Looking back on our house build journey, would we have done anything different?

15 Jul, 2022

Building a house from scratch on bare land is not glamorous…

I am proud that we have come this far and we are almost done on the house build, but have so much more to do in terms of landscaping, decorating, and other things that I would like to incorporate into my new home.  

I have received many questions about how we lived during the house build and so I would like to share our story…

…Building a house involves so much more than just the house. We started with buying a piece of land. We brought power to our land. But, before power, we thought hard, we researched, and I could not find many resources which detailed where to begin. I did find many resources on how to build different kinds of houses. I looked at modular houses, container houses, and barndominiums before settling on a traditional house. The prospect of building a unique home was appealing, but it seemed that if you don’t have the cash, it would be challenging to finance alternative buildings in my county. I considered off-grid housing as well and followed several you-tubers on how they did it. I made drawings and plans on all the things I would want as well, pipe dreams…because in the end, it all boils down to money. If you have plenty of it, you can do whatever you want. If you need to borrow it, then you have to have good credit and a good income source. If you don’t have it, well then…you will have to be very creative. We can sacrifice and live rough for a while, but I did not want to do that forever.    

Financing. This took much longer than I expected so start early! It took months to secure financing. Building on bare land, the bank has to take into consideration the value of the land, potential value of the house, and the combined value. Our total value was a good portion more than build costs so we did not have to come in with money down initially, but later, the builder required a considerable amount as a contingency amount above costs which was required up front from us in the form of cash payable to the lender as a holding account. In retrospect, that was smart and necessary because during our build, lumber and materials cost increased by $77K. This was a considerable unforeseen expense and made us sweat (a lot!), but with the contingency fund built in, we were able to continue. Once the build started, I felt like there’s nothing that could be done but to keep pushing forward until it came to a point where we couldn’t go anymore. This increase came upon us right before the foundation was laid so there was nothing that could be done. Once foundation is laid, our contract stated that price becomes fixed (not including change orders) so you can imagine how anxious I was to get the foundation completed. There was a lot of anxiety going into this…

In the beginning, we stayed at hotels (which was expensive!) because we didn’t have anywhere else to go. Staying on property when there is no running water or power is not easy, even though we did do it here and there for a day or two. Especially when you are working outside, and getting more than your average dirty, you really need a good washing to feel right. Our well was drilled about half-way into our project. I am glad that we were able to secure a driller in a reasonable time. Currently, I have heard that wait times could be a year to 2 years ahead and is much more expensive due to the rising cost of materials. If we had not started building when we did, we may have been priced out. As it stands, we are priced out of some of the things (like a shop) we had hoped for (for now anyway…). Each step is documented in more detail as we completed it, so please feel free to browse through previous posts.

Before the RV, we had a camping toilet or rented a port-a-potty. He set out our pop-up tent for shelter while we worked and brought food and drinks in a cooler for the day. We have a box trailer with a RV door and we did camp out in it on a blow up mattress. We have generators for power, but very poor cell phone service on site.

Storage. Purchasing a shipping container was necessary so we could start transporting our stuff over and having storage. I researched several moving companies, but found it to cost prohibitive so with each trip, we hauled out stuff across 3 states to get it here. A shipping container is pretty secure so I felt safe bringing over my stuff. We ended up getting another later because a 20-foot container fills up fast.

Once we had the RV on-site, we were able to stay on our property with our basic needs met. We had a place to stay that had A/C and heat run by propane (tanks) and gas generator, water (water totes that we fill and bring), and food storage. 2 Honda generators supply power and we can cook, bake, and watch basic TV/watch DVDs. Poor cell reception was improved with a cell booster, but still not awesome – cell service only if you are in the RV and facing the receiver. Otherwise, barely any cell service on-site.  This is something that I am still researching. Once the house is live-in ready, I will be more aggressive to find a good internet provider.

Water totes hold approximately 250 gallons each. We have 4 units and go to a local community center to fill at 25 cents/50 gallons. A full size truck bed can fit 2 of these. We bought a water pump to fill the 2 water totes that we leave behind (because once its filled, good luck moving them from the back of the truck (unless you have heavy equipment)! And when the 2 in the truck are empty, we have the option to bring 1 back to refill the 3rd one. You should have at least 2 totes to do this, because if you fill all of them, there’s no where to transfer the water to unless you leave it in the truck. I have seen others with a dedicated trailer for their totes and they must leave it in there until the next fill. Once you don’t have easy access to water, you will really appreciate it when you get it back. In winter, protect them from freezing. Vent the top. We encased ours in styrofoam sheets and duct taped it together. We cut a "hatch" by the spigot that could be removed and replaced. The tote itself did not freeze, but the spigot had a tendency to.  We faced the totes towards the sun (this has to be planned because once its on the ground and full, good luck moving it without heavy machinery) and opened the hatch to expose the spigots to the sun to defrost it. Then when the sun went down, we closed it up again. 

If you are the builder, you can stay in an unfinished house. If you are using a builder, as we are (Lexar Homes), we are not restricted from entering the house (as we are doing work in the house too), but we are not to live in it or store any personal belongings in the house until it is completely finished. It states in the contract, that if we move items into the house prior to completion, we accept house as is. This really applies to the end when the house is complete, but punch-list of 'need to repair' items are unfinished.  We have been able to meet and speak with many of the contractors who have come to work on our house and discuss things here and there, but no major changes are to be made through the contractor. All changes must go through the builder.

Laundry. During the warm months, I washed clothes by hand and dried them on a clothesline. I have to admit, I don’t do as good a job as a washing machine, but it was OK. Clothes hung to dry are a bit ‘crunchy’ and don’t have that fluffy soft feel that comes from a clothes dryer. As the weather got colder, it took longer for clothes to dry. Hand wringing clothes doesn’t get the water out like the spin cycle of a washer. I finally made the move to find a washer and found one on Facebook marketplace (one of my favorite places to look for stuff) from a local seller. We bought the washer in the winter. I was so excited because washing clothes in ice cold water by hand sucks. The washer was promised to work.

We still do not have a running water source so I planned to dump water in as needed manually. 1st load, I put the laundry detergent in + water and I heard the motor trying to work and smelled smoke…uh oh… stopped it immediately. Ended up taking all of the clothes out hanging them up until they were damp and then they were hung in the house during the night when there were no workers. The house had drywall at this point and had to have large heaters running 24/7 so it was perfect. Art being the mechanic that he is, took the washer motor apart and it turned out that previous water had not been drained and had frozen in the motor. We melted the water and were able to wash clothes, being careful to drain it out fully when we were done. The washer could be plugged into the house, we had it on a dolly initially and then decided later to keep it by the RV and use the generators for power. 

Water pump. We bought an on-demand water pump from an RV store that we hooked in-line from a water tote to the washer. This same pump provided on-demand water to the RV which means we didn’t have to keep the RV filled with water. This was another game changer. During this same winter trip, we found our RV water heater tank had exploded while we were gone, water inside had frozen and burst the tank walls. Always empty your RV water heater tank if you think it might freeze! This was an unexpected expense. We will never make that mistake again. Life is an ongoing learning process.       

RV Black tank. Anyone who has an RV knows that there are separate water tanks. There is one for the kitchen, grey water from shower/bathroom sink, and black wastewater which is from the toilet(s). If you use the toilet, you will eventually have to empty the poop and pee in there. One way is to dump at a RV dump site. If you do not want to move your RV, an option is to transport the black tank contents in a portable septic tank and dump at a RV dump site. Neither are glamourous. Since we have a port-a-potty on-site, we use that during the day, but in the middle of the night or early morning…well we use our RV toilet. We are lucky that the local fairgrounds offers free RV dumping and in warm months, they have a water bib for a hose (BYOH – Bring Your Own Hose) available for use. We use a Camco Rhino 36-gallon Portable Holding Tank. It may be more expensive than some of the other ones out there, but after reading horror stories about wheels falling off, leakage, and other mishaps, I wanted the best for our poo with the least possible risk of problems.

Moving from far away. We are from Central California. We lived in Hawaii. We have a lot of stuff. We sold replaceable items, but we still have a lot of stuff. It is over 1000 miles one-way for us between our old home and our new Idahome. Movers are expensive, extremely in-demand leaving CA, and some are rumored to be downright thieves. We chose to transport our stuff ourselves. Every trip we make to work on our house is an opportunity to bring more stuff. We bring truck and trailers, both of us driving a truck and some kind of trailer as we get closer to house completion. We have (2) 20-foot shipping containers plus several pop-up carports to store our things on-site. Any structure over 200 s.f. requires a permit so each storage unit is less than that.

It’s not glamorous to live in your RV right next to a nice house. It feels surreal to see it coming up so fast. With each trip, more of it is completed.

Back home where we are preparing our last home for sale, we have sold off many things and are moving the rest so many of the luxuries like furniture are gone too. We installed new carpet and we don’t want to get it dirty. We are sleeping on a mattress on the floor and many of our things are resting on or stored in cardboard boxes. We have been eating out more often because I don’t want to dirty the kitchen or have food smells in the house in case a prospective buyer shows up.

Obtaining permits and moving forward was pretty easy in Bonner County. I hear that it is more difficult in the neighboring Kootenai County to the south, but even easier in neighboring Boundary County to the north.  It is important to get your tradesmen scheduled. Our builder has their own contractors for the house (framers, plumbers, electricians, HVAC, flooring, etc.) but besides the house, we were responsible for excavation, power, water, and septic. We found a great excavation company in Leroy Ross and Construction Management Team (CMT). CMT did our foundation, roads, and septic. He has the knowledge, the equipment, and the manpower to get things done. We chose to do the outside electrical ourselves. Well was drilled by JR Cantrall of Northern Lights Drilling, booked almost half a year or more in advance. We dropped our own well pump and trenched water and electrical line, and set the water pressure tank, ourselves. Pump supplies for well and septic through Rick at R C Worst in Coeur D’Alene. There may be better prices elsewhere, but I appreciated Rick's service and willingness to talk us through some of this. 

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to keep your job site accessible if you are working with other people. Cutting roads, laying road fabric and bringing in almost 35 dump truck loads of rock as well as having a snowplow guy on retainer was one of the best choices we made and kept our build moving forward even when weather tried to stop us.  T. Laude Services was our guy. He was reliable, honest, and kept our property accessible when we were not there for contractors. Contractors come to work, not to dig stuff out. And if they can't get in, they leave and still bill for the trip.

In current times, there is a delay in obtaining supplies...for us as well as the builder and tradesmen. Be patient. Be flexible. We commuted from 1000 miles away and got this done. I kept in touch with everyone I was working with. I had expectations, but sometimes things don’t work on your timeline. I am happy with our progress and results. I took a bit longer to get the well pump. Some of our interior doors and heat pump were delaying in arriving. If one thing couldn’t be accomplished, we tried to do something else to make our time work. Keeping in constant touch with the different people you are working with is so important to keep everyone on the same page and moving forward. We committed to coming once a month during the building process from the time foundation was laid.

Once foundation was done, we were responsible for waterproofing the foundation walls and backfilling the dirt and filling the garage with gravel. Having our own excavator was completely necessary. Without it, we would have been manually spreading and moving rock and that is painstakingly hard labor. We had to have temp power ready to continue. Framing followed. We had to have water available on site, we used water totes with spigots for crew to wash as needed in the dead of winter. Then insulation and drywall, in conjunction with electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. Once drywall was in, we ran heaters and fans 24/7 and our power bill was upwards of $500+ for a few months. Once drywall was dry and textured, we were responsible to paint interior and exterior (was too cold to paint exterior). Then came flooring and trim and doors. We had to paint that too. Garage concrete was poured. Have yet to paint/seal that. Then electrical, plumbing, HVAC. It's a good idea to walk each room and think about where you will need plugs. We chose to add extras like electric plugs under the eave in front for Christmas lights, plugs in back for possible future spa. We decided to not put a chandelier where the dining table could be and opted for all can lights to leave options open. We asked for rough-in power to add ceiling fans (which was much cheaper to do ourselves). Think about where you want cable, phone, etc. We were lucky to have been able to do that with the electrician on site and he gave us some ideas also. Looking at your house on paper plans is not the same as walking through in person. Once the house is buttoned up and seemingly done, a final walk through to identify areas that need to be fixed = punch-list. Once the punch-list is complete, it's yours, time to move in. 

Connectivity. North Idaho has a lot of poor cell connection areas. There is very little cell service out in the open. Our Hi-Boost cell booster was a game changer, though far from perfect. At least we could make calls or search the internet if we were in the RV.  I am continuing to research this, so check back if this interests you.

Looking back, here are some things I may have done differently:

• I would have gotten a water source sooner on property. We brought in water totes, but not until many months into our build. This would have allowed us to wash up on property better. When we were just starting this journey, were staying in hotels and bringing 3-gallon empty cat litter bottles (water filled at the hotel) with us on property to water plants and wash hands. I would have booked a well driller sooner. I was surprised how far out they were booked.

• We rented a port-a-potty short term each time we came initially and once we really got rolling, on a month to month basis. As of this writing, we are using Ace Septic Services for $80/month which includes regular servicing of the port-a-potty. Maybe I would have just bought our own…what we have paid over the year may have paid for one.

• I would have liked to have brought our RV to the property sooner so we didn’t have to stay in hotels. Having the RV on-site was a total game changer. (My kids were still showing livestock with 4-H at the local fairs and were using the RV early on, so we brought it as soon as we could)

• Our well and septic are being completed towards the end of our build. I am not sure if having those things sooner would have made a difference. But, having running water is nothing short of amazing. Painting without running water means sometimes you throw things away like paint brushes because it’s easier (but wasteful) than washing with the limited supply that you have.

As of July 2022, we have moved into our house. We started this journey in 2019 and once ground was broken on October 2021, progress was quick. We have a few more things to do, but the big things are done!  near future projects... water filtration/water softener systems, garage floor protection, internet and landline, setting up livestock lodging (pigs and goats coming soon!)...