From the very beginning of envisioning a house on my property, I had high hopes of preserving a sizable twin oak that would end up being pretty close to the front of the house.
The builder was sure we'd be able to keep it. The guy who pulled the stumps kindly avoided the root ball. The surveyor (theoretically) worked hard locating the footprint to save it, and the piling crew did a bunch of handwork to accommodate the roots. It looked like we were home free, pilings sunk and ready to start banding (insert record scratch here)...
*Let's take a pause. There a SO many incidental costs that pop up when you build a house, outside of having to do with the structure itself. SO many. I knew this would be a factor, but no one could give me a ball park figure. In my area, 10k would be a good number to start with if everything goes according to plan...
My property is located in a sensitive ecological zone. A plus is I'm bordered by land that which can't be developed so - minimal neighbors. A minus is the numerous extra regulations, one of which has to do with the setbacks - how close to your property lines you can site the dwelling.
I researched this way back in the beginning, while doing my homework. (we'll revisit this detail later on in the story) What I found was 50' from the front property line and 30' from the sides, which is huge, and majorly impacted where I sited my house, the clearing I did, and what kind of plan and footprint I could choose. There are also strict rules about percentage of acreage cleared, and coverage.
During one of the myriad meetings with the surveyors, I was informed that the setbacks were quite a bit smaller (30' and 12') than what I had thought. This meant I could for sure save the tree. I was overjoyed. They staked my footprint and generated the drawings and paperwork that nothing could progress further without. I mentioned my findings, but was assured that their numbers were good. Here is the start of several themes that persisted throughout my house building experience:
1. I seemed to be the only person researching anything, and
2. to question professionals or not to question professionals...
On the
edge of your seat yet? I won't keep you waiting. The pilings had to be
moved after the county came to inspect the setbacks. (a gigantic error)
Fortunately - due to a symmetrical house plan - we were able to leapfrog just the back row of pilings to
the front row and be within regulations, although getting back on the
piling guy's schedule set us behind by 30 days. And fortunate for me, but not
the oak. Another theme that kept popping up - avoid getting attached - be flexible...
 |
| Bye bye oak :( |
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| When the dumpster appears - you are officially in business! |
This is so exciting! I love a good (or bad, or prolonged) construction story. I’d love a few details about the structure (pilings) and what you have to do to accommodate severe weather. So different than other parts of the country.
ReplyDeleteThis story is mostly good and definitely prolonged. Will explain more about the pilings, sea level and qualifying for insurance soon. :D
DeleteAw I'm sad you couldn't keep the oak
ReplyDeleteMe too - it really bummed me out to kill that tree.
DeletePoor oak. Annoying that the surveyor didn’t do his job correctly. I hope you didn’t have to payy twice for that
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention that... I know I shouldn't have paid for the surveying mistake. Those details remain murky...
DeleteRIP Oak! And good on you for doing all your homework!
ReplyDeleteI treated research on the house building project like it was my job lol. The internet can be an amazing resource.
DeleteNot being able to keep the oak was heartbreaking. And yes, do your research and question EVERYTHING. It is an interesting design and one that we have here but only on houses that jut out over the ocean. I am assuming that your area floods periodically.
ReplyDeleteWe had 9 feet of tide from the sound in hurricane Matthew - year before last. My property had never flooded in anyone's memory before that storm. Very disconcerting.
DeleteWow! Well good for you planning ahead for what may be a future of more frequent storms.
DeleteUgh yes, anything that can happen will, and you should always expect the unexpected. House building and remodeling is stupid complicated. I'm so sorry about the oak, though - maybe you can plant two new ones to symbolize a new start?
ReplyDeleteJen, I am so excited about landscaping I'm about to bust, but still have weeks of work to get moved in before I can think about the outside of the house. Good thing it's winter for a while longer. ;D
DeleteThank you for filling us in on your house-building adventure.
ReplyDeleteI shared the mantra of horse before house (and before children) and I'm glad I did.
I'd waited since I was six years old to have my own horse. Great to hear from you - hope Harley and the family are well!
DeleteI get attached to trees too, sorry about the oak but there must be a good spot to plant more. Building a house up from the ground has to be so frustrating and especially where you are with the ecological limitations. But the good news is that the house is finished and you're enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteI'm appreciating the hell out of the mod cons - having a dishwasher is blowing my mind!
DeleteSo sorry about the oak. Maybe you can plant a new tree once construction is over so you can watch it grow over the years. We lost all of our black cherry trees this year because of all the tropical storms. We only had a few inches of standing water, but it was enough to kill them. I am going to need to find some more hardy tree species to replace them now.
ReplyDeleteStanding water can be a killer. It will smother roots unless the plant is acclimated to flooding. Even then, if water stands long enough native trees can be damaged too. (I'm a landscaper by trade :D)
DeleteWhen we received your holiday card I was blown away by the pictures. You did SO MUCH in 2018!! Looking forward to the extended construction story. I am sorry about the oak, but life is almost always about compromise instead of perfection. I will never forget when we hit our fist rock during farm construction. We were putting in water lines and had already put in several hundred fence posts with nary a pebble in sight. Then we hit a boulder to make up for it all. We hired a backhoe operator to come in to get rid of our boulder but the boulder won. Our water line ended up with a big zig zag in it!! Just one of many "fun" construction stories.
ReplyDeleteI found that construction projects are extra challenging for people with type-A tendencies lol!
DeleteSo interested in all of this!! I'd love to see a breakdown of the unexpected costs.
ReplyDeleteAs for questioning professionals... the farm I used to lease nearby (owned by my old boss at the cat clinic) is in the process of getting a new barn put up. She hired a big name company and did all her research, only to have the company (from Pennsylvania) not apply for the correct permits (NJ has different rules). The whole construction process came to a grinding halt and they ended up having to cut a huge hole in her indoor to make code-abiding stairs. In the meantime, birds got into the apartment space above the barn and pooped all over everything. Awful!! So... in conclusion... always question the professionals if you have doubts.
Also interested in the set backs and dealing with them. Part of the problem with where we live now is that the farmhouse needs to be renovated to be livable... but it's grandfathered in to the set back, so you can't tear it down and rebuild it. You have to re-do it three out of four walls at a time, which nobody is going to be able to do... so it just sits vacant!!!
Glad you were able to just leapfrog the house into its new position, but what a PITA, especially about the delay. So sad about the oak, too...
I will break those extra costs down in an upcoming post for sure. Re the setbacks - you can appeal them with the county commissioners. I came close to doing that. I thought the fact that I was trying to save a mature tree might sway the board - they are used to people just appealing for convenience or finances.
DeleteBy the time the piling situation happened I couldn't afford the delay that an appeal would cause. I would also have had to throw the surveyor and my builder under the bus. They do lots of business with the county and it was an egregious error - seemed too early in the process to alienate everyone... Lots of politics involved in construction here - I'm certain NJ is the same way. ;D
So happy to see these new posts and all the photos! I’m sorry you had to lose the oak but know more than I thought I ever would about setbacks and people who sign off on things that are just wrong. (I’m on our county Board of Adjustment and we hear cases where this happens - but where the house was built without adhering to the codes and at some point it comes up and has to be addressed). Glad yours got straightened out on the front end. :))
ReplyDelete