Cathie2029 here is our interior trim

I am no expert in trim, i just told the carpenter i wanted an old farmhouse feel and together we came up with this

@Laurel C what color is your metal roof?

@cathie2029 our interior is modern, so we're doing no trim, just drywall returns.

@cathie2029

Simple- paint and trim the same color, different sheens

@Liz888 This is our first experience with the city. We are moving ~100 miles with this build and retiring there.

So far the interactions have been quick and easy. The one building inspector texts or emails me back within a day with my questions, and has seen all my hand drawings and revisions.

I walked in to the desk at 8 AM yesterday and talked with 2 planners and the building inspector and got many of my questions dealt with.

The inspector has been looking in at my design as it has evolved, so I do not anticipate much trouble there. The planning department may be more of a stumbling block but I am hopeful to get through by the end of March and break ground in April.

EDIT: I also spoke with a foundation engineer who works with the ICF foundations and I got a really good vibe from him. He's eager to see my drawings and get started.

@2rickies The color is called Slate Grey. I'd have preferred black, but it's extra hot during the summer, and the warranty against fading is worse with black. You can see the roof easily from some of our hills, so to avoid the disappointment of having a chalked black painted roof, we just went with grey. This is the brand of material our roofers used. https://www.metalsales.us.com/

Today is 4-way inspection, wish us luck! I doubt we pass, but here’s to hoping 🤣.

Also got our final electric quote/bill… only $14k over budget. Uuugh 😮‍💨. Between that and our high HVAC bill, may not be putting furniture in this sucker. Building during inflation is a real joy! Anyone else dealing with insane cost increases? Our electric guys is one of the more reasonable ones in the area, too.

Curious to know what other people in other parts of the country are paying for running electric. We are at $44k (without fixtures, which I kept under $5k for the house). 🤮 Our last build we did it all for $25k… 4 years ago. I miss pre-inflation!

Also, we got 30” of snow in the last 24 hours. I’m sure that’ll make the inspectors super thrilled walking around the house. I hope he brings snowshoes! Haha.

@cathie2029 Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures last visit to site, but our windows are drywall returns with wood sills, and our doorways have transoms, with fluted wood and rosette trim (which I LOVE!). The baseboards are 8 inch high with a small wave at top (I didn't want flat because of dust.) There will be no ceiling trim. There is another poster here who moved in a year ago who spent $150K on trim. Gorgeous, but we can't do that, especially with inflated prices.

@Janice B Your trim work is so divine. I just love it all.

@C Smith We set our foundation in Spring of 21, then waited months and months for wood prices to drop before framing. The bids had tripled in the span of a year. Then we did the same with the flooring, waited to buy and then bought it all when prices dropped-and stored it. Glad we did, for wood flooring goes up and down weekly. Luckily, we didn't have to hire out for electric, except for A/C. We bought and laid ducts and hired out for the installs of machines, so our price won't be accurate. But I have to shut off my brain whenever I think of what we would have saved had we broken ground in 2019 or even 2020.

We just failed our blower test :( Not by much — we tested at 6 and need a 5. Insulators are coming back out tomorrow to tighten things up a bit more.

Inflation. Our builder stopped by the other day to let me know that deck material prices have increased. Three times. sigh Last year, I had moments of worry that we might be buying at peak prices, but it seems like materials (and labor) just keep getting more and more expensive.

were supposed to start in april, didnt start til July. so if anyone thinks theirs takes long, just be glad youre not living in my new town. 🤣

Got ya beat ladies!

Our permit procedure--Committee of Adjustment, Tree Protection, Grading Plans (8 submissions over 18 mos.) Building Plans, Fencing inspection, took 3.5 years in total. The City now claims they never received a half-dozen items that we have in writing that they did receive.

But since half the building department is still officially hiding at home from Covid, there's no one to speak to in person or by phone. Use the "portal" and we'll get back to you. Or not. BTW, we left an electronic request...another $100 for that "service".

@cathie2029 lol - no i'm not complaining about our permit process, I think our building permit process was much easier than others and most importantly our building permit folks in my town are really helpful and nice. BTW I'm so jealous to see you are so much further along!

@Laurel C - i love your metal roof! We wanted one too but soooo expensive! How long did it take you get to your stage of the build? Your house is looking amazing!

@CSmith - we have $55K on electrical, prices have increased so much since we built 8 yrs ago, i think it was fraction of the cost then.

We got our tree removal done today. We haven't even broke ground yet and have to dish out so many $$. Just found out we have to pay for storm sewer of $15K that we have to pay out of pocket. I feel like there will be alot of surprises along the way.

Question, i had a small disagreement with my GC because he got a quote for $15k for storm sewer system that I thought was high. Since it's owner paid and not going through construction loan, I asked him I want to get few more quotes.

As you recall, he brought in his own tree removal guy and quoted me 8K and I found someone else for $3.5K.

I am starting to doubt whether he is shopping the best price for me. I gave him the example of tree service and the price difference we were able to get and he told me he doesn't look for the cheapest but qualified and experienced.

Well so do I but I am also looking out to make a best financial decision for us. Now I'm doubting if I need to have him get additional proposals instead of just one. Thoughts?

pics after tree removal- 1st pic - removed four trees (the one with porta potty is before tree removal)

For the trim on the inside of your windows - did any of you put trim there or just drywall?

@liz888 I’ve found that getting my own quotes results in better prices about 30-40% of the time, depending on what it is. In my experience, most GCs use the same subs over and over again based on convenience and quality of work (sometimes not the later) and not usually the price. Using the same subs and not hunting down more affordable quotes saves them time and keeps their on call subs happier, scheduling easier, and always having those subs available. This is sometimes in the best interest of the home owner, and sometimes not. It can def be worth it to shop around for better quotes. I’d talk to GC about it. Sometimes better quotes means shittier work though, and sometimes it just means someone isn’t gouging. 🤷🏻‍♀️ We shop our own subs and I source everything myself for this reason, but it’s a full time job 😵‍💫 and getting subs to respond to a homeowner can be harder than having them respond to a GC. Another thought, many GCs might feel micro managed with you doing this. Mine encourages it, but we are friends with him.

I’ve been googling. I believe I don’t want a drywall return. But if you paint the wood, then what kind of wood do you use for around the window? Is there a guideline there on what is best?

Depends largely on whether you're staining or painting.

If you're painting, fingerjointed (which is largely poplar) or, G*d forbid, MDF will do.

@Liz888 Thanks! We are pretty happy with it. Due to the 2/12 pitch of the roof, we were going to have potential warranty issues with shingles, so were kind of forced into the fancier metal roof. Should be good though, hopefully it lasts forever.

Regarding timeline, it's been an ordeal. We've had the land since July of 2020, and worked with an architect having 2 different houses designed for the top of our biggest hill (the first was all-concrete and after 6 months of design, we learned that nobody in the area who's capable of executing on it is willing to take on a small residential job, the second he just designed the house so far out of our budget that we were making huge compromises to get it built that we decided to hold off and build a "smaller and cheaper" home further down the hill, where the old farmhouse that had burned down had sat. Since we had already been working with this builder (he was collaborating with the architect, builder is also an architect who went to school and then decided to go into construction doing design/build). Since we already had a "slot," really liked the builder, and he understood our style/wants, we had him put design a slightly smaller house that will work for us for the semi-long term, that (if we ever end up building the big house on the top of the hill) will function well as a guest house, short term rental (there's a tourist attraction nearby that keeps short term rentals in the area busy), and our parents will be able to stay in as they age if that becomes necessary (much of the house is designed to be accessible or simply converted to accessibility in the future if necessary). Sorry, this may help clarify things. Here's our timeline for this particular build.

July 2020 - closed on land

Sept 2021 - First drawings/homesite cleared of garbage/detritus from burned out house

Nov 2021 - Preliminary grading completed, septic pad set (our ground doesn't perc, so we had to have a fill and wait pad set)

March 2022 - Crawl space excavated

May 2022 - Power run, water run, foundation footer poured

June 2022 - Foundation walls poured, waterproofed, and french drains installed/grading brought back up to foundation

August 2022 - passive radon mitigation installed, crawl space "sealed" and insulated with big foam boards, floor joists and floor sheathing installed, lower walls/sheathing started

Sept 2022 - Bigger main room walls started going up

Nov 2022 - Bigger main room walls completed, roof framing started & completed

Dec 2022 - Covered porch framed, plumbing rough in

Jan 2023 - Covered porch concrete poured, electrical plan created, quoted, and the process of finding a new electrician began

Feb 2023 - Roofing installed

March 2023 - We are due to have electrical rough-in completed, HVAC completed (that may actually be done before the end of Feb), propane tank delivered, final grading in the back, and if we get enough dry days, septic tank set, and septic field installed

We have to be out of our rental by the end of May, so our intention is to get an occupancy permit and move in, even if the builders have not completed work.

@CSmith re: electrical, we have had a bit of an ordeal with electrical. Running it to our house site cost a fortune, in large part due to us trying to have it bored to reduce the damage we did to the hillside, which - lesson learned, we will trench in the future. But i won't count that because it's a complicated quote including running power much further than the house to get to our shop.

When doing a budgetary estimate for our mortgage company, the electrician verbally quoted our builder ~11k. We ran with that. When we got a bill for $1k for them running 10-15' of electrical conduit from the box to the house (they billed 8 hrs of labor, plus an inflated rate for materials, even at retail pricing), we decided to get a hard quote from them (lesson learned, but with the rest of the subs that we've dealt with, it hasn't been an issue at all), and the new quote came back at $26k. This is a 1700 2 bed, 2 bath house. That 26k doesn't include any fixtures (we have ~11k worth of fixtures I've purchased for the house already), just switches and outlets. Nothing fancy, or particularly specialty, with the exception of a handful of oddly placed outlets and drops (for example, outlets on top of a soffit to plug in LED strip lights), but nothing in areas that won't have power run to them anyhow. So we got a referral to a more local electrician that we've been told is good (our dirt guy knows everyone in the area) and just got a quote back for $11-12k, so we are using him.

@Janet How deep are your walls? And where will windows be set inside that frame? Sometimes this helps to dictate what wood you need to use. We have thicker walls (hurricane threads, hurricane windows.) ICF also have very deep walls. The trim can be more complex due to that. I love the trim work in my current home, which is still the fluted sides and rosettes, with a bit of crown-like 2 inch mould to the window. Our new build would have required 7 inch, just for inside case, not counting the frame. As someone said earlier, in some areas drywall wall returns cost more, some less...and of course the depth matters on cost, too.

Todays progress, went to meet with a company about smart door locks and doorbell camera. She was urging me to put in an EV. Apparently, it is now a code requirement but wasn't when my Builder pulled permits, so it is optional. How many of you are including an EV?

@Janet I painted all of our window trim. We ordered primed finger jointed pine 1x4's for the face trim and 1x6's for the extension jambs/window sill. Our builder took the scraps from the extension jambs, ran them through a router and then capped our window trim with that recycled piece. It was pretty efficient and I think it looks nice. We have 2x6 exterior framing.

After yet another delay, we seem to be getting back on track. We broke ground Oct 2021 and we’re just finally pouring the basements, yes two basements. The complexity of building on a slope has caused many delays and our GC seems to struggle with the sub contractors. It’s been extremely frustrating but I’m so excited that we are moving forward once again. Hoping to be a regular member of the feed again!

@Kyla McSweeney

we are including one as one of our kids drives an id4 just getting the exterior plug though not the whole fancy setup it also threw our load to high and we had to buy a 400 amp panel and get a new transformer. that transformer was $5000

I will install conduit to two locations in the carport for EV chargers. Our loads are low enough that it will not require a change from the basic 200 amp service.

I won't get any chargers.

I also learned yesterday that I am committed to vinyl siding with how I have drawn it.

If I go back and change the dead wall load to allow for hardi plank lap siding, I lose ~4' of window off the south and ~2' off the east (carport) wall.

I could fix it by losing that glass. I will post up a window plan with vinyl and another with heavy siding.

basic framing with 1/2 rock and 1/2 structural sheeting is ~7 PSF with 2x6 walls.

I chose the <8 PSF option when calculating the Braced Wall Lines (BWL)

Hardi adds 2.3 PSF.

It's always something </Roseanne Roseannadanna>

I called the structural engineer with ICF experience and sent him my drawings so he can give me a quote on the basement and foundation design.

I might knuckle down and open the wallet, and have him go over the plans and stamp the whole thing. He can wave his magic engineering wand and eliminate my siding problem.

Prescriptive design is very conservative.

@Janet All my windows have trim. My primary bedroom went a little 😉 beyond my builder's standard.

@Laurel C - wow! that's a long time to wait, thanks for such a detailed timeline. Hopefully you'll be done by May, that's not that far away, I'm sure you must be excited since your at the fun stage of the build.

@CSmith - as info, our electrical is based on 1st floor and basement, with total sq around 5,550 sq. ft. (excludes light fixtures) if that helps. I also talked to my GC about looking out for our best interest in getting the best price for subs. When we asked him for us to be involved in getting multiple bids for projects that we have to pay out of pocket or allowance items, he got a bit upset and said I would be slowing him down and that his clients do not get involved like I do.

@Kyla McSweeney -what smartlock and smart ring are you using? We are thinking of doing the same. We are putting EV (assuming electrical vehicle) charger in our garage. I think it makes sense for us as we think about the future. Your house is coming along! How long have you been building?

@K_ Dub - that must be so frustrating to wait that long. wishing you speedy build process going forward!

@cwcf185 As always, love the details in your home.

@Liz888

We contacted a company that specializes in smart homes, and they are giving me some options. I am waiting for her recommendations. I will let you know when we choose.

We have had quite the process. We originally closed on our land in October 2020 and then on the construction loan in February 2021. They went to dig our foundation around June 2021 and they found out the engineer we used had no idea what he was doing and hadn't registered the plan appropriately with the town. The Town took it out on us, with the conversation committee getting involved, which took another 8 months. Then we experienced crazy delays with the excavator and our builder. They just dug the foundation in September, poured the foundation and then realized it wasn't dug deep enough and was 3 ft too high. They regraded the dirt but had to go back in front of the town for reapproval. It has been so difficult, but we seem to be moving along now. I am hoping we will be in by June. Windows and roofing should happen this week, depending on the weather. We are supposed to get a storm Monday/Tuesday.

@Kelly M how many amps are you designating for the EV charger? I've seen both 32 amps and 50 amps recommended, but not sure which one is most practical.

#2rickles we built in 2018 and put in everything but the charger. We used 50 amp. We aren’t ready to get an electric vehicle just yet but hope to in the future.

@2rickies I will run conduit only. it will be large enough to accommodate the big chargers of today. I will speak with the electrical inspector where to leave out a breaker space in my layout for a future charger, but I will not go to the expense and trouble to put it all in for a speculatlive EV.

Laurel C

$26K vs. $11K-$12K

Good work!

When we were building for a living, we encountered this all the time. Especially doing seven-figure homes in the late '80s where the thought evidently is that "you're rich and you're stupid."

Recently quoted C$101K-C$110K for demolition/excavation. The project manager of two 7,500-8,000 sf luxury homes across the street clued me in that he paid C$40K each.

Yes, including wiring for EV as the demographic here loves the status they think driving electric bestows on them.

@2rickies we are putting two chargers 50 amps each.

@Kyla McSweeney - OMG, that's just crazy. How did you survive all of this! Hopefully smooth sailing from here on out.

@Kelly M, @ghatta, @Liz888 thank you for the guidance on EV! We're not going to install the actual chargers yet, but will run the line so we're prepared to do so in the future. Both our cars are VERY old, and I hope to be able to go to EV for at least one of the replacement vehicles in the next couple of years. It's a little complicated being in a rural area with big distances, plus need at least one working vehicle that's on the more rugged side. The electric pick-ups are $$$. Maybe when there are more options the prices will come down.

On the topic of EV chargers,  I would highly recommend running at least one 220v 50A line.  My guess is that running the actual line is not that much more expensive than running conduit.  Even if you don't plan to get an EV, it will be helpful for resale. Also,  what manufacturers offer in 10-15 years will look drastically different,  and you may find that you end up in an EV.

without the hardware to connect to the wire is pointless. The Tesla EV chargers are hard wired, not a plug in device so you need the charger to hook up the wire.

If you run to an outlet, now you have to install a really expensive GFCI because anything can get plugged into it.

If you wait to get the hardware charger, then a regular inexpensive breaker will do, because the charger itself is a sophisticated GFCI.

Here is a thread with the pertinent information.

EVSE info

@worthy Yeah, it was wild. The $26k electrician seemed really enthusiastic and was talking about how they'd be doing things and stuff, but then we got the aggressive Eff You price and figured he either saw dollar signs when he looked at our fancy (but legit pretty modest size wise) house and must have figured we were idiots who are happy to cut big checks to people for more than is necessary or didn't want the project so bid it so high we wouldn't use him.

I really hope that this other electrician works out OK, we like him, he's local, and the price is right. And if he sucks, the amount we saved (as long as it's safe, which we should be able to see before insulation gets sprayed) will make up for any fixes we might have to do (here's hoping we don't).

@2rickies I'm not sure how much you follow the electric car market, but one of the neat features that the new F150 has due to it's huge batteries is that it can power your house in the event of a power outage (obviously, if the power doesn't come back on, you then have no power and no car, but for a shorty it seems like it would be cool).

We have a decent amount of hilly acreage and use side by sides to get around it. We picked up an EV Ranger for utility work/me puttering around, and my husband got a sporty one. More often than not the one we go for each time is the Ranger because it's quiet and no fuss to hop in, pop up the hill, and then do your stuff, it feels like less of an ordeal and it's SO MUCH QUIETER!

@Janet we are doing hardwood returns that will be painted white. My old house had drywall. Two things: drywall is easier to spot leaks as it starts crumbling/staining faster. probably going to be pine as the builder is cheap.. I would prefer maple. Avoid oak esp if you want to paint it unles syou dont mind texture.

@Keen B

Awhile back you gave me some great advice on stripping these doors- Hand Sanitizer did the trick. What should i do with them now? I like the antique natural look but wondering if i should at least seal them?

@T_Wag LOVE the color of the doors! I would just seal them but I’m not an expert. Were hand sanitizers all you used to take off old stain or paint? I’m always looking for better ways to strip wood.

@ghatta yes hand sanitizer was what worked for these I’ve tried it on a couple other pieces and it did not budge the stain at all

@Laurel C oooh, glad to hear about the EV Ranger--I was looking at that wondering if it could manage steep slopes. Quiet is very good. I had heard that about the f-150, and it sounds really cool...but pretty pricey... I'll have a big generator (propane, unfortunately--but that's the only gas-run appliance we'll have) but it would be nice to be able to avoid using that for short-term outages. Appreciate the food for thought!

@Kelly M thank you for the additional info; i will look into it.

@T_Wag Oh, thank you for showing me. Those are gorgeous. I'm glad it worked out.

Yes, I would seal them if you want to protect them from oily hand build up, (which could be a nice patina, but you have worked hard on those!)

I originally wanted to wax my antique doors, but I think I told you before that the wax (as did some of the white stain options) pulled tannins (or old stain deep in pores) and turned purple. And the wax then was tough to sand out, since it gets so absorbed. UGH. Even WB acrylic and urethanes changed the color too much.

So I used one coat Bona Natural sealer. It changed the color only by mere hint, and then one coat Bona Mega. I brushed it on with a sponge brush. Used 400 grit to knock down the raised grain. But I didn't sand deeply, of course. (IF you use just the mega, then it will pull tannins. The sealer stops that. The sealer might work alone, but the mega was a coat of extra.) You can use matte if you really want it to look like wood, but I used satin. Again, test it first. You could test wax, too, to see if you like that (white or natural). Maybe yours won't turn purple.

@ghatta Rubbing alcohol (hand sanitizer) often works on anything that denatured alcohol will remove, but it works better than DA because it is thicker and you can lay plastic wrap over it to keep it from evaporating. That gives it time to do its thing. Plus, it is cheaper. It works best on some antique milk paints and antique shellacs. Infact, it was the only thing that removed the milk paint from one of my doors, though I had to give it a few rounds. Nothing else budged it.

It will not work on varnish and newer stains or poly, or at least not as well.

Another off-brand method that can work, (but can damage the wood, so test it first,) is oven cleaner on certain urethanes.

I have an estimate back from an engineer on the basement, and I am getting another data point as I have no experience with engineering costs. The first one was ~7500 for limited scope to just the basement and foundations.

@Laurel C just saw your reply about the roof color. It's very close to the color we chose from a different manufacturer, and I thought yours might be the same. Ours is "charcoal gray" from Englert. I agree black would be risky, and hot. I'm hoping the gray won't fade too much, but if it does it should still work with our exterior color scheme, such as it is (dark gray stone from the site, black windows, paint color TBD).

March 2023 is up and running. Woohoo! Spring is on its way---

March 2023-Building a Home

Well we had our final inspection today and everything passed except our temp stair rail. I’m in shock. The actual rail isnt scheduled to be done until mid april. Investigating a temp co but seriously what we have may not be pretty but it is definitely safe. I may end up squatting in my own house😠

@T_Wag Would you mind reposting in March thread. See my link above.