The ASYLUM - Land Purchase and Initial Construction

PREFACE

To those not familiar with the ongoing Asylum story, I started my main build thread The ASYLUM – Happy 40th Birthday to Me! after the main structure was already up, so now I’m going back to give you some history on the events leading up to it all and details of the construction process. I hope you enjoy my walk down memory lane.

Note: If you wish to read about the current status of the ASYLUM, the thread title I list above is actually a link you can click on to get there. As with all my threads, you can click on any of the thumbnails for a larger view.



LAND IS PURCHASD FOR A FUTURE RETIREMENT HOME...

Back in the mid-1990’s, Mrs. Shopnut and I were both stable at our jobs and making okay money so we decided real estate was as good as investment as any. We set out to find a perfect piece of land onto which we would someday build a retirement home. From the beginning, we were not planning to resell it, so future appreciation potential was not a huge concern. We really just wanted to purchase the land early and start paying it off instead of paying a bigger price later when the property is in possibly higher demand. Looking back, it was probably a good move and most likely kept us from spending our money on meaningless goods. Plus to us, having a piece of land that we could go play on seemed much more exciting than playing the stock market or something like that.

We searched quite a while and were originally looking for 5 to 20 acre tracts out in the country where prices were still reasonably priced. Sometime during the search, however, the smaller lakefront properties started looking more appealing to us as a retirement spot. We realized it was better (for us) to have a small piece of land connected to a large lake than to be constrained to a medium size piece of land. And we figured it would be a bit more fun to “play” on before retirement. After working with us a while, our realtor really understood what we were looking for and I still remember the day he called us saying “I found the perfect spot for you”. It was truly perfect in our eyes and in 1996 our dreams become a reality.



The very first thing we did was build a 12’ x 20 utility shed to house the lawn tractor, tools, and various toys we kept out there. There was water well on our property that originally serviced the house next door, but since had been disconnected when they sub-divided the land. To get it working again, I had to learn about wells and buy the pump and pressure tank to have running water. Of course, a pump meant power was needed and a meter was installed by the utility company. The land is zoned as “Agricultural” so I was able to convince the county it was an irrigation pump. We paid extra to have the power line buried so falling tree branches wouldn’t be disrupting our power all the time.

I still remember the day I powered up the pump for the first time and saw that clear running water – it was like Tom Hanks starting the fire in the movie Castaway.



We owned a pop-up camper for years prior to buying the land and now had the perfect little camping spot. Rather than messing with that pop-up though, we opted to upgrade to a regular travel trailer for better accommodations. It was like a perpetual camping trip for us the first couple of years. Soon came a small 16’ sailboat, a jet ski, and some kayaks so we could take advantage of our lake and the connecting river system and the additional lakes on it.



Two years later, the vacant lot next to us went on the market and we snapped it up. It ended up being a perfect complement to the first, and luckily, it was mostly cleared off already to save us the work. Looking back, the initial cost of these properties was a small price for how much joy they have given us over the years. Plus, it’s probably kept me from having to join a gym to stay in shape!

When first purchased, the larger of the two lots was like a jungle so there was plenty of work the first several years turning this into what you see today. But we never shy away from hard work.

Early on, I built a nice wall down by the beach only to have it washed out the next year when we had an extremely wet year. I have never fixed it after all these years, I guess because Mother Nature just pissed me off and I figured she would just do it again if I rebuilt it.



Of course, the dogs wouldn’t miss a trip to the lake and they always got to tag along, even if it meant sleeping on one another when the truck was full of supplies.

As the years passed by, the old 24’ camper was traded for a 28’ version with slide-out room and Mrs. Shopnut treated herself to a 24’ Hunter sailboat.




After about 8 years had passed since buying the first property, thoughts turned to building a shop with apartment for an upgrade to the travel trailer.

MOST SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS START WITH A GOOD PLAN…

Roll back to 1996. I‘d been doodling on what my dream shop would look like since we bought the land that year. A lot of different ideas were considered, but unfortunately some of the old VISIO files were corrupt and I could not open them now to show you. Here are some early plans I salvaged.



I still really like this following two-story design that came along a year later in 1997. On the first floor was a main drive-thru work area, a stall to store vehicles, and a game room. It also had a large covered patio for outdoor projects. Up the stairs was a room that could be transformed into a small efficiency apartment with windows overlooking the shop and a large screened porch overlooking the lake. The retirement home may likely contain several of these attributes when built.



In 1998, we battled with the county on building a non-residential structure without a house being there first. The original 12x20 shed was classified as "agricultural" and was allowed, but the county wouldn't grant the larger structure. We were really getting the itch to build something so we ventured down the path of building a real vacation house out there, with large garage of course. We had a design all worked out and had it quoted only to find out it was beyond our means. Our dream would have to wait because we weren't ready to give up the city house yet. That is when we upgraded to a nicer travel trailer and sailboat and used the place for what it was - a fun little get-a-way from it all.

FAST FORWARD TO THE YEAR 2004...

With a lot more research under my belt, we decided to take another run at the whole shop/apartment structure. This time we found out exactly what the minimum square footage was to classify as a residential home and we were pleasantly surprised it was only 500 sq ft. So it was back to the drawing board, as they say. The new designs started looking very close to what you see now. These were used to start discussions with builders. Note that it did not include an official living space as of yet, because I was planning to finish that off myself after the builder did their thing.




I also created a rendering to help others visualize it in 3-D (of course, I'd been seeing this in my head for quite some time). Please excuse my quick representation of the nearby hickory and oak trees.



When we first bought the land, I was crazy enough to document the location of every tree (think 100’s) via triangulation from the lot corners. All the little green circles on the following plats represent the trees and their relative size. This actually came in handy when trying to find a spot for the shop that made the least impact on the trees out there. It also helped plan where the driveways down to the future retirement home would be (shown on the far left in the second picture). The very large circles in one plan show the minimum setbacks between existing and future water wells. They also helped me determine where the septic system could go.

PICKING A BUILDER...

With full-time jobs, we simply didn’t have the time to construct this place ourselves. I would've loved to do it, but I’m already on the 6th year of finishing off the interior and I can’t image how long doing everything myself would have taken. So we made the choice to call in a contractor. We had planned on getting several quotes, but after meeting the first one, our minds were already made up. This was a little risky, but things worked out great - you have to trust your judgment sometimes, I guess. He understood what we wanted and simply built it with a high level of quality. And my experience shows me contractors don’t generally like building things for an engineer, much less a duo of them. I guess we tend to be a bit picky, but I never consider Mrs. Shopnut or I being unreasonable people. There were some disagreements along the way but we managed to stay friends through it all.

A project like this needed to start with a full set of detailed plans for county approval. Although I could have provided this, it was included at no cost by the builder. It was better off this way since I didn't know his exact building techniques and many needed to be detailed out on the drawings. Seven sheets of AutoCAD prints were enough to describe this place for county approval. What was really nice is that I got a copy of the electronic file and I use it to this day for all my upgrade planning.

As I said earlier, I was planning to finish off the living space myself. To do this, I would have been required to become the designated "owner/builder" of the project. The builder would then have acted as a sub-contractor to us. I would have been responsible for all permits, inspections, and that kind of stuff. We also would not be granted a certificate of occupancy (CO) until the living space was finished and passed inspection. That meant we would not be able to legally start using the structure until I finished my part, and who knows how long that would have taken. So we decided to pay the builder to do it all, start to finish, and it turned out to be a wise decision.

I HAD A LITTLE PREP WORK TO DO...

Knowing where the building was going, I decided to get a jump on the site prep. I first marked the corners of the building to get a feel of its lay on the land. In the following pictures, I added red lines helping you visualize where the building perimeter was to be.




With this done, it verified that two large trees and one small one had to be removed. So it was time to fire up the chainsaw and cut them down. There was another large dead oak that needed to come down while I was at it.

DECEMBER 29, 2004 - THE EXCAVATION CREW ARRIVES…

It was time for the real ground breaking. The excavation crew arrived for the first visit and much to my surprise it was a one man show. He had new equipment with which I was impressed. The first thing he wanted to do was trim some of the trees leading into the Asylum so that his equipment didn’t get scratched/damaged driving into the place so I volunteered to ride the bucket of his wheel loader with a chainsaw in hand to clear a path. You can barely see me up there.



He then proceeded to rip the big stumps out and all we were left with that day was a few big holes and some stumps to burn later on.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH SOME FILL DIRT…

The site leveling was done in our absence so you can imagine my surprise arriving to a compacted pad of orange fill dirt. It’s mainly sand, typical of Florida. To this day, I still see that orange stuff when I dig a hole – I guess it’s not going anywhere is it?




AND SOME BUILDING MATERIALS…

Sometime during the week, all the framing materials were delivered as well.



Along with the siding and roof metal.

JANUARY 22, 2005 - THE ROUGH FRAMING STARTS…

The skeleton going up is always exciting to see. 6x6” pressure treated posts were used for the columns and the rest was mainly 2x6” extra-dense lumber.




Worth noting here is the fact that they sub-assembled the rafters down near the ground and then hoisted them up afterwards with the all-terrain forklift. You can see the completed ones lying on the ground.



POWER AND WATER…

When I hooked up the well back in 1996, I choose to have a centrally located meter installed that would feed all the various out buildings to be added in years to come. So far that has proven beneficial since I’m up to three different branches now with likely more on the way.

Anticipating something being built up on this part of the lot someday, I ran a water pipe from the pump house up to the meter pole back in 1996 when the trench was dug for the pump electrical feed. I unearthed this and stubbed it out for the plumber to use up to the Asylum when the time came.

JANUARY 26, 2005 - FRAMING CONTINUES AND OVERHANGS ARE ADDED…

Framing of the structure continued and details for the 18” roof overhangs started. We paid extra for them, but thought it was worth it for us from a looks standpoint.




FEBRUARY 05, 2005 - DOOR FRAMING AND FOOTINGS DUG…

The additional 4x6” posts were added for the door frames and then footings were dug around all of the posts.

FEBRUARY 05, 2005 - ROUGH PLUMBING IS INSTALLED…

Rough plumbing for a kitchen sink, bathroom sink and shower, clothes washer, shop sink, and outdoor hose bibs were installed.



A couple pipe runs were already covered up by the time I arrived so I carefully dug them up to take pictures, documenting their path for future reference.

FEBRUARY 12, 2005 - CONCRETE SLAB PREP WORK…

Termite spray was applied and the plastic vapor sheet was laid down.



These pictures documented where I removed a bit of dirt in the main bay to allow a 6"+ slab thickness where a 2-post auto lift would potentially be installed. The CAD layout shows the location in the plan.

FEBRUARY 26, 2005 - MORE SLAB PREP WORK…

I was a bit baffled on the last trip out after not seeing any work done on the front apron (covered porch), but was relieved to see this taken care of now. They also added the forms for the apron to the side man door.



A COVER OVER OUR HEADS…

They added a number of roofing sheets and now it was starting to seem more like a shelter.



I spent many nights around a bonfire getting rid of all the felled trees and dreaming about the new place. I'm sure the neighbors weren't real happy with smoke through all hours of the night.

MARCH 06, 2005 - A SLAB, ROOF, WALLS, AND WINDOWS...

The slab was poured and it looked great. I remember that being a huge relief for me. I'm not sure if they finished the roof before pouring the slab, but that would seem logical to protect it from potential weather threats. Some of the wall framing was started and windows installed.

MARCH 13, 2005 - SEPTIC TANK AND DRAIN FIELD…

Imagine my surprise when we pulled in to see these big mounds of dirt. Drain field consists of a product named “Infiltrator”. Their advertising media shows heavy equipment driving over it without damage. I still have the corners marked 7 years later so I know where it is.



AND MORE WINDOWS…

The remainder of the windows were installed.



CLIMATE CONTROL FOR THE APARTMENT…

The combination heater-A/C showed up. It has proven sufficient for the little apartment (although we did add a tiny A/C unit in the bathroom window to reduce the sauna effect during showers). It gets mounted in the opening to the left of the big window.

MARCH 20, 2005 - DOORS…

Roll-up doors were installed and included two 10X12’ and two 8x8’ doors. Sometimes I wish the 8x8’ on the front wall was 9’ wide for a bit more clearance driving cars in.




The man doors showed up too.



The decorative door for the exterior front face. They built it, I painted it. I’m still not sure why they had me paint it – maybe so they weren’t responsible for the paint match (???)

SIDING AND SHOP EXHAUST FAN…

They finished siding the back wall of the building. In the shop area, we had them add sheet insulation between the metal and the framing. Although it helps deaden some of the sound in there, it sounds like it’s pouring outside when it’s only really a light rain.

The 36" exhaust fan is definitely one feature I couldn’t do without. Even though I have a set of pipes to route the car exhaust outside, this fan turns over the air so well in the shop that I don’t even use them.



They were busy this week and all the interior framing was finished up.

MARCH 25, 2005 - SIDING, DOORS, AND ROUGH ELECTRICAL…

They started installing the upper sheets of siding and mounted that decorative door I had painted.



The man doors went in.



Most of the rough electrical was routed.



SHOWER STALL…

Space was tight in the bathroom so we opted for this rounded door version.



Jumping ahead just slightly to show the finished version.

APRIL 03, 2005 – MORE SIDING…

They wrapped up the siding job and the place was really starting to look finished.



And a couple shots looking from the inside (apartment).



APRIL 17, 2005 – DRYWALL IS STARTED…

The sheetrock was installed in the apartment.

APRIL 24, 2005 – MORE DRYWALL…

The apartment interior was finished off this week.



And the sheetrock was hung on the bathroom bump-out and shop wall adjacent to the living space (per code).



A TRENCH FOR THE WATER AND ELECTRICAL SUPPLY LINES…

From the main meter pole.



The water pipe and SE electrical wires would share a trench up until the split shown here. I was not very happy when I saw this because I had asked them to bring both utilities in on the back wall. We have future plans to add a master bedroom off of this side wall, right where the water enters the building.



The trench for the lone electrical run along the back wall.

APRIL 30, 2005 – THE SERVICE ENTRANCE IS INSTALLED…

The main breaker box was added to the outside of the building and wires from the meter pole routed. The neighbor gets to look at this since it is on the back wall.



Wires pass through the wall to the interior to the main distribution panel. All circuits over to the apartment run in that flexible conduit.



They added a temporary outlet for the welder near the main panel.



MAY 8, 2005 – THE DRYWALL MUDDING JOB STARTED…

I remember the contractor having trouble finding a sub to do our small mud job and ended up doing it themselves. They did a decent job considering that wasn’t their specialty.



INITIAL WORK ON THE DRIVEWAY…

I decided to start moving some of that orange dirt around and build up the approach ramp to the front doors. A final covering of black dirt would be added so grass could grow.

MAY 14, 2005 – CABINETS AND COUNTERTOP FOR THE KITCHEN…

We went with “stock” cabinetry and countertops to keep the cost of the apartment at a reasonable level.



Worth noting is the temporary covering we put down in the apartment to protect the bare concrete in anticipation of acid staining it later.



JUNE 13, 2005 – KITCHEN, BATH, AND AIR CONDITIONING…

It’s odd that a whole month went by without any pictures – I may have been traveling for work or something. Or perhaps things just slowed way down, I don’t quite remember.

Anyways, the cabinets were installed in the kitchen and bathroom. Sorry for the dark pictures – no light yet!



The A/C unit (w/ heat) was installed in its designated hole. The temperature outside was warming up so we were looking forward to firing that thing up.



Both the French doors for the apartment and the side personnel door to the shop got their final green paint job.



The final electrical components (receptacle, switches, wall plates) were also installed.

JUNE 25, 2005 – DOWN TO THE LAST LITTLE DETAILS…

Exterior light were installed.



In the shop, I had them hang 5 of these 8 foot fluorescent fixtures just so I would have light to start with. I knew all along that major work would be happening to finish off the shop interior, so I kept this real basic.



The water heater and shop sink in the back corner.



With any construction, you can expect to find a few flaws that need correcting. We created our hit list and the builder did a great job taking care of them.

I’m not sure why some of them weren’t corrected before we ever saw them, but maybe it was a timing thing with our visits and we just showed up before they had a chance to do something about – like the gap around this wall plate.



The next week, the place was totally finished (at least, the builders portion) and we were ready to turn this place into something special. Here’s a shot of the finished building with my (then) nearly new '03 Avalanche parked in front.

CONTINUED IN THE MAIN ASYLUM THREAD…

I joined Garage Journal in February 2006 and my ongoing ASYLUM thread basically picks up the build from this point. Click this LINK to see exactly what I did (and still doing) to outfit and finish the interior. It has been a fun and enjoyable ride with no end in sight.

Let me be the first to comment. Thanks for the early pictures they really fill about the beginings of the ASYLUM.

It sure has come a long way and does it ever look empty.

Thanks for the retro update!! It was nice to see the "bones". You've come a long way now.

Yea that great to see the beginning ..Nice insite to the build !

Wow !! Thanks for the pics. That was better than Star Wars Episode 1.

Our situation is similar. We are living in a trailer while we build a house. But we built the shop first.

The only thing missing is the lake.

The Saga Continues!

Very nice retrospective. Do you think you'll use the same builder for your retirement home when the time comes? Have you started on those plans/sketches yet? lol

That's a great design. Very well laid out descriptions and photo's, thanks!

I see Mrs Shopnut has good taste in sailboats.

The builder appears to have done a bang up job on your "pole" building.

Since I am an engineer myself, I know what you mean about being a bit finicky. I also worked with my dad in his building company. I watched for shortcuts when our new home was built. We were pretty happy with them and really hadn't seen anything major that needed to get addressed. The super was actually more picky than I was !

Always nice to read your posts

Thanks for Asylum 101. This really shows how and why it has turned out the way it has. And your plans kept changing even before you found GJ!

nkachur – Yes, it was a blank slate back then. It’s great to see each piece materialize into what’s been in my head for so many years now.

tinbender 66 – You are welcome. Yep – I figured the other thread was lacking and there was no clean way to insert the initial build portion, so viola - new thread. Now all need to do is link it up in the first post in my main thread and all will be good in the world

Vernmotor – Glad you liked it. I figured there were some that might enjoy hearing the whole story.

cletus66 – Star Wars - That’s funny, my thread order kind of reminded me of that too. But I’m still writing Episodes 7, 8, and 9!

“Built the shop first” – you definitely have your priorities straight!

Omphaloskeptic – Yes, the Saga probably will never end, but that is fine with me.

Although I would use the same builder in a heartbeat, he specializes in pole barn type structures and the finished living space in ours was one of the first he did. Our retirement home will resemble something like an “A”-frame log cabin, possibly with cypress wood siding and green tin roof, and I’m afraid this is outside of his expertise. I really need to see what his company has evolved into lately.

He will be the first builder we approach when you get ready to add a bedroom addition onto the Asylum, however. We plan to do this a few years before the construction of the “big” house to make the Asylum a bit more full-time livable. It will serve as interim housing after the city house is sold and while the new house is being constructed. I want to be living on-site for the 8 months or so when the next place goes up.

After that, the apartment in the Asylum may become a guess house or get converted to a wood/machine shop depending on our needs. That is one of the reasons we initially put French doors on the apartment – to be a little flexible with its future use (i.e. getting larger items in or out).

Although we had a full set of plans for that earlier retirement home I mentioned in the last paragraph of reply #4 (I need to dig those up, btw), I think what’s more important going forward is listing the features we want it to contain. The floor plan (form) will follow the function, most likely. The original concept was a two story design, but my recent injury was a great eye-opener that single-level homes can work much better for aging folks with limited mobility.

Whatever it ends up being, it certainly will capitalize on the view of the lake with a wall of windows. We don’t front on a road so there is no need to make it “pretty” from the non-lake side and most likely all you will see will be a bunch of garage doors as you pull up in the drive At that point, the Asylum will probably be in need of some new siding and it will be re-skinned to match the house.

dlenkewich – I’ve always liked the “monitor” style barns. I just wish I would have had the builder add the clerestory windows initially rather than me doing it after the fact. That was a ton of work adding them afterwards! Thanks for your comments.

fredlangva – That Hunter H240 has been a good boat. Any bigger and Mrs. Shopnut would have a hard time sailing it herself. It has a small motor, but she always feels disappointed in her sailing skills if she has to fire it up. Over the years, I definitely figured out what “Jibe Ho” means! Only takes one good clunk on the head to have it sink in permanently.

Some contractors are always looking for shortcuts and seeing just how low a quality level people are willing to accept. Those are the ones I (and probably you) need to avoid because it just never works out. Both sides go away mad. I don’t mind paying more to get a cut above – I am happier in the long run.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wingnut65 – Asylum 101 – that’s funny. Plans definitely have evolved over the years, and will continue to do so as my tastes and projects change. We will see how “flexible” the Asylum ends up being – I’m crossing my fingers.

How did I miss this until today? Great addition to your thread, I had often wondered about the build process. You are an awesome planner.

Shaun

Sometimes I feel like I'm getting so behind but reading about how your build started in 2004 was somewhat comforting to me Even with that said, I'd say a LOT has been done in those 8 years. My wife's family owns a 5 acre plot of land in the mountains and they have been building a shed/cabin on it since 2000 and the work doesn't really stop.

But that is also what makes it so fun. I'd wager your place is the same.

FBF - Thanks. It was easy to miss it. If you notice the dates on the first 25 posts, I slipped the complete story in one morning when most of you were sleeping . I didn't really consider this much of a discussion thread because it all occurred in the past - I just wanted to complete the story for those interested in the beginning.

Red Leader - Yep, its been a long, but enjoyable road (excluding a few speed bumps I didn't see coming). Although there are a lot of car/bike projects I'm looking forward to digging into, I will not allow myself to start them until the major work is done on the Asylum. There will be many little details to complete on the place in the upcoming years even after it is "finished", but it is my goal to get all the big stuff done this year.

Finished the build & posted with you.

Just read this thread. Nice plan you had & have for going one step at the time.

Curious about the poles in concrete? I did not see any protection for the poles in the pictures.

Thanks for taking your precious time to read another thread. At least this one didn't take quite as long, did it? Thanks - I hope I get to follow through with the entire master plan for this property.

The posts are pressure treated and there seems to be some controversy whether they need anything else to get long life out of them. I think the biggest factor is keeping the ends that are encased in concrete as dry as possible so I added some extra drainage where the ground slopes towards the building. Plus, this sand doesn't retain water for very long. After that, I'm just crossing my fingers

It is easy to see your engineering experience in the way you "think out" everything before you do it. I have enjoyed reading your first thread since it's inception and the addition of the "prequel" really add to the story. Thanks!