My Acreage Project - Let the fun begin

[prae]

The weather has been such a gift to you for the last few weeks, and you've really capitalized. Looks awesome! You are saving a bundle on labour and it must feel fantastic to be able to look at this house as it's coming together and know how much of it you did with your own hands. Looking great!

[eblend]

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The weather has been such a gift to you for the last few weeks, and you've really capitalized. Looks awesome! You are saving a bundle on labour and it must feel fantastic to be able to look at this house as it's coming together and know how much of it you did with your own hands. Looking great!

Indeed. Today marks the first day I will not be going to site since December 23rd..need a bit of a break. Even the last few weeks since my job resumed, I have been making it out every day in the afternoon to make more progress. It's a bit hard with sun going down at 5, but as the days get longer I will be able to stay out there and get a ton more done. The most satisfying part is the fact that I am doing it to the quality that I want, taking my time, and doing it right the first time. Think I can take a breather now since everything that's left to do I could do from a ladder, but given that the roofers haven't made their way back yet, I feel like I have access to the zoom boom for some time still and will be able to use it to 100% finish the roof peaks. Yesterday I managed to finish all the peak soffit on every roof section, and that's a nice pause point. If weather holds on the weekend I will do some caulking, touch up painting, battens and finish the few small corner board pieces.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Since you're super open about everything on this project, do you mind sharing what your initial timelines were anticipated to be compared to what you're looking at now?

What threats remain to your amended schedule and how realistic do you think it is?

*Not about highlighting your suffering as I'm sure the majority of your delays were due to things out of your control.

[eblend]

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Since you're super open about everything on this project, do you mind sharing what your initial timelines were anticipated to be compared to what you're looking at now?

What threats remain to your amended schedule and how realistic do you think it is?

*Not about highlighting your suffering as I'm sure the majority of your delays were due to things out of your control.

Hey. Sure, my initial timeline was to move in Summer of 2023...that won't be possible, and as you have said, a lot of it is outside of my control.

The initial plan was to break ground in April of 2022....that didn't happen, as there were major delays in getting permits sorted out. Initial set of documents submitted was missing a bunch of Engg stuff that was supposed to be provided by Integrity. By the time they got all that sorted and final documents delivered, it was already mid-may. The build itself didn't start until middle of August...so that's a 3 month delay right there off the bat. After the build started it took them a while to get the structure up, but they are still not done with the roof, and there are some doors that need to be addressed, garage doors are not installed ect. At this point it's easily 6 months behind schedule. New timeline is to move in by end of 2023....or by Spring of 2024. This doesn't mean the house will be finished, it just means that it has enough done to get a residency permit...things like a working kitchen, bathroom, shower, heat ect. There is a big list. I will be moving into a construction zone basically.

Whether this new timeline is realistic or not, I am not sure. Once spring comes and I can pour concrete, things will start moving much quicker. Interior wall framing, electrical, HVAC, gas, insulation, drywall ect would need to go in at this point and will keep me busy for a while. Once those things are in, we are getting more closer to having an actual house, instead of a fancy frame on top of dirt as it sits now. I will bust my balls all this year to get as much done as possible. I don't know if it's realistic, as things tend to take longer than expected, and having a full time job doesn't help this move any faster. Right now, because I don't have concrete or want to pour it in the winter, I am limited to working on the outside of the house, and it's a good opportunity to do siding to weatherproof the home, so that by the time I am doing inside it's in a dry and comfortable place.

The threats that remain are just the lack of time. The progress is slow as you set the foundation, but once that's in place, should move quicker I think. Underground plumbing, underground conduits ect ect all take a ton of time, but those things are nearly all completed now, so I feel like things will move forward at a faster pace shortly. Concrete and spray foam is done by contractors, so that should be quick, as is HVAC stuff. Biggest hinderance now is the fact that I have no electricity and it gets dark too early, so once days are longer, I can work into the evenings without feeling like it's the middle of the night.

Hope that answers some questions.

[schurchill39]

I think you're invested enough in this project that it would make total financial sense to pick up a couple battery powered lights. Not sure what battery platform you have but Milwaukee makes some great tower lights, or radius site lights. I think Dewalt and Makita all have something similar too. Treat yourself!

[eblend]

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I think you're invested enough in this project that it would make total financial sense to pick up a couple battery powered lights. Not sure what battery platform you have but Milwaukee makes some great tower lights, or radius site lights. I think Dewalt and Makita all have something similar too. Treat yourself!

I already got some very powerful lights, so I could work in the dark, but it just feels like I'm the only one making noise in an otherwise serene atmosphere, and when it gets dark at 5PM, it just feels like everyone is about to go to bed. It also gets rather cold once the sun is gone, so I'm using those as excuses for now to keep it short. Batteries don't last all that well in the cold temps.

[ExtraSlow]

I'm sure you have a genny as well to power things, and if not, you should.
I get it about not wanting to cause a disturbance at "night" though. Still, if it lets you finish up another 30 minutes of stuff each trip, it's going to cut down your timeline more than you realize.

[eblend]

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I'm sure you have a genny as well to power things, and if not, you should.

Yep, genny there for sure, big one at that, and loud.

I think for now I am using darkness as an excuse to go home (sounds of coyotes in the darkness also help..)....but yah, every day I stay until about 45 to an hour after sunset to cleanup ect, and every day days are getting longer, so longer I stay. I think once I move to working inside, it will be easier to work into the night. At least I know cayotes won't be after my ass as I struggle outside

[prae]

The fact that the centre joint between your boards where the batten will sit, is NOT centred on the peak of the gable and the window below, or the dormer above the main entry, would drive me crazy. There must be a reason for this, and it does look like you've done it consistently on two locations, so perhaps I'm just not envisioning the end product correctly?

What gives?

[eblend]

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The fact that the centre joint between your boards where the batten will sit, is NOT centred on the peak of the gable and the window below, or the dormer above the main entry, would drive me crazy. There must be a reason for this, and it does look like you've done it consistently on two locations, so perhaps I'm just not envisioning the end product correctly?

What gives?

Personal preference. I didn't want a central batten and instead wanted them offset from center. Can go either way. I didn't want it down the middle. The placement of the windows and the difference in window sizes made the offset the only good looking option when it comes to how battens will fall around the window trims. If I did it dead center, then my window trim on top or bottom window would have 0 gap between the window trim and the batten, and would look really fat. I looked at all possible combos and being offset from center was the best and only real option to avoid the fat window trim on either the top or bottom window.

Difference isn't really all that big. The two roofs pictures you quoted could have gone either way, it's the big roof with the window that set the tone for the rest of them to match.

[prae]

cool insight, makes sense now that you've explained it.

[eblend]

Sneak peak at progress so far...will try to get it all done this week while weather is still nice. @prae , just a real life example on my own house to see how it looks and why it was offset.

[prae]

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Sneak peak at progress so far...will try to get it all done this week while weather is still nice. @prae , just a real life example on my own house to see how it looks and why it was offset.

makes perfect sense now! Looking sick.

[eblend]

Well.....got all the roof tops done finally! Just in time for winter to re-appear. Just need to do facia metal but want to chat with my roofer before I do as it's in his stash of metal and want to make sure it won't interfere with roof work he still has to do, as he has to install more metal over the existing cleats.

Pic dump of every roof top!











Next up....not sure, probably work on some window trims on the bottom parts. No more rush as I am done with the machine for a bit here.

[suntan]

Looks good, ready for me to squat in.

[eblend]

Well some progress on the house. Went out there last Tue after work and when I arrived, there was a truck there, ready to take something away, and that something was the work platform that I just finished with a few days prior! I was a bit confused as I was wondering how the fk they were going to finish the roof without it....but whatever, their problem. The machine was still left behind so worst case I could make my own platform with some extra large pallets from my siding if I needed to do anything else, like work on the fascia. Then on Wednesday I got a txt from a supervisor that basically said "Roofing crew coming tomorrow, I am tired of waiting for the other roofer"....and sure enough a crew showed up, and worked straight through the weekend and as of yesterday afternoon my entire roof is done. They didn't need the platform and did everything with ladders. The new roofing guy said it would be best if I had fascia done on the gables, so I started working on that right away from my make-shift platform...hoping that they don't come for the zoom boom until this week...but Friday at 2PM, a truck came and took it away, so I had to finish the rest of the fascia off a ladder....was sketchy at times haha.

The ladder, nearly fully extended. Once at the top you are basically leaning backwards...trying to hold onto the ladder some way....metal in one hand, drill in the other....an extra hand would have helped, but I survived and didn't fall and finished the fascia. The guys finished the roof and finally something is done.

[firebane]

I have foldable scaffolding that unfolds into a giant square platform that can reach 14-15 feet give or take if you want to borrow it.

[eblend]

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I have foldable scaffolding that unfolds into a giant square platform that can reach 14-15 feet give or take if you want to borrow it.

Hey thanks for the offer, very nice of you. I think I am all but finished on anything above 10 feet at the point, but I will keep that in mind and may take you up on the offer. Lots of interior work to do, though not as high, but still up to 14 feet at some points.

[Ekliptix]

Roof looks dope

[ExtraSlow]

Whole thing looks dope.