Managed to get a pretty good map of the slope done for the top 50' and estimated the rest.  Drew it up in Google Sketchup and rendered it into 3D.  The trees on the upper 1/4 are accurately placed.  The others are just thrown in there guesswork.



In the picture, you can see a distorted 2D Flat image at the bottom where I made the initial sketch.  The 3D image is "extruded" from that image to show accurate height.  The lake level and property line are at about 352' elevation.  The upper left is at 410' elevation (rise of about 58' over 220' distance) and the upper right is at 403' elevation (rise of about 51' over 198').

The two gray distorted rectangles at upper left and upper right are potential spots for 20x30 and 12x18 cabins.  The upper right spot (where you see the blue person) has ZERO trees and drops about 1' in the first 40', so no clearing at all.  The upper left area has small trees that would have to be cleared, but misses all the larger oaks in that area.  My goal is to not have to cut anything bigger than 4-6" diameter.

Here's a "view from above".  Note that the contour lines are marking off one foot drop per line for the upper slope, and 10' per contour on the lower part of the slope.  I spent most of my time marking out the steep part to get a feel for what I had to work with.

Also, the line you see running inside the lot boundary is a "no build" line.  We can't build structures or septic closer than 10' from our property line (though we can use that area for road/driveway.  Since the lot is about 120' wide, that leaves about 100' across for structure.



If you are wondering how I made that map, I did it the Arkansas Engineering way.  I made a homemade guide showing angle horizontally, pegged it to the corner marker and tied masons string to it.  I hung a line level on it and started marking off level on surrounding trees, noting the angle from the property line to each tree.  Then I measured off the distance from corner to mark and distance from the mark to the base of the tree.  This gave me about 20 points where I had known drop in elevation and known location of big trees.



Of course, renting a transit or buying a laser level would have worked too...but this was quick and dirty and kinda fun.  I was not looking for a nitnoid result, just a better elevation map than I had already and the location of the bigger trees.

   You are spending a lot of time on the lots elevation.

   Consider using Johns construction methods but using the elevation to an advantage . . .

   What about a split level?

/.

   Or, a Tri-Level . . .    Obviously not to scale!   


/.

Ooooo. Those are good ideas!  I hadn't considered split level...

Quote from: HoustonDave on January 04, 2011, 04:59:56 PM
Ooooo. Those are good ideas!  I hadn't considered split level...

Yes appealing now but WHAT IF at a later date something would happend requiring that yourself or someone in your family ( God forbid) be confined to a wheel chair or walker either short or long term.  Not to mention the natural aging process in which climbing even a short step could be a problem.  Myself I like a one story with an easy entry or one that can be easily adapted later to accomidate lifes little obsticles.   At least this thought has already materialized with an aging father and a ramp into my house and at the cabin.  That is at least one less worry that I will not be strapped with.

Quote from: Redoverfarm on January 04, 2011, 05:24:11 PM

Quote from: HoustonDave on January 04, 2011, 04:59:56 PM
Ooooo. Those are good ideas!  I hadn't considered split level...

Yes appealing now but WHAT IF at a later date something would happend requiring that yourself or someone in your family ( God forbid) be confined to a wheel chair or walker either short or long term.  Not to mention the natural aging process in which climbing even a short step could be a problem.  Myself I like a one story with an easy entry or one that can be easily adapted later to accomidate lifes little obsticles.   At least this thought has already materialized with an aging father and a ramp into my house and at the cabin.  That is at least one less worry that I will not be strapped with.

   I agree with you Redoverfarm. . .   But he is still young and strong!   

  Earlier in this thread-post he was willing to walk 150 feet up and downhill if he built at the lakes level . . .

/.

Lol

BTW, the property two lots over is for sale.  It's actually 3 lots together with a house, small cabin, 2 car garage, boathouse, and dock.  If you've got $300k plus handy it's YOURS!    (don't look at me!  cough cough cough.....)

   My head is starting to spin. . .     Contours, elevations, altitudes, etc . . .

   You are well documenting your lot-build.   Lets get started!   

/.   

LOL.  Thanks!  Right now, until I get through all the paperwork, I can't start building.  So it's plan plan and overplan!

Next step, get all the paperwork finished.
Then get septic evaluation done (this will have an impact on where exactly I can and can't build) and get electric and water meters put in.
Then put in a temporary panel.
THEN I can put shovel to dirt.   

Hey HoustonDave -

Thanks for walking us thru your process. i'm new to the site and in the concept/dreaming phase... so i'm really looking forward to following this thread!

duncan

Quote from: HoustonDave on December 29, 2010, 11:11:19 PM

Pretty dogwood Dave.  Since your lakefront I thought I would add something I heard as a kid and have found it to be true.  Every year crappie spawn in the spring and move from the lake proper into the channels where creeks flow into the lakes.  They stack up in areas where the depth changes.   Specifically they hang in whats called the thermocline where the water temp changes with the depth like the mouths of creeks as they flow into the lake where the creek has 10' depth not far from 3' depth.  As for the perfect time to catch them - it's exactly the same week the dogwoods go into bloom.  It varies year to year, but the relationship is solid. 

Anyway, I really like the look of your place, looking forward to seeing the progress. 

Here is a design that looks really nice. Thought I'd post the pic for you.

Thanks IP. That's real purdy.

Just an update.  Went and got greedy and decided to buy two lots instead of just the one.  That means we have no money this year to actually start the cabin.  Reading the forum, that's a common dilemma!   

That also means we need a couple more months to save up and cover the upfront costs.

The sellers, being the excellent folks that they are, decided they'd rather have us as neighbors than sell quickly, so they have taken both properties off the market until we can finalize the purchase this summer. 

So now instead of 0.6 acres, we are going to have closer to 1.5 acres with about 240 feet of lakefront on one end and 240 feet of road frontage on the other.  The other neighbors around the lake have welcomed us with open arms and already offered to loan us kayaks and such for the kids to use when we come visit.  Looks like its tents and campfires this summer!

  Dave.

More land now and the cabin later is usually easier than cabin now and more land later.

Howdy all!  It's been about 5 months since my last post.  Just wanted to do a quick update.

We finally were able to close on the property last week (long story).  So we are now the proud owners of about 1.5 acres with about 240' of lakefront.  We plan on starting with a storage shed sometime this month, probably about 8x12, in one corner.  Right now, I am mapping out the rest of the property including trees I want to save, slopes, etc.

We are in the middle of a drought in East Texas right now, so the lake levels are down about 2 feet and the shallow water is bathtub warm.  Took the family up there last weekend and had a nice swim but I bet the fishing is lousy at the moment.

Update, photo, and map overlay.

Set up to have temporary power pole put in, probably later this week.  Also arranged for water hookup.  I don't know if I'll get the utility company to install the meter and power it up before the weekend, but it sure would be nice!  Finally feel like I'm putting some roots in!

Went down last Sunday and marked the boundaries, setbacks, and marked out a grid.  Since this is a pretty small lot (1.6 acres including some lake bottom), I am physically able to map out the whole thing.  And I want to plan carefully to cut minimum trees and don't want to have to do much landscaping.  I'm going to try to keep it as natural as possible and work with the lay of the land when locating buildings.

Here is a stitched together view of a portion of the lot.



And here is me playing around with matching the lot boundaries with a satellite photo.  I managed to identify enough landmarks on the ground to accurately place the corner markers, which was nice.  The colored rectangles and such are just me playing around with potential cabin sizes and locations.



Next trip, will probably finish mapping out the landscape and tuning up where I'll be putting stuff.  Should start Phase 1 building the shed in August, after which the REAL fun begins!

Quote from: HoustonDave on July 05, 2011, 11:03:15 AM
Howdy all!  It's been about 5 months since my last post.  Just wanted to do a quick update.

We finally were able to close on the property last week (long story).  So we are now the proud owners of about 1.5 acres with about 240' of lakefront.  We plan on starting with a storage shed sometime this month, probably about 8x12, in one corner.  Right now, I am mapping out the rest of the property including trees I want to save, slopes, etc.

We are in the middle of a drought in East Texas right now, so the lake levels are down about 2 feet and the shallow water is bathtub warm.  Took the family up there last weekend and had a nice swim but I bet the fishing is lousy at the moment.

That looks refreshing!  How nice to have lake front property    Lots of nice trees.   

Dave, since you are in Texas, I imagine one of your big energy users in the summer is cooling.  Since you've got the two lots and have more space to play with, you might want to consider widening your east and west porches again for the shade they'll provide to keep the house from overheating.  If it was my place, I'd make the west porch, especially, extra wide.  If it was screened, it could also serve as a sleeping porch for those hot nights (and to give the youngsters a sense of adventure!).

Kathleen

QuoteDave, since you are in Texas, I imagine one of your big energy users in the summer is cooling.  Since you've got the two lots and have more space to play with, you might want to consider widening your east and west porches again for the shade they'll provide to keep the house from overheating.  If it was my place, I'd make the west porch, especially, extra wide.  If it was screened, it could also serve as a sleeping porch for those hot nights (and to give the youngsters a sense of adventure!).

Thank you, that's a great idea.

Took the family and some friends to the. Lake today. While the wives and kids splashed and swam, my buddy Chris, his son, and I traipsed around the property and finished mapping out the trees and terrain. Also very glad to see the temporary meter pole was in and the utility company had even managed to get it hooked up and meter installed.  And to my pleasant surprise the water meter was installed and the old water line already onsite was actually working!  So we have electricity and drinking water available onsite.

After I get pics transferred I'll post them.

Next step is getting the elevations nailed down a little better and choosing the spot for the shed so I can break ground.

Here's some pics.

The temporary meter pole is in and power is on!


And so is the water!


We made good use of that electricity.  The heat index was over 104F today with 50% humidity.  We took it really slow working around the property, stayed in the shade, and took lots of breaks in front of that fan.


We finished mapping all the trees and large rocks, and the general lay of the land.


There's a nice big pine I want to make sure I don't disturb, over 2' in diameter.


And some nice moss rock to use.

Finished putting all the information in.  Next weekend I'll finish confirming elevation for the property and stake out the location for the shed.

First picture here shows locations of trees (green circles/dots), rocks (red chunks), logs (brown, some used for erosion control), access road (shaded), and probable structure locations.  The dashed lines are ridges or spots where the land drops away.  The dot-dash-dot-dash shows gullies.  The solid red lines are the lot boundaries.

Note that the property only drains itself.  No water to the left or right drains onto it, and any water from up the hill drains off to the right along the other side of the road to a gully on our neighbor's land.




The below picture shows the same area, with some estimated contour lines shown (each line is 5' drop).  As you can see, there is about a 45-50' drop from the upper left corner of the property down to the water and about a 25-30' drop from the upper right corner to the water.



We plan on putting most of the structures at the upper levels of the lot closer to the road, based on feedback from folks here and a lot of discussion.  This will make construction easier as the ground there is more level.  Also when we get older and creakier we can get to the cabins easier.  If it come to that, we can get something with a motor down that access drive to the water.

Due to Tropical Storm Don we probably won't be heading up to the property this weekend to break ground.  So I spent some more time playing around with Google Sketchup and building placement.

I posted a mockup of cabin placement.  This took the contour lines and made 'em 3D.  I added some of the trees in (in actual locations) and some placeholders for the buildings (generally right size but design may change).

This is what the view from the water would be.  There are more small trees than shown, but the view is about right.  There is not much foliage the first 20' of most of the trees.



And this would be the view from the road looking down.