Done at last!

It would seem that this should be my last post to this blog, but we'll just have to see.  There may be more to add as an epilogue later, and I've found the writing to be quite therapeutic, so anything's possible.  It just so happened to work out that we got the finishing touches all done just in time for the holidays.  With the exception of the end of the driveway (left til after the moving trucks are done), the last contractor left The Roadhouse on December 28th, which would be the official declaration of completion.  The last thing done was a finish coat on the hardwood floors.  All that's left now is to move in (and pave the bottom of the driveway afterwards). 

Since completion came during the holiday season along with lots of move planning, cleaning, and packing, we decided to forego all the formalities of Christmas this year and just keep it simple.  No tree, no decorations, and no big dinners or gatherings at home, just a few visits with good friends and fellowship around town.  As far as presents, my wife received a small box with a key and a garage door openner and I got a short vacation in Miami with my daughter to watch our WVU Mountaineers win the Orange Bowl.  As such, it was a very good Christmas on many levels.  After a long year building The Roadhouse, some downtime before the move - WITHOUT the added pressures and stress normally associated with all the holiday festivities - provided some long awaited relief. 

Looking back over the year's posts, I see that this Blog has pretty much accomplished what I'd hoped at the onset.  If you've been following along with the posts and progress, then there really isn't a whole lot of new things to see or hear.  The walls are painted, the shutters are up, the windows are clean, and everything has come out quite well in the end.  I have two large binders full of completed contracts, invoices, receipts, shipping manifests, building supply  "pick tickets", and some trailing costs and credit card bills to resolve.  If anyone reading is interested in building your own house, I'm planning on packaging up generic versions of all my contracts, plans, estimates, and processes, along with key tips, do's, and don'ts that I'd suggest to help guide you along the way.  Just shoot me an email and for a modest fee I can make it all available to you.  

Many people have asked me if I'd do it again, or - after seeing how well it turned out - if I plan on making this a second career.  I would definitely do it again to build my own house, as the personal satisfaction, rewards, savings, and quality of the end product far surpass anything I would expect had someone else done it for me.  I got exactly what I wanted, I know every inch of the new house, I am certain of the quality in every single piece of material, in every fixture, and in each component, and am certain that I saved dramatically in the final bill/cost. 

At this point, I think it came out substantially BETTER than I had hoped, although I never doubted my own capabilities to plan, lead, and manage the whole project.  I don't know if I'd want to make a living at it though because I don't know if I'd put in as much effort if it weren't mine in the end.  Do I think ANYONE can do this?  Probably not, but I do encourage you to try if you have the least inclination to do so.  It is NOT as difficult or impossible as some would have you believe, but there is some basic knowledge that you need to have, or at least have ready-access to.  For the record, I do have a Bachelors in Engineering and a Masters Degree in Engineering Management, as well as Professional (PMI) Project Management certification, so I may be a bit more adept to such things than some.  But you'd be hard pressed to find many builders with those credentials, so they're obviously not necessary.  One thing you will need is time and availability to the project.  Since my children are college age and the construction site was literally located between my current home and my office, I had the luxury of having both time and availability throughout the project. 

I'll leave you with this one last picture (not the best) of the front finished, and the promise of an external gallery of professional photos to be added HERE later.  I'll also offer the following in summary:

1) After a full year of planning, construction from the initial permitting (prior to "breaking ground") to final completion took approximately 8 months.

2) My actual progress had minor variations from the originally planned schedule, and in the end finished within 2 weeks of the original plan.

3) The total "soup-to-nuts" cost to build ran slightly under $100 per sq.ft., which is about 20% less than a builder would charge if you were to purchase the house after completion.

4) My final cost at completion was within 5% of my original budgeted cost, although I did add some minor "upgrades" along the way that I didn't originally plan for.

5) I underestimated my own time/effort that was needed to complete the project, and probably over-estimated the amount of "help" I would need in managing the effort.

I also met a ton of people in the local building industry.  What I found was that good, honest, reliable tradesmen/people knew other good, honest, reliable people in the business, and conversely those that were just out to make a buck and/or relocate as much money from my pocket to theirs as they could seemed to also be associated with others of similarly lacking virtue.  Just like any other slice of the population, there are good contractors and there are bad contractors.  It's up to you to manage them accordingly and KNOW who you're working with. 

Thanks for listening!