Brain Dump of Important Tidbits

After a couple of days of making calls and gearing up for my next tasks, I've accumulated the following pieces of information that I wanted to record here. They should prove useful to many readers. Remember, this info is specific to South Louisiana:

• Builder's risk insurance policy is available from State Farm. They're not including damage from wind or hail in new policies, so I'll need to get the dreaded (and ludicrously expensive) citizen's insurance


• The builder's risk policy won't cover any thefts until the house is able to be locked and materials are secured behind lock & key


• Nothing special is needed before I sign up for the policy, but I'll wait until I'm about to start construction so I don't waste money


• They "recommend" that I sign up right away to cover the full expected value of the home instead of slowly increasing it as the project progresses. This is because I might "forget" to increase it later. No thanks. I think I'll raise it incrementally as I go to save money.


• Get lien waivers signed by everyone who physically does work on the project and everyone who sells materials for use on the project (either purchased by you or a subcontractor). This includes any employee of any of your subs that works on your house.


• Open a separate checking account in order to carefully track house-related expenses. Have checks printed with lien waiver verbiage printed on the back near the endorsement area. Something along the lines of "Endorsement and/or deposit of this check is an acknowledgement of payment in full for all amounts due and signifies a waiver of any lien rights against the property."


• The vibration method for driving pilings is apparently against parish code for building a residence. If they know you used vibration instead of traditional pounding of the pilings, they're not supposed to approve it.


• Pump sand is the best thing to use when building up the ground under the slab. Not clay or soil as I had inquired about


• Write full specs out for each subcontractor. Don't depend on the plans to tell them everything they need to know.


• I bought books on wiring and plumbing from Taunton's For Pros by Pros series. I plan to review them so I can be knowledgeable about directing and inspecting the work of these subs.


• I got more contractor recommendations today from friends and family connected to the construction business.

Here are my next upcoming tasks:

• Get plans stamped by the engineer who works with my designer (2 copies)


• Go to the parish permits office and start the permit application process. The best time to go there is at 7:00 before they open and put your name on the list at the desk. Then wait for them to open and start seeing people.


• Contact Entergy about the new utility pole they said they would put in at the front of my property. This is the best way to get the power line from across the street and not hang down over my front yard.


• Mark out the boundaries of the house and garage and get enough sand dumped there to build up about 1 more foot.


• Get sand spread


• Get temporary electric pole setup. May include digging trench to go ahead and run electric to south side of house where meter will be.


• Get pilings driven


• Get plumber to rough in the stuff that goes under/in the slab


• Get slab formed and poured

Plans Complete!

This is one of those times when pieces just seem to come together at once. I picked up my final plans from the designer today. But leading up to that, some things just fell in line.

I had been waiting about a month since the last time I heard from him. Then he had another revision ready, and for the very first time I got to see things other than the basic floorplan: lighting plan, slab plan, piling plan, etc. He said that I should review and get back to him quickly so he could wrap my project up by Friday. If I was to go over a week, then he expected me to pay him at least half of what I still owed him. I See. So, it's okay for him to take weeks to do his part, but I need to give him a quick turnaround and wrap everything up because it's convenient for him?

For the floorplan, we went through about 5 revision cycles. Now, I'm certainly ready to move ahead on this, but I wasn't about to rush through everything else without thinking it through or at least understanding the notes and diagrams for the new parts of the plan. I turns out that it really wasn't a rush.

Well, one of my biggest questions centered around the elevation of the slab. There's a local regulation that your slab needs to be the higher of the base flood elevation or three feet above the crest of the street. The plans had been drawn up with a total slab height (slab + footings/chain wall) of 2 ft. I didn't understand if the designer made assumptions about the present elevation of the lot or what. How did he know I didn't need three feet to build high enough?

I asked him, and he said they made assumptions, but if it turned out I needed a taller slab they'd modify the plans. The survey would tell me if this would be enough. Thus the other piece that fell nicely in place: I had ordered the survey about 4-5 weeks prior, and I had been on the phone with them lately trying to get it done. On my way out the door to bring my last revisions to the designer, the survey company called. It was ready to be picked up. And it turns out that my lot is roughly one foot below the required slab height. That means the slab plan they came up with is fine. It'll be about a foot out of the ground, and the chain walls will be about a foot in the ground.

My other questions were answered by the designer and some research on the web. For example: 6x6 2.9/2.9 WWF is "wire welded fabric", or highway wire, the large chicken wire type stuff they put in concrete to reinforce it. So I got all my questions answered and revisions made, and today I picked up the final plans. I can still go back if I discover some final tweaks are needed by next week. Otherwise, I need to pay the designer the rest of what I owe him and take two copies to the engineer to have them stamped. Then I can go apply for the permit.

I'm going with the post-tension slab instead of traditional rebar reinforced concrete. It's a bit of a risk because none of my family knows much about this method. But I hear from friends and professionals that it's a solid concept and it's good to use in our area. I'm starting to see them used more and more around the area.

Finally, I also got a bid for my pilings. I need 54 of them, and the bid is cheaper than I expected. I braced myself for $10k-15k, but the bid is around $8,000 (~$165 per piling). I also know now that I need to put some more sand down where the house & garage will go. About another foot. So as soon as I can get over there to stake out roughly where the boundaries are, I'll schedule the delivery of the sand.

Use a Lawyer!

All the books I read strongly recommend having everything in writing with each of your subs. This starts with a written contract. Several books include a sample contract inside, or they have a website where you can download one. I read them and put together my own contract template by piecing together clauses that I thought were important.

But I don't want to leave myself open to anything, so I'm having a lawyer look over my contract. He's an older man who used to be a construction manager. He's been a criminal lawyer for years, and he's extremely thorough. In fact, he's the same person I used for the act of sale on the property I'm building on.

His first thoughts after reading my contract were to call me and make sure I know what I'm getting into. He went over items like making sure each sub has all the required insurance on himself and his employees, providing detailed written specs for ech tradesman, securing waivers of lien from every worker who touches the project and also their suppliers, keeping watch for contractor scams, etc. Once I told him I've been studying up on contracting & owner building for months, he felt better that I know what I'm taking on. Next, he's going to modify my contract so that I have maximum protection.

Having a solid cntract is a good starting point. But I know that it's still going to take a lot of diligence on my part to avoid legal dangers. I'm thankful that I've found someone as thorough as this lawyer to keep me on my toes!

Use Dirt if You Can

When I had the lot filled in after the chain wall was complete, I used sand (pumped river sand, to be exact). This was good for the bulk that I needed. But now that the grass and weeds are coming up again, the sand makes it harder to push a lawnmower through. It's like cutting grass on a beach.

I had tried to be slick about getting free mud-type dirt by calling local swimming pool companies. I thought that if they were digging out an in ground pool, they had to get rid of the dirt somewhere. I'd offer to let them come dump it without any kind of disposal fees. No such luck. So I went with all sand.

I know I'm going to have to get additional fill for the lot because the house will need to be build up a bit more and because there are low spots evident where the yard needs to be filled in. I'd like to get real dirt this time instead of sand.

Another Good Resource

I found another good book that helps you learn not only helps you talk knowledgeably with your subs about the construction process but also helps you with the project management process. I've read several books to get ready for this project, and this is only the second one that stands out for me: The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home

I'm only about a third of the way through it so far, but I like the way it's organized. There are three main sections: concepts (legal, financial, estimating, house planning, etc.), step-by-step project management, and an appendix with many checklists and worksheets.

The book is as much a workbook as it is an information source. I recommend it for anyone building for the first time.

Consumer Reports

I signed up for a year's subscription to ConsumerReports.org. They often compare and review lots of products and materials I'll be purchasing in the next few months. So I think the $26 is very worth it.

This lets me log into their website to search for things they've covered anytime in the past. I already got good information on different kinds of flooring. I had seen cork flooring touted as a great alternative to wood. I had considered it for maybe the bathroom, but CR didn't give it high marks. It stains easily, and it fades over time with exposure to sunlight.

In the same article, they reviewed different types of hardwood flooring and vinyl that's mad to look like wood. I also broswed through buying guides and reviews for household appliances and a lot more. Hopefully, I can avoid some pitfalls and purchase wisely with this information.

Selecting a Surveyor

So I'm still waiting on the final plans, but that works out okay because there's another thing I'm waiting on before I can apply for the building permit. And that's the survey.

I have a copy of a survey from 2004 when previous owners of the property had it subdivided into two lots. It shows the four corners that were marked with rods in the ground, along with length and angle measurements. It also shows the location of the old raggedy chain link fence that I had torn down when the trees were removed.

What I need now is a surveyor to give me what's called a "builder's package". This is a series of visits to the site that includes:

1. First trip - the survey and staking of the four property corners and the "construct benchmark" (Okay, I don't know what a construct benchmark means). I assume this is what I bring with me to get the permit.
2. Second trip - the forms or piers location and elevation
3. Third trip - slab location and elevation
4. Fourth trip - final fema and final improvement location which would be the sidewalks and driveway

As an aside, I also found out today that I get my street address number assigned when I apply for the permit.

So on with the surveyor selection news! I started with the same company that did the original survey. After all, their name is stamped right on the page! And I figured that because they already did the work before, it would make it easier for them to lookup details of the property in the parish records. This company said they would do it for $1,150 and that they're backed up for 4-6 weeks with work right now.

Then I tried my usual method of googling for local providors. I called about a dozen of them. Some handle only marine work (when I said I needed a survey of some property, one guy aksed, "Does it float?"). Some are so busy, they aren't accepting any new work right now. About three or four asked me to fax them the legal description of the property. That's the legalese wording on the act of sale that begins with "A certain piece or portion of ground..." Some of these companies gave the impressions of being larger companies, and others appeared to be small operations where the guy answering the phone is also the one doing the work. Everyone except the the company on the original survey quoted a price of $1,200, and they predicted timeframes anywhere from one to six weeks.

I faxed the information to all these companies. One called me back to ask for more details about where the lot is located. They wanted the street address & such. I had thought the legal description was how the property was described in public records. I have yet to get a response back from this company. Another guy e-mailed me to say that that he couldn't find the info he needed on the property either. I gave him the same details I had given the other company.

Over the next couple of days, I heard from no one. So I decided to sign up with the original surveyor. They'd been around for a while, and apparently they were able to locate the information on the lot that they needed once before. Once I paid by credit card, I e-mailed scans of the legal description and also the original survey. So I expect their first visit between August 13 and 27.

The guy who had e-mailed me earlier did reply again today saying he had found more information and that he would visit the lot to determine if he could do the job. He would charge $1,300. I wrote back to thank him and let him know I've gone with someone else.

Post-Tensioned Slab or Rebar?

My architect asked me if I wanted to do post-tensioning on the slab or use traditional rebar. When using rebar, they lay a grid of iron rods (the rebar) on the ground where the slab will be poured. When the pour is done, the rods wind up suspended in the concrete to make it stronger (or at least resistent to cracking. If it does crack over time, the rebar acts to keep the concrete from separating too much. So rebar can't prevent cracks, but it does minimize them and help keep them from getting worse.

Post-tensioning embeds a grid of steel cables across the slab with extra cable sticking out around the borders. The cables are encased in plastic sleeves to keep them from rusting out over time. A short time after the concrete is poured, a hydraulic jack is used to pull the cables tight all around. Then the extra lengths are snipped off. This post-tensioning is done before the concrete sets fully. The idea is that you're putting pressure on the slab while it finishes setting. Concrete under pressure is stronger than it would be otherwise. So post-tensioning should do more to prevent cracking in the first place.

This method is newer than using rebar, at least in residential construction. Another benefit of post-tensioning is that it supposedly lets you use a thinner slab than you would with rebar. This would help you save money.

The architect also described it this way: With rebar, they have to come out and get all the rods in place in and around the trenches that need to be dug for footings, etc. If it rains before you pour, they need to come out and clear out all the sand that washed into the trenches. The rebar makes it difficult to do, so you lose time. He said this concern is reduced when using post-tensioning. I'm not sure why the having rebar there would be different than having cables there if the rain should occur. I'll have to ask him or a slab company more about it.

So post-tensioning hasn't been used as long as rebar. Hmm... Like all new building methods, I wonder how experienced local contractors are with it. Would I be able to find someone who knew what they were doing? I've only seen two houses being built around here that used this method. And is it really proven? Once a house is in place for a number of years with a post-tension slab, is it really all that it's supposed to be?

Choosing an Architect

I'm playing a bit of catch-up with this post since I chose someone to draw up my plans a couple of months ago, but I've had someone mention that they're interested in reading about this kind of thing. But first, a word about architects and designers. An architect is more expensive and generally has more training and/or experience. An architect can also stamp his or her own drawings as structurally sound. A designer is usually cheaper. They can create the drawings, but they can't certify them with a stamp. In this case, an engineer or an architect needs to study the drawings and stamp them.

I wound up going with a designer. There was a highly scientific and complex process I used to find him: First, I went online and searched for architects near my city. Then I started calling them! :) Yeah, that's it. The list consisted of both architects and designers. Several of the ones I called only handled commercial projects. Others were too busy to take on more work.

I narrowed it down to three. One was an old guy who's retired from full time work but still does residential projects on the side. He sounded like he'd been around the block a few times dealing with the parish inspectors, and he was very experienced. Another candidate drew the plans for the house going up across the street from my parents. I got his name from their plans. He sounded young on the phone, and I didn't know how experienced he was. The third was a guy I happened to call from my list. I spoke with him on the phone and just had a good comfort level with him. He had a website showing samples of other drawings he had done. And he was cheaper than the other two. This is the person I eventually went with.

It's been a good experience. He's easy going, but he offers lots of good suggestions and things to consider about things that I said I wanted. I do wish he had been a little quicker in getting things to me, but slowing down the process has given me more time to mull over every aspect of the design and helps ensure I will end up with a better home. We started the process in May. It's now mid-July, and I don't have the final plans yet. A good chunk of that time has been due to me. When I've gotten a revision of the plans from him, I've spent some time really studying it and thinking about details I want to change. Each time he gives me a new version, he says that he hopes to have me finished up in the next week or so. I think we are winding down, though. There are only 2-3 things I had questions on or wanted to change on these last plans. Then he'll do the basic lighting plan that the parish expects to see and send everything to the engineer for stamping after I approve it all one last time.

I'm anxious to get started with actual building!

Rethinking the Rear Yard Access

With such a narrow lot, my driveway to the back yard has had to fight with the width of the house and the local building codes to hold it's own. Code requires the house to be 5 ft off the propertly line, and the floorplan I came up with uses 35 ft of width. That's left me with a 10 ft driveway.



But that 10 ft isn't really a full 10 ft of useable space. The chain wall takes up 8 inches of it, and by the time I install posts on both sides for a gate, I wind up with around 8-1/2 ft. This measurement is pretty small compared to other driveways I've seen. This might be okay if the garage door would be straight back from the driveway, but it's not. To get in and out of the garage, you'll need to make a quick S-turn once you get to the backyard (see shaded path on the graphic).



So my mom & I went to the lot this week to measure out this part of the yard and do a test. We measured out where the garage would be and marked it with stakes. Then we measured where the back corner of the house and the width of the driveway would be. I test-drove it with my small Toyota RAV4. We didn't have perfect test conditions because the lot is still all sand, and I can't drive too close to the chain wall. (The sand is too soft & I started to get stuck!) That, and it's hard to see the corners you have to avoid from inside the car. You'd really need full-height walls (or taller stakes) to show you where the borders are.



Getting in was no problem. I'd hate to have to do that all the time with a huge vehicle, but it would probably still work. When trying to back out, I thought I might be able to do a 3-point turn and come out forward instead of backing out, but it's too tight. I didn't actually do a test back out because of the difficulty in seeing the boundaries and the danger of getting stuck in the sand.



But the test showed me that I needed to make some adjustments. I'm shortening the depth of the garage by 18 inches and widening it by 2 ft. I'm also shaving 6 inches off the width of the house and adding it to the driveway. These aren't major changes (I don't have room to make major ones), but I think I'll be happy that I made these minor ones!