To Contract or Not to Contract Out....

As an extreme penny pincher, the idea of building our house completely on our own--or at least doing our own contracting, was oh-so-tempting; however, a few items on the "Con" list of that idea eventually allowed getting a general contractor to win out... Some of those things were:

• The contractor would do all of the coordinating and that work load/headache would be off our plates.
• I felt the subcontracted jobs (Concrete, leveling, electric, plumbing, etc, etc.... the list goes on and on) would be much more responsive to and timely with a contractor they worked with regularly--and in turn brought them regular business--than to a random young couple who didn't know what they were doing. 
• We had a builder/contractor who was UNBELIEVABLY flexible in the way we wanted to approach building. He'd do as much as we wanted him to and let us do any part of it we chose. We could tell him WHO we wanted to do a certain job if we had a preference. We would pay as we went along--and he'd turn all of the actual invoices over to us to see the individual expenses. (Although we only had to write a check to him and he took care of the individual payments.)
• Ummm... We'd just had a baby... Yeah that was a big one.

Mingus talking with our GC.

I'm so glad we went with the decision we did... Although I am tracking exactly how all of the money is being spent. (Thanks to having every invoice and receipt.) Yes there are costs for the management of a GC, but my goodness, the payoffs are worth it!

• I'm glad I'm not having to call around about everything. With the winter being as cold as it was, we had some major delays...and I'm sure I would have had a heck of a time getting them to pour the foundation on a Saturday--when the occasion finally arose when it was warm enough to pour concrete. But you better bet they did pour on a Saturday thanks to the GC. 
• It's not just the headache/work of doing the coordinating. I honestly don't know how I could have had time. We'd probably barely be getting the house under roof if it'd been left up to us. Mingus works all day and has projects like his bees, bunnies, the garden (and on and on) when he is home. Me? Well, when I'm not keeping up with an infant/now 7 month old... I'm trying to keep the house is some sort of order AND get in the work-from-home jobs I'm trying to manage in order to keep our income where it needs to be.
• I hate making decisions! Just picking out paints and stains is hard enough--and there are so many detail decisions... Adding on top of that having to choose WHO was doing each job? I'd be second guessing myself the entire time--not to mention being torn between going with the "cheaper" option and the higher quality option... I trust our GC completely to send us teams that he would be comfortable with building his own house.
• I don't feel like I HAVE to be present for every project taking place. Someone else is making sure these guys find their way out here... Someone else deals with making sure the long tractor trailers can make it across our tiny bridges. Aaaannnnd...a big one....
• Someone else calls people back when they did something wrong. That's a good thing, because sometimes I can be too nice. Even though I'm paying these people money... AND this is the house I'm going to be in forever... AND changing things AS they build is a thousand times easier (and less expensive) than going back later to make changes... I still feel bad when I ask for a change on work that was already done or realize they did something differently than I requested. Half the time I find out it's an easy fix/change... 

Although contracting, we have chosen to take on certain jobs on our own--which I must say has really only been possible thanks to (Mingus's) family and friends. Most of the time I end up doing about 10% of the work--if that--because DL has my hands full. The things we have done ourselves include:

Exterior staining with the help of Mingus's parents. A MUCH easier job
to accomplish thanks to being able to use the GC's scaffolding.

• Sub-contracting our in-floor Pex for heated concrete.
• Locating, choosing and buying our outdoor wood furnace.
• Buying the metal for our roof
• Buying our windows and exterior doors
• Buying the chimney pipe for the indoor wood stove.
• Buying the paints, primers, stains, etc.
• Staining the wood exterior.
• Concrete staining (WHAT a project... more on that to come) 

We also plan to do all of the interior priming and painting as well as hanging the doors and putting up trim.   

We toyed with the idea of laying the in-ground pex ourselves, but I'm glad we
simply bough the pex and then sought out someone with experience.

In the end, I feel the expertise and efficiency has been well worth the money spent on not self-contracting. Another point I should make is, perhaps if either or both of us had any experience in home construction I would have leaned toward doing it ourselves, but we don't. Neither of us have ever even owned a home, so we are definitely noobs at every aspect. But with drywall ready to go up... I'd say we are quite pleased (and very excited!) about where things are at this point!

Friends taking in sunset with Mingus after a long day of cleaning--and
re-cleaning the concrete in preparation for staining.

Lists... Dot firsts | Home Building | Prayers

I am an avid list-maker... and since time is running short, this issue I’ll simply make a few lists:

Dorothy Lou Firsts

1. She had her longest road trip to date, going with Mom and Nana to North Carolina to visit her Great-Aunt Anne and Lorms family members.
2. She attended her first Juice Plus+ training and was quite a hit as a happy, healthy Juice Plus+ Babe!
3. She experienced her first major power outage in February. We took refuge at Greystone for 3 1/2 days, keeping warm, reading books and playing by candle light.
4. She got the devil scarred out of her! She was baptized at Sacred Heart Church with Holly Jo and Michael becoming her Godparents.
5. She had her first play date with Sadie Jo & Maya together; however they were all only 3 months old and did not do much playing at that point. Actually... Dorothy screamed...
6. Enjoying springtime in The Valley. We are so glad for the warm, sunny days and getting outside. It’s amazing the effects the fresh air has on her.

 Home Building things that are exciting & scary
1. Pouring foundation. A real sign of construction! ...But we put in radiant floor heat. Hopefully it’s right because there is no going back!
2. Walls going up. It looks just the way I envisioned when drawing and redrawing sketches... But NOW is the last chance for any changes...what might we regret?!
4. Moving on from one stage to another. Progress is exciting, but this tight wad sees the dollar signs rolling...eek!
5. Picking out paint and stain colors. I’ve always been a creative person, so coming up with color schemes is definitely fun, but there are so many options! What if when everything comes together it just looks like a hodge podge of colors? Paint doesn’t come cheap so I’m not looking to redo anything anytime soon.
6. Staining our concrete. There are so many cool looks this can provide, but the colors are so dependent on your concrete and every slab provides a different look--not like paint. And once you’ve stained it, there is no going back!
7. Cabinets for our kitchen. I’m excited to fill out our kitchen (since the downstairs is very open concept and it’s still hard to envision the kitchen exactly), but this is such an important room for us (ME!) what with loving to host, making home-cooked meals daily and preserving garden food regularly. The kitchen is definitely THE room I don’t want to have regrets about.

Things currently on my prayer list
1. The continued guidance on decisions about our home construction and the guidance of the workers actively taking part in its construction.
2. Alyx and Mr. Special K... for a safe delivery (for Mom and Baybo) in the coming month. I’m so excited to meet him and for Dorothy to have a little boy cousin to join in on games of dress-up!
3. The upcoming marriages of Ian & Robin and Boo & Kristen. While I look forward to the fun of their wedding days, I mostly pray that it be the beginning of a wonderful union, one in which God is very present.
4. Guidance as a mother. All praying mothers ask God for help in this special responsibility as well as the health of their child, but more specifically I pray:

• That I do all I can to guide this soul into becoming who it is God has planned, so she can best be on the path to achieve the tasks God has set out for her. I pray that our souls connect in our nightly slumbers so that we can better understand one another in our waking hours.
• That I am loving you as much as any child deserves. I’ve always known I wanted to be a stay at home Mom, but I am still doing certain work from home and I pray that I am not taking too much away from the most important job: being a Mother.

5. For our financial stability. People often say, “I wish I could afford to stay home” in reference to being a single-income family. The truth is, I don’t know if Jon and I can afford it. It’s scary. We are not wealthy by any means, but we’re following what we truly believe is God’s voice. We simply pray that we hear his calling and are doing what he would ask of us--whether that be for me to be at home or otherwise.
6. My Aunt Anne, her battle with cancer and her entire family. Such a special person in my life and my Uncle Kelly was gone far too soon. She still has such an important role to play in the life of her children and grandchildren, at least from my perspective. Of course, God is all-knowing and we trust in him.

Oh and about that house building project...

So yes, there had been talk of breaking ground in the spring of 2013... Now it's June. So obviously that didn't happen.

The unexpected baby news is partially to blame but not entirely. It's obviously distracted us and thrown other factors into our schedule this year as well as our financials and the things we will be dealing with; at the same time we have pressed forward with the house pursuit... just not as rapidly as maybe we could be.

The very center, in that far back corner of the field...That's where it'll be!

To catch you up to speed on all of the things we've done so far... And some of this may be too detailed for you to care but I'm recording it for my own purposes for future reference.


1. We've met with two different contractors and gotten two quotes.
These two options are very different. One contractor is less experienced. He's newer (younger) and has primarily done building projects rather than full start-to-finish houses. The other contractor has years of experience and is the county's commercial building inspector. He built two of the houses already on the family property and also did my parent's garage. Naturally, the more experienced contractor's quote is higher. 

2. We wish the quote was less.
But who doesn't? Part of the problem I am having is knowing no quote will be right because:  

(a) We do not plan to take it to turn-key complete. We're OK with having unpainted walls in some rooms, perhaps floors that we finish out... trim work to be done, landscaping that needs recovered, etc.

(b) We plan to go "cheap" on a lot of things--not the things that matter, obviously. The parts that matter in structure and future problems, I am totally OK with putting up good money. Top of the line furnishings? Not so much. We'll take less aesthetically pleasing light fixtures, light switches... even trim and doors and appliances. We'll scrounge where we can. We've already acquired a dishwasher someone was getting rid of simply because they were going with a new look for their kitchen. We also got a stainless steel kitchen sink at the Habitat Restore for only $12.50. I don't think this is planned for in the contractor's quote.

3. We've surveyed the land.
The family was having a lot of land surveyed anyway so Mingus and I added our names to the list. We pre-marked lines with my parents to section off just the plot we'll need for building. With my other siblings potentially moving down (and other's potentially not) they didn't want to go about deeding off full portions to each of us. We're quote all right with that. So we have about 4 acres surveyed; however, we do not officially have it deeded over to us yet.

4. We met with the bank and learned we're doing things "right" so far.
I know nothing about what it takes to buy or build a home. So I was a little nervous to meet with a loan officer and end up feeling like a fool... To tell them our thoughts and be laughed out of the office. Luckily that wasn't the case. As it turns out, he was quite impressed with the amount of money we have saved exclusively in a fund for the house. The fact we have land made us extra prepared. He said people come in with no little to no money they plan to use themselves and no land or just a lot in the city and want the bank to give them money to start building. Between our family land and our savings, there is no reason we cannot get a loan.

5. We learned about construction loan to mortgages.
We also learned about the process for using the loan money and turning it over to a mortgage. Basically we'll have a year as a construction loan and then it will turn over. From there we could use any bank or institution to get the mortgage. We met with a local bank and this officer admitted that a larger bank will likely offer a better interest rate. At first her recommended we go this route when the time comes; however, in our situation, sticking with a local bank will be an advantage. A large chain or corporate bank will have set protocal for the condition of the house in order to issue the mortgage. With our intent to have the house partially "unfinished" a local bank will be much more willing to work with us. They know who we are and who are family is. They know we are on family land and will basically do anything to take care of any payment problems before actually having to sell.

6. We have a loan application.
We have yet to fill it out. I know we could fill it out and perhaps get an idea of what kind of money we could potentially get without actually filing for the loan (since we are still waiting on the land deed) but we haven't even tried to take that step. Part of my hesitation has been knowing that with the coming on of children my work situation will change, as will my income level. Do I file as our current income level and try to get more or file what we think it will be to have a more realistic view?

7. Learning about electric.
Mingus talked with the electric company to learn about running the power from my parent's on to our field. It's close enough that we could run it at no charge since overground for first 1,000 ft (I think) is free. However, we'll be going through the tree line and they would require cutting out a 60 ft wide path (30 ft on either side). That's a lot of trees and will completely change the look of their backyard--and ours. We can go underground and spare some of the damage, but it does have a cost. Luckily, it's nothing absurd and for as close as we will be running the line, we can afford it. We all think it's worth that cost

8. Learning about septic.
We also found out that prior to actually breaking (running electric) ground we have to have the septic system approved. Apparently too many people don't have a good septic plan or if they are within a city or neighborhood, the only options for running it do not meet health regulations. This causes all sorts of problems down the road. So you have to have the soil tested and everything OK'd by the health inspectors and THEN you can get electric and THEN you can break ground.

That's where things sit. I'm nervous to take the plunge and having so much money out in our name with so many unknowns in the future... At the same time, I don't know that an "easier"/more affordable time is in the near future (or anywhere in the future). Interest rates aren't likely to go down and are so low now they really will only go up... I also don't really want to sacrifice too much of our plan/design at this point. It's a semi-large space (2400 sq feet--that's two floors with no additional basement) but the design is very simply and we're not going for extravagant interior. In my heart I believe the quotes are far above the reality but it's still scary.

So I just pray for the peace and guidance to know what the best move is for us as our family grows and we go through other changes... That we do not push forward when it's best to wait... or that we do not sit on it forever and ever, waiting for some sort of "change" that makes it easier that will never come. 

God always takes care of us, though, and we'll keep following our feet.

Friday night date night at..... Lowes?

Nothing says romance like a trip to Lowes, right??

Okay, that may have a pinch of sarcasm but in all honesty, this was mine and Mingus's Friday night fun--by choice--about a month ago.

After four straight weekends of me being out of town and the two of us being on the road for weddings, we were excited to have a weekend all to ourselves at home. It was around this time that we began to more realistically look at our house building project since we were into June and our savings was going according to plan.

With nothing on the agenda for the weekend, what did we decide to do on Friday night? Grab our planning book and head to Lowes--no buying allowing, just idea generating. I know that appliances come last in the house, but the fact there are several items we will have to purchase, we decided we should see what type of cost that might add up to and what sort of options we had.

We made a list that included all kitchen and bathroom appliances, counters, cupboards, flooring and more. We started at one end and slowly moved our way through.

What I enjoyed most: Seeing the kitchen setups and laylouts. It's much more fun to see everything together rather than individual pieces scattered through out. It also gave me an idea of what i did and didn't like about certain layouts, islands, etc.

What I learned: Too many options! It's so easy to forget how many pieces there are to this. We see a finished bathroom but never consider all the pieces that were decided upon for that bathroom. Think about it:

• Tub or shower?
• shower/tub wall type
• shower head
• Sink size
• Sink color and materials
• sink facet heads
• flooring material and color
• counter top material and size
• cabinetry
• Ceiling light? Fan? Heat lamp?
• Vanity light and mirror
• Toilet

What I took advantage of: All of the freebie fliers and booklets! I snatched them all and will now go through them page by page and cut out the pretty pictures and ideas I like and add them to our book! 

My Mingus feeling out the kitchen...:)

The Big Building Project Begins...sort of...

I've had the intention for awhile to begin using this blog as a means for tracking our "House Project". (It definitely needs a better name than that.) I apologize for those of you completely disinterested in such a topic and I can presume that some of the nitty-gritty details I'll end up recording won't be too exciting for anyone not going through the house building process. (Keep in mind, also, we are starting at ground zero, literally.)

I've always wished I'd started my wedding planning tracking on my blog earlier than I did but was so grateful that I did track the last two months or so. Jon and I have so many questions right now and are going to anyone and everyone for advice. Luckily for us, we are not the first to build from scratch in the Valley; however, there is a lot that people either don't remember exactly or I have not figured out to ask. Hopefully, with our building process tracked here, I'll be able to give better advice and help to anyone who needs it in the future.

By all means, of course, anyone who reads any of this and red flags start going up in an idea we have or the direction we're going, please tell me! The simplest way I know to phrase it is...We are noobs at this.

We are more or less at the beginning of this process. I made us a book back at Christmas time to begin tracking all of our house planning. The thought was primarily to have one place to do floor plan sketches, but I also left space for money (savings) info and other notes. 

Working in the online marketing sect, it's only necessary that I have a Pinterest account, but I've found primary use in it for house ideas. Of course, most of the fairy-tale, fancy pants houses I pin will never end up being a part of my humble home, but it's fun to dream, right?

We've sketched out several layouts in our book, but there are a few key features we definitely want that kind of dictate a lot of the layout so we keep coming back to similar looks.  We've recently really drilled it down and are only trying out adjusting a few pieces. They primary pieces are: 

• Two stories and first floor partially underground.
• Wood burning stove heating (in addition to central air)
• Post and beam style frame
• Metal roof
• A back mud room that extends the width of the house. A door on either side, or if we need to cut one out, a door on the garage side. 
• Entry into the kitchen from the mud room.
• A bathroom just off the mudroom (for dirty Mingus) 
• The stove near the mudroom so wood can be brought in easily.
• Good windows near the kitchen.
• A deep front porch and balcony (both eventual if not immediate)
• Bedrooms upstairs
• An additional room in the downstairs so we can live only downstairs when we're old and frail and stairs are too tough to handle.

Now, I saw we've "drilled down" and are only adjusting "a few pieces"...but, in reality, it could all change still...

We're really staying on track for the goals we've set for our savings this year so we're trying to get a better handle on what our actual cost is going to be and determine what our realistic time frame is for breaking ground. 

Two things I know we have to do before getting started:

(1) Finalize the plans with legit specs. (I got Jon a book for this birthday that's helping a lot.) This way a contractor or the bank can give us a price.

(2) Survey the land and have it deeded over to our name so we can take out a construction loan.

I am really scared to get started but so anxious at the same time. Jon and I are praying for guidance on this project and to find the balance between the fear and the excitement so we only go at the pace planned and know when to be patient.