All Forum Posts by: Bernie Neyer

Think I hit the wrong button.

There hasn't been much going on out of the usual build stuff. They have the cabinets in and tile done on one side. Pictures are included.

We'll be pouring a parking area at the rear, but the plumber needs to trench some and they need to bring in dirt first.

Updated pictures. The framers got the interior framing done, but we're slow getting the trusses set and the roof panels on. The subs help showed up late, apparently hung over and weren't doing their job. He was having to get on them about continually taking breaks, so when they went to lunch they never returned. This will delay their proscribed work a day or two, but is supposed to be completed by this Saturday, June 27th.

Updated pictures. The framers got the interior framing done, but we're slow getting the trusses set and the roof panels on. The subs help showed up late, apparently hung over and weren't doing their job. He was having to get on them about continually taking breaks, so when they went to lunch they never returned. This will delay their proscribed work a day or two, but is supposed to be completed by this Saturday, June 27th.

@Shane H.

I like the domes. You should look at Monolithic's site. They have some very attractive domes. They are tornado proof, termite proof, hurricane proof, earthquake proof, fire proof and if taken care of, can be easily last 500 years. I'd bet none of the stick built houses will.

From an investment stand point, you don't need insurance if purchased outright. There is little to no CapEx. While you do need to take care of the air form that remains on the dome, painting is sufficient, but stucco or Dryvit would provide a longer-term resolution.

The GC arranged the subs and are generally pretty reasonable. None are from Chanute. A couple are from Missouri, midway between Pittsburg and Joplin.

The cabinets are made in Pittsburg and by comparison are very inexpensive. Two sides Knotty Alder Early American finish, white costs extra, with granite countertops, less than $9K.

I have a hard time getting quotes out of any contractor here, simply because they don't have the experience to know what's required. Roofers are the exception.

The contractor did the estimate. Since it was from ground up and they've done this before, they have an idea of costs.

Now, some of their estimates were off some. For instance, the termite pre treatment went up significantly. 

The cement contractor made some errors that will ultimately cost me some. Some of the errors are not really wrong, but will cost me money to deal with. They got the foundation a little too high and a lot more dirt will be needed for grading.

As for the land, no one can really afford to build here and if they can they build in the snob section of town.

The city itself built an addition for ~$85K a lot and generally gives them away if you'll build a $200K house on the lot.

The city commissioners have been on a terror for decades trying to coerce people to keep their houses in livable condition or they tear them down.

Here in Kansas they levy the tear down charges as a property tax, which the land owner just walks away from since they can't put anything on the land. It ends up at a tax sale where I pick them up for $1 per lot, plus $49 to register them.

I had wanted to build some domes on them, but the city created an ordinance that essentially keeps me from building them. These are neat little houses. Take a look.

www.domeliving.com

www.innplacebrenham.com

@Joey Copper

It's estimated at $90 a sq ft., but I'm exceeding that I'm sure. A little here, a little there and bang you've blown your budget.

My problem is that when I'm rehabbing a house here, "I'M" doing the work as I don't generally use contractors. Many of the so called contractors here couldn't build a dog house.

I had one house that needed a roof, but had an addition that was flat. Since they were having to re-deck it, I figured they could just throw some rafters up and deck over them. 4 contractors couldn't give me a price, much less knew how to do it.

I didn't figure the roofers would do it as they just roof, but here in Chanute, these old houses need decking. All I wanted the contractor to do, was once it was stripped, put the rafters up while the roofing crew worked the other side of the house.

One guy actually was there when the roofing company was estimating the job, and the contractor asked the roofing agent how to do it. These contractors are from outside of Chanute.

@Billy Smith

Not at $30 a barrel it ain't. Oil died here when it fell below $70 a barrel. There is some NG, but they're living off of already developed fields as at these prices there is no exploration.

I guess I've been posting instead of adding to my thread. Hope that the pictures are viewable by everyone.

Today I drove over to Pittsburg, KS to talk to the cabinet maker and select what finish and stain I wanted. I then had to drive over to Parsons, KS to select the granite color I wanted. I preferred white cabinets, but that would have cost me $1000 extra. The counter tops had to be lighter than the finish of the cabinets and in this case closer to a beige I'd selected for the tile flooring. I didn't take any pictures, but will have them once they cabinets and counter are installed.

This build is estimated to run $171,000 or about $90 per sq. ft. I think I'm over that a bit and will end up at ~$100 per sq. ft. 

Here is the completed assembly of the SIPs. They began framing the interior walls. Because of scheduling issues the framers were delayed a week getting on the site. They also took a short vacation from June 19 to June 22 and will be back on the 23rd. They are supposed to have it dried in by the 25th or 26th at the latest. This means if they had been able to work through from the time they set the first panel to dry in, they would have been done in 6 days.

The panels are OSB with polystyrene insulation. They are made tongue and groove and simply slide together. They are initially screwed together, but when completed they are stapled permanently together.

Final panel didn't quite fit. It was a little too large and the foundation was off 1/2 inch over 60 ft. Not bad, but they had to alter the panel some to fit.