House Build w/ 3-car

[Dr. Pepper]

The wife and I have been on the house hunt for going on two years now. We've looked at so many houses it makes me nauseous to think about. After getting topped on a few offers and trying not to "settle" for anything, we decided the right move was to build and get what we want. We wanted elbow room away from the neighbors, a decent sized lot, and a reasonable commute to work. So after finding the right lot, we moved forward with the land and house contract and closed on it February 2015.

The land itself is 3.00 acres and is mostly level with some slope to it.




The beginning to the excavating.








Footers poured.





Poured walls going up.












Starting of framing.











Roof going up after sitting open for a few weeks.
Quite the puzzle.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Windows, doors, garage doors, stairwells, and shingles in/on.











Upstairs loft/bonus room that will be unfinished for now. Its roughly 12' x 21'.



Thats basically how it sits now. Was hoping to be in a completed house before winter, but the builder and county had other plans. They'll wish they started sooner when its in the 30's and the wind comes across the field while they're finishing up the outside. We're told a March move in, but not holding my breathe.

The house itself is 1900ish sqft. It's all main floor living with an open concept. Three bedroom, two baths, a main floor laundry, and a large family room. The garage (the most important part) is 21' x 30'. It will be mainly used for auto repair, a metal fab area, and parking. It will fill up very quickly as I have a decent amount of tools and will be adding more in the future. I had a 30' x 60' detached shop drawn up to match the house, but our county fees topped $16k, so the shop would have put us over budget. It's at the top of the list of upgrades once we get back on our feet.

 

[yossarian19]

I'm trying to guess where a commuter can find three acres. Frederick? Baltimore County?
Looks like a gorgeous property and a great start on a lovely home. Congrats!

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Thanks! Yes, it is in Frederick County. We're right on the Frederick/Carroll line. The wife and I will be right at a half hour ride to work, so not terrible.

 

[WarrenJ]

Great start, will be waiting to see progress on the garages. Welcome to FC.

 

[UnionMan]

Looking good. At least its under roof before winter. Is the only second story the area above the garage? And where is the stair well located to get to that room?

UnionMan

 

[Richard Cranium]

congrat on the new house, i like the looks of it.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Great start, will be waiting to see progress on the garages. Welcome to FC.

Thanks. We actually live in Frederick County now. Both of us born and raised here.

Looking good. At least its under roof before winter. Is the only second story the area above the garage? And where is the stair well located to get to that room?

UnionMan

Yes, thats the only second story room. See pics below for stairwell location.

congrat on the new house, i like the looks of it.

Thanks!

More garage.



Few more of the interior.









And they added the small piece of roof they left off. The piece to the far left across the front of the house.

 

[quentin01]

Congrats. Looks like a great house.

I can empathize on the house search. I was also set on building because a 3 car garage was a must and it is a pretty rare feature on most houses around here (Charleston, WV). We'd made a few offers on land and we weren't finding even any land we liked. While I was in Japan for business, I woke up jet lagged at 3AM. My wife sent 10 photos of a brand new house, right size, good neighborhood, close to work, and a 3 car garage. "I found the house we're buying." We were moved in a little over a month later.


Sent from Tandy 400

 

[Power Sedan]

Great looking future home! Wish I had thought of a bonus room above my garage when we constructed our home 13 years ago, all that space, with hurricane rated trusses taking up majority of it. That certainly has a lot of potential.

 

[UnionMan]

Looks good inside. I see the area is accessed from inside the home not the garage? What are the plans for that room, HVAC or finished at all or are you putting a exterior door/fire door at the top of the stairs. Also looks like 2x6 exterior walls, pretty sure that is MD code now a days. Also appears to be 9 ft walls. Did you also do the 9ft walls in the basement?

UnionMan

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Congrats. Looks like a great house.

I can empathize on the house search. I was also set on building because a 3 car garage was a must and it is a pretty rare feature on most houses around here (Charleston, WV). We'd made a few offers on land and we weren't finding even any land we liked. While I was in Japan for business, I woke up jet lagged at 3AM. My wife sent 10 photos of a brand new house, right size, good neighborhood, close to work, and a 3 car garage. "I found the house we're buying." We were moved in a little over a month later.
Sent from Tandy 400

Wish we could have been that lucky! One of the houses we had an offer on was brand new and had a 4-car garage. That obviously didn't work out, but this house fits the bill more so than the other.

Great looking future home! Wish I had thought of a bonus room above my garage when we constructed our home 13 years ago, all that space, with hurricane rated trusses taking up majority of it. That certainly has a lot of potential.

Looks good inside. I see the area is accessed from inside the home not the garage? What are the plans for that room, HVAC or finished at all or are you putting a exterior door/fire door at the top of the stairs. Also looks like 2x6 exterior walls, pretty sure that is MD code now a days. Also appears to be 9 ft walls. Did you also do the 9ft walls in the basement?

UnionMan

Thanks guys! Code for exterior walls is 2x6 now. The walls and basement walls are both 9'. Spinklers are also code now as well. You can see the rough in of the orange pipes in a few of the pics. The loft area will be roughed in with HVAC and electric. Not sure of the immediate use of the space, but our future thoughts are to finish it and use it as another hangout/TV space, or a possible play room for kids if we ever have them. I could see using it as garage storage space, but don't tell the wife!

 

[GRN96WS6]

Nice looking place, you must not work near DC if you're at 30 mins coming from there.

I like that area but hate the drive it takes to get to DC.

 

[stikman56]

Very nice job there, looks great. We know what you're going through,we are building in Washington state right now and it looks like January move in for us. We turned our other house into a rental and we're living in the backyard at the new house in an RV and trying to stay warm as it's been below freezing for a few days now.

 

[jsherid1]

Love how your builder keeps a clean job site, most of the ones around here look like Fred Sanford's yard on a bad day.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Nice looking place, you must not work near DC if you're at 30 mins coming from there.

I like that area but hate the drive it takes to get to DC.

Surely not. We're in Keymar, which is northern Frederick County. It's about a 25 minute drive to PA if that gives you an idea.

Very nice job there, looks great. We know what you're going through,we are building in Washington state right now and it looks like January move in for us. We turned our other house into a rental and we're living in the backyard at the new house in an RV and trying to stay warm as it's been below freezing for a few days now.

Looks like a nice place! You have a build on here?

Love how your builder keeps a clean job site, most of the ones around here look like Fred Sanford's yard on a bad day.

Funny you mention that. They're not clean. Especially while they were framing. The wife and I spent two hours one day picking up food trash, cigarette butts, nails, paper from the house wrap, cut off pieces of wood, and a 5'x10' trash pile they started before the dumpster came. There was a family of mice living in that pile. We try to clean up every time we go so things aren't blowing in neighbors yards or getting buried by backfill.

 

[C_F]

We try to clean up every time we go so things aren't blowing in neighbors yards or getting buried by backfill.

That's something we didn't do too much when we were building our home, and I wish I had. We've been here since 1999 and I am STILL digging up discarded building items when I dig in various places in the yard.

Your build looks really nice, looking forward to more updates.

 

[UnionMan]

Funny you mention that. They're not clean. Especially while they were framing. The wife and I spent two hours one day picking up food trash, cigarette butts, nails, paper from the house wrap, cut off pieces of wood, and a 5'x10' trash pile they started before the dumpster came. There was a family of mice living in that pile. We try to clean up every time we go so things aren't blowing in neighbors yards or getting buried by backfill.

I think every builder treats the ground as their trash can. I have only found a select few that have been semi clean. I did a standing seam metal roof on my home and had the roof crew leave scraps everywhere. When they tried to collect the last payment of 50% I showed them in the contract they had me sign where it said they clean up all scraps and discard of them. The next day I had a full roofing crew scanning my yard picking up all the scraps they had left days prior. It's amazing how fast they work when you talk money.


Get yourself some of these. Best item I bought while building my house. They aren't like normal magnets because you can pull the level and it drops the material. This and a 5 gallon bucket will be your best friend.

http://www.harborfreight.com/long-reach-magnetic-pickup-tool-with-quick-release-93950.html


UnionMan

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Been a slow going, but heres some updated pics. The most noticeable is obviously the start to the siding. Trades have also been in, roughing in electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. PoCo dug the trench today for the main line and mounted the meter. Few odds and ends are done, but nothing really worth mentioning.









The two sections without siding on the front of the house will be dry stack stone as seen here.


The fireplace will get the same stone, along with the backside of the bank of kitchen cabinets that are adjacent to the great room. Here it is against the Carrera Marble slab we've picked for the kitchen. We were trying to find a granite that would work with our color choices, but everything seems to have brown in them. Theres no brown being used anywhere in the house, so this seemed to fit the bill the best.

 

[cdd1]

If it's not too late, look at Super White Quartzite. Similar to Carrara in look, but no issues of staining. More $$$ though

 

[csp]

Nice place!

It's interesting that the keyway was cut into the footers to locate the foundation walls, but there's no rebar sticking out of the footer pour to physically tie the two together.

Is that an external stairway to the basement at the back of the house?

 

[james.work.90]

Mind telling me what window pediments those are?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[Dr. Pepper]

If it's not too late, look at Super White Quartzite. Similar to Carrara in look, but no issues of staining. More $$$ though

We looked at a few slabs of quartzite, but like this better than what we've seen. I will check into that one. Haven't made a final decision on it yet.

Nice place!

It's interesting that the keyway was cut into the footers to locate the foundation walls, but there's no rebar sticking out of the footer pour to physically tie the two together.

Is that an external stairway to the basement at the back of the house?

Thank you. I questioned the rebar aswell, but not code here. And yes, that's a basement stairwell. It gets treated lumber stringers and trex style treads, which was installed this week.

Mind telling me what window pediments those are?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

I will look and see if the boxes are still there and let you know.

 

[Mac57t]

What pitch is the roof?

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Mind telling me what window pediments those are?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

There is no marking at all on them or the boxes. I'll see if the builder will share his info on them.

What pitch is the roof?

9/12 for the front, 7/12 for everything else.

Stone started. A little more brown than we had hoped.





Electrical is about roughed in as well as plumbing. HVAC is started. Things are moving very slow. Pretty disappointed about that. Not to mention some of the work has not been up to our expectations and will need to be fixed to our liking.

 

[C_F]

Looks very nice, I assume there will be stone going up on the left side also? Bummer when you have to keep checking up on the work & finding "issues".

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Looks very nice, I assume there will be stone going up on the left side also? Bummer when you have to keep checking up on the work & finding "issues".

Yes, the stone will go up the left bump out, and the whole front where there is concrete will get faced with stone. The two little "nubs" on that left side will also get aluminum columns mounted on top of them that go to the roof line directly above.

 

[Bib Overalls]

PoCo dug the trench today for the main line and mounted the meter.

I always tell people who are building to spec a "combo" meter base. They have a meter base, main switch, and 4 or more breaker positions. With that you are set to go when you add a swimming pool, detached shop, or both. About $100. Can you imagine what an electrician would charge to make the taps at the panel inside your house. Not to mention the handyman that fixes the drywall and touches up the paint.

If you plan on building a shop or garage with a heavy electrical load you can spec 320 service. This gives you 200 amps to the house and 200 amps for the shop. Panel is more expensive but way cheaper than having a second service for the shop/garage down the road.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I always tell people who are building to spec a "combo" meter base. They have a meter base, main switch, and 4 or more breaker positions. With that you are set to go when you add a swimming pool, detached shop, or both. About $100. Can you imagine what an electrician would charge to make the taps at the panel inside your house. Not to mention the handyman that fixes the drywall and touches up the paint.

If you plan on building a shop or garage with a heavy electrical load you can spec 320 service. This gives you 200 amps to the house and 200 amps for the shop. Panel is more expensive but way cheaper than having a second service for the shop/garage down the road.

Thanks for the thought. I do plan on building a detached garage in the future, and the wife was just talking about a pool. We have a meeting with the electrician tomorrow to go over the final rough in of everything, so I will ask about it. Not sure if it's too late or not. Thanks!

 

[Dr. Pepper]

A few pics of some of the roughed in electric, hvac, and plumbing. We're using all LED lights around the house. The recessed ones have 9 LED's in them and are amiable/dimmable. 920 lumens each and are 4000k. I chose to use these above the garage in the soffit in place of wall lights. Same with the front porch. These will be just about everywhere else too, besides the bathrooms and the two front bedrooms. There's provisions for TV's in the 3 bedrooms, garage, back porch, and living room, all to be wall mounted. We had them put an outlet on top of the kitchen cabinets for lighting that is on a switch. There is also outlets at the 4 corners of the house in the soffit for Christmas lighting. They are all tied together with a switch in the laundry room.


















The garage I'll be using (22) 4' LED ready fixtures. These are direct wire style and don't use a ballast. The bulbs are 18w 1800 lumens each and 5000k. Bright to say the least. I had them put 20 amp outlets every 4' and at chest height on alternating circuits. A 60 gallon air compressor will be mounted in the basement and switched on in the garage to help me save on floor space and noise. There is (2) 240v outlets for a welder/plasma cutter on opposite ends of the shop. I do a lot of metalwork and general fab so wanted to be set however I get everything setup without cords being everywhere.

 

[RAYJAY]

house looks great love the open areas

 

[Dr. Pepper]

The weather hasn't been the best here, but the outside is about finished up. This week they got the stone finished up, gutter and downspouts on, and the columns finished up. Pretty happy how all the colors worked together. Hope the inside choices turn out just as nice!







There will be shutters installed on the two windows in the stone walls. Should complete the outside front. There will still be steps and sidewalks poured, the driveway, and we need about 15 loads of fill to grade the lot the way it should be done. The power company still need to run the wire, but the trench and conduit have been ran for about two weeks now. They need to hurry up so we can get the yard and the neighbors yard put back together before it gets ****** out.




The electrical got wrapped up, panel box installed, insulation in, seams caulked, and drywall started. The garage is hung, hoping I have enough outlets. We should be able to paint in the next two weeks. Should have just let them do it!






Should be a lot happening in the next few weeks. Hoping things keep moving.

 

[RAYJAY]

one question why the oval air vent on the one side?

 

[Dr. Pepper]

It serves no purpose other than decoration.

 

[bleacht]

Looking good! Do you like to paint? You're brave. ..

 

[cat06]

Looks nice, though I almost think you should have then continue the stone on the front to the right side of where that oval is, but I can understand not since it more than likely will not be seen from the drive way

 

[dykstra]

Looking good!!

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Looking good! Do you like to paint? You're brave. ..

Not really, but it saved us $5,000 that we could put elsewhere. And I'm very particular about the way people paint, so I'd rather just do it myself...

Looks nice, though I almost think you should have then continue the stone on the front to the right side of where that oval is, but I can understand not since it more than likely will not be seen from the drive way

Thanks, we were thinking the same thing actually. We're going to price it out and see. The mason has to come back anyway to do interior stuff, so might have them knock that out as well.

Looking good!!

Thanks!

 

[bigpokie]

Not really, but it saved us $5,000 that we could put elsewhere.

Take it all for yourself and bring that raggedy pick up truck home from your aunts and finish it !! ( even though I know it would take more than 5k, I'd be a good start)

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Take it all for yourself and bring that raggedy pick up truck home from your aunts and finish it !! ( even though I know it would take more than 5k, I'd be a good start)

It's already spent on a washer/dryer, fridge, and adding all the extra electrical in the garage and around the house. I'll get to that thing one day... Maybe.