We are trying to get our front porch prepared now and have run into a very costly issue I wanted to ask for input on. The porch is going to have a 4 inch slab and we are surrounded below the porch with poured concrete walls. The space below the floor level to the top of the poured walls is about 24”. So we have that distance to fill and prepare for the concrete porch. We first want to know if anyone has some thoughts on how to secure the exposed area at the top of the safe room in that 24” area between the pad and the wall? We just feel that a simple brick edge perimeter is not enough since we are coming up in a secure 8-10” thick poured safe room. We thought of putting concrete board on the exterior prior to the brick ledge coming up to cover for aesthetics? We also thought of metal plates for protection? This would not just be for security but to continue providing safety from storms or fire etc. The other part of this dilemma is our room has a span up to 15 feet between the walls. Our builder priced a fabricator making metal floor trusts to support the pad and build up the deck to floor level above the poured walls. The fabricator hit us with a $28,000 estimate to do this! (that’s not concrete or flagstone, ONLY steel) We know there is a much cheaper way. We are not totally opposed to putting some support posts within the room to save money if need be. Does anyone know what we can do to span this area and hold up the pad while not costing us a fortune in trusts? I was wondering if buying stock trusts and/or channels or even beams to support the pad decking would be far less than custom metal fabricating? Then we were also thinking of if LVL beams could be used for savings? We are obviously at a disadvantage here because it will take some knowledge of spans and weight calculation and I am sure we will have to get an engineer to approve as well. This is just a shocker in terms of cost because we plan on having a lot more metal and concrete elevated work in the rear of the house too and with this price for our front porch we are in shock. Anyone that can give some suggestions on the best way to resolve this be so appreciated!

My name is Polly Scharling. My husband and I have been dreaming of building our Amicalola Cottage/Tranquility style of home from Garrell Associates since we got married in 2007. We are finally getting close to looking for land to build our home, in the North Carolina mountains, near the Asheville, NC area. It would be so great to see how you built your homes. I have always wanted to see a walk through video (not just still photos on a loop). Also it would be great to see photos some of the spaces that are not necessarily shown on the Garrell website or youtube posts, like the master closet, etc. Also, any custom areas any of you may have changed or designed yourself as custom options. Thank you in advance for your time. Scott & Polly Scharling. :) pascharling@gmail.com or text 239-249-1167

Greetings! This is my first time to the thread. My wife and I are considering building a version (1 of a million apparently) of the Amicalola Cottage. I am working with a local architect to make the changes we desire. I am seeing some of the posts concerning the costs. I am a builder, but building your own home is a dramatically different process. I am trying to find someone who knows the industry, built the home themselves (as the general contractor) and was able to effectively control costs who might be willing to share their budget breakdown via email and not public posting. Anyone? Additionally, any high end empty nesters in southwestern Ohio seeking a smaller footprint home, with VERY custom finishes as well as a long term green impact (geothermal, wood, solar, back up generators, automation, controlled future energy costs, etc.) feel free to contact me.

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