We got good news today. They have made the final revisions to our floor plans and have passed them through their quality controls. Our main architect at the firm has them on his desk and has promised me to send via email tonight or tomorrow morning. This will give us one last look and then we can schedule to go in and pick them up.
In the meantime, Alex and his dad have been working on the Garage plans. Those are shaping up very nicely.
We've decided at this point to see if our architect can review those as well. It just didn't make a lot of sense to submit without having a more trained set of eyes on them. A bit extra time (and possibly cost) on the front end will hopefully save us time and money on the back end.
So... I'm still hoping to get everything submitted to the County by the end of this week. Even though the temps keep dropping and thus there is no excavation on the near horizon, I am stressing about this part and pushing everyone. Not only because I feel a couple of days could make a big difference in the review process (again, I would like to submit now while their workload is light), but because honestly I am sick of window shopping. I am ready for the plans to be done so we can get to the bidding part of the project. I'd like to see if all my research and budgeting has been somewhat accurate. Or better yet, it would be awesome to see some of the line items come in under budget. Afterall, I would like to plant some grass and a garden at the new house when it's done!
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
Working with the Utility Companies
NICOR-GAS
Our new construction representative has been out to the property to locate the nearest gas main. It is on the other side of the road. He has given me quotes for boring all the way back to the home or for just boring under the road and then trenching thru the property. We will opt for boring. It's more expensive, but will make sense given the limited space we have.
We will submit our application for service when we are in the foundation backfill stage. This will give them time to have their field supervisor come out and firm up the project.
COMED-ELECTRIC
I met with the new service coordinator out at the property. She was quite frank in advising me to have our electric trench dug and installed by a private contractor vs the utility company doing it. We will need what she calls a "primary package". Meaning, Comed will install a pole at the front of our property and we will install a pole in our "yard" to connect it to. Then our line will run (over or under) until reaching a transformer, which Comed will supply to us.
I then reached out to her recommended contractor who visited the property and let me know his recommendation is to run the first 125' from their pole to our pole overhead (thus the pole will be half way down the driveway. Thus getting that first 125' free from Comed. At that point it will drop down and run a trench out to the transformer. He couldn't quote me specifics, but after asking he did say it would save us a couple grand if we do the trench work ourselves. He is thinking it is going to be extremely rocky and full of tree roots....
In the meantime he suggested getting our ticket open with Comed asap so the pole they are putting in is done (he said they could take up to 2 months). I advised that I would do so as soon as we have an official address-which we won't get until our permit is approved.
AT&T-PHONE & INTERNET
This was probably the biggest run around. I spoke to one person who said they don't have service where we are. However, we can see their lines. And our neighbor confirmed he had service.
I called back and it was clarified they don't offer Uverse but a landline could be installed. She said we would need to trench ourselves. I confirmed with private electrical contractor (see above) that he could lay the line. My uncle said to just leave 20' coiled at each end and then call them for the hook up.
Our new construction representative has been out to the property to locate the nearest gas main. It is on the other side of the road. He has given me quotes for boring all the way back to the home or for just boring under the road and then trenching thru the property. We will opt for boring. It's more expensive, but will make sense given the limited space we have.
We will submit our application for service when we are in the foundation backfill stage. This will give them time to have their field supervisor come out and firm up the project.
COMED-ELECTRIC
I met with the new service coordinator out at the property. She was quite frank in advising me to have our electric trench dug and installed by a private contractor vs the utility company doing it. We will need what she calls a "primary package". Meaning, Comed will install a pole at the front of our property and we will install a pole in our "yard" to connect it to. Then our line will run (over or under) until reaching a transformer, which Comed will supply to us.
I then reached out to her recommended contractor who visited the property and let me know his recommendation is to run the first 125' from their pole to our pole overhead (thus the pole will be half way down the driveway. Thus getting that first 125' free from Comed. At that point it will drop down and run a trench out to the transformer. He couldn't quote me specifics, but after asking he did say it would save us a couple grand if we do the trench work ourselves. He is thinking it is going to be extremely rocky and full of tree roots....
In the meantime he suggested getting our ticket open with Comed asap so the pole they are putting in is done (he said they could take up to 2 months). I advised that I would do so as soon as we have an official address-which we won't get until our permit is approved.
AT&T-PHONE & INTERNET
This was probably the biggest run around. I spoke to one person who said they don't have service where we are. However, we can see their lines. And our neighbor confirmed he had service.
I called back and it was clarified they don't offer Uverse but a landline could be installed. She said we would need to trench ourselves. I confirmed with private electrical contractor (see above) that he could lay the line. My uncle said to just leave 20' coiled at each end and then call them for the hook up.
Getting ready to submit for permit
We are in the stretch now where I am buttoning up loose ends, so that we can submit our application for permit as soon as we get our completed plans from the architect. Here's a look back on some of the things I've worked on to prepare.
Impact fees:
School District-did you know that if you build a home in subdivision, your builder incorporates these fees into your price? When you are building for yourself, you pay directly to the school district you will live in. I called someone there in finance, who told me to call city/township. I told her we are in Unincorporated, but she didn't seem to care. I called county and they confirmed, pay to district. I called township, she called district, we got it all figured out. I paid. FYI, you'd be surprised how much this costs....
Fire District-Headed over to the FD that will service our property. .I had previously spoken to them, just to ensure there wouldn't be any specific requirements for sprinkler system in the home or our driveway width. I paid the small impact fee. I really pray we never have to use their services however.
Note: Many other towns will have Park District impact fee as well. We didn't. Basically you look on a tax bill to see what may be impacted.
County Road access-remember our Christmas Culvert? I contacted the permitting person to confirm whether or not they would issue a certificate to be submitted with my permit. They said just to give the permit. I will be printing that email and attaching it to my application. LOL.
I also made a few calls to County to see how their current workload is, to have an idea of what turnaround on our permits will be (remember the contractor who scared the bejeezus out of me).
Environmental & Health Dept-they will review septic & well permit application, including our site plan. They are currently at 5 days or less for turnaround. I don't anticipate any problems, our site planner is Awesome.
Planning & Development-they have a 3 pronged review:
Stormwater-they will look at how much land is being displaced, are you in a flood plain, etc. Again, don't anticipate any problems, as our site planner already prepared me for what they might require, as we will have a intermediate project (vs Minor) b/c we are displacing more than 20,000 cubic feet of soil-simply b/c we have a long driveway, a home and an outbuilding.
Zoning-they will look at ordinances, etc. Given we went through the variance process and I will be attaching that letter, there better not be any additional surprises that come up on this property!
Plan Examining-they will review the drawings of the house from our architect and the drawings of our outbuilding (from Menards). This is the one that scares me a little. Don't get me wrong I have complete faith in our architect, but he has also said that the county plans examiners are hit or miss, it will depend on who gets assigned.
In the end my calls told me that P&D is at a 1 week turnaround for new applications (typical is 4-6) and 2 weeks for resubmittals (so when they want you to address any concerns). I think I can live with that, given the ground is covered in 18 inches of snow.
The key will be getting the application in during this "slow time". The longer we wait, the more likely that others will be start thinking of their spring projects and submitting their applications too.
I'm trying to light a fire under our architect at this very moment....
P.S. In the meantime I've also being obtaining insurance quotes for a Builder's risk policy. This will cover our materials and liability.
Impact fees:
School District-did you know that if you build a home in subdivision, your builder incorporates these fees into your price? When you are building for yourself, you pay directly to the school district you will live in. I called someone there in finance, who told me to call city/township. I told her we are in Unincorporated, but she didn't seem to care. I called county and they confirmed, pay to district. I called township, she called district, we got it all figured out. I paid. FYI, you'd be surprised how much this costs....
Fire District-Headed over to the FD that will service our property. .I had previously spoken to them, just to ensure there wouldn't be any specific requirements for sprinkler system in the home or our driveway width. I paid the small impact fee. I really pray we never have to use their services however.
Note: Many other towns will have Park District impact fee as well. We didn't. Basically you look on a tax bill to see what may be impacted.
County Road access-remember our Christmas Culvert? I contacted the permitting person to confirm whether or not they would issue a certificate to be submitted with my permit. They said just to give the permit. I will be printing that email and attaching it to my application. LOL.
I also made a few calls to County to see how their current workload is, to have an idea of what turnaround on our permits will be (remember the contractor who scared the bejeezus out of me).
Environmental & Health Dept-they will review septic & well permit application, including our site plan. They are currently at 5 days or less for turnaround. I don't anticipate any problems, our site planner is Awesome.
Planning & Development-they have a 3 pronged review:
Stormwater-they will look at how much land is being displaced, are you in a flood plain, etc. Again, don't anticipate any problems, as our site planner already prepared me for what they might require, as we will have a intermediate project (vs Minor) b/c we are displacing more than 20,000 cubic feet of soil-simply b/c we have a long driveway, a home and an outbuilding.
Zoning-they will look at ordinances, etc. Given we went through the variance process and I will be attaching that letter, there better not be any additional surprises that come up on this property!
Plan Examining-they will review the drawings of the house from our architect and the drawings of our outbuilding (from Menards). This is the one that scares me a little. Don't get me wrong I have complete faith in our architect, but he has also said that the county plans examiners are hit or miss, it will depend on who gets assigned.
In the end my calls told me that P&D is at a 1 week turnaround for new applications (typical is 4-6) and 2 weeks for resubmittals (so when they want you to address any concerns). I think I can live with that, given the ground is covered in 18 inches of snow.
The key will be getting the application in during this "slow time". The longer we wait, the more likely that others will be start thinking of their spring projects and submitting their applications too.
I'm trying to light a fire under our architect at this very moment....
P.S. In the meantime I've also being obtaining insurance quotes for a Builder's risk policy. This will cover our materials and liability.
Our finalized site plan
I am back from submitting our finalized site plan at County, for our septic and well permit! It feels good to have something submitted, feels like PROGRESS! Once again JR (our site designer) came to my rescue, he met me there to give me the plans and get paid, but since he also had some other items to take care of at County, we dropped off our stuff together. It certainly does help to have someone with you who is so knowledgeable and respected.
A bit of the back story....
We did have to send out a soil engineer to do 3 more soil borings, as the original soil borings were spread throughout the parcel, due to the fact they had intended on building 4-5 homes on the lot.
For the purposes of submitting our septic permit application JR felt it in our best interest to get new borings in the immediate area where our septic field will be on the site. That's all well and fine, except when there is 18 inches of snow on our "driveway" and lot. And there are still trees and brush covering a great deal of the land. So, last weekend the guys finished clearing a path so the soil engineer could get his truck back there. And he was truly a sport to get out there this past Tuesday and we had new reports by Wednesday.Which we sent immediately to JR, who then responded that the new soil results will save us money b/c we don't need as large of a septic field as originally drawn, b/c the soils are that good.
And ta-da here is our finalized site plan, which, as previously mentioned, has now been submitted to County for permitting.
Keep your fingers crossed!
.jpg)
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Contractor Interview Recap
We have now met with 3 contractors who would like to bid our home building project.
#1 Contractor
Not a true "GC" but a carpenter that is willing to do most of the sub coordination (he says "because I'm going to be there anyway"). He will get the bids, coordinate the materials, trades and inspections.
#2 Contractor
A home builder, whose strategy was to show us the spreadsheet he will create and use to guide through the project
#3 Another home builder who showed a lot of interest in our plans and lot, seems very well connected, and then scared the bejeezus out of me by saying I'd better submit my permit in the next couple of weeks, unless I didn't want to get it back til June.
Here's some additional thoughts:
#1 Contractor will work with us every step of the way. For example, already said he wants us to go thru the house after it's framed to see if we'd like to change any walls (vs the plans) (for no charge)
#1 Contractor is willing to let us get other bids from subs, though he'd prefer to use his own
#1 Contractor had already gone out to our property
#1 Contractor is local, meaning in the same city as us, meaning he is very accessible
#1 Contractor is retired, but just doesn't want to stop working
#1 Contractor built our friend's house, his daughter's
#1 Contractor mentioned a few of his suppliers-the same suppliers the next 2 contractors spoke of using
#1 Contractor estimates having us in our new home w/in 4-6 months after beginning
#1 Contractor would take on a few sides jobs (decks, etc)
#1 Contractor drove over in an early 2000's standard cab Chevy
#2 Contractor would take on at least 2 homes
#2 Contractor talked more than listened
#2 Contractor would already build in his % fee (he said how much it was, but how would we really know?) to each line item
#2 Contractor drove over in a brand new crew cab F-350
#3 Contractor has a minimum fee and a % charged based on the total if we go over the minimum (aka Cost Plus contract)
#3 Contractor sent a nice follow up
#3 Contractor wanted to go over and see the property in person with us
#3 Contractor seemed very well connected
#3 Contractor has worked with county
#3 Contractor said he needed 10 copies of our floor plans to go out to bid (or give him a $100 to make copies) FYI-we get 4 copies from our architect-2 are required for our permit application
#3 Contractor drove over in a newer Dodge crew cab 3/4 ton
#1 Contractor
Not a true "GC" but a carpenter that is willing to do most of the sub coordination (he says "because I'm going to be there anyway"). He will get the bids, coordinate the materials, trades and inspections.
#2 Contractor
A home builder, whose strategy was to show us the spreadsheet he will create and use to guide through the project
#3 Another home builder who showed a lot of interest in our plans and lot, seems very well connected, and then scared the bejeezus out of me by saying I'd better submit my permit in the next couple of weeks, unless I didn't want to get it back til June.
Here's some additional thoughts:
#1 Contractor will work with us every step of the way. For example, already said he wants us to go thru the house after it's framed to see if we'd like to change any walls (vs the plans) (for no charge)
#1 Contractor is willing to let us get other bids from subs, though he'd prefer to use his own
#1 Contractor had already gone out to our property
#1 Contractor is local, meaning in the same city as us, meaning he is very accessible
#1 Contractor is retired, but just doesn't want to stop working
#1 Contractor built our friend's house, his daughter's
#1 Contractor mentioned a few of his suppliers-the same suppliers the next 2 contractors spoke of using
#1 Contractor estimates having us in our new home w/in 4-6 months after beginning
#1 Contractor would take on a few sides jobs (decks, etc)
#1 Contractor drove over in an early 2000's standard cab Chevy
#2 Contractor would take on at least 2 homes
#2 Contractor talked more than listened
#2 Contractor would already build in his % fee (he said how much it was, but how would we really know?) to each line item
#2 Contractor drove over in a brand new crew cab F-350
#3 Contractor has a minimum fee and a % charged based on the total if we go over the minimum (aka Cost Plus contract)
#3 Contractor sent a nice follow up
#3 Contractor wanted to go over and see the property in person with us
#3 Contractor seemed very well connected
#3 Contractor has worked with county
#3 Contractor said he needed 10 copies of our floor plans to go out to bid (or give him a $100 to make copies) FYI-we get 4 copies from our architect-2 are required for our permit application
#3 Contractor drove over in a newer Dodge crew cab 3/4 ton
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Brush/Tree Clearing-Take 2
Well, now that we've got a preliminary site plan, it stands to reason that we now have a better idea of where we need to clear more trees off the property.
So the plan was to go out on Sunday to do some more chainsaw work. Good thing we checked the weather and changed the plan to Saturday!
Also, we were very lucky, once again, to have the help of a friend.
The guys started about 11am and when I showed up with the kids after nap we were amazed at the amount of work that had been done . They now had a truck all the way back in the property!
You can see we have a pretty awesome bonfire in our near future...
Unfortunately the work did not come without some minor injuries.
For the tree huggers out there, stay away from Black Locust, which has thorns.
The kids and I also visited with our new neighbors-2 horses. I have a feeling we'll need to set up more comfortable seating. James could have spent all day there watching them!
So the plan was to go out on Sunday to do some more chainsaw work. Good thing we checked the weather and changed the plan to Saturday!
Also, we were very lucky, once again, to have the help of a friend.
The guys started about 11am and when I showed up with the kids after nap we were amazed at the amount of work that had been done . They now had a truck all the way back in the property!
You can see we have a pretty awesome bonfire in our near future...
For the tree huggers out there, stay away from Black Locust, which has thorns.
Ouch
The kids and I also visited with our new neighbors-2 horses. I have a feeling we'll need to set up more comfortable seating. James could have spent all day there watching them!
Site plan
I titled this post "Site plan" because I think that sounds more interesting than "Septic Design". But really, that's what started it. Because we will live in an Unincorporated area, we will have to install our own septic system and well too (more on that later). We had been referred to this septic designer early on in the land purchase process and he has proved to be an invaluable resource.
So it went something like this...(over the course of several emails and phone calls-which by the way I also had 2 other septic designers bid the project before finalizing with JR)
Us: We need a septic design to apply for our septic permit, so we can apply for our house permit
JR: Do you have soil borings/reports
Us: Yes, but they are from when the prior owner planned on putting in a sub-division
JR: We need a topography survey as well
Us: We have that, but again it's from when the prior owner planned on putting in a subdivision
JR: I can take care of it/you
And that's how easy he made it all sound!
So we scheduled an appointment for him to come out Saturday (1/24). He looked at our floorplan (septic is based on # of bedrooms) and elevation, then we walked back to the property and literally just pounded in a couple of stakes of where we think the home and outbuilding will go. His assistant then used GPS and one of those cool surveying tri-pod things to "shoot" the land. This gave the actual elevations.
Monday (1/26) we get this preliminary drawing:
I know it's a bit difficult to see, but you get the gist. You know from reading this blog about the 'flag' shape of our lot. So you can see the long skinny driveway. In the middle is the house, off to the left is the outbuilding (Alex's motorcycle garage). The dashed lines are the proposed location of the septic field (which I've already asked him to change-move farther left/down). The well is not on yet, but it will go on the opposite of the house from the septic (so when you visit, don't worry about drinking our water, ha, ha).
So in the last week or so, I have been calling and/or setting up meetings with the utility companies (gas, electric, phone) to determine if running service back to where we have placed the house on the preliminary site plan if financially feasible. After all, someone has to pay to dig the trench and bury the lines....and we do have a budget. We like where we placed the house on the site plan but if it is out of our budget to run utilities that far back then we will have to revise the site plan. For those of you keeping track, I did have this in the budget, as we priced out the cost prior to making an offer on the land and starting this adventure. However, placing the house on a boundary survey vs staking it on the actual land, as you stand on it, gives very different results (when you have so much space). What this all means is that the home is set back further on the property than we originally thought. The reasons for this are many:
We want the house more secluded and there are more trees at the front of the opening that we thought, so it makes sense to keep the trees
The house will sit atop the highest elevation point, not much but you'd be surprised what a few feet difference makes.
The house in relation to the neighbors and the outbuilding makes more sense further back.
I'll keep you posted after I'm done "talking" to the utilities-it really does deserve it's own blog entry- and we have the final site plan.
P.S. Did you know that you have to have a larger septic tank if you are planning on installing garbage disposals? You do!
Also, our basement will be unfinished at this time but we planned our septic for the future probability we will be putting another bedroom down there at some point (guests welcomed!)
So it went something like this...(over the course of several emails and phone calls-which by the way I also had 2 other septic designers bid the project before finalizing with JR)
Us: We need a septic design to apply for our septic permit, so we can apply for our house permit
JR: Do you have soil borings/reports
Us: Yes, but they are from when the prior owner planned on putting in a sub-division
JR: We need a topography survey as well
Us: We have that, but again it's from when the prior owner planned on putting in a subdivision
JR: I can take care of it/you
And that's how easy he made it all sound!
So we scheduled an appointment for him to come out Saturday (1/24). He looked at our floorplan (septic is based on # of bedrooms) and elevation, then we walked back to the property and literally just pounded in a couple of stakes of where we think the home and outbuilding will go. His assistant then used GPS and one of those cool surveying tri-pod things to "shoot" the land. This gave the actual elevations.
 |
| GPS |
 |
| Tri Pod |
I know it's a bit difficult to see, but you get the gist. You know from reading this blog about the 'flag' shape of our lot. So you can see the long skinny driveway. In the middle is the house, off to the left is the outbuilding (Alex's motorcycle garage). The dashed lines are the proposed location of the septic field (which I've already asked him to change-move farther left/down). The well is not on yet, but it will go on the opposite of the house from the septic (so when you visit, don't worry about drinking our water, ha, ha).
So in the last week or so, I have been calling and/or setting up meetings with the utility companies (gas, electric, phone) to determine if running service back to where we have placed the house on the preliminary site plan if financially feasible. After all, someone has to pay to dig the trench and bury the lines....and we do have a budget. We like where we placed the house on the site plan but if it is out of our budget to run utilities that far back then we will have to revise the site plan. For those of you keeping track, I did have this in the budget, as we priced out the cost prior to making an offer on the land and starting this adventure. However, placing the house on a boundary survey vs staking it on the actual land, as you stand on it, gives very different results (when you have so much space). What this all means is that the home is set back further on the property than we originally thought. The reasons for this are many:
We want the house more secluded and there are more trees at the front of the opening that we thought, so it makes sense to keep the trees
The house will sit atop the highest elevation point, not much but you'd be surprised what a few feet difference makes.
The house in relation to the neighbors and the outbuilding makes more sense further back.
I'll keep you posted after I'm done "talking" to the utilities-it really does deserve it's own blog entry- and we have the final site plan.
P.S. Did you know that you have to have a larger septic tank if you are planning on installing garbage disposals? You do!
Also, our basement will be unfinished at this time but we planned our septic for the future probability we will be putting another bedroom down there at some point (guests welcomed!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)