I guess I qualify as an OB now although I didn't start out that way. We wound up firing our contractor halfway through the job due to his massive incompetence and dishonesty. It then took us several months to convince our bank to let us finish the job ourselves rather than risking getting involved with another crooked builder. Being a general contractor is far more about project management than it is about construction. The GC lines up sub-contractors, makes sure they show up and do the work they're supposed to, handles paperwork, and makes sure everybody gets paid when they're suppoesed to be paid. Many GCs probably couldn't hammer a nail in straight if they had to. To be a GC you need business skills and project management skills, and you need to know (or be willing to find out) what a construction job should look like when it is finished. It helps in dealing with subs to learn the lingo but you don't have to be able to hammer, saw, hang sheetrock, run electrical lines, or anything else. If you OB, plan to spend at least 20 hours per week and possibly more than that on the job. I just WISH we had just gone the owner-builder route right from the start. Neither DH nor I have any construction experience whatsoever but we had looked into being our own general contractors before we hired our builder. We even took a class on building your own home but then decided that we just didn't have the necessary time to devote to the task. Was that a mistake! I had done my homework and had spent a huge amount of time on this board before we ever broke ground - so I had a good idea of what to look for in quality work. It quickly became evident that my builder didn't have a clue and apparently he couldn't have cared less. His subs were obviously the cheapest he could find and often, I suspect, were undocumented day laborers. They didn't follow installation specifications for installed materials like Tyvek sheathing, my Jeld-wen windows, or the roofing shingles. I know because when things didn't look right to me, I got the specs from the manufacturers and checked their work myself. They also often didn't follow building codes - which I found out because I had put it in my contract that I would separately hire a third-party inspector to inspect all stages and that any work not meeting code would have to be redone at the builder's expense. The framer hired by my builder used I-beam trusses between the first and second floors instead of the open-web trusses I had specified. The framing was completed while I was out of town for two weeks and by the time I got back, the house was already sheathed and the roofer had started work. So it was too late (eg., economically unfeasible) to make the builder have the entire roof and second floor taken down so that the right trusses could be put in. My plans called for the HVAC units and all ductwork to be within the heated/cooled envelope of the house. When I demanded that my builder check with his engineer to ensure that holes could be cut through the i-beams large enough to accomodate the HVAC ducts, he assured me that would be "no problem." That was a lie. Even the holes that had to be cut through the i-beam trusses for plumbing drain lines weakened them enough that my third-party inspector insisted that extra trusses be installed to bear part of the load. No doubt putting those in was a major expense that the builder had to eat. There was no way HVAC ductwork could be run between the floors as designed. Instead, the HVAC units were put in the unairconditioned attic along with massive amounts of flexible ductwork. Instead of an attic that could someday be finished out to add a couple more bedrooms, I have two big HVAC units and what looks like a massive silver spiderweb totally filling the attic space. I also lost closet space in all my bedroom closets because ductwork chases down to the first floor had to be put somewhere. When I exploded about the lost usable square footage and the additional on-going costs associated with having the HVAC and ductwork up in the attic (we live in central Texas!) my builder tried to tell me that EVEN IF the framer had used open-web trusses, the ductwork still would not have been able to be run through the trusses and that "everybody puts HVAC units in the attic." DUH? Open web trusses are designed to allow ductwork and plumbing to be run them!! Had the man NEVER read anything about energy efficient building practices? Nope. He just trusted that his framer - who hardly spoke English - knew what he was doing. Despite all this, my builder kept telling me that he was a "professional" and that I should just relax and let him do his job. HAH! I can't think of a single task that ever he actually handled completely correctly from start to finish. Then, shortly after the HVAC units were installed, I got hit with a $54,000 lien because builder had not paid for my windows and patio doors even though he had been given draw money specifically for that purpose! That lien was immediately followed up by threats of two smaller liens from two other subcontractors (the portapotty provider and the exterior paint contractor)! And the builder admitted he didn't have the money to pay any of the three. At that point I was more than ready to fire him but my bank insisted that I could NOT do so. We paid off the liens and the unpaid subcontractors and I took over handling ALL monies and paying the subcontractors and suppliers directly instead of having draws go to the builder to pay them. No more money was going to flow into the builder's hands until my house was completed, at which point anything that was still left of the original contract price would be his "profit." By that point, the only thing the builder was doing was hiring subs and ordering materials. I was paying a third party inspector separately to check all work that I didn't feel competant to inspect myself. I was handling all the paperwork and making sure everybody got paid. But then the kicker... I discovered that builder was having materials delivered to my build - which I was paying for - and then having his subs (whom I was also paying!) move them to a spec house that he was building and install them there. I had had enough. I fired him. After taking over as GC, I had to spend as much time/effort on UNDOING some of the mistakes he made as on moving forward to finish the build. And the money he wasted/stole from us has forced us to cut back on the level of finishes that we had originally planned to have. My advice: Go take a course on building your own home. Spend time reading and learning everything you can about the building process. Learn the language. If you are reasonably intelligent and willing to devote the time, you CAN build your own home. Plus, there are businesses (Owner-Builder Network and UBuildIt.com are two that I know about although I've not used either one) that will help you by providing you with pre-vetted lists of sub-contractors and guiding you step by step through the process. If your state or your bank requires you to have a licensed builder, these organizations will be the builder-of-record for you. Of course they charge a fee for their services. I don't know how much but it is significantly less than a builder's profit margin. You can also hire a third-party inspector to make sure that you're getting everything built to code. Just make sure that all your subcontractors know that they don't get paid until your third party inspector signs off that the work is up to code. I designed my plan myself and I would love to see the house built as designed. The house we are in the process of finishing will eventually be "okay" but it will never be the house I dreamed of. So there is some chance that when we get this house built we will sell it and rebuild the same design in a new location. But next time I will definitely OB from the get go.

Certified Plot Plan Prior to the issuance of a building permit many communities require that a Certified Plot Plan be prepared and endorsed by a Professional Land Surveyor. Preparation of the plan requires the Surveyor to establish the property boundaries and locate the structures on the property. Generally, the plan is prepared to show the approving authority that the structure will meet the setbacks required by the communityâÂÂs zoning regulations. Property Line Staking Often property owners have only a general idea of where their property begins and ends. A property line staking involves setting survey monuments at lot corners and additional markers at set intervals along the property lines. Upon completion it is possible to stand on the lot and visibly see the exact location of property lines. Construction Layout and Verification As a project progresses from plans to construction it is often advisable or required to have the exact location and elevation of a structure staked on the lot. This prevents costly errors and helps ensure the structure is placed as required by the permit. In some communities clients are required to have the Surveyor certify the location of the completed structure prior to the project being considered complete.

akrauss... I maintain 86-88 with the solar cover from June thru August. I checked the proplane tank today, I filled it last May, it's showing 20% full, so I used 4/5's of the tank in May and September last year, with maybe a time or two turing it on if there was a really cold spell. I have a thread here on getting a new solar cover. They tend to last 4-6 years dependingon your pool chemistry and your gentleness and care while rolling and covering. My first two were plain blue and the last was blue and silver. It seems the silver helps the pool heat faster, but may not retain the heat quite as well??? Personally, I can't say I really noticed a difference other than you want a heavier plastic vs. a lighter one. Basically it's bubble wrap (bubble side inthe water) to cover the water surface. They work great for me, but I have a rectangular pool, you would need to buy the rectangle and then cut it yourself to fit your shape. IIIRC the reel had instructions with it for attaching to covers for irregular shaped pools, so I don't think that should be a big deal. If you haven't tried the solar cover, I'd give it a shot, especially if you have full sun for a major part of the day on your water. I leave mine off for days at a time in July and AQugust to prevent the water from getting too hot. I included a link to teh site where I'm thinking of ordering my new cover from. The page it brings up shows the different types they carry and how well they heat and then retain the heat... I'm debating between the 12 mil blue and silver and the 16 mil blue and blue one, I've read many reviews saying the clear really are not good and that the diamond shapes leak water into the bubbles so I'm purposely avoiding the clear or diamond ones. Here is a link that might be useful: solar cover site

I have been through variance and encroachment issues quite a few times with our local Planning and Zoning. A variance on a setback has usually been pretty easy and not very costly to remedy but an encroachment can become costly and time consuming. It sounds like you have an encroachment and not sure a variance will fix your problem. We have 10' side setback lines which can be adjusted with a variance. Just taking an encroachment on a common area through Planning and Zoning right now and I had to pay $2,000.00 for a small chunk of land , $850.00 for survey and new plat, $450.00 Planning and Zoning fee application, almost 90 day Planning and Zoning time frame process including public hearing and notice to every land owner within 1,500 feet, and then $135.00 for recording the new (and hopefully approved) plat. It is not easy in our county to purchase a small chunk of land off of an already small parcel and I hope your area is easier.