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I am a 35 year old male and am in the process of building my lake home.

I should break ground on the house in January 04 and have used THS extensively to help in making various decisions, although there are plenty left to make.

Update...as my screenname suggests, a large portion of my building lot is yes....wetlands. I am somewhat of an environmentalists, which is what made the lot attractive to me. The problem is the wetlands extend ten feet into my proposed building site, a fact that was not obvious by vegetation. I am in the process of petitioning the DEQ to allow me that ten feet for my building site. New proposed groundbreaking...April? I hope.

Update...As of today, March 9th, I have a building permit. Hoping to break ground sometime in the next two weeks. Excited and nervous, but these forums have helped a lot so far.

Well...finally broke ground on April 5th. Have the basement walls up and hope the framing is done by the end of the month.

It is mid June and the roof trusses should be up this week. The monsoon season we have had in Michigan has been a bit trying.

Insulation will be installed Sept. 7th and yes, things have moved slowly. Looking forward to watching the drywall go in.

Nov 15th: The basement radiant floor is on and pretty much heating the entire house. I used Icynene foam insulation, its amazingly tight. Cabinets and painting are going on in tandem. Hope to have painting finished in another week or two, then comes the plumbing fixtures and hardwood. I am hoping to be in by Christmas so I can host the big family dinner, we will see...and...we will be eating off folding tables from Sams club since I have no dining room table yet:)

Jan 3, 2005...I am still not in the house. At the moment the painting is 3/4 of the way done. The tile is all in. The wood floors are in upstairs but still have the main first floor to install and finish. After that, appliances and I should be home free...well, not exactly free:)

Jan 22nd, 2005. Moved into the new house.

Feb 15th, 2005. The house is great. I felt at "home" from the moment I moved in. I suppose thats what happens when you forego an interior designer and choose every item yourself. It felt miserable at the time, but I am glad I did it this way.

Just a note to others. This was not always a pleasant process. In fact, many times it was downright miserable. But the ends really do justify the means in the case of your dream home. Stick with it and stay strong. It really is worth it.

I also want to thank everyone at Gardenweb, particularly "That Home Site" I cannot even imagine what I would have ended up with without this group of like-minded individuals and professionals. I exposed my builder to a lot of new technologies and ended up with a much better house as a result of my time spent here. It was also VERY comforting having kindred spirits available to offer advice without criticism.

THANKS EVERYONE!

I live in: United States

My zone is: Z5 MI

My favorite forum 1 is Building a Home.

My favorite forum 2 is Appliances.

First registered on December 20,2003.