Before...

[Ranman]

:wavey:

[boxy]

Nice tree line in the back Randy, good luck. :D

[tamburello]

Ahhh, starting with a blank slate. Congrats and have fun watching the new digs take shape. Now, for the question we all are wanting to know. How big is the garage going to be? :biggrin.: :biggrin.:

- Jeff

[Ranman]

:biggrin: :biggrin:

[txtaz]

Randy, You might want to add a few more rooms to that floor plan just to keep the misses happy. ;) :rlol:
Good luck with the build.
Wes

[gcarter]

I personally like the idea of the house being centered around the garage!! :rlol:
Like Wes says, you can always add a few more. I always thought the ideal house would be a six car garage w/ living quarters attached.
BTW, congratulations!
It's time to step up!

:wavey:

[onesubdrvr]

I Think it's great,

We'll have to compare photos as the jobs progress!!

Congrats again
Wayne

[Ranman]

A little progress. I went to the lot to find this.

I'm pretty sure that 40" footings are beyond standard spec. Must be because of the forthcoming 9' !0" basement walls. :smash:

[Ranman]

Oh, and the lot received it's first violation as well. :)

[txtaz]

Oh, and the lot received it's first violation as well. :)
Looks like you've been slimed green :banghead:

[Team Jefe]

Randy, You might want to add a few more rooms to that floor plan just to keep the misses happy. ;) :rlol:
Good luck with the build.
Wes

Hey - I'm with G, Centering around teh Garage is perfect. Besides what does Jenn have to complain about...I mean there is a powder room AND Laundry Room.....what more could a girl ask?!?!?! :biggrin.:

[Ranman]

What are the large concrete lumps in the middle of the floor area? pilings??

Those are the footingsfor the basement poles. There will be a couple of steel I beams in there with poles to the floor to help hold the house up.


Hey - I'm with G, Centering around teh Garage is perfect. Besides what does Jenn have to complain about...I mean there is a powder room AND Laundry Room.....what more could a girl ask?!?!?!

Very Funny Jefe. :biggrin.:

[Ranman]

Forms for basement walls being set up and the concrete walls poured.

[gcarter]

I think I'm with Poodle on this one.
The way this is going, Subdriver could have a basement tooooo!

[Ranman]

In my case 4' of the basement will be below ground and the other 6' will be above. The area I'm building in is known as "the lakes" area and the water table is somewhat high, so you don't want to dig too deep or you'll end up with a natural swimming pool in you basement. Most of the basement walls in the area are poured to 7' 10" and the hole is dug out 5' leaving roughly 3' exposed. In my case, they only dug down 4' and I opted for 9' 10" walls so I can finish it nicely with a high ceiling. The result is that the house is "boosted" out of the ground a bit more than the average MI home. This will ensure my basement is dry and may provide the ability to become a walkout sometime in the future. Also, once it's bricked up, it should have a very "grandiose" look to it. I'll post more as construction progresses.

[onesubdrvr]

Looking Good!! :biggrin.:


Wayne

[Ranman]

Latest update.

Basement walls are "waterproofed" with a spray on black tar. Drain tiles are installed using perforated tubing and pea gravel all the way around the footings. Backfilling to happen this week.

[goatee]

sweet randy. bet you guys are exited to finish it.

[Ranman]

A little more progress. They started framing today. The Ibeams and poles were put in place and the engineered floor joists are going down. Seems like they could have consolidated some of the poles so there weren't so many, but as long as it's supported well, I'll deal with it. :D

[onesubdrvr]

Lookin' good!! The walls will be up REAL soon I imagine!


Wayne

[boxy]

Looks good Randy, that type of pre-engineered joist makes running home theatre, home automation stuff a breeze. See if there is somewhere you can run a 2" or 3" conduit from the basement to the attic for future cable runs.
Nice neighbourhood by the way ..... :D

[Sagbay32]

Randy,
Congratulations on the new build.
What sub in Wixom are you building in? Sounds like your new home is going to be very nice.

I loved the pic of the "first violation". Too funny. Us storm water management guys can be sticklers....lol.
Mike

[Ranman]

Boxy,

Good idea on the conduit. Will see what I can do.Thanks for the compliment on the neighborhood. The houses across the street look nice, but a re funky with the two front door thing. Mine isn't like that.

Mike,

The sub is a 13 unit deal called Castlewood north West of Maple and Wixom Rd. The builder is Singh Homes. Know anything about them by chance?

[Ranman]

Here's the latest

[Rootsy]

Looks good randy... interesting to see how they frame her in...

I have a handful of 100 year old square nails i removed from a ledger board while i was roofing last weekend... maybe you could get the the boys to pound em into strategic locations so someone 50 years from now can scratch their heads and say *wtf are these and why are they here*...

JR - 3 1/2 square to go :smash:

[Sagbay32]

Looking good...nice area. We had looked at the Loon Lake sub on Porter and Wixom RD before we moved to Milford. I am sure you two will be very happy there.

Also make sure you sleeve the driveway and sidewalks for outdoor lighting, sprinkler lines and gutter downspout drainage.

-Cable and phone jacks in every room too.

Mike

[Ranman]

Also make sure you sleeve the driveway and sidewalks for outdoor lighting, sprinkler lines and gutter downspout drainage.

Please elaborate / explain.

We looked in the same sub in Loon Lake as well. Couldn't find the perfect house so we decided to build what we wanted.

[Lenny]

Randy, what did you pay for crete? (yard) I haven't bought any for about 3 years and to my surprise it had doubled :eek:

I was paying about $120/yard here ($100 US) delivered and was informed that due to the North American shortage of concrete (cement refining) and fuel surcharges that it was now this high. :rolleyes: I am paying double that now. And every Company is the same.

[Ranman]

Lenny,

I negotiated the deal on the whole completed package. This is considered a "production" home. The builder takes care of everything subcontractor wise and I pay for the whole shebang at the end. I have no idea what concrete costs these days, but I do know I'm getting a lot of it.

[Rootsy]

i priced 4 yds for a new floor for my granery and it was $82/yd from a local place... that didn't include any rebar or anything...

[Lenny]

i priced 4 yds for a new floor for my granery and it was $82/yd from a local place... that didn't include any rebar or anything...

Sooo, $82.00 x 1.2 (dollar conversion to Can$) = $98.40 Can. So, this :rolleyes: "North American shortage" only seems to affect us in the Northwest. The fact that over 800 high end homes 5 miles from me, 8 hammerhead cranes, (a first in this town) building high rise condos, a building boom like we have NEVER seen, money coming into this place from the world over, lots ( 1/2) acre selling for 2.2 million and they are not Oceanfront, and developements like Bear Mountain just down the road 3 miles,... http://www.bearmountain.ca/properties/hot-properties.html
are obviously fueling this "shortage". I am paying $218/yard Can$ ($182.00 US/yd) for my little project. :(

[boxy]

Please elaborate / explain.

We looked in the same sub in Loon Lake as well. Couldn't find the perfect house so we decided to build what we wanted.

Randy, same idea as the conduit for wires inside, run conduit outside for future projects...

[Ranman]

Randy, same idea as the conduit for wires inside, run conduit outside for future projects...

Well, I figured that much. :rolleyes: :biggrin:

I'm hoping for some advice on proper materials and technique. Do you just bury a tube of PVC where the driveway will cross so you can snake **** under it? Same for the sidewalk? Do I cap the tube initially or leave it open? What's the best way to do this?

[boxy]

I used flexible Big O drain pipe for my cable run to the street, for the electrical run to my storage shed I had my sprinkler guy lay some 2" pipe, (that's for you Stevie Mahhhhh) with his ditch witch.
Make sure you have a fridge outlet in the garage ..... :D

[Sagbay32]

Randy,
I used 4" PVC at 1.5' off back of curb for sprinkler lines, 1.5" PVC for exterior lighting.
I used 6" corregated, non-perforated plastic pipe for downspout drainage under walks.

We usually place the larger diameter sleves 1' below any concrete to prevent heaving during our lovely freeze thaw cycles.

Another nice touch is to have elec outlets installed in the eaves for christmas lights. We used to have them on our old house and we sure do miss them.

Are you going to have any motion detector lights on the back of the house? If so run those wires now too.

Hope this helps
Mike

[Lenny]

Randy, be careful with the electrical in conduit. If an inspector sees wire in a plastic pipe, that is NOT grey, he can, by code, fail you. Grey (Rigid) PVC is what is called for if they see it. Also, if you put wire into any pipe that THEY see as part of an electrical inspection, it has to be FT4 rated. (Flame Test 4)

Been through this many times here. :D

[Ranman]

The latest...

[TuxedoPk]

Looking great! They really made quite a bit of progress in the last two weeks.

What is the anticipated move in date?

[Ranman]

Thank you. They're saying December 27th.

[Lenny]

What is the roof? 9/12 on the main area and 12/12 on the front gables? I am glad I never got into roofing. Are you expecting a "snow load" :D

Are you landscaping up to the top of the damproofing in front? and if so, how will the transition take place to the left (viewed) of the garage? (tyvek, wooden part)

Looking good :)

[Ranman]

And, it will be finished in time for a registry New Years party to break it in right

Do you even own a coat?

[Ranman]

What is the roof? 9/12 on the main area and 12/12 on the front gables? I am glad I never got into roofing. Are you expecting a "snow load" :D

Are you landscaping up to the top of the damproofing in front? and if so, how will the transition take place to the left (viewed) of the garage? (tyvek, wooden part)

Looking good :)

I think that's about right on the roof. Good luck cleaning the gutters or hanging Xmas lights, right?

Landscaping is going to be a challenge. The whole front is brick from the current dirt level on up. Only the area above the garage door will be paint and not brick :( We're thinking that a boulder retaining wall coming off the front to step the yard down might be nice...

[Lenny]

An Excavator placed BOULDER wall, plant spots, bark mulch, odd tree/shrub would look GREAT.

I love rock. Keep the rock natural and don't go with quarry man-sided stuff.

Maybe you will be in for X-mas :)

[onesubdrvr]

Randy,

It's looking great, I suspect your construction has passed mine - there hasn't been much done on mine in the past 3 weeks, they are saying mid January here :frown: , Oh well.

Verry happy for you, can't wait to see the completed pics

Wayne

[Ranman]

The latest:

95% of brickwork is complete
Rough plumbing, electrical and HVAC are done
2/3 of the drywall is hung.

[boldts]

Wow Randy and Jenn. The house looks fantastic! Love the brick. My dad is a civil engineer working on energy conservation in brick plants, so I've had the opportunity to see and experience brick making and firing in the kilns. Looks like the back porch will be up high enough for storage under it for things like the lawn mower, bikes, and gardening tools to keep them out of the garage so things like Jenn's car or my favorite, the Donzi can use that space.

Wishing you both all the best and a warm home for future relaxing and living the American dream.

[Lenny]

Nice :yes: Randy and Jenn.

Looks GREAT. What, no snow on the ground yet and sunlight in the picture?

Hope you get in for Christmas. :)

[Ranman]

All of the brick work is done
Siding is complete
Priming, painting and trimwork happening inside
Cabinets are here
Some exterior trim painting remains

[BUIZILLA]

kind of a BIG step down out the back door isn't it?? :eek:

or does the 5 foot raised deck, complete with sunken hot tob, the next step..:hyper: :alligator

[onesubdrvr]

All of the brick work is done
Siding is complete
Priming, painting and trimwork happening inside
Cabinets are here
Some exterior trim painting remains
Randy,

I am extremely jealous, mines not even close to that :confused: Oh well, congratulations, it is looking GREAT!!

[gcarter]

Where's the airconditioner?

[Ranman]

Kitchen coming together

[Ranman]

Master Bath

[Ranman]

Staircase
Fireplace
Full Bath Cabinet

[TuxedoPk]

Randy- The place is coming along great! You and Jenn must be really looking forward to moving in.

[Ranman]

Here's a comparison from where we started and where we are today. Moved in and living. Full landscaping is coming next week...

[Tony]

Great chronology...and congratulations on the move-in!

Hope all is well with you and Jenn, and I hope to see you at some events this summer.


:beer:

[onesubdrvr]

Randy,...

Looks great, congratulations.

I'm about 80% into mine, a little more light stuff to do, but, it is still taking a little getting used to - it's now a long walk from my bedroom to the kitchen :biggrin: maybe I'll loose some weight :biggrin:

Take care, and again, congratulations!
Wayne

[Team Jefe]

Very nice Randy, I'm sure you and Jenn are very happy....that the process is over.:D

[MOP]

Randy it has come out really nice, I like the whole thing but in particular the bathroom arrangement T&S side by side.