Change of plan
So far we have had two quotes (sort of) to build the house. The first was kind of expensive although it was a turn key contract which means they do everything and just hand you the key. The second quote was supposed to be from a builder who would just put up the basic structure. Unfortunately, the builder looked scared when he saw our plans and didn't want to build it. Apparently the log type house we designed is something strange around these parts. Even though the company who make it is only an hours drive away they may as well be on the moon as far as builders around here are concerned. The builders of the kit haven't been exactly helpful in finding a suitable builder either.
We have now decided that we are going to go back to our original idea and build a completely custom timber frame home. There is an excellent local company who we have talked to a few times before and it now looks as though it is within our budget. If we are going to build a house we may as well build what we really want. Hamlet Heavy Timberwork build beautiful hand crafted timber frames. They will build the frame and enclose the walls using panels built in their workshop. The walls will be filled with cellulose insulation which recycles the equivalent of the amount of paper a person uses in 40 years. They will also put on a metal roof which is great for the snow to slide off and much tougher than regular shingles, it looks cool too! We will have to hire contractors to do everything else but that should be reasonably straight forward (famous last words). Then all we have to do is put windows and doors in to make the shell water tight.
Tomorrow we are going to see a similar house that they recently built to get an idea for the floor plan. We pretty much know what we want but it's always good to get an idea what it might look like. We will now have to have a completely new set of plans drawn up.
I have applied for the tree cutting permit and we are in the middle of completing the implementation plan which is a scale plan of where the house will go, this is drawn up by a surveyor. We won't have time to build the house before Winter now, but we will get everything ready to put up the frame probably March next year. In the mean time, we will clear the trees that need to be removed and these may be used for our floor-boards. We will have a drive way put in and have the foundations dug out. We will also have the foundations poured and put in the ground floor sub floor. The whole thing will then be covered over for Winter and will wait until Spring. So plenty of things to keep us busy!
We have now decided that we are going to go back to our original idea and build a completely custom timber frame home. There is an excellent local company who we have talked to a few times before and it now looks as though it is within our budget. If we are going to build a house we may as well build what we really want. Hamlet Heavy Timberwork build beautiful hand crafted timber frames. They will build the frame and enclose the walls using panels built in their workshop. The walls will be filled with cellulose insulation which recycles the equivalent of the amount of paper a person uses in 40 years. They will also put on a metal roof which is great for the snow to slide off and much tougher than regular shingles, it looks cool too! We will have to hire contractors to do everything else but that should be reasonably straight forward (famous last words). Then all we have to do is put windows and doors in to make the shell water tight.
Tomorrow we are going to see a similar house that they recently built to get an idea for the floor plan. We pretty much know what we want but it's always good to get an idea what it might look like. We will now have to have a completely new set of plans drawn up.
I have applied for the tree cutting permit and we are in the middle of completing the implementation plan which is a scale plan of where the house will go, this is drawn up by a surveyor. We won't have time to build the house before Winter now, but we will get everything ready to put up the frame probably March next year. In the mean time, we will clear the trees that need to be removed and these may be used for our floor-boards. We will have a drive way put in and have the foundations dug out. We will also have the foundations poured and put in the ground floor sub floor. The whole thing will then be covered over for Winter and will wait until Spring. So plenty of things to keep us busy!
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