Building a new house and shop (2 Viewers)

[firestopper]

Man, I hope the soil test meets your needs. Could post tension work if the clay content prevented conventional foundation? Great to follow along.
Good luck on a speedy home sale too.

 

[thatcabledude]

Wow! That is a HUGE drain field.

 

[1911]

Man, I hope the soil test meets your needs. Could post tension work if the clay content prevented conventional foundation? Great to follow along.
Good luck on a speedy home sale too.

Thanks Paco.

Not sure if post tension could work in this case or not; there will be a lot of weight on the foundation (concrete domes plus soil on top of that). Anxiously awaiting the results of the lab tests!

Wow! That is a HUGE drain field.

Yeah, it is over-built for sure - but it is for both the apartment and the much larger main house. The county regs here go on total square footage of the buildings, not the number of bathrooms or occupants. 9/10 of the time, it will only be my wife and I here, but when children and grandchildren come to visit, there will be plenty of excess capacity. Rather have too much capacity than too little, and have it be pretty much maintenance-free.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Nice progress and HAPPY BIRF DAY!!

J

 

[1911]

Nice progress and HAPPY BIRF DAY!!

J

Thanks!

Updates have been sparse because we are moving into the apartment, and prepping the old house like mad for listing next week.

 

[1911]

Haven't made any new posts lately, because we were super busy moving into the apartment and getting the old house ready to sell. Had a goal to get the house on the market by April 1st, to hit the beginning of the spring market. Finally hit the MLS by the morning of April 5th; by 5:00 p.m. that same day we had six showings and two offers (both over the asking price) and by the next morning we had three offers. Needless to say, it is a seller's market here, and the old place is under contract and waiting for closing. Once it closes and gets funded, we will start in earnest on building the big earth-sheltered house here.

Meanwhile, here is a photo from this morning of my "driveway" (1/2-mile dirt road on our property that goes from the paved county road to the house). Wildflower season is upon us here in north Texas.

 

[Weedhopper]

Nice on the sale.
My Connecticut brain figured you wouldn't be building for a year.
Looking good !

 

[1911]

Nice on the sale.
My Connecticut brain figured you wouldn't be building for a year.
Looking good !

Thanks.

The confusion on the timing is probably from me; I mentioned earlier (I think) that I estimated it might take a year to build and finish the big house, but we plan to start soon. Already have the bulk of the excavation of the hill completed for it.

 

[Weedhopper]

I meant selling so quickly. Not used to hearing about overbidding anymore.

 

[1911]

I meant selling so quickly. Not used to hearing about overbidding anymore.

Yeah, it's the first time we've ever experienced it from the selling side - and the first time we've ever made decent money on a house we lived in. The market is very warm here. Not sure where all the people are coming from or where their jobs are - the county is turning into a "bedroom" for Fort Worth I guess, which is in an adjacent county. A commute from the country is less onerous than a commute through suburbs I suppose. I'm very fortunate to be self-employed and work from home.

 

[Speediet44]

Just read all 6 pages, very impressed. Love the 40, weirdly enough my moms first ever vehicle was a 81 bj40, in dark green. kept it for 25 years, 700,xxxkm.
Really like the house design, there used to be a house similar to yours in the area. unfortunately it was knocked down to build a road. he had geothermal heating, faced south, and was very comfortable year round.

 

[Marlen]

Amazing place. You are lucky with this place.

 

[firestopper]

Any word on the soil samples? Congratulations on selling your home.

 

[1911]

Any word on the soil samples? Congratulations on selling your home.

Thanks Paco. No results from the lab yet, but that reminds me I need to call them. Been busy moving and selling the old house, and sort of forgot about the soil analysis for a while.

 

[D21FJ60]

So when it's all said and done with all that extra space...are you going to start collecting/preserving cruiser projects?

 

[1911]

So when it's all said and done with all that extra space...are you going to start collecting/preserving cruiser projects?

Maybe; I've actually downsized somewhat in recent years and given cruisers to my sons. Will be spending a lot of time taking care of the land here, and also probably back to my first love, which is antique motorcycles. But I'd also like to have a diesel troopy some day and a pig...

 

[D21FJ60]

...giving cruisers away? I mean I can take one off your hands if you need...

 

[1911]

...giving cruisers away? I mean I can take one off your hands if you need...

One son got an 80, another a 60, and the third one hasn't got anything yet but will at some time in the future when he's done with school. Daughters got cars; well I tried to get one of them to drive the 40 in high school but she wouldn't. Neither one of them would even learn to drive a stick.

 

[thatcabledude]

You pushing dirt back in the hole yet?

 

[1911]

You pushing dirt back in the hole yet?

Not yet, but we're about to start making progress again (I hope). Had a delay with the geotechnical engineering company over the soil tests, but now everything is back on track. The dirt contractor just moved in a decent-size bulldozer, and should cut the final level grade for the concrete footings (which will be the foundation) any day now. Contract has been signed with the earth-sheltered home contractor, and we should be pouring the footers within 2-3 weeks and the domes shortly after that.