[N8 v2.0]

Oh, the fun you can have when you don't need a basement!

I'll be pouring this baby tomorrow morning... 75 years of concrete and a pump truck.

Cha....ching!!!!

 

[stinkyboy]

75 years of concrete

WTF?!

How do you post all freaking day, and still act like you do real work?

 

[motomike]

mmm looks like a lot of fun!

 

[stosh]

Oh, the fun you can have when you don't need a basement!

I'll be pouring this baby tomorrow morning... 75 years of concrete and a pump truck.

Cha....ching!!!!

I bet that house will look exactly like the other 5 around it.

 

[Westy]

Nothing like 3200ft of concrete and 600ft of yard.

 

[stosh]

Nothing like 3200ft of concrete and 600ft of yard.

Bwahhhhhhhhhhh
and the 600 sq ft of yard is all you can see because of the 8' high fence encasing it.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I bet that house will look exactly like the other 5 around it.

I know that it will... since there are already at least a dozen houses that are the same plan as this one that I've already built around it.

Cha... ching $$$$!!!!

 

[stosh]

I know that it will... since there are already at least a dozen houses that are the same plan as this one that I've already built around it.

Cha... ching $$$$!!!!

It's funny how you will defend this till the death.

Communities like this make me sad, it's the kids of the people who live in houses like yours who stand in line waiting for Xbox's.

 

[dan-o]

I bet that house will look exactly like the other 5 around it.

Are all the houses you work on at the leading edge of design?

It sounds to me like N8 is doing very well for himself building what is considered the market standard in his area.

N8 do you design these houses or just build them? From what I gather, you're the GC not the developer

 

[N8 v2.0]

It's funny how you will defend this till the death.

Communities like this make me sad, it's the kids of the people who live in houses like yours who stand in line waiting for Xbox's.

It's what the customer wants... not what you feel the customer should want. The sooner you learn this, the sooner you will be able to run your own company.

 

[stosh]

It's what the customer wants... not what you feel the customer should want. The sooner you learn this, the sooner you will be able to run your own company.

Acutally the CUSTOMERS never know what they want. They know what HGTV tells them they should want.

 

[Brian HCM#1]

That pour looks a little thin in some areas.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Are all the houses you work on at the leading edge of design?

It sounds to me like N8 is doing very well for himself building what is considered the marker standard in his area.

N8 do you design these houses or just build them? From what I gather, your the GC not the developer

I am a GC. Someone else is the developer for this area. But I do design the house I build... they have to conforn to what the developer's requirements are however.

I'd LOVE to do a developement though, but that takes some serious cash and I'd have to get some investors to pull it off.

 

[N8 v2.0]

That pour looks a little thin in some areas.

All that's needed is 4" of concrete unless there is a foundation beam.

The depressions you are seeing are probably the garage and porches...

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Are all the houses you work on at the leading edge of design?

It sounds to me like N8 is doing very well for himself building what is considered the marker standard in his area.

N8 do you design these houses or just build them? From what I gather, your the GC not the developer

It's more profitable to stick with 1 or 2 designs, that way you don't have to pay an architect each time. The city has already approved the plans so it makes things go a bit smoother. It's all about getting them built fast so you don't have to sit on the loan any longer than necessary.

 

[stosh]

Are all the houses you work on at the leading edge of design?

It sounds to me like N8 is doing very well for himself building what is considered the market standard in his area.

N8 do you design these houses or just build them? From what I gather, you're the GC not the developer

They have been but are not always of course.

Any house designed here is designed around what the exact needs of the clients are.

These are spec houses that don't relate to the buyer at all.

 

[N8 v2.0]

It's more profitable to stick with 1 or 2 designs, that way you don't have to pay an architect each time. The city has already approved the plans so it makes things go a bit smoother. It's all about getting them built fast so you don't have to sit on the loan any longer than necessary.

Yup.

In construction time is truely money!!!

 

[N8 v2.0]

They have been but are not always of course.

Any house designed here is designed around what the exact needs of the clients are.

These are spec houses that don't relate to the buyer at all.

!


You can get away with that when you are not in the $150k-$200k market like I am.

 

[dan-o]

It's what the customer wants... not what you feel the customer should want. The sooner you learn this, the sooner you will be able to run your own company.

Bingo. I'll give my opinion if people ask but I won't let their bad judgement/taste stand in the way of making $ off them, that's Dwell magazines job.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Bingo. I'll give my opinion if people ask but I won't let their bad judgement/taste stand in the way of making $ off them, that's Dwell magazines job.

Dwell has some great ideas... but they are beyond the reach of many buyers.

I got some pricing info from them on some of their homes and the construction cost alone is $200/square foot*.

In my area, I need to have a construction cost of around $50/sf* to stay competive and have houses appraise for what they are worth.

*Land excluded from the cost

 

[Greyhound]

It's funny how you will defend this till the death..

Defend what? His intelligence to build houses that make money? Yeah, that's just crazy-talk there.......

Communities like this make me sad, it's the kids of the people who live in houses like yours who stand in line waiting for Xbox's.

Communities of houses make you sad? Weren't you designing a community project yourself just recently? I find it hard to believe that all of the houses will be that different from each other. I fix architect goof-ups every day.........

 

[Brian HCM#1]

All that's needed is 4" of concrete unless there is a foundation beam.

The depressions you are seeing are probably the garage and porches...

Here in our area they do a 8-10" pour.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Here in our area they do a 8-10" pour.

La is not a hot bed of seismic activity...

 

[stosh]

Defend what? His intelligence to build houses that make money? Yeah, that's just crazy-talk there.......


Communities of houses make you sad? Weren't you designing a community project yourself just recently? I find it hard to believe that all of the houses will be that different from each other. I fix architect goof-ups every day.........

yes we were designing a community and the reason we were doing it was so communities like the one above don't happen.

Communities are a good thing.
Here's a good example, driver thru any older community and observe it. I dare you to find 2 house identical like the ones above. Also observe how the yards are seperated and how the houses are located on the lot. Then ask yourself why average working people could afford homes that were so nice.

I don't only blame the builder, I blame the local goverments and the almighty $ too for ruining architecture as we know it.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Bwahhhhhhhhhhh
and the 600 sq ft of yard is all you can see because of the 8' high fence encasing it.

The coolest part is being able to mow & edge your yard in 20 minutes so you can go biking!

 

[stosh]

The coolest part is being able to mow & edge your yard in 20 minutes so you can go biking!

I enjoy mowing the lawn and I still find time to ride.

These pople won't have time to ride because it will take them 2hrs to find thier house in that sea of home.

 

[N8 v2.0]

So when is the Stoshville Estates development going to be ready for construction?

 

[stosh]

So when is the Stoshville Estates development going to be ready for construction?

I've accepted the fact that I'll never be able to design an entire community. However when I'm able to build my own home it will of course be my own design and it's not going to be big and if I'm lucky it will be in a village or town.

 

[dan-o]

Stosh you should start a design charity that subsidizes the cost difference between 'good design' and what people can afford.

As for finding identical houses in older developments, you need to look harder. In my town I can find 50's era homes replicated in several different parts of town. Identical down to the paint scheme in some cases.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I've accepted the fact that I'll never be able to design an entire community. However when I'm able to build my own home it will of course be my own design and it's not going to be big and if I'm lucky it will be in a village or town.

Good luck with the local architectual review boards/codes/neighbors and good luck financing a $200/sf home that is in an area where homes appraise at $120/sf....

 

[stosh]

Stosh you should start a design charity that subsidizes the cost difference between 'good design' and what people can afford.

As for finding identical houses in older developments, you need to look harder. In my town I can find 50's era homes replicated in several different parts of town. Identical down to the paint scheme in some cases.

I actually meant to include a note about "pre- 1950"
After WWII the housing market changed.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I actually meant to include a note about "pre- 1950"
After WWII the housing market changed.

Do you know what kind of home the 'average' joe lived in prior to WWII and the VA home loan program?



:nuts:

 

[Greyhound]

yes we were designing a community and the reason we were doing it was so communities like the one above don't happen.

Communities are a good thing.
Here's a good example, driver thru any older community and observe it. I dare you to find 2 house identical like the ones above. Also observe how the yards are seperated and how the houses are located on the lot. Then ask yourself why average working people could afford homes that were so nice.



I don't only blame the builder, I blame the local goverments and the almighty $ too for ruining architecture as we know it.

I don't understand what you are trying to say. 30 years ago, land was a lot cheaper, there was more of it, and the average wages of said workers were waaay lower than what they are now. I drive through older communities around here and I see groups of ranches, groups of arts&crafts, groups of colonials........but I certainly don't see a colonial beside a tudor beside a ranch.....At least that's the way we do it down here. We like consistency and non-contrasting styles. Not everyone can live in a Frank Lloyd, dude. Take a look at average lot sizes as opposed to 30 years ago......Be willing to bet you that those ranches built in the early 70's had lots more room to work with. They aren't making anymore real estate. Communities are getting packed-in on top of each other, but that's what we're forced to deal with. Nobody wants to build "up"....everyone wants to spraw "out" You can only spraw so far before you run into somebody else. Governments didn't "ruin" architecture......I have no idea what that was supposed to mean. Care to further explain?

 

[dan-o]

I actually meant to include a note about "pre- 1950"
After WWII the housing market changed.

I figured that. Unfortunately, 'mass production' of any item leads to the erosion of diversity.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I figured that. Unfortunately, 'mass production' of any item leads to the erosion of diversity.

But it does make things affordable.

 

[narlus]

These pople won't have time to ride because it will take them 2hrs to find thier house in that sea of home.

levittown, anyone?

btw, i still owe douglas a picture of my house front.

 

[stosh]

Good luck with the local architectual review boards/codes/neighbors and good luck financing a $200/sf home that is in an area where homes appraise at $120/sf....

Actually a huge cost of construction locally is the cost of dealing with the local codes/review boards. I'm not sure how it's set up but around here it's a town by town basis and the people who sit on the review boards are mostly average people who live in the community how know little about developement. They have the civil engineers/architect/cosultants in some cases go thru years of review meetings all the while driving the average cost of a home up. It's BAD around here.

I understand the difficulites but IMO to raise kids in a community with shops, parks, chuches, entertainment, and the like all within walking distance is far more important than getting a deal on a house what could be considered a chicken coupe of housing.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I understand the difficulites but IMO to raise kids in a community with shops, parks, chuches, entertainment, and the like all within walking distance is far more important than getting a deal on a house what could be considered a chicken coupe of housing.

Your best hope would be to move into an inner city neighborhood and revitalize it.

 

[stosh]

Your best hope would be to move into an inner city neighborhood and revitalize it.

There are pleanty of communites out there.

The town I work in is like that because it's semi isolated from Walmart and Home Depot. The cost of living here is higher but it's worth it.

 

[narlus]

Your best hope would be to move into an inner city neighborhood and revitalize it.

he's right. it's a real trade-off. i would love to be able to walk to stuff and not be so reliant on a car, but on the other hand i then wouldn't have an acre of land and bike trails right near my house. living in a city again (dublin) definitely had some merit, but there were things i missed too, like having a nice yard i could play in, not living on a busy street where my kids won't worry about getting plowed over, and cranking my stereo as loud as i wanted w/o offending anyone.