OT-Gentlemen, ladies, too- I Would Like to Update You All...

[Hagler]

...on the progress of my new house. Well, it is still just an overgrown lot, but we are changing that. Here are some photos and videos of yesterday's culvert installation:

Carla watching our contractor drive his BobCat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BECGi6dpUTM

13 pictures, and one video of the event:

http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k185/ ... anquility/

We have money in the bank, but will need more money and/ or materails to finish the job, depending on the tac we take: modular house, with a grant & small loan; Habitat for Humanity, which may not be for us; build with church volunteers; co-build with some relatives, depending on zoning & other factors. We are pushing for all of these routes, but will have to choose a path, soon.

Reliabillity of the various contractors is a serious problem. Jonathan Stewart was the only culvert installer that consistantly followed through, out of a total of 4 that we contacted. He is, by far, one of the nicest, most sociable, and dilligent contractors that I have done business with.

St Tammany parish is continually changing regulations, in order to "help" its residents, but the result is lots of red tape, and no set answers to some questions. My lot is on a street that is the division between two wards. Common sense says I am on the West side of this boundary, but parish zoning workers need my "911 address" to be certain. The parish's 911 address/ elevation office won't drive out to my lot, until I actually start building on it. ...and what's with 911 sharing duties with elevation? Parish office monikers and responsibilities make no sense to me.

I hope to be able set up a decent workshop, too. Once we get settled in, I will have more space to devote to leatherwork, and gun tinkering. I still work with leather, but this FEMA trailer is not getting any larger. Carla can't wait to have rolling room.

Thanks for listening and reading.

Shawn

[TedH]

How exciting! Good luck.

[KirkD]

Glad to see things are starting to roll ..... and you got lots of trees on your lot too!

[Griff]

Congrats, that's looking like a good start.

[RSY]

That's outstanding, Shawn!

I've been out of town for a few days and just caught the thread. Glad to see progress is being made and your departure from Gause is growing closer. Sorry I'm not still there to help out.

All the best to the Hagler crew.

scott

[Tycer]

Excellent! Maybe Jonathan can recommend good folks.

[Lastmohecken]

Well, it sounds like you are doing a lot of the work yourself, or might be going to. As far as I am concerned the more you can do yourself, the better. I build my own house, and it was the smartest thing I ever did.

I was lucky in that I built on my farm in the country and had no rules or zoning regulations to follow. I still built to code as much as possible and sometimes probably better then code required, but I was lucky, in the fact that I didn't have to get permission from anyone on anything I did.

I purchased an old trailorhouse and lived in it, right beside the house I was building, so I had no payments, and managed to build pretty much out of pocket. It took me two years to finish it, but it was darned well worth it, not to have morgage.

One peice of advice, if you attempt anything like what I did, do not move in until you get the house finished, its just too hard to finish one while you're living in it. I learned that, when I was a kid, growing up, and my dad did that, so I vowed never to make the same mistake, and stuck it out in the trailor until I had finished it.

Good luck, however you go.

[bsaride]

Reliabillity of the various contractors is a serious problem. Jonathan Stewart was the only culvert installer that consistantly followed through, out of a total of 4 that we contacted. He is, by far, one of the nicest, most sociable, and dilligent contractors that I have done business with.

Congrats,

I would ask for input from Mr. Stewart on the direction you should take.
One good contractor is worth his weight in gold in this kind
of situation. Any how, I hope all goes well and prayers in making the
decision and for the build also.

[Hagler]

Thanks, guys.

I plan on getting over to my lot tomorrow. I will try to scare up some help, but I can do something, if'n I can bring along a chainsaw, a machette, or even some old-fashioned, manual hedge shears. We have a bunch of trees, but they are scattered throughout the property. Right now, cutting down vines, and chopping up weeds will go a long way to improve access to entire lot.

My church has access to some equipment, like a tractor or a Bobcat. We can use them to clear out the bigger stuff. We just need some qualified operators. We may a couple of those in our congregation.

Since I plan on using cargo ccontainers for my workshop, and they will have to be ushered onto the lot before it gets too crowded, I may just buy a couple to use for on-site storage. Then, when the house is finished, I will convert them to a workshop and tool storage. A couple of those 20 foot intermodal boxes are probably cheaper than what Home Depot, or anyone else, installs, and they are already water-tight, and fairly secure, too.

We have a friend helping us to locate a good, affordable architect. I have to go over to the local Board of Health office, to find out my septic tank requirements. I may need a set of house blueprints, first, but I have not been told this. The septic tank installers require the homeowner to get these requirements. However, the well drillers take care of their respective permits & requirements paperwork.

**************

Scott,

Thanks for sentiment.

I know you would help, if you were closer.

Shawn