[UCGal]

I like that design.

Note – if you do a hillside house, on caissons, like shown, you’ll need a soils report (more $$$) and geotechnical to “bless the dirt” during the drilling. Hillside building (vs a level building site) definitely adds some issues.

And if you’re within San Diego and doing hillside work you might have to address the storm water runnoff from the roof… That’s another bill – civil engineering.

Yes, engineering can get expensive and is not included in the $200-230/sf.

I was surprised how little the surface materials (flooring, countertops, bathroom tile) impacted the construction price. And how much engineering did.

[UCGal]

I like that design.

Note – if you do a hillside house, on caissons, like shown, you’ll need a soils report (more $$$) and geotechnical to “bless the dirt” during the drilling. Hillside building (vs a level building site) definitely adds some issues.

And if you’re within San Diego and doing hillside work you might have to address the storm water runnoff from the roof… That’s another bill – civil engineering.

Yes, engineering can get expensive and is not included in the $200-230/sf.

I was surprised how little the surface materials (flooring, countertops, bathroom tile) impacted the construction price. And how much engineering did.

[UCGal]

I like that design.

Note – if you do a hillside house, on caissons, like shown, you’ll need a soils report (more $$$) and geotechnical to “bless the dirt” during the drilling. Hillside building (vs a level building site) definitely adds some issues.

And if you’re within San Diego and doing hillside work you might have to address the storm water runnoff from the roof… That’s another bill – civil engineering.

Yes, engineering can get expensive and is not included in the $200-230/sf.

I was surprised how little the surface materials (flooring, countertops, bathroom tile) impacted the construction price. And how much engineering did.

[UCGal]

[quote=Casca]UCG, slum a little, and try Primavera (intimate and pleasant) & Peohes (great winelist).
[/quote]
I’ve been to Peohes for brunch. I forgot about that. We took the passenger ferry over. It was really nice.

[UCGal]

[quote=Casca]UCG, slum a little, and try Primavera (intimate and pleasant) & Peohes (great winelist).
[/quote]
I’ve been to Peohes for brunch. I forgot about that. We took the passenger ferry over. It was really nice.

[UCGal]

[quote=Casca]UCG, slum a little, and try Primavera (intimate and pleasant) & Peohes (great winelist).
[/quote]
I’ve been to Peohes for brunch. I forgot about that. We took the passenger ferry over. It was really nice.

[UCGal]

[quote=Casca]UCG, slum a little, and try Primavera (intimate and pleasant) & Peohes (great winelist).
[/quote]
I’ve been to Peohes for brunch. I forgot about that. We took the passenger ferry over. It was really nice.

[UCGal]

[quote=Casca]UCG, slum a little, and try Primavera (intimate and pleasant) & Peohes (great winelist).
[/quote]
I’ve been to Peohes for brunch. I forgot about that. We took the passenger ferry over. It was really nice.

[UCGal]

We just built a small house (companion unit) for my elderly in-laws to live in. My husband designed it. (He’s an architect and doesn’t typically do residential but he had big ideas.)

While we didn’t have post and beam construction we did avoid the engineered roof trusses that are so common here – I can confirm what was said about the city of San Diego requiring metal brackets where the post and beam meet. Be prepared to spend some money on structural engineers to sign off on everything. (Our structural and civil engineering bills were pretty significant.)

I can also say – do your vetting of your contractor in the most extreme way you can. I can’t emphasise this enough. Our first contractor ripped us off for more than 100k (saying he provided work that he hadn’t) then walked off the job when we caught him and wouldn’t give him even more money. It was a nightmare. Don’t just call the references the contractor gives you. Don’t just check his license. A legitimate complaint can take YEARS to show against the license. And that’s only for the people willing to go to the trouble that is neccessary to follow up with the CSLB.

That said – there are good contractors out there. But keep in mind that even the best contractor is trying to maximize their profit – so they’ll cut any corners they can get away with. So you need to be very familiar with the plans and do your own supervision. It’s pretty close to a full time job. We’re still trying to get resolution with our 2nd contractor on things they swapped out without our permission.

That said – the satisfaction of seeing a home go from an idea to completion is really pretty darn cool.

[UCGal]

We just built a small house (companion unit) for my elderly in-laws to live in. My husband designed it. (He’s an architect and doesn’t typically do residential but he had big ideas.)

While we didn’t have post and beam construction we did avoid the engineered roof trusses that are so common here – I can confirm what was said about the city of San Diego requiring metal brackets where the post and beam meet. Be prepared to spend some money on structural engineers to sign off on everything. (Our structural and civil engineering bills were pretty significant.)

I can also say – do your vetting of your contractor in the most extreme way you can. I can’t emphasise this enough. Our first contractor ripped us off for more than 100k (saying he provided work that he hadn’t) then walked off the job when we caught him and wouldn’t give him even more money. It was a nightmare. Don’t just call the references the contractor gives you. Don’t just check his license. A legitimate complaint can take YEARS to show against the license. And that’s only for the people willing to go to the trouble that is neccessary to follow up with the CSLB.

That said – there are good contractors out there. But keep in mind that even the best contractor is trying to maximize their profit – so they’ll cut any corners they can get away with. So you need to be very familiar with the plans and do your own supervision. It’s pretty close to a full time job. We’re still trying to get resolution with our 2nd contractor on things they swapped out without our permission.

That said – the satisfaction of seeing a home go from an idea to completion is really pretty darn cool.

[UCGal]

We just built a small house (companion unit) for my elderly in-laws to live in. My husband designed it. (He’s an architect and doesn’t typically do residential but he had big ideas.)

While we didn’t have post and beam construction we did avoid the engineered roof trusses that are so common here – I can confirm what was said about the city of San Diego requiring metal brackets where the post and beam meet. Be prepared to spend some money on structural engineers to sign off on everything. (Our structural and civil engineering bills were pretty significant.)

I can also say – do your vetting of your contractor in the most extreme way you can. I can’t emphasise this enough. Our first contractor ripped us off for more than 100k (saying he provided work that he hadn’t) then walked off the job when we caught him and wouldn’t give him even more money. It was a nightmare. Don’t just call the references the contractor gives you. Don’t just check his license. A legitimate complaint can take YEARS to show against the license. And that’s only for the people willing to go to the trouble that is neccessary to follow up with the CSLB.

That said – there are good contractors out there. But keep in mind that even the best contractor is trying to maximize their profit – so they’ll cut any corners they can get away with. So you need to be very familiar with the plans and do your own supervision. It’s pretty close to a full time job. We’re still trying to get resolution with our 2nd contractor on things they swapped out without our permission.

That said – the satisfaction of seeing a home go from an idea to completion is really pretty darn cool.

[UCGal]

We just built a small house (companion unit) for my elderly in-laws to live in. My husband designed it. (He’s an architect and doesn’t typically do residential but he had big ideas.)

While we didn’t have post and beam construction we did avoid the engineered roof trusses that are so common here – I can confirm what was said about the city of San Diego requiring metal brackets where the post and beam meet. Be prepared to spend some money on structural engineers to sign off on everything. (Our structural and civil engineering bills were pretty significant.)

I can also say – do your vetting of your contractor in the most extreme way you can. I can’t emphasise this enough. Our first contractor ripped us off for more than 100k (saying he provided work that he hadn’t) then walked off the job when we caught him and wouldn’t give him even more money. It was a nightmare. Don’t just call the references the contractor gives you. Don’t just check his license. A legitimate complaint can take YEARS to show against the license. And that’s only for the people willing to go to the trouble that is neccessary to follow up with the CSLB.

That said – there are good contractors out there. But keep in mind that even the best contractor is trying to maximize their profit – so they’ll cut any corners they can get away with. So you need to be very familiar with the plans and do your own supervision. It’s pretty close to a full time job. We’re still trying to get resolution with our 2nd contractor on things they swapped out without our permission.

That said – the satisfaction of seeing a home go from an idea to completion is really pretty darn cool.

[UCGal]

We just built a small house (companion unit) for my elderly in-laws to live in. My husband designed it. (He’s an architect and doesn’t typically do residential but he had big ideas.)

While we didn’t have post and beam construction we did avoid the engineered roof trusses that are so common here – I can confirm what was said about the city of San Diego requiring metal brackets where the post and beam meet. Be prepared to spend some money on structural engineers to sign off on everything. (Our structural and civil engineering bills were pretty significant.)

I can also say – do your vetting of your contractor in the most extreme way you can. I can’t emphasise this enough. Our first contractor ripped us off for more than 100k (saying he provided work that he hadn’t) then walked off the job when we caught him and wouldn’t give him even more money. It was a nightmare. Don’t just call the references the contractor gives you. Don’t just check his license. A legitimate complaint can take YEARS to show against the license. And that’s only for the people willing to go to the trouble that is neccessary to follow up with the CSLB.

That said – there are good contractors out there. But keep in mind that even the best contractor is trying to maximize their profit – so they’ll cut any corners they can get away with. So you need to be very familiar with the plans and do your own supervision. It’s pretty close to a full time job. We’re still trying to get resolution with our 2nd contractor on things they swapped out without our permission.

That said – the satisfaction of seeing a home go from an idea to completion is really pretty darn cool.

[UCGal]

The buzz being caused by folks like Greenspan, Lindsey Graham, and Chris Dodd.

Did you see Roubini and Krugman on “This Week” yesterday… even George Will admitted it might be the best move for the taxpayers.

If we can talk seriously about forced, managed bankruptcies for the automakers, we should be able to apply the same logic/sense to the behometh banks. BofA and Citi are zombies. That will be uncovered in the “stress test”.

[UCGal]

The buzz being caused by folks like Greenspan, Lindsey Graham, and Chris Dodd.

Did you see Roubini and Krugman on “This Week” yesterday… even George Will admitted it might be the best move for the taxpayers.

If we can talk seriously about forced, managed bankruptcies for the automakers, we should be able to apply the same logic/sense to the behometh banks. BofA and Citi are zombies. That will be uncovered in the “stress test”.

[Author]

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