Advice Before & During Building A Custom Home
nbonn
8 years ago
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8 years agolakeerieamber
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Request for advice on spa niche issue during pool build
Comments (8)Following up to post what happened... They ended up chiseling out and further recessing the jets that were higher on the spa (not enough room to fill with plaster due to the waterline tile). They filled in more plaster material around the lower jets. It looks fine visually, but we haven't yet been able to try them out since they are still finishing up some other things. The jet niches looked a little odd in the pictures above because they had duct tape covering them from when the pool was shot. The one uncovered picture had part of the fitting in place already (so wasn't just the niche piece). The pool builder did go over the jet heights with us prior to installation and the heights were as expected (other than the one that ended up a tad high and just overlapped the pool tile). Our main issue was the fact the spa wall was shot too deep and then adjusting the wall depth caused more issues. They are working to make sure everything is fine for us. Hopefully no one else has this issue, but if you do you can see what they did in our case. If we have issues with the jets I will post more, but at this point I'm expecting the issue has been resolved....See MoreWhat to expect during layout phase of custom build?
Comments (19)Design build can often work well if you are working with a generous budget and a top notch creative team. All too often though, you will have teams that have drifted together out of economic alignment rather than out of streamlining the process for the end user. The standard deign bid build model can also have its issues with plans that are wonderfully creative, but miles outside a budget. Architects can be detached from the rapidly changing costs of building. Often the best approach is to build your own team. Choose your architect for the creativity that you seek. But also bring a respected builder in to consult at key points in the design phase so as to keep the design more grounded in real work costs. Yes, it's harder on you than turning things over to a design build firm. And maybe you aren't up for all of that involvement. If not, then you need a different design build firm. But, be sure that you are comfortable with the level of costs that you will be committing to before going any further down the building road at all. Building costs more than buying existing. Custom building is a level above that. Unique costs more than cookie cutter....See MoreWhat’s the worst thing that happened during your house build?
Comments (40)Here is some good, free :), advice of exactly how to avoid many of the above items, and worse, from happening. Get a really good area Real Estate Attorney (not your friend's friend who went to law school) to review your contract before you give one $ in deposit to any builder! I cannot overstate this enough. Many of the issues in these forums would have been avoided if the folks got proper representation and contract review!! Spend the $1000-$2000 its way worth it. Make a list of all your "wants" and "needs" before designing a plan. Make sure you list them in order of importance as you will most likely need to sacrifice some to obtain the others. Nothing is perfect and you will not get 100% of everything you want. Be ready for that. Find a good local architect to design your plans. Make sure you and the architect have some chemistry as this helps in understanding what you want and need (lifestyle, budget, lot constraints, etc.) and your plans will reflect that. Make sure you have not only plans but specifications (at least as many as you can think of, otherwise assign allowances such as kitchen cabinets $10K or $60K, you get the idea). Put the plans and specs. together and bid the project out. Make sure everyone is pricing from the same information or you will not be able to truly compare. Do your due diligence on local builders (should generally not be more than 45 min to 1 hour away from their base of operation). Your architect can help you with #s2-6 (obviously #3) above but it will cost you extra. Unless you are very good at design, hire a good interior designer and make a furniture layout on your new plans. This is critical so that you know if your window and door placements work and you will be able to configure your lighting much better that way. Its worth the investment for sure. The more you pre-plan and are prepared the better/smoother your project will go. Good luck with your project....See MoreLiving in 5th wheel during home build.
Comments (24)Since we are living this right now I can share our experience, for what it’s worth :-). 2 adults + 2 dogs in a 28 foot travel trailer with a super slide. But we have water, power and our gray water is hooked up to our sewer... so the black tank is the only thing that we have to dump. We’ve been in the trailer since last Sept and have never had to dump the black tank more than once a week, although we also have a porta potty that is used more during the day. I assume you’ll need a porta potty for anyone working on the project. Originally we also were dumping the gray water but that tank filled up really quickly... (within a day or two), so that got old fast. The only other things are that we need to refill our propane every 2-3 weeks (used for heat & cooking) and weekly visits to the laundromat. Sunday is laundry date day :-) Although we’re both ready for the house to be done I’m glad we went this route... It’s enabled us to keep a much closer eye on things & has also made it a lot easier for my husband since he is doing quite a bit of the work. But we are also used to camping/rv’ing. Having to use a portable tank to dump your black water seems like it would get old very quickly... wonder if you could get the porta potty service to dump your tank for an extra fee? No idea but seems like getting your septic sorted or something like that would be more tolerable....See MoreAndy
8 years agoRenee Texas
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