Finally found some land.

[Big CADDY]

dumpster #2 showed up today. Trackhoe is coming tomorrow I was told.

[Big CADDY]

It's level..

[fsdks]

It's level..

[Big CADDY]

He said 1.5 hours to unload the trackhoe and flatten the house. HA. it looks like fun

[benjaminobscene]

How do you go about cleaning up the mess? Is there another Tonka truck for that? I'd hate to have to carry it piece by piece to the dumpster..

[Egilbe]

Track hoe? We still call those excavators. The claw is pretty handy for picking up debris and putting it in dump trucks

[Big CADDY]

They called it a trackhoe. I call it a somnabitch

It's all dirt now. Amazing

[thegoodson]

Have any of your neighbors come over to thank you yet?

[VW...vw...wv...WV]

this is amazing!
congrats on the lot!

[Big CADDY]

Thanks. The neighbors were over when my wife was there. They are clueless. they were asking if we were gonna plant grass there. Weeds for now.

The excavator will be gone tomorrow along with the dumpsters. I'll probably get all the leftover wood and pile it up to secretly burn somewhere else.

I'll be updating every step of this home build on this post. Might be some slow times but I'll always have tons of pics.

I'm trying to get the vids from my iphone to you tube.

[VW...vw...wv...WV]

I am an architect and i always enjoy seeing different constructive methods...i mean, we always build with cinder blocks and concrete, and that house had some mix! From log cabin to drywall...i find plenty of amusement in seeing those pics, please keep them coming!
On a side note, can i send u a pm? I would like to ask you some q....

[1stRabbit]

I know you're at the point where you're destroying things to make room for new stuff on your land, but I wanted to ask you how you ended up finding this land? I'm looking for some in my area and have just been hitting some websites and searching. Am I better off going to a real estate broker or something? I see some things online that look attractive but I think an actual agent could be useful to me because i've never bought lands and don't know 100% what to look for.

Ideally i'd like 3-7 acres, initially build a garage and then down the road add a house. What did you end up doing?

[Visheau]

subscribed, very interested to follow the progress

[Big CADDY]

This land was listed on a couple real estate sites. I was always searching for something in our township which made it difficult because there wasn't much to offer that had more than .03 acres. Lame.

Zillow is a great site. It has great search filters. They make an app for Iphone which works well.

There will probably be a slow spot now unless you want me to take pics of weeds growing and groundhogs moving about.

VW...vw...wv...WV feel free to PM.

[spockcat]

This land was listed on a couple real estate sites.

Was it listed as land or was it listed as a house on a lot? You often overlook a piece of property like this if you are looking only for land.

[Big CADDY]

When I searched I filtered Land and single family homes. It shows both then. Zillow gives updates as soon as something comes on the market.

[Big CADDY]

Filled three dumpsters

Can 1 weighed 7.6 tons
Can 2 weighed 7.11 tons
not yet weighed.

about $450 a piece


So, approxamate total to remove the home completely.

Home Demo - $1,500.00
Waste removal - $$1350.00

Aluminum return + $350.00

Total $2,500.00

not bad.

[Big CADDY]

My old boss suggested using the guy that has been building an addition on his home. He has been very happy with him as a person as well as his work.

I called him just a while ago and he was super cool. He is fine with me bringing in my own subs if I had better pricing with them and even helping out.

We want to set up a time to meet with him and go over a few things. He is capable of modifing the plans that we choose.

The wife and I have found a plan that we really like. We enjoy the creativeness of the plan. We have been stuck in a ranch home for years and you are pretty much stuck using ranch style everything. THis shold be fun.


Here is a image from the computer. We would need to bump out a couple rooms a couple feet but the builder can do all that in autocad.

[Seitan]

that is a great looking house.

[Oliver@triplezoom]

Ha, that house always shows as the most popular one on houseplans.com: http://www.houseplans.com/2091-squar...2-garage-33831

[Egilbe]

My old boss suggested using the guy that has been building an addition on his home. He has been very happy with him as a person as well as his work.

I called him just a while ago and he was super cool. He is fine with me bringing in my own subs if I had better pricing with them and even helping out.

We want to set up a time to meet with him and go over a few things. He is capable of modifing the plans that we choose.

The wife and I have found a plan that we really like. We enjoy the creativeness of the plan. We have been stuck in a ranch home for years and you are pretty much stuck using ranch style everything. THis shold be fun.


Here is a image from the computer. We would need to bump out a couple rooms a couple feet but the builder can do all that in autocad.

Jeezes that's a hell of a roof line. It's gonna be a jigsaw puzzle trying to figure what truss goes where

[Big CADDY]

Those are some nice homes but we were looking for something single floor.

I'm anxious to toss this plan into Autocad and start streching.

[Oliver@triplezoom]

Look at getting a Connor Home built. Expensive, but quality.

http://www.connorbuilding.com/

I just discovered those the other day. Pretty awesome stuff.

[vdubjettaman]

Ha, that house always shows as the most popular one on houseplans.com: http://www.houseplans.com/2091-squar...2-garage-33831

There's a reason for that. It's a nice house with good use of space i think.

Are you planning on excavating for the finished basement? The land looks pretty flat from the pics.

[Big CADDY]

They have a very similar home on the same site. It's 2800 sqft instead of 2100 and I like the floor plan better.

Here is an image. I'm not crazy about the angled stonework or the angled support posts. Probably go with a shingled roof as well. And it has an extra garage. we plan to build a two car detached with a shop area.

There is a slight slop to the land which will be nice for landscaping. We plan to meet with the builder next week.

[spockcat]

They have a very similar home on the same site. It's 2800 sqft instead of 2100 and I like the floor plan better.

Here is an image. I'm not crazy about the angled stonework or the angled support posts. Probably go with a shingled roof as well. And it has an extra garage. we plan to build a two car detached with a shop area.

There is a slight slop to the land which will be nice for landscaping. We plan to meet with the builder next week.

The thing that is not so good about this plan as well as the previous one you posted is how close the master bedroom is to the kitchen. As well as how far the other bedrooms are from the master. I see the possibility of someone working in the kitchen waking someone in the master bedroom. Say the wife or husband who had to leave for work much earlier. Or perhaps if there are grown kids in the house the kids late at night.

The split bedroom plan is good for grown kids. But if you have a young family, then having the kids real far from the master can be an issue if the kids wake up at night. And having the kids bedrooms close to the room the parents might use for watching TV late at night might also be an issue if the kids are trying to sleep.

I guess it depends on how you see your family using the house and what your sleep/work patterns are like.

[Big CADDY]

We have two kids now and they are 5 and 9. I hate to be so far from them with this plan but I think as the years pass I'll be happy the rooms are a house apart. Agreed about the Nook next to the Master with noise.. I'll check over the plan for other options.

I live in a super boring ranch home now and hate the fact that everything needs to be styled around a ranch home.

Crob, the plan you show is nice but my wife is very against rooms protruding out past the front door. I also liked what you modified in the plan. A hearth/fireplace in the kitchen is pretty cool, especially if it's real wood

[vdubjettaman]

holy crap who needs 3 living/family rooms nowadays?? that's a lot of extra space that isn't used imo.

[WRXGuy]

There's a door of the MBath to another room... Panic Room? Adult Fun Room?

[Oliver@triplezoom]

Hey Crob, what software are you using to draw up those plans?

[Big CADDY]

Our builder is having the plans for the septic drawn up to be sent to our township SEO.

I'm meeting an engineer for MetEd (electric) on site Thursday.

In 1938 they put a pole on the edge of our property and from there they ran the lines underground out the road to feed the homes. Also from this pole is a line that goes across the center of our lot to a pole on the land next to ours. I'm trying to have that wire moved so that we can build under the existing wire.

There are no easments on our property. Any advice to have this done so it doesn't come out of my pocket?

The picture below is a google image of the lot.
The red arrows are the poles
The blue is existing wiring for the road now
The red dots are the line I want to move from pole to pole
The black is outline of our lot

The northern pole is not on my property and is in a farmers filed. If they could run that wire over to the blue I'd be fine. than no poles would need to be moved.

The second image shows what I would like done.
The aqua color is the new wire routing to the east.

[Tornado2dr]

There are no easments on our property. Any advice to have this done so it doesn't come out of my pocket?

Kinda depends on what you are basing your "no easements" stance on.

In my opinion, you will need to come out of pocket a bit(should be under 1000) for, at the very least, a survey - and not the one that was done when you bought the property (recent, yes?). Find a qualified land surveyor that will do a serious title search on your property, specifically to uncover ANY easements that may exist - even if they are not shown on the most recent survey (from your purchase), they may be there. You need this information before you talk to the power company.

If, in fact, there are NO easements - call the power company. Do not talk to the regular customer service people. Get to the construction division, to someone who deals specifically relocations and new development. Set up a meeting, show them your issue, and tell them that you would appreciate the lines being moved off of your property. See where it goes. Don't be scared off by terms like "adverse possession" or squatters rights (though you may wish to educate yourself on your state's handling of those statutes), because by merely bringing the matter to light you will likely re-set the time period required for such statutes to be invoked.

In all likelyhood - you'll need to be a squeaky wheel to get anything done. Really, though - spring for the survey out of pocket at first. You may be able to negotiate reimbursement if you are in the right (after-all - if there isn't any easement...you should be entitled to rent, right?)

[Big CADDY]

Thanks, great info.

I did go to the courthouse today and found two easements.. grrr.

I guess back in 1938ish metropolitan Edison coughed up $1.00 to put a pole on the property and run the line across.

Feeling I'm screwed. But, I think they can do this without moving any poles... They just need to move the line from the south pole side to the eastern lines that run along the road. I don't know how it all works.

My meeting is tomorrow with MetEd on site. A lady is meeting me there from MetEd.

[Tornado2dr]

Yeah, you may be up poop's creek.
Suggestion:

Right now, every power co in the country Tries their hardest to get lines underground, and most NEW development is required to be underground.

They will likel want a large chunk of change to move poles and wires. If this is the case, ask about the possibility of placing conduit for them around the backside of your lot or the frontside by the road. The power co may actually GIVE you the conduit to do this. Pulling cable is far cheaper for them thn sending a line crew to move poles, add wire, etc.

Pm for more info if you like.

[Big CADDY]

Thanks for the info.

I just saw your post. I just got back from the meeting with the engineer from MetEd.


the power lines that feed all the homes and farm north of the lot run across my lot. Cable and phone run along the street. Sh said it would be a real PITA to run it along the street because of cutting down tons of trees that arent on my property.

She proposed putting in two poles and running the line diagonally across my lot which seem as if it would work.

It still sucks to have the costs to do this and I'm really affraid to see the sticker price.

Red is new line, aqua is existing, yellow is poles and Guy wires.