It's Official

[IdahoRanger]

Nice seeing the progress Dave. Can't wait to see the finished house.

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[Fordup]

Where's the garage pics . Should be at least as big as the house to keep you out of Annie's hair after retirement .

 

[bsr956]

Dave is a wise man. He will let Annie get so distracted with interior decorating she doesn't realize the huge garage being built.

 

[AzScorpion]

Nice seeing the progress Dave. Can't wait to see the finished house.

Things usually move pretty slowly at first and here it was even more slow with all the permitting and inspections. I'm not the most patient person, but having been in construction my whole life and the 3rd house I've built you have to learn to be patient. lol

This is the boring stage now with all the mechanicals getting roughed in but it'll really start coming together once it's rocked. It's exactly how I envisioned it while planning it with the architect and I already can see exactly what the finish will look like now that we've picked out all the flooring and colors. Annie's starting to see it but still has no clue what the finish will look like so it's fun to see her go through the process and watch everything.

 

[AzScorpion]

Where's the garage pics . Should be at least as big as the house to keep you out of Annie's hair after retirement .

Dave is a wise man. He will let Annie get so distracted with interior decorating she doesn't realize the huge garage being built.

I was trying to buy the lot next to me but the owner didn't want to sell it last year. I wanted to put the house there which would've allowed me to have a much bigger garage or another detached one. Then I could've run the septic onto my lot and still had a little more buffer between the two neighbors. Of course his realtor called me twice since August asking if I'd be interested in buying it. He wants to much and it doesn't have that much value to me now seeing as it would only be good for privacy. That's not a bad thing but he's a good $10K to high and it's been sitting for 5 weeks and still for sale.

 

[Fordup]

I was trying to buy the lot next to me but the owner didn't want to sell it last year. I wanted to put the house there which would've allowed me to have a much bigger garage or another detached one. Then I could've run the septic onto my lot and still had a little more buffer between the two neighbors. Of course his realtor called me twice since August asking if I'd be interested in buying it. He wants to much and it doesn't have that much value to me now seeing as it would only be good for privacy. That's not a bad thing but he's a good $10K to high and it's been sitting for 5 weeks and still for sale.

So it sounds like Annie is getting the house of her dreams and your getting the house of Annie's dreams for being cheap . A buffer zone and big shop are priceless for retirement.

 

[Blue Streak]

Finally making some progress! After 3 months of waiting for permits the house is almost framed. They just put the doors and windows in yesterday and have a couple more days to finish the roof sheathing and wrap a few things up inside. They have a lot of inspections here (which is a good thing) in the beginning. One after the lot is cleared, one after the footings are dug and one after they're poured and the block is laid, core filed and slabs poured. The nice thing about using the Zip System is once the roof is on it'll be weather tight and the subs can start their rough in even if the shingles aren't on yet.


Lot Cleared:

Footings Poured:

Block Installed:

Decking Started:

Walls Going Up:

Almost Framed!:

I like the photo of the decking started. Dave forgot to mention the fancy wood burning furnace. ?

 

[AzScorpion]

So it sounds like Annie is getting the house of her dreams and your getting the house of Annie's dreams for being cheap . A buffer zone and big shop are priceless for retirement.

Nope, we both did. Everyone has their own needs and wants. I've already had a house on 3 acres with a nice barn for all my toys and while it fulfilled my needs then I have zero use for it now. I don't have motorcycles, quads or snowmobiles anymore and I'm not one who does any kind of woodworking projects. My yard was like a golf course and while it looked great I was a slave to it in both time and money.

After working construction for 42 years and running a business for 36 of them (many 60-70 hour weeks) I'm tired and want to relax. Heck, I don't even own a chop saw because it would just sit there and collect dust. lol All my friends back in MA were in construction too so we would barter/help each other with our skills. This was one main reason I wanted to build a new house going into retirement. We want to continue to travel and not be sinking thousands into our AZ house working on projects. The buffer would've been nice but I needed to have the other lot first. That would've given me about 200' of frontage and I could've had the house more centered on the two and left trees (could've been around 20'-30') on each side. Now it would only be on one side which I don't see $35K a smart investment on.


BTW...Its not cheap it's frugal.?

 

[AzScorpion]

I like the photo of the decking started. Dave forgot to mention the fancy wood burning furnace. ?

Yeah, it's fun watching the whole process from start to finish.

I went back and forth on what to get but decided on this zero clearance wood fireplace. Everyone I talked to and all the forums had great things to say about it. Some think I'm crazy (I'm not, my mother had me tested! ?) for wanting to burn wood but I enjoyed it when I was back east and now that I have time it won't be such a chore like it was then.

https://www.pacificenergy.net/products/fp25-arch-le-zero-clearance-wood-fireplace/

 

[Blue Streak]

I was trying to buy the lot next to me but the owner didn't want to sell it last year. I wanted to put the house there which would've allowed me to have a much bigger garage or another detached one. Then I could've run the septic onto my lot and still had a little more buffer between the two neighbors. Of course his realtor called me twice since August asking if I'd be interested in buying it. He wants to much and it doesn't have that much value to me now seeing as it would only be good for privacy. That's not a bad thing but he's a good $10K to high and it's been sitting for 5 weeks and still for sale.

Your lucky. Up here the county we just moved from has a minimum 4 acre rule for your own septic system.

 

[AzScorpion]

Your lucky. Up here the county we just moved from has a minimum 4 acre rule for your own septic system.

Wow, that's a lot of land for one but I'm guessing they really don't want people to have a septic there anymore. Tell me you don't want me having a septic system without telling me you don't want me to have a septic system. lol

They changed the septic regulations here a few years ago but nothing like that. This area was developed back in the 70's when house were much smaller (average was around 1,200-1,400 sq ft) so with a lot that was .25 or bigger you could get the house and septic on it pretty easily. The new regulations now require longer lateral lines and with today's larger homes it's tougher to squeeze them on the smaller lots. Now a minimum of .30 (which mine is) is pretty much needed and even mine was tight and I used every foot when you add in the setbacks. That's why I needed to redesign the house because the original one we had (I had the prints for free too) was too deep for the lot and that was only 1,860 sq ft. Luckily I found a great architect and he took that house along with another and our ides and made this one which is 1,755 sq ft. We could've built a 2 story (smaller footprint) but we hate stairs and Annie has bad knees and I'd be the one doing all the cleaning up there. lol

 

[Grumpaw]

We're all just waiting for the first house warming party.......

 

[5thranger]

We're all just waiting for the first house warming party.......

Wait until the mullets and banjos show up.

 

[AzScorpion]

Wait until the mullets and banjos show up.

You joke but the guy that cleared the lot looked like Joe Dirt but a little heavier. lol Oh, He had a tattoo on his left forearm that said....... REDNECK.

 

[Blue Streak]

Wow, that's a lot of land for one but I'm guessing they really don't want people to have a septic there anymore. Tell me you don't want me having a septic system without telling me you don't want me to have a septic system. lol

They changed the septic regulations here a few years ago but nothing like that. This area was developed back in the 70's when house were much smaller (average was around 1,200-1,400 sq ft) so with a lot that was .25 or bigger you could get the house and septic on it pretty easily. The new regulations now require longer lateral lines and with today's larger homes it's tougher to squeeze them on the smaller lots. Now a minimum of .30 (which mine is) is pretty much needed and even mine was tight and I used every foot when you add in the setbacks. That's why I needed to redesign the house because the original one we had (I had the prints for free too) was too deep for the lot and that was only 1,860 sq ft. Luckily I found a great architect and he took that house along with another and our ides and made this one which is 1,755 sq ft. We could've built a 2 story (smaller footprint) but we hate stairs and Annie has bad knees and I'd be the one doing all the cleaning up there. lol

Subdivided ares with lots smaller than 4 acres must have a community septic system. It is a pretty rual area a lot of farm land but progress is taking over.

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