NSS: I'm in debt up to my ears!

[Prngr44]

House loan is all ironed out/signed/approved/costing me arms & legs and the building permit was filed the last week of June.

I get to meet the concrete guy tomorrow to shoot grade, stake out the basement and establish offsets, etc. The framers are 5 days after that and I'm thinking by mid August this sucker will be under roof!!

I'll probably document the process on the blog so I'll throw that link out once it's set up and going.

I'm scared to death and excited as hell!!

[cheapie]

woohoo! sounds fun. going to post the plans?

[pain2010]

DO you have an interior trim carpenter yet?

[Prngr44]

DO you have an interior trim carpenter yet?

Yep.

Me! :)

We did all the baseboard/window trim/crown and hung all the interior doors on 2 of my friend's houses already so now it's my turn.


I can also tell you that I saved ~$80,000 by subcontracting some of the things out myself and being lucky enough that my general contractor (also a friend) was willing to work with whomever I selected for the subbed jobs even if it wasn't his guys.

I think the final ratio of his costs to my costs was 60/40.

[Prngr44]

I'll just keep this all in one thread...

So I'm out at the lot with the foundation contractor and we're staking off the basement, shooting grade, etc. When we're all done I bust out the camera (Nikon Coolpix 5700) to take a few shots to go with the whole documentation process.

I flip the camera on and the screen's black. The display is showing fine, I can access the menu fine, but the image is pitch black. So today I call Nikon Support mainly worried I'm going to have to shell out $$ to get this fixed and there's a recall. :)

Apparently the sensor is prone to fail without warning on select cameras. Lucky me. The good thing is they'll repair it for free and reimburse me for shipping it in.

[Prngr44]

Already with the delays... :) Supposedly rain bumped their schedule a week and the hole starts getting dug bright and early on Thursday morning.

Camera should be back in time from getting serviced as well.

[renovation]

how large a house you building and style ?

[Prngr44]

http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/StartBasement.jpg
http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/SEBasement.jpghttp://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/SWBasement.jpg
http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/NWBasement.jpghttp://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/NEBasement.jpg

The basement actually seemed a bit more shallow than I expected. It's about 8' deep in the front but will have 9' walls.

[brainsmile]

what's a basement?

[Markel]

what's a basement?
A place you hide when tornadoes threaten. :P

[Prngr44]

Hehe. I don't know what I'd do without a basement. It's the only way I can park my cars in the garage.

:)

[gear02]

Hehe. I don't know what I'd do without a basement. It's the only way I can park my cars in the garage.

:)

wait...I don't get that statement. :confused:

You can't do without a basement because you have to park your cars in the garage?

If your garage is in the basement, how do you get your cars down there? Am I missing something?

[Prngr44]

No... I store all my junk in the basement. ;)

Instead of the garage. :D

[Jeffbx]

No... I store all my junk in the basement. ;)

Instead of the garage. :D


:stupid:

Me too - if I didn't have a basement, my cars would have to live in the driveway.

[Napoleon54]

what's a basement?

That's where you lock up your mother-in-law when she comes to visit. Can't have her eating the neighbors' kids or anything like that.

[Prngr44]

Some folks wanted to see floor plans/layouts so here you go:

Main floor's floor plan (http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/1.pdf)

Upper floor's floor plan (http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/2.pdf)

Front elevation (http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/3.pdf)

Rear elevation (http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/4.pdf)

[gwilks98]

since I'm local, where are you building?

[uncledaddy]

Some folks wanted to see floor plans/layouts so here you go:


Man, looks awesome, like the floor plan. :)

[Napoleon54]

I love the idea of a loft area on the second floor looking down into the great room, which I'm assuming has a cathedral-like ceiling. I've always really liked that and would like to incorporate that feature into my home someday.

[Prngr44]

since I'm local, where are you building?

I crossed the river to the dark side! :)

Belleville area.

I'll be heading back out again tonight to get some updated pictures. The footing holes were dug but the rain delayed them a bit to get them poured. I'm still hopeful the basement walls will be up by the weekend.

[gwilks98]

Bellevilles? Oh noes!

I hear belleville is only made of wrong way streets.

[Prngr44]

Well last night's visit proved to have some updates but I left that damn camera at home.

Footings were all poured and the concrete forms for the basement were all piled up. I'm assuming they'll set the forms today & tomorrow and pour the basement this weekend.

Gwilks- I wouldn't disagree, but I'm a little more out in the country. I think it's just the people that are wrong way. ;)

[redcolours]

Bellevilles? Oh noes!

I hear belleville is only made of wrong way streets.

dont you get it? its so you cant find his house.

:D

[Prngr44]

Well the damn heat is really delaying things... :( 100+ all week long and you can't really pour concrete in heat like this because it'll shrink and contract too much. So even though they're ready to pour it doesn't look like I'll have a basement until next week.

[Prngr44]

Basement's done. :D

Garage footings are poured, the half walls are poured, and the framer is scheduling the steel and lumber delivery for next week.

He thinks the subfloor will be up by the end of the week!

:wow:

[Jenny]

Awesome! Love the floor plans. :D Congrats on doing a lot of the work yourself and finding out the best people to do the rest. :)

[Prngr44]

Whew...been a while since the last update. Some delays, some rain... here's a few pics of the basement:

http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCF0187.jpghttp://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCF0188.jpg
http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCF0189.jpghttp://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCF0190.jpg

[Prngr44]

http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCN1409.jpghttp://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCN1423.jpg
http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCN1426.jpghttp://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCN1427.jpg
http://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCN1428.jpghttp://www.meredith-ott.com/Stephen/House/DSCN1435.jpg

[uncledaddy]

Ha Ha, ya had me doing a double take for a sec. You posted an update with only pics. of basement walls then four min. later the wood frames. I thought, OMG, they are friggin' fast. LOL.

Looks like it's coming along well. Delayed but well. :)

[Maarchk]

They build fast! Its nice.

[Kevster]

Basement? What's a basement?

/California

[Prngr44]

Basement? What's a basement?

/California

Brainsmile beat ya to it. :D

[Prngr44]

Floor was done yesterday, and the beginnings of walls are already showing up!

http://otthouse.blogspot.com

[Houdini]

Got 'ya all beat:

Basement? What's a basement? /New Orleans


Looks great btw!

H

[Yossarian]

omg houdini, i didn't know if i was laughing at your comment from a geek stand point(being below sea level and all) or because i'm demented...

[Prngr44]

Updated pics @ http://otthouse.blogspot.com

All the interior and exterior walls on the main floor are finished and they'll start building up on Monday. It seems like it's going FAST!

[Jeffbx]

Basement? What's a basement?

/California


It's where us midwesterners hide during tornado season

[Prngr44]

Well I haven't uploaded the latest pictures to the blog, but the roof trusses are on and they'll be slapping sheathing on it tomorrow.

The roof guy is due out on Wednesday and I believe I'll have a complete roof by next week. Windows and doors are due mid to late next week as well.

According to the builder, his current estimation for house completed is 12/4. That's a full month and a half faster than what he initially thought.

Thank goodness for the sweet weather since Labor Day!!

[Prngr44]

Wow, been a while since I updated this. Windows are in! It couldn't go without a hitch though, one of them is screwed up but looks like they'll get it all straightened out. (My builder ordered the wrong thing for some reason.)

Concrete guy is out there today getting ready to pour the basement and garage floors. I think I'll be able to lock stuff up within a week or 2!!

[Jenny]

Very cool. :) Congrats on the progress!

[uncledaddy]

Looking good.

[cruelpupet]

damn thats huge!

Sorry. Living in a small brooklyn apt, I can no longer image being able to take up that much space.

[Prngr44]

The end is finally in sight...

Insulation on Friday, drywall the following week. I think we'll be able to move in by mid to late April.

:)

[Jenny]

That's great! Especially now that you have one more mouth to feed. ;)

[oblongmelon]

I hope you're putting a second "summer" kitchen in the basement..believe me, they come in handy!

[uncledaddy]

That's great. About time, huh? So how's the finished product look?

[Markel]

I hope you're putting a second "summer" kitchen in the basement..believe me, they come in handy!
Spoken like a true Italian! :heh:

When we were looking for homes, that was a sure sign of Italian influence. Our realtor made a comment about Italian families always moving lower in their homes (i.e., developing the bottom levels).

[Prngr44]

Well they still haven't started drywalling yet... not sure why not so that's been slightly irritating.

We did finally lock in the rate on the loan, I was pretty happy with that.

[Daedalus]

They may be giving the structure as much time to settle as possible and/or waiting for it to dry out some more.

[Prngr44]

Hallelujah... my dad called and said the house was filled with drywall, buckets of 'mud', ladders, and scaffolding. Looks like they'll FINALLY get started tomorrow.... only a week late. :D

[renovation]

as a contractor i tell you things never go as plan.and your always falling behind when times are good .

[Prngr44]

Mid to late April? Boy was I ambitious. :D

We finished painting this past weekend and the flooring is a week or 2 away. In the meantime we've been installing all of the receptacles, switches, fixtures, and baseboard in the rooms which will get carpet.

On a side note, for you folks remodeling or just a crapload of stuff to buy from Lowe's/Home Depot, gather up all your items and submit it as a bid request (minimum $2500) and you'll get special pricing to the tune of 15-20% off.

The only downside is you have to pay for it all upfront instead of taking it as you need it. Granted, they let you take it as you need it, but you have to pay for it all (usually within 1-3 days of getting your adjusted price back) upfront.

No pic updates, but I should have those soon.

[Jenny]

It's looking good Prn! :)

[Prngr44]

Just a quick update...

The weather has been absolutely horrible lately and I've been waiting ~5 weeks for my aeration system to be installed. Couple that with a few minor water leaks that are preventing the flooring to be installed which prevents the plumbing fixtures and cabinets from being installed which prevents my appliances to be installed. ALL of which have my garage packed with "stuff."

My lock period on my fixed rate expires at the end of June. I never thought I'd be worried about it but I am now!!!

We're so damn close I can taste it but I'm starting to get jaded. :)

[Prngr44]

Updated a bunch more pics... flooring's completed and starting on the trim work (doors/windows/baseboard)