So far our experience has not been bad doing just this. It's been slow however and I know part of that is due to the fact we aren't there pestering the GC daily. We're building in Beaverton OR and the GC is fabulous. Did we luck out? Yes. We were pretty naive going in to this and I think if we had ended up with someone overseeing it like many gardenwebbers get on a regular basis, it could have been a disaster. We were on site 2x during initial framing, once when electrical was going in (for nearly 2 weeks), once to check everything was done as we wanted before sheetrock. We plan to be there when sheetrock texture is going on and probably several times during the finish work. I'd be quite careful embarking on this process, I'd recommend my GC to someone looking to do this (and you can email me on this site if you are interested in that info but there are a limited number of homesites left and he's booked a ways out), but I fully admit we were kinda nuts to do this the way we did! Others advice here on finding a darn good architect might be sound. Our architect was lacking, maybe it was because we weren't there to work with him one on one. The good folks at gardenweb helped tweak the plan more than the architect did and the diligence of our contractor helped us get what we wanted on the fly during framing. Again I wouldn't expect that out of anyone else, I've read too many horror stories here on GW to know better now! Feel free to contact me to ask more questions about the process so far if you like.

Hi Devorah, Actually, "ballast" (thanks for the spellcheck) was my way of adding a post to the thread to have it gradually sink off the top where it had buoyed for a week... these message boards are funny that way, technically. As for residential rentals; I personally and professionally believe THAT is the premier direct investment strategy right now, and likely well into the next decade for a long laundrylist of micro and macro-economic reasons. Luck!!! Dave Donhoff Leverage Planner

Yes, it’s about 4 feet. The exposure is south. There are parkway trees in neighboring yards, but not in front of ours. I have not seen it in summer in a long time, so I don’t know how shaded it gets. I think during midday it will get a lot of sun. The remnants of those trees will certainly need to be pulled out. Or just cut down flush to the ground and hidden by the new planting; which is the likely choice. I had to pull out a few shrub stumps in my own yard last year, and it was very difficult. Given what happened to the pipes we don’t want a tree or anything with a deep root system. Though it was more than a root infestation, the clay pipes had actually collapsed, no idea why. A standpipe was put in so in the future it can be rodded out that way. Simple and basic is I think what we need. But I want to make sure that the readily available options in local home improvement stores that I might choose will not grow up to be monsters. (no yews: gosh, how I hate yews: what everyone planted in the 50's; no junipers like the ones in the yard of the rental house next to my own house at present : things meant to be clipped into a fancy shape and left to their own devices and looking like a mess now.) I am guessing we will sell in about 5 years. Something planted small this season (likely by me, so it's got to be small) would hopefully look pretty good by then.

Contact a closet company like The Closet Factory. They came out and took my insanity and made it something beautiful and that's was IMO like turning a rat's tail into a silk purse. Best money spent in the entire project!