Nuts or Not

[MTY]

I purchased a piece of property last year.  It has an abandoned house on it along with a barn and shed.  The house was built in 1953.  It is in a high tax county, and to give you an idea of the condition of the place, the total valuation of improvements was $2500. 

I tore the barn down last weekend.  The shed will be next.  I have a mini ex, and it is as handy for demo as it is for digging. 

At one time there was a house and mobile on the property.  The mobile is now gone.  There is a spring that fed both the house and mobile.  It ran all last year, and did not slow down during the dry season.  There is a concrete cistern of approximately 2500 gallons, but it is spalling badly.  I am going to slip a poly tank inside and use the water for gardening and critters. 

I drilled a well and it pumped at 30 gpm for 90 minutes and did not run dry.  This will be the home water.  Around here one cannot get financing without a well.  Springs do not count.  I did not want to invest heavily into the property without having it financiable for prospective future purchasers. 

The house is single story 24x36.  It has good bones, but needs to be gutted completely.  The roof is solid and does not leak.  The foundation is beyond repair.  Even with the settling foundation, the ridgeline is straight, the floor only sags in one location, and there are no squeaks in the floor.  The foundation was poured as a 6" wall with no footing. 

I am having the house lifted and a full basement with 9' walls installed.  It should be completed late May.  It will be poured not block.  Since the house was free, I will have about 25K into it when the basement is poured and the house sitting on it.  At that point it becomes a one man project. 

Other than I detest plumbing, I have the tools and ability to do this.  I can wire, hang rock, mud, tape, texture, roof, frame, and if I have to I can plumb. 

The house has sat empty for 10 years.  I had the power company pull the power at the transformer,  and I placed a meter base panel combo for temporary service in the yard.  The company heated it up last week. 

Everyone tells me I am nuts to do this, and that I should have a manufactured home drug in.  That would mean a mortgage, and I think I can pretty much cash flow this. 

The property is a little bit of heaven as far as I am concerned.  There a several orchards, an abundance of wildlife, a creek, and no neighbors for a mile or two in any direction.  I can see one house on a far hillside, but you cannot get from here to there without a several mile drive.   

[MountainDon]

   MTY.  We're all a little bit nuts to somebody.       Manufactured homes are not my cup of tea. 

[Beavers]

You're not nuts...everyone else is

There is something very satisfying about sitting in a house that you built, looking around and thinking "I built this". Even more satisfying when you built it with cash

[NathanS]

I think you came to the right place. You should make a thread documenting your build.

Not nuts at all. Debt is the most controlling force in the world, and if you have none, you are your own boss.

[CabinNick]

The only thing in your post that is nuts is the mention of a manufactured home!  Have fun and build some equity.  Would love to see some pictures. 

[Mike 870]

Go for it, I take on some stuff that leaves other people shaking their head, but we find a way.  And post some pictures!

[ChugiakTinkerer]

Awesome!  You're in like-minded company, whatever you are.

Posting pictures on the forum requires you to have them hosted somewhere.  There are a few free hosting service out there.  I currently use Imgur for mine, but there are others.  The key is being able to linkto the image directly.  Some cloud services disallow this.

Once you have pictures hosted you can start a build thread in the Owner-Builder forum.  Please do so, so we can all envy you having a mini excavator! 

[azgreg]

Don't forget the pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. 

[MTY]

I took a few pre pictures yesterday.  I will figure out a hosting site sometime in the near future.  I had a photobucket acount, but that is a thing of the past.  Once I figure out which hosting site to use, I will start a build thread.  More correctly, a rebuild thread. 

We started moving dirt today.  The contractor on one end and me on the other.  The basic premise is to dig a pit on each end and tunnel from one to the other for a steel beam.  There will be three beams total, but only one portion of the house requires a tunnel. 

Having a mini ex is like buying a Honda 90.  Within days you are wanting the biggest baddest machine you can find. 

Tomorrow digging continues, and elevations are set for the basement footer and septic system. 

[MTY]

Steel beams for lifting are in place, excavation goes on.  Which hosting site is least complicated to post pictures on?  Other than PB, I only know of Imgur. 

[MountainDon]

Have a look at imgbox.com. 
No guarantees it will always be free or even there. It is simply one I have found easy enough to use. 

To post an image in a topic on a forum I click on the imgbox thumbnail to display the image full size in a new tab, then right click on the image, then click  copy image location.  In the forum message place the cursor where the image should go, click on the insert image icon (mona lisa, 3rd item, bottom row, under the underline icon). That creates the leading and trailing IMG tags with the cursor blinking in the middle. Paste (Ctrl+V) the image location link in the middle of the tags. Voila!

[Mark.alan65]

This is what I have been doing for the past year or so. Welcome to the nuts club.

[MTY]

I did not drop off the face of the earth.  I have/had contractor issues and have been hesitant to post as I am still usure as to whether this will end up in court.  The issues include on site drug use and theft of funds.  I have not seen or heard from the contractor for months. 

I am still fully commited to the project, but cannot freely speak about it. 

I hope the rest of you are doing okay on your projects. 

[MountainDon]

Sorry to hear of the troubles.     Best of luck with everything.

[Don_P]

Bummer, sorry to hear this. As you know watch it online until resolution. Exhaust all other methods but if it doesn't work out ask the building official for help, that is one call a contractor doesn't want. You might also ask if your state has a recovery fund that might help. Part of our contractors license fee is an assessment pool that we pay into to help with things like this, if he was licensed, which he won't be after that. A number of states have some form of this. There isn't enough in there to make you whole again, it is a last resort.

[MTY]

I have no idea of what resolution would look like.  We are well into fall, winter is just around the corner, and snow could fall any time.  I have been concentrating on getting the place we live in ready for winter.  Overall, life is pretty good.  Next spring I am pulling the plug as in retiring for the second time and will be concentrating on finishing up this project. 

[JRR]

Contractors can be a pain.   When I acquire a contractor, I insist on a no-lien agreement.  I also want a "final", not an "estimated" price.  It must all be included in the documents.  This eliminates a number of contenders, but gets us to folks who can trust each other.  On the other hand, I pay promptly upon completion ... and there are several contractors who will vouch for me.   Eliminates a lot of discussion and grief.

[Dave Sparks]

Contractors can be a pain.   When I acquire a contractor, I insist on a no-lien agreement.  I also want a "final", not an "estimated" price.  It must all be included in the documents.  This eliminates a number of contenders, but gets us to folks who can trust each other.  On the other hand, I pay promptly upon completion ... and there are several contractors who will vouch for me.   Eliminates a lot of discussion and grief.

Words of wisdom!  It is all about trust and often people do not have time to develop it. I like your concept of working with a group of contractors who vouch or recommend folks. It is exactly what I do and I have learned alot from the local group. We look out for each other. Often a county has contractors show in summer and that is a great place to find the right group of contractors/skilled labor.