13 years in the making... Update 9/20/10, Final walk through.

[Gunslinger08]

Any pics of a similar finished house?

 

[speg]

Is that a neighbours house to the left? Seems close.

Sweet backyard though, does it go all the way back to the treeline?

 

[dmw16]

Congrats. We bought our first home last year (new construction) and moved in this March. We love.

Downside is my current job has me 300 miles away from it during the week, but that's another story.

 

[SunnyD]

Any pics of a similar finished house?

Something similar to this:

Is that a neighbours house to the left? Seems close.

Sweet backyard though, does it go all the way back to the treeline?

Yes, there's also one similarly close on the right. About 10' between houses... the unfortunate side effect of cookie cutter housing developments. However you are somewhat correct... it is a sweet backyard. It isn't "ours" though. That's a nature preserve behind us, meaning I will never have neighbors behind me, thus becoming a defacto huge-ass back yard.

 

[Gothgar]

There are hardly any basements around here too

 

[Blackjack200]

wait. Why would they pour the driveway before the house is built? Isn't that kind of backward? Your brand new driveway is going to get ruined (possibly cracked) with all the machinery and going-ons of building a new house.

?? They're not building a skyscraper. A microlam or two, 10 inch joists, 4 inch studs, lots of nails, sheetrock, spackle and some asphault shingles should do it.

Of course, these developments might be built quite a bit differently than than a "regular" house... :\

 

[vi edit]

:thumbsup:

Good luck man. It's a fun...but frustrating process. Be sure to check up on your builder and stick them to what they say they'll do. Also take some beers to your framers on Friday afternoons. You'll get a few extra perks from them and some more TLC on your place.

Hopefully you and your wife have similar tastes in things...picking out the different items can get annoyingly tedious. Sometimes you'll just have to slap some sense into each other on those things.

Sucks about the basement...is it because of the dirt? Too hard to dig in? Or water tables too low and you risk flooded basements all the time? It's a cheap, comfortable living/storage space.

 

[Blackjack200]

Sucks about the basement...is it because of the dirt? Too hard to dig in? Or water tables too low and you risk flooded basements all the time? It's a cheap, comfortable living/storage space.

I imagine it's probably just a lot more expensive. You have to get machines in there to dig it out, you have to get rid of the dirt, you have do all the masonry work, etc.

If everyone wanted one, they'd probably do it, but since most people would rather save a little money...

 

[vi edit]

I imagine it's probably just a lot more expensive. You have to get machines in there to dig it out, you have to get rid of the dirt, you have do all the masonry work, etc.

If everyone wanted one, they'd probably do it, but since most people would rather save a little money...

Depends on the location. Where I'm at you still have to dig down to 40-48" for your footings to get below the frost line even if you are pouring slab. So you still have to excavate and pour/block and you still need a slab. If you want a basement you just go down a little deeper. My foundation was only $30,000 and that's for almost 1900 sq/ft. That's less than $16 a sq/ft. You don't get much cheaper sq/ft than that.

Hauling out dirt isn't that expensive. Heck some people will even take it off you for free.

 

[SunnyD]

:thumbsup:

Good luck man. It's a fun...but frustrating process. Be sure to check up on your builder and stick them to what they say they'll do. Also take some beers to your framers on Friday afternoons. You'll get a few extra perks from them and some more TLC on your place.

Hopefully you and your wife have similar tastes in things...picking out the different items can get annoyingly tedious. Sometimes you'll just have to slap some sense into each other on those things.

Sucks about the basement...is it because of the dirt? Too hard to dig in? Or water tables too low and you risk flooded basements all the time? It's a cheap, comfortable living/storage space.

We've been waiting a long time for this. We intend to keep tabs on the construction. My wife plans on heading out every few days and taking pics as things progress, along with bringing the guys some doughnuts and whatnot along the way. Not sure about the beer thing, but the thought had crossed my mind. I wonder if drunk Mexicans can maintain code...

We'll also be hiring a private party to do inspections along the way too, so we make sure no shortcuts are taken.

As far as decorating and whatnot, that's ALL my wife. As long as there's four walls and a roof, I'm satisfied with my living accommodations. It's funny you mention it too, because we talked about it last night. I staked claim to one and only one room in the house - the storage closet under the stairs. That's MY room. My server room... the closest I get to a man-cave. I pointed that out, and laughed... I get ONE small room, SHE gets the rest of the house.

As far as the foundation goes, I'm not sure if there's an official reason as to why there's no basement aside from added costs. The soil around here is a fairly hard clay, so that may play into those decisions some. But generally a lot of homes everywhere now are getting built without basements simply because it's an added cost. I'd prefer one, but with 3000sqft of living space anyhow, it's not a big deal and just one less piece of maintenance to deal with in the long run for me.

 

[Blackjack200]

Depends on the location. Where I'm at you still have to dig down to 40-48" for your footings to get below the frost line even if you are pouring slab. So you still have to excavate and pour/block and you still need a slab. If you want a basement you just go down a little deeper. My foundation was only $30,000 and that's for almost 1900 sq/ft. That's less than $16 a sq/ft. You don't get much cheaper sq/ft than that.

Hauling out dirt isn't that expensive. Heck some people will even take it off you for free.

JFC, how big is your house?

 

[Blackjack200]

I staked claim to one and only one room in the house - the storage closet under the stairs.

See? That storage closet wouldn't exist if you had a basement!

 

[vi edit]

JFC, how big is your house?

It's not small.

My construction blog is here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2056984&highlight=construction

I don't want to nef up Sunny's thread with my build though.

 

[dmw16]

A few suggestions:

1. (this may be obvious to AT members) have them run any COAX, CAT5, etc that you want during construction.The small additional cost is worth not having to do it later. We have a connection panel in a closet and all of the coax and cat5 run thru that. Great place to put networking gear.

2. Take pictures of the rooms before they drywall. It helps when you go to hang or install lights, fans, wall scones, speakers, etc to know what could be inside the walls.

3. Enjoy the process. We had a blast picking stuff out and watching the house go up.

 

[Sluggo]

I get ONE small room, SHE gets the rest of the house.

Well, don't you get the garage too?

As far as the foundation goes, I'm not sure if there's an official reason as to why there's no basement aside from added costs. The soil around here is a fairly hard clay, so that may play into those decisions some.

Clay soil heaves quite a bit during the wet season, and pulls back pretty far during the dry season, all that movement really screws with basement walls. Deeper down, 5 feet or so, the clay stays almost wet, so moisture is a constant issue. Heavy clay and basements are just a bad combination.

 

[SunnyD]

See? That storage closet wouldn't exist if you had a basement!

Yes it would. I'd stake claim to both in that case.

A few suggestions:

1. (this may be obvious to AT members) have them run any COAX, CAT5, etc that you want during construction.The small additional cost is worth not having to do it later. We have a connection panel in a closet and all of the coax and cat5 run thru that. Great place to put networking gear.

2. Take pictures of the rooms before they drywall. It helps when you go to hang or install lights, fans, wall scones, speakers, etc to know what could be inside the walls.

3. Enjoy the process. We had a blast picking stuff out and watching the house go up.

#1 - yeah, we have all the intended jacks laid out on the plans. I wanted cat5e run, but unfortunately would have had to go through their contractor at a preset price which wasn't worth it. That's why the storage closet is mine. Coax + phone + electric going in there, so it's my server room.

#2 - good idea... didn't think of that.

#3 - we're enjoying. I'm more frightened by the whole thing than my wife is though...

 

[Blackjack200]

Yes it would. I'd stake claim to both in that case.

True, it could. Frequently they stack the staircases on top of each other to save space, but not always.

 

[mb]

Yes, there's also one similarly close on the right. About 10' between houses... the unfortunate side effect of cookie cutter housing developments. However you are somewhat correct... it is a sweet backyard. It isn't "ours" though. That's a nature preserve behind us, meaning I will never have neighbors behind me, thus becoming a defacto huge-ass back yard.

Not necessarily. If a developer desires that land enough and has the cash to pay for an environmental offset, they can build on that land.


Congrats nonetheless.

 

[vi edit]

#1 - yeah, we have all the intended jacks laid out on the plans. I wanted cat5e run, but unfortunately would have had to go through their contractor at a preset price which wasn't worth it. That's why the storage closet is mine. Coax + phone + electric going in there, so it's my server room.

Stop in and talk to the electrician subcontractor on your own. Take a case of beer, a box of Cat5e and a $100 cash. Ask him if he'd mind stringing in a couple extra lines of cat5 for you.

I ran over 1500 feet of cat5 in my place in a weekend on my own. And that's with some runs being over 120 feet a piece. That place should be much easier to run in. A couple hours worth of work.

 

[NutBucket]

I noticed that too, but it also means no dehumidifier. Fuck dehumidifiers, I have to empty mine every day and hump the tank up the basement stairs like the goddam sorcerer's apprentice because I don't have a drain in the basement.

Uh, you could always use an electric pump.....

 

[PricklyPete]

Congrats SunnyD

 

[Homerboy]

run that cat6 (not cat5) yourself.
Nothing is easier. When everything is studded up, drive over on a weekend with a box of cable, and some palsticm single nail clamps and start stringing that stuff up. Nail up some boxes where where you plan to have the equipment and just run the cables through them and tie them off for now.

 

[Blackjack200]

Uh, you could always use an electric pump.....

There's no plumbing in the basement, where would the pump pump to?

 

[vi edit]

run that cat6 (not cat5) yourself.
Nothing is easier. When everything is studded up, drive over on a weekend with a box of cable, and some palsticm single nail clamps and start stringing that stuff up. Nail up some boxes where where you plan to have the equipment and just run the cables through them and tie them off for now.

You'd be amazed at how friggin protective some builders are. They think they are doing you a favor building the house. It doesn't go in unless they put it in. If they didn't put it in, they'll rip it out. That's why I suggested approaching the electrical sub.

 

[coldmeat]

run that cat6 (not cat5) yourself.
Nothing is easier. When everything is studded up, drive over on a weekend with a box of cable, and some palsticm single nail clamps and start stringing that stuff up. Nail up some boxes where where you plan to have the equipment and just run the cables through them and tie them off for now.

Don't just got in any random day unless you check with the plumbers, electricians, and hvac guys first. There's nothing worse then going into a job and finding wires run all over the place and in the way, making everone else's job harder.