Building Your Dream HomeWritten by Mark Donovan
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Pulling Permits Once you have selected and hired your excavator, chief framer, and foundation company, review with them your plans. Make sure you walk site with them, and carefully stake out house footprint, paying careful attention to lot setbacks, septic tanks, leach fields and well location. Once all are agreed upon with house plans and location of home, contact building inspector and review with him/her your plans. You will need to submit a very thorough package to building inspector prior to getting approval. There are frequently town and state forms that need to be filled out regarding wetlands, and home thermal analysis. In addition, detailed engineering drawings of proposed home may be required. In my case Framer was able to assist in developing additional sketches of house plan to ensure structural compliance to local, state and federal building codes. If I had used initial home plans I had obtained, those would have been sufficient. I also could have contacted an architect with my selected plans to provide additional details, however it was not necessary in my case. After about a week and several hundred dollars later I had permit to build a new home. Septic Design My home required its own septic system on site. As a result, I required a septic design and an associated permit for new home. I recommend pursuing this as early as possible in any new home project as this can take up to 2-3 months to complete as both town and state approvals are required, not to mention site and engineering work. Without knowing exactly where septic system and tank will reside, it may be difficult to locate exact position of home and in many cases building inspector may not approve building permit until septic design permit has been obtained. I was fortunate in that property already had a small septic system on lot, so building inspector gave me approval. I was at financial risk, however, in event new septic design was not approved or needed to be repositioned from proposed location. Fortunately that was not case and I was able to move forward on razing cottage and beginning site work. To Be Continued …. In Part 2 of “Building Your Dream House”, I will cover razing an existing building, performing site prep work, and pouring foundation walls. Stay tuned……………
Me_Donovan@comcast.net www.homeadditionplus.com Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved with building homes and home additions. Mr. Donovan's formal education & profession have been as an Electrical Engineer & Marketing Manager.
| | Buying an Unfinished Home maybe Your AnswerWritten by Mark Donovan
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house, what is expected completed floor plan and who will complete it. All these questions should be answered prior to signing a Purchase and Sales agreement. For example, if more bedrooms will be required prior to when homeowner anticipates finishing home, then an unfinished home purchase may not be right solution. Secondly, ask builder/prior homeowner for a copy of floor plan of completed home. Usually a builder/prior homeowner has these, and it will help immensely when time comes to complete unfinished space. Changes to these floor plans are typically feasible, however, it is important to talk with building inspector prior to beginning project. Also, in case of new construction, you may want to negotiate with builder to complete a portion of unfinished area, such as rough framing, electric or plumbing. Finally, you need to determine who will complete work and assess how much, if any, sweat equity you are willing to contribute. In either case, building permits will need to be pulled prior to any work.Purchasing an unfinished home can be means to fulfilling American dream. For many, it is also a way to buy a larger home, once completed. For others, it enables them to not sacrifice quality in their initial home purchase. Whatever reason, purchase of an unfinished home has traditionally been an excellent investment.
Me_Donovan@comcast.net www.homeadditionplus.com Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved with building homes and home additions. Mr. Donovan's formal education & profession have been as an Electrical Engineer & Marketing Manager.
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