Build thread: house of freedom

Nice house. Sorry about the HOA. How did the GC do timewise? Our little 150 sq ft addition took 7 months, I was pretty steamed for about 5-1/2 months of it, but over all they did do a very good job.

thanks! As far as HOA's go this one's not bad. The fees are reasonable and they have some rules but there's a lot of leeway, and I don't have to ask permission to cut down a tree or paint my garage door a different color. I can't keep a horse but we can have chickens and I can shoot a firearm in my backyard, and there's no limit on how big a shop I can build as long as the exterior matches the house.

Timewise, here's a month by month.

December 4, 2021.

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February 18, 2022

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March 20, 2022 - note the lumber stacked out there - we ordered it in February knowing we didn't need it yet, because lumber was actively skyrocketing, making jumps of 10-20% every MONTH.
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April 18, 2022
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May 28, 2022
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June was a slow period. they finished framing and got the roof on I guess but I've got nothing from June 12 until July 6...this was the 13th.

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then by July 30th we had HVAC and electrical, and plumbing came in for one day and then didn't come back for about 6 weeks.

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August 19, 2022
The house being empty of workers was a great time for us to do the floors and get the fireplace installed, and chimney piped up to the spot in the roof where it would eventually come out.
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September 19, 2022
exterior walls insulated and plumbing finally came back and finished.
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October 12, 2022 - sheetrock hung, mudded, taped, and textured, tile going in and trim carpenter working while chimney chase is still an open hole in the roof.
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November 11, 2022
cabinets installed. cabinets circled in red were delivered with paint grade front face in spite of stain grade being specified. Cabinet maker ended up coming out and replacing the entire front. Interior paint followed later in the month.
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November 28, 2022
Masons worked literally the entire week of Thanksgiving, including Thanksgiving day.
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December 15, 2022
quartz countertops installed
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electricians came back to install lights and switches right after New Year. exterior concrete was poured 1/12. Exterior paint and plumbers have been working over the past week.

I took this yesterday evening after I finished painting the 7th of 8 sections of stair railing. I'll hand it to my wife, she designed a unique exterior, at least for around here where everybody is doing farmhouse. I was hesitant on the bright red door...it was supposed to match the cedar siding and beams but the GC ordered fiberglass because it stands up better to the weather. Right or wrong, it would have been nice to discuss it instead of just doing the opposite of what we asked for. My wife is happy with it though, it definitely pops and we're the only house in the subdivision with a red door.

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I'm an outdoorsy guy, so the outdoor space was important to me.

Propane hookup so the next time I run out of propane for the grill, I'll get advanced warning by a cold shower.

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Gonna have to do something about that sewer cleanout though, it was supposed to be flush.


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Looking out from the patio is a rocky mini-bluff of sorts that overlooks the main part of the back yard. Eventually will get a deck and an ourdoor fireplace off to the right.

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Looking over the edge. Got a guy scheduled for next week to come clear the smaller stuff with a forestry mulcher. We'll keep the big trees for shade and I'll probably seed something nice to walk on, like fescue.

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The shadows kinda mess this photo up but looking back at the house from the lower part of the back yard. (this photo taken mid-paint, other photos in this post taken today)
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this is off toward the edge of the property, don't know how I'd ever get it back there but would make a good Jeep obstacle. The photo lacks scale but that rock wall is about 6 feet tall.

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altogether it's 4.3 acres in kind of a trapezoid shape, with two creeks that are only wet after a hard rain coming together and dumping into a pond at edge of the boundary we share with 40 acres behind us. The standard lots are 1.5 acres, with the smallest being 1.2, a few in the 3 range on corners and cul de sacs, but this was the biggest, and I'm guessing was only available to us by a combination of divine providence and several interested parties declining because it wasn't suitable for floorplans they were already married to.

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Man...Seeing you and @Zorba stuggle recently with home updates makes me really glad I know the GC that I do. We did a pretty major Kitchen/1st floor remodel and they were on time and address our issues almost immediately. Took them 3 months from start to 95% completion. We had some issues with the cabinet supplier and almost a HUGE issue with our countertops, but everything worked out for us really well.

Glad you're almost done. House looks great!
 
We finished building a house in PA just before covid. After it was done, I said never again, I will buy the next house and let the previous owner plink down for all the upgrades.

If I build someday it’ll be a Barndominium with a walk in gun room and a hibachi style counter in the kitchen. Oh and hoists in the garage.
 
If I build someday it’ll be a Barndominium with a walk in gun room and a hibachi style counter in the kitchen. Oh and hoists in the garage.

This. I'm actually thinking about putting something like that in the UP. We have a "few" acres between Calumet and Hancock...Good steep steel roof, toy storage in the lower level and living quarters above.
 
Looking at post #18, is there any steel supporting the bricks at the garage door openings?

There is, it shows in the closer photo showing the fake camera. I don't know exactly what the temporary braces were for, maybe holding up the steel until it was fastened? They did similar things at the wider window openings which also have steel.
 
I wouldn't let a GC build a outhouse or doghouse ! my brother and I built our house and did everything except the concrete work and shingles ! it aint no million dollar mansion but when the inspectors came out they said if we took a direct hit from a tornado this house will still be standing and said if we wanted to build houses up here they would have no problem working with us ! I looked at him and said nobody would be willing to pay our price, he agreed .....
 
I still have to drill the bolt holes and paint it but the bulk of the fab work is done on the last section of railing. I'm really happy with how it turned out, though it took a LONG time to do. The four bars that hit drywall had to be four different lengths, and then I didn't account for material thickness on my first shot at the plate that catches the upper bars, so it was 1/4" off plumb and I had to cut it out and fix it.

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In other news, the plumbers finalized the installation on the range, which at first was exciting.

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Until I took a closer look and realized they must have really put some ass into placing it because they bent half the control knobs and damaged the finish in a visible area.

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Attic got insulated today. Tomorrow is supposed to be carpet, gutters, and maybe the shower door. He did the glass already but he was missing something for the door the first time.

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Also tomorrow is the home inspector, and I'm probably gonna reschedule the fiber internet install because there's still some more dirt work needed in the area the line will run through.
 
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That leaves a big hole in the $500k-1M range of builders that aren't good enough to build mansions and aren't smart enough to be able to handle more than 5 houses in a year. And THAT is what WE hired. :rolleyes:
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Damn, I need to head to OKLAHOMA, that price range in my neighborhood gets you 1100 sq feet on 5800 square foot lot.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: SvtLdr
As mentioned the railing looks great, you should be proud. You don’t have to tell people how long it took 😂. The range damage sucks, I imagine that is a heavy piece. Keep at it, move in day is coming
 
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Damn, I need to head to OKLAHOMA, that price range in my neighborhood gets you 1100 sq feet on 5800 square foot lot.

You wouldn't be the first. The most recent house to complete on our street was built by born and raised Californians, self described as political refugees. He was telling me the other day the place they sold for over $500k was 1600sf, in a neighborhood too rough to let the kids play outside, in a town where he was a police officer having to pull his gun on people average 3-4x a shift.

The last few years have seen a lot of growth from out of state. Oklahoma City climbed from the USs 31st to 22nd largest city between 2010 and 2020. Prices have reflected that if course....this place we've built could have been done for $400k in 2015. I actually bought a brand new 2500 sf house on an acre in 2013 for $243k. I recently saw that one for sale again for $389k.
 
got word that instead of having the roofer just come and flash it, we're getting a saddle built for the chimney. And I actually know it'll be done right because it's actually being done by my wife's cousin's husband, who our builder knows because he lives across the street from the trim carpenter.

I think trim and paint have been the only trades that haven't screwed anything up and got it all right on the first attempt.
 
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I still have to drill the bolt holes and paint it but the bulk of the fab work is done on the last section of railing. I'm really happy with how it turned out, though it took a LONG time to do. The four bars that hit drywall had to be four different lengths, and then I didn't account for material thickness on my first shot at the plate that catches the upper bars, so it was 1/4" off plumb and I had to cut it out and fix it.

View attachment 394726

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In other news, the plumbers finalized the installation on the range, which at first was exciting.

View attachment 394729

Until I took a closer look and realized they must have really put some ass into placing it because they bent half the control knobs and damaged the finish in a visible area.

View attachment 394730

View attachment 394731

Attic got insulated today. Tomorrow is supposed to be carpet, gutters, and maybe the shower door. He did the glass already but he was missing something for the door the first time.

View attachment 394732

Also tomorrow is the home inspector, and I'm probably gonna reschedule the fiber internet install because there's still some more dirt work needed in the area the line will run through.

We had an issue with our stove too. The counter was cut so tight to the opening, it would not slide in. We mentioned it to the builder and the next day it was in. I think they really gave it ol heave ho too. I hope it doesn’t have to come out…