266 replies to this topic

[MarkoJ]

I guess it has been a month since the last update!  Exterior envelope is almost finished and things are slowly progressing inside.  Owner-building a home would be awesome if I was retired or worked a part-time job.  The decision making in terms of the finishing components and dealing with the various obstacles is getting to be a little exhausting while working full+ time.

 

Video commentary #23 -> https://www.youtube....h?v=YcZxSXvJVNo

Video commentary #24 -> https://www.youtube....h?v=jIbXnEe9M8A

 

 

 

Going with glass on the railing

 

 

 

 

 

Tile in bathrooms is coming along

 

 

 

 

Went with heated tile floors in the kitchen

 

 

Pantry Detail 

 

 

 

Edited by MarkoJ, 24 June 2015 - 03:12 PM.

[lanforod]

Looking great Marko. Seeing that full of wine bottles will be the clincher on the kitchen!

[MarkoJ]

Making progress, slowly, but surely.

 

Video commentary #25 - https://youtu.be/8TtW1oS_JDw

Video commentary #26 - https://youtu.be/6DXzc6HM2RA

Video commentary #27 - https://youtu.be/9nR62B6ySlU

 

Kitchen almost finished.  Few more upper cabinets needs to be installed, backsplash, hoodfan, and appliances are arriving in two weeks.

 

 

 

Living room coming along

 

 

Glass for staircase should be arriving next week

 

 

All the bathrooms we went with totally different colour schemes just for fun

 

 

 

All 8' doors almost finished with hardware

 

 

 

Closets going in

 

 

Attached Images

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[Nparker]

The stand-up tub is a novel concept. How does one keep the water in it long enough to bathe? 

[insanelydeadlydisease]

Looking great! Is that a larger than standard size master bedroom door?

[sebberry]

The stand-up tub is a novel concept. How does one keep the water in it long enough to bathe? 

 

The room is actually on its side and the photo was rotated.  The real question is how do you poop straight?

[Nparker]

The room is actually on its side and the photo was rotated.

So this is the correct orientation then? 

[sebberry]

He hasn't adjusted the tree-art yet...

[MarkoJ]

Updated exterior photos....working on the cedar details.  The facade is first grade cedar and to keep on budget I went with lower grade cedar for the soffit (has a lot more knots, etc.)

 

 

Edited by MarkoJ, 12 July 2015 - 08:28 AM.

[Thatcher Smith]

Suppose you had just specced out the home in it's entirety and turned the job over to a contractor, how much more would it have cost you in percentage terms?  Would there possibly been fewer delays in that case (you had mentioned unavailability of certain tradesmen at critical times)?  Would a contractor have had to commit to a completion date with related penalties, thus making your move-in date more predictable?

[MarkoJ]

Suppose you had just specced out the home in it's entirety and turned the job over to a contractor, how much more would it have cost you in percentage terms?  Would there possibly been fewer delays in that case (you had mentioned unavailability of certain tradesmen at critical times)?  Would a contractor have had to commit to a completion date with related penalties, thus making your move-in date more predictable?

 

Most general contractors build custom homes at cost plus 12% to 15% management fee.  So $500,000 construction cost = $60,000 to $75,000 for the management component.

 

Huge developers (Bosa, Chard, Concert) rarely deliver buildings without a 1 to 3 months delay so with a single family general contractor you probably wouldn't get too many guarantees either.  A lot of things are also beyond the contractors control such as the client taking their sweet time to pick out flooring, light fixtures, etc., which may put things behind schedule.

 

It's not just the unavailability of trades (I use that as a loose general term).  It is a lot more complicated than that because price and quality need to be factored into the equation.  If you are willing to pay top dollar for sub-par quality than things would probably move forward without delays.

 

For example, let's say you want to frame a 4,500 sq/ft house and you call three framing contractors.  

 

Quote #1:  $27,000+GST, says he has a crew of three carpenters, no recent reference as he just came back from Alberta,  can start next week.

 

Quote #2: $33,500+GST, says he has a crew of four, you visit a current job site and the work is okay, everything is reasonably square/straight but not perfect.  Has two more small houses to frame, can start in 4 to 6 weeks but can't give specific date.

 

Quote #3: $44,000+GST, huge crew, currently finishing up custom home in Uplands, work done to perfection.  Can start in three weeks.

 

Which one do you go with?

 

Framing is relatively easy because you aren't carry much cost....but let's say you are towards the end of a project, paying rent somewhere, carrying a $600,000 mortgage, for example, and the home still isn't finished.  Makes it even tougher balancing quotes/timing/etc.

[LJ]

Suppose you had just specced out the home in it's entirety and turned the job over to a contractor, how much more would it have cost you in percentage terms?  Would there possibly been fewer delays in that case (you had mentioned unavailability of certain tradesmen at critical times)?  Would a contractor have had to commit to a completion date with related penalties, thus making your move-in date more predictable?

No contractor is going to commit to a completion date with penalties, unless he tacks on 3 months to the estimated completion date. Too many things can happen to interfere. Our house ran 6 weeks over estimate and all we got was a nice steak dinner.

[Thatcher Smith]

Thank-you for that Marko.

[Thatcher Smith]

LJ - would you be willing to share any more of your experience with constructing your home?  Is there perhaps a forum of some type where people exchange information on this?

[MarkoJ]

LJ - would you be willing to share any more of your experience with constructing your home?  Is there perhaps a forum of some type where people exchange information on this?

 

Problem is home construction experience will vary significantly by location.  They probably don't have to worry about rain screen in Phoenix, for example.  Online car forums are super useful for experiences/tips as a BMW 435i in New York is the same BMW 435i in San Fran and Victoria.  

[ovovov]

my thoughts:
purchase land- I do not need a agent to save money.
foundation-go thru tender
framing -go thru tender
plumbing/electrical- could go thru tender or just call names from the phone book.( well, every time I saw a new house is being building up, I go and ask for contact person for the job they are doing)- so far, I have collected at least 7 good contacts.

roofing-go thru tender
dry wall-go thru tender

I have never done those jobs before, but Google is your friend, I do have some project management skills thru work in IT. Not much difference.
 

[lanforod]

^ there is a lot more to it than that!

[LJ]

my thoughts:
purchase land- I do not need a agent to save money.
foundation-go thru tender
framing -go thru tender
plumbing/electrical- could go thru tender or just call names from the phone book.( well, every time I saw a new house is being building up, I go and ask for contact person for the job they are doing)- so far, I have collected at least 7 good contacts.

roofing-go thru tender
dry wall-go thru tender

I have never done those jobs before, but Google is your friend, I do have some project management skills thru work in IT. Not much difference.
 

If you live in an area where new homes are being constructed it is pretty easy to see the difference between good crews, tradesmen, and the not so good. Go to the good ones and talk to the tradesmen and see what their attitude is like and whether you could work with them or not. It's not perfect but it is certainly better than going through the phone book.

A good contractor will have crews that work for him all the time and they are pretty reliable. Siding crews are the most unreliable in my experience. Go to a work site on payday and see how many wives show up to take hold of the paycheck before it gets spent elsewhere, always a bit of a tip off.

 

Oh, and you are not going to save any money buying land without an agent, they get paid by the seller.

Edited by LJ, 20 July 2015 - 07:39 PM.

[MarkoJ]

Hoping to move in by end of August at this point....

 

Video commentary #28 - https://www.youtube....h?v=ES0JscEmvcc

 

Preping to do the driveway (will do a portion in stamped concrete and portion in paving stones).

 

 

 

 

Spare bathrooms were done on a budget almost entirely sourced at costco....costco vanity, costco toilet, $399 costco Maxx bathtub, costco glass enclosure, shower head $399, etc., etc.  Looks have decent.

 

 

 

Kitchen seems to be a never ending project.

 

 

 

 

Ductless heatpump heads are installed

 

 

Went with glass on both staircases.

 

 

 

 

And once agained, totally varied up the themes in the bathrooms.

 

 

 

[sebberry]

Coming along beautifully!