundation and create some open views, and to meet with potential builders. Of all the builders I communicated with prior to my trip, I only felt comfortable with meeting two of them. I spent the first two days on the land cutting trees… I worked about eight hours a day, and approximately six of those hours were spent running the chainsaw… cutting down trees, limbing them, bucking the trunks into smaller sections for future fire wood, and then creating piles of everything. While I was working, I managed to meet two separate near by property owners… each having experience with one of the two builders I was planning to meet. One property owner had a real good experience with their builder and said they would definitely work with him again if they were to build another house in the area. The other property owners didn’t have such a positive experience with the other builder and said they ended up firing him because he was not very responsive and seemed to be dragging things out; their build has been going on for three years now. After hearing that, it made my decision much easier… plus I was already leaning towards the first builder based on our prior conversations, all of the information he provided, and how he detailed out how everything would happen if I chose to work with him.
On day three I had my meeting with the builder. He offered to meet at one of his current build projects so I could see first hand the work, and he could explain specific aspects and answer any questions I might have. I spent almost four hours with the builder, walking through the house he was building and asking every question I could think of. I appreciated his honesty and patience, considering he was volunteering his time… which only solidified my decision to work with him on my build. During our conversation he gave me the contact information for the architect he has been working with for the past twenty years. He also indicated he had no issues with me doing aspect of the work, providing it didn’t impact any of the required inspections. After our meeting concluded, it was back to the property to do more work….
Shortly after I arrived back at the property, a construction vehicle pulled up. The gentleman was the owner of an excavation company and was looking for a property up the road for an upcoming job. We started talking about his business and the services he performs and he mentioned the engineering company that designs the septic systems contracts with him to dig the required test holes. He said I could contact the engineering company directly, and then they would coordinate with him to dig the holes…. or, I could go through him and he would notify the engineering company and that would save me several hundred dollars that the engineering company would have charged me. He offered to walk the property with me to get a better perspective of the boundaries and where I thought the house might be located. He said I could mark any trees I wanted removed and he could knock them down and move them to the edges so I could use them for fire wood in the future. He also indicated that he would create the rough driveway when he digs the septic test holes. Killing two birds with one stone makes a lot of sense to me, so I decided to coordinate the initial excavation and septic design through him. Sure enough, when I got the contract from the engineering company for the septic design, there was an optional line item of $1,000. if I wanted them to coordinate the digging of the test holes.
That ended up being my last full day working on the property and unfortunately I wasn’t able to get as many trees cut as I had hoped because the weather started changing for the worse and fatigue was hitting hard. I decided to pack things up and head back to where I was staying. As I was heading out, a large moose walked out of the woods into the center of the road. When the moose got to the middle of the road, it stopped and just looked at me… I tried to get my phone into camera mode but I kept fumbling with it. The moose looked at me as though to say, “Dude, I just gave you the perfect photo opportunity….”, and then proceeded to walk into the woods. Yeah, I know, if I don’t have a picture, it didn’t happen…. The amount of wildlife in the area is amazing. Just on this trip I saw several moose, countless deer, and several fox. Others have indicated they have also seen black bear and mountain lions.
When I returned home, I reached out the the architect the builder referred. I described the floor plan concept I had created and the features I would like to incorporate. I indicated I was wanting the garage to be built into the lower level, and that the main level of the house would be the upper level. The architect seemed very attentive as I described my vision and would occasionally ask clarifying questions. When I finished describing my vision, the architect said, “Don’t fall into the design trap as so many others appear to have done.” He said by incorporating the garage into the lower level, there will be additional fire safety requirements since there will be finished living spaces above the garage. He further explained that the description of the property will allow for a walk-out basement design which would eliminate the need for me to deal with stairs every time I leave or return home; that will be a huge plus as I get older. Opting for this type of layout would essentially create a ranch style home with the garage and main house on one level and eliminate the additional fire safety requirements… saving money. The walk-out basement area would end up having more usable space since it would not be incorporating the garage area. He went on to explain that since it will initially be just me living there, the plans could be designed to reflect what the basement area will look like once finished, but could be left un-finished during the initial build… again, saving money and potentially shortening the build time. The architect provided a lot of design ideas I hadn’t considered because I had fallen into the design trap based on what a majority of the houses in the region look like. As our conversation was nearing the end, I made my decision to work with him for the design. He told me to send him any drawings I had created, along with all my notes and anything else related to my vision. He said he will take everything I send him, along with a camp chair, and go to the property and set up where he thinks the best location for the house foundation would be and also offer the best views, and then begin his design process. By doing that, he said he is able to get a sense for the direction of the breezes, general sounds of the area, and picture first-hand the best orientation of the house and placement of windows.
At this point I feel pretty good how things have started. Once the house design is complete and stamped by a structural engineer, the property will get staked with the foundation layout and the septic system can be installed. In the mean time, the rough driveway is getting cut in and more trees removed. My hope is to have the house designs done, foundation staked, and septic installed by the end of summer. If that looks like it can happen, then I’ll plan another trip to the area around the time frame the septic system is being installed so I can process the trees that have been cleared by the excavator. Accomplishing this milestone will hopefully allow construction to begin next spring… until the unforeseen changes things.