Son's new home

[TimSullivan]

We have been casually moving through the planning stages of building a new home for our son. The plan was to break ground in the spring. The contractor we wanted to use to frame and do other parts of the project was not available until then.

He is worth waiting for and we have a very good relationship. That all changed yesterday when he called and had a cancellation. He asked if we wanted to start in two weeks. I have been on the phone lining up the other contractors and It looks like we will be starting as soon as we can get the permits from the town.

There are still so many decisions for our son and his family to make. They had been just looking at one thing at a time. Today I will hand them a list of decisions that have to be made yesterday. This is their first project and so everything is a new experience.

Jane and my last home construction project went very well and we all hope that we will be as fortunate again. I will keep the progress flowing as we try to beat the winter weather.

I have attached a picture of the site. It is ten acres that is bordered by two creeks that flow into two deep ravines with several waterfalls.

The first picture is from the road and shows the three acres of old orchard and the woods beyond.

Tim

[TimSullivan]

This picture is the view to the south over the one creek.

Tim

[TimSullivan]

This picture is the view up the hill from the creek and will be the walk out area from the basement.

Tim

[TimSullivan]

Last picture is the twenty foot water wall dropping into the ravine.

Tim

[fivestring]

What a view!!!

[JazzDad]

So Tim, are you going to be the GC?

[GaryM]

That's a nice view!

[TimSullivan]

<font color="green"> So Tim, are you going to be the GC?
</font color>

Yes, my wife Jane and I have done several large remodel projects and were GC of our own new home eighteen months ago. I am retired and will be able to be on site each day, so I will be real busy for the next four months. The family will do the interior painting, hardwood and tile floors, electrical, landscaping and another job that falls between the cracks. The rest will be left up to some very good reliable subs.

Everything was set to start building in the early spring but after some phone tag I was able to line up everyone I wanted. Tomorrow we will do the septic tests. They were scheduled for early December but have to be done before we can get a building permit. I have three weeks at most to get all the permits or we are back to a spring start. The weather could close in at any time and we need to have the concrete work done as soon as possible. Once the house is weather tight we are going to be OK. Until then I sure will be watching the weather channel every day.

Tim

[TimSullivan]

It looks a lot better with leaves on the trees. This time of year you can see the damage a couple of our ice and wind storms have done to the trees.

Tim

[TimSullivan]

The septic tests are done and we will be installing a modified system with a sand filter. Just not enough top soil in the right places. Hard to place the system when you have the house bounded by a creek on each side and the system has to be at least a hundred feet away from each of the creeks. Then it cannot be on too steep a slope and not too far from the house.

The paper work will be done this weekend and filed on Monday morning. As soon as that is signed we will be filing the building permit. The bad news is the septic plan could be two weeks in the approval process. I hope that we can speed it up a little.

The weather was warm today and the skies clear but that could change in a hurry. Last week the temperature dropped into the teens and we had blowing snow. Today we were all working in shirt sleeves.