Saturday, June 20, 2009
another day down
I spent most the day in the house helping electricize it. or that's the work I made up for what we're doing. electrocuting the house and all. anyway, I was helping the electrician I hired to run all the wires. since I still haven't quite gotten caught up on photos, here's some more.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
more costs
this doesn't worry me at all. as a matter of fact, the reason I posted those estimates is to show how silly they were. however, I'm just going to point out here that no where in my figures did I include costs for sheetrock. why didn't anyone remind me?
Monday, June 15, 2009
first day of work
the job site, before anything had been done.
the supplies. I spent all day thursday with a guy some works for as we went around from store to store picking it up.
first picture is obvious the genius of this whole thing, the only man who knows what he's doing. second is the just family crew that got out friday to do the slow leveling work in preparation for the big work day saturday.
it may have taken most the evening, but it was pretty exact at the end. looked good if I do say so myself. which I do.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
finances
now this gets personal. not too personal though. I just think it's important for me to make y'all aware of my financial state during all this and how it relates to the building process.
a month or so a go Mary-Beth and I got back from a 2 week trip in London. (it's all written about over at VaguelyVagabonds.) for those of you who haven't made it there yet, London is expensive. we did it as cheap as we could, but still. it's expensive. so we came back with no money. before we we left we had worked on a lot of possibilities, like bank loans, personal loans, etc. we were actually talking seriously to a few people about a personal loan, and that's when we left. I left fairly confident that when we got back we'd start building, and even set a goal of moving in on our anniversary, July 12th. however, when we got back we learned that no personal loan was coming. it didn't bother me much. this still seemed like a good time to build a house. even so, there wasn't anyone to loan me money, the banks wouldn't give it because I have no collateral. no land, no car, (just cheap mopeds,) and even the house is unconventional, and banks don't like that. so no money. and no capital to start the house. since we'd taken the trips, our bank account was mostly empty besides rent money, and our credit cards mostly full. I still wanted to build, even with no real capital. so I went to Lowe's and applied for a Lowe's Project Credit Card, which I received with a credit limit of $4500. (just so you know, I asked for $9000.) I also went to Home Depot, though they didn't have a card that compared to the Lowe's card. the Lowe's one was much better in terms and such. even so, I procured a card from Home Depot for $1200. with this, and the money Mary-Beth and I had saved in the 2 weeks since getting back, we started building on the 5th. or rather, we leveled the ground and placed the concrete blocks on the 5th, and had an old fashion barn raising on the 6th. more on that later. anyway, most of our supplies we bought from Lowe's, unless they didn't have it, then we went to Home Depot. however, sometimes neither place would have it, (ie: lumber over 12ft.) or the price difference would be such that I'd have to go somewhere else. for instance the tin roofing was $500+ at Lowe's and approx $250 at a local metal shop. so we paid cash there. all in all, we probably spent around $1500-$2000 in the first two days. I'll get around to counting up the receipts soon, so as to compare estimates to actual costs.
a month or so a go Mary-Beth and I got back from a 2 week trip in London. (it's all written about over at VaguelyVagabonds.) for those of you who haven't made it there yet, London is expensive. we did it as cheap as we could, but still. it's expensive. so we came back with no money. before we we left we had worked on a lot of possibilities, like bank loans, personal loans, etc. we were actually talking seriously to a few people about a personal loan, and that's when we left. I left fairly confident that when we got back we'd start building, and even set a goal of moving in on our anniversary, July 12th. however, when we got back we learned that no personal loan was coming. it didn't bother me much. this still seemed like a good time to build a house. even so, there wasn't anyone to loan me money, the banks wouldn't give it because I have no collateral. no land, no car, (just cheap mopeds,) and even the house is unconventional, and banks don't like that. so no money. and no capital to start the house. since we'd taken the trips, our bank account was mostly empty besides rent money, and our credit cards mostly full. I still wanted to build, even with no real capital. so I went to Lowe's and applied for a Lowe's Project Credit Card, which I received with a credit limit of $4500. (just so you know, I asked for $9000.) I also went to Home Depot, though they didn't have a card that compared to the Lowe's card. the Lowe's one was much better in terms and such. even so, I procured a card from Home Depot for $1200. with this, and the money Mary-Beth and I had saved in the 2 weeks since getting back, we started building on the 5th. or rather, we leveled the ground and placed the concrete blocks on the 5th, and had an old fashion barn raising on the 6th. more on that later. anyway, most of our supplies we bought from Lowe's, unless they didn't have it, then we went to Home Depot. however, sometimes neither place would have it, (ie: lumber over 12ft.) or the price difference would be such that I'd have to go somewhere else. for instance the tin roofing was $500+ at Lowe's and approx $250 at a local metal shop. so we paid cash there. all in all, we probably spent around $1500-$2000 in the first two days. I'll get around to counting up the receipts soon, so as to compare estimates to actual costs.
updated numbers
at one point, when I was still wondering how I was going to afford this house, we talked to a few people about a personal load, with guaranteed interest, and firm repayment structure, and so on. banks weren't much of an option for me, as I have no collateral for a loan, no land, (the house is being built on my parents, and will be moved later,) no car, (2 mopeds that aren't worth enough,) etc. so personal loans seemed like a good option. in putting this all down on paper, we wanted to have as accurate figures as possible. so, we called around, and got more exact prices. Ben and I met with Sam to actually firm up the design of the house. how many windows? what kind of doors? what's the siding going to be made of? how many 2x4s, 2x6s, and 2x8s do we need? and what do those cost? after those meetings and calls, we came to this updated price list.
Initial Costs:
Lumber: $1800
Windows: $1000
Insulation: $2100
Tin Siding: $1400
Doors: $600
Electric/Lights: $700
Toilets/Sinks: $250
Shower: $400
Plumbing Supplies: $200
Air C: $300
Fridge: $1000
Stove: $650
Water Heater: $300
Nails/Misc: $300
_______________________________________
Total: $11,000
as you can see, we've jumped $1850. here's some of what we changed.
***lumber and tin are around the same, nor would they change, as we had those costs semi-figured out. (or so we thought.)
***doors had not changed price, but as seen in the sketch, we'd changed from one pair of french doors, to two pair of sliding glass doors. these have low-e glass in them, are as energy efficient as they come, and I just thought the more glass the better. hurts the energy rating of the house, but makes it feel much more spacious and open. which brings us to the next item.
***windows. we jumped $700 here. our previous 3 windows were basic size, one on the side where the kitchen is, one in the living room, and a small venting window in the bathroom. that's fine for basics, but we wanted this house to look nice, and be nice to live in. as I said before, windows, (even with the best glass,) will cut down on energy efficiency, but in this case, I think it's worth it. how much fun is it to live in a box with no light? be great for the energy bill, because you're living in an igloo cooler, but not much fun.
***water heater. this wasn't in the first estimate at all. another thing we forgot.
***electricity, wiring, lights, etc. Sam pulled the $700 number out of the air, we have no idea where he got it. even so, we wrote it down anyway. notice however, we still haven't listed concrete blocks or plumbing. more costs that aren't yet in our figures.
obviously, we're a long way off still. more to come.
Initial Costs:
Lumber: $1800
Windows: $1000
Insulation: $2100
Tin Siding: $1400
Doors: $600
Electric/Lights: $700
Toilets/Sinks: $250
Shower: $400
Plumbing Supplies: $200
Air C: $300
Fridge: $1000
Stove: $650
Water Heater: $300
Nails/Misc: $300
_______________________________________
Total: $11,000
as you can see, we've jumped $1850. here's some of what we changed.
***lumber and tin are around the same, nor would they change, as we had those costs semi-figured out. (or so we thought.)
***doors had not changed price, but as seen in the sketch, we'd changed from one pair of french doors, to two pair of sliding glass doors. these have low-e glass in them, are as energy efficient as they come, and I just thought the more glass the better. hurts the energy rating of the house, but makes it feel much more spacious and open. which brings us to the next item.
***windows. we jumped $700 here. our previous 3 windows were basic size, one on the side where the kitchen is, one in the living room, and a small venting window in the bathroom. that's fine for basics, but we wanted this house to look nice, and be nice to live in. as I said before, windows, (even with the best glass,) will cut down on energy efficiency, but in this case, I think it's worth it. how much fun is it to live in a box with no light? be great for the energy bill, because you're living in an igloo cooler, but not much fun.
***water heater. this wasn't in the first estimate at all. another thing we forgot.
***electricity, wiring, lights, etc. Sam pulled the $700 number out of the air, we have no idea where he got it. even so, we wrote it down anyway. notice however, we still haven't listed concrete blocks or plumbing. more costs that aren't yet in our figures.
obviously, we're a long way off still. more to come.
design pictures
here are some sketches I had phil draw up based on verbal designs we had talked about at the time. as should be obvious, the scanner doesn't do them justice.
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