The demolition

The demolition was on Wednesday, July 8th. It was incredible! It's pretty crazy how easy and quick it is to destroy, and how hard and time-consuming to build! The excavator reminded me of a dinosaur, I'm not sure why! Within less than two hours, the house was just a pile of rubble!

As he was demolishing, the dude stopped all of a sudden. We weren't sure why, but then we saw him using the crane to remove a refrigerator from the house!


It was so exciting, we're finally starting!!!! All the planning and talking and now we are going to actually SEE results! It's so weird to think that there's no house there anymore... and I never even stepped inside! HaHa! I guess it's too late for that now :-)

It took a few days for the demolition to be complete. They had to clean up afterwards too. Here's our builder the day of the demolition:


And my husband and 8 month old son:

Meeting with the architect

After we had a clear idea of what we wanted, our builder made a meeting with the architect. Before the meeting, he had given the architect the preliminary plans I had sketched, and showed him a house in the area that we liked, so he came with a general plan for the house. He showed us an elevation as well as layout and we discussed everything we liked and did not like. We talked about things like, how many bathrooms on each floor, where to put each room, windows to use, ceiling heights, etc. The architect listened to our comments and made notes on his sheets.

We stayed in contact with the architect, going back and forth on some details, for a few weeks, after which we met again. This time, we were more pleased with what we saw, and only had minor details to change, such as adding a half bath downstairs, a linen close upstairs, making the garage a little bit smaller, etc.

















From looking at hundreds of elevations, I had found a feature I fell in love with - wing walls!!! I asked if they were costly but was told they aren't, so we added a wing wall on each side of the house. I really loved them! They were something I chose, something I created, and they were just different! Take a look at these wing walls, similar to what I had in mind.

About a week later, the architect sent us the final drafts of the plans. We gave him the OK to draw up the blueprints!

Getting the blueprints was one of the most exciting things... to see all the minor and major details of the house, being able to picture it, was a great feeling! Our builder told us we could have a partial walk-out basement, which is a major plus (especially for resale value), BUT in doing so we would lose our wing walls!! It was a hard decision to make, but in the end, bye bye wing walls!

To see the elevation we came up with with the wing walls see here: DOWNLOAD FILE

With the plans complete, we were ready to demolish!!

Preliminary plans

Let the fun begin!! As we were waiting for permits to come in, our builder told us to start thinking about plans, both for the elevation and the interior. We looked through tons and tons of those books filled with hundreds of elevations and site plans. Some good ones are Impressions of home and Homes of Grandeur by Design Basics Inc. It also helped to go to Realtor and check out the houses currently on the market.

Elevation. For the time being, we only had to have a general idea of the elevation we were going after. Did we want brick? (yes) Stone? (maybe) Cultured stone? (hmmm..) Drivet? (no) What colors did we like? (red, traditional colors) What sort of roof were we going to have? (no idea)

(There are two kinds, a gable roof and a hip roof. A gable roof is two-dimensional, while a gable is three or four. Here is a house with a gable roof (top) and one with a hip roof (bottom). Notice the gable roof is two pieces of roof, while the hip has three or four "faces," which gives it a more aesthetic look. A hip roof is a LOT more expensive than a gable. Before understanding the difference between the two, I would never have noticed! But once they explained it to me, I couldn't see a house without realizing what type of roof it had, and how all the "nice" houses had hip roofs! We were on a budget, though, and a hip roof was out of the question. We decided to go with the gable... but we asked if we could have a small part of the roof be hip. The answer: yes. Success!

The house with the hip roof also has what are known as "coins," those rectangles on the edges of the exterior walls. Coins give a house flair and pizazz. We decided against them, however. With the color of brick we wanted (red), we thought they were unnecessary.

Plans. It's important that you sketch a general idea of the layout you want for your house. Even if it's done on a dinner napkin. I chose the Paint application on my computer and came up with the following drawing.
We took the cardinal directions into consideration. Southern and Eastern exposures are better than Northern and Western (South is best). You want the rooms you use the most (which for us are family room, kitchen/nook, and master bedroom) to have the best exposure to keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Most of our decisions were made based on that, as well as trying to stay away from the house to our north that's pretty close.

We also had a little "problem." The lot is not level, the original house was set on ground which dipped four feet about 5 feet from the house. The driveway as I had drawn it below would require a retaining wall to keep the driveway from sloping downward. A retaining wall, if done properly, is very costly, and if not done properly could settle over the years. My dad, who had done one for the pergola he had built, did not recommend it! So we decided against it.

Preliminary plans are helpful, especially when meeting with the architect. The more information you include, the better. By the time we met with ours, we had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted our house to be!

Next: Meeting with the architect!

Demolition and building permits

Just as anything in this country, lots of paperwork and hoops to jump through to get to the actual building part. The anticipation can kill you!

Since we're demolishing, we also had to get a demolition permit. To get it, we had to talk to several utility companies to make sure their service was turned off at the property. That wasn't the hard part. We had to ask them to send a letter stating that their service was off. Sounds easy huh? Well, it wasn't. We had to talk with four companies - AT&T, DTE (Detroit Energy), CE (Consumer Energy), and Comcast. CE charged us several hundred dollars since we weren't customers of theirs. But it just took forever! AT&T had us directed from department to department, we kept having to call back and check up on the process...It finally worked though. Was a pain! We turned that all in.

We still haven't gotten the building permit. The guy at the city in charge of it only comes in on Mondays, so it's pretty inconvenient. To apply, we had to finalize the plans of the house...which I'll talk about in another post. Hopefully, we'll be getting the permit soon so we can start with the exciting part!

Once you get the demo permit you can demolish, but my brother wanted to wait until we had all the plans and blueprints ready. That way we can demolish then start building immediately after.
So the next step for us was making preliminary plans.

Picking a builder

Picking a builder is like deciding which doctor you want to operate on you...it's a decision that will affect you for a long long time! Luckily for us, my brother is a builder, and a good one at that! But if he weren't, I'd think our decision-making would go somewhat like this:

-Search and make a list. The first thing I'd do is search for a list of local builders, check out their websites and make a list of those in my price range who build houses similar in size, quality, and type to the one I wish to build. Like contemporary style? I don't, but if I did I'd find builders who specialize in building those types of houses.

-Ask around. Know someone who's built his own house? Talk to him and see who built it and how the experience was. Is your friend really recommending someone? Because it's always best to go with someone already tried and tested!

-Check them out. I'd make sure to see pictures of houses the builder has already built, and if possible, visit a model house. Always best to see the finished product with your own eyes! My brother built his own house, and my husband and I love it and want ours to be quite similar to it.

-Meet/talk with them. Once I've whittled my list down a little, I'd meet or talk with the remaining options and see who I feel most comfortable with. When building a house, you're about to enter into a month-long relationship, with sometimes daily communication. You should like your builder, or at least not hate him! Make sure you show or at least describe the lot to your builder. Is there a house currently on the lot? Sometimes parts of the land can't be built on. Make sure you discuss these details! Especially if you're going with a foreclosure.

-Negotiate. Talk numbers from the first visit. Don't get stuck in the position where you've grown fond of a builder, but haven't yet discussed cost. If you're demolishing, don't forget to talk demolition costs. Where does the money you pay for the house go?

-Sign a contract. Be sure to read the contract before signing!! No one likes a surprise!

Got the builder and the lot. Now what? Time to apply for building and demolition (if applicable) permits.

First step - Finding a lot

My husband and I were pretty sure we wanted to build, and not buy, a house so we set out looking for the perfect lot. This may be the most important step in the entire house-building process, because as much as you may like your house, if you don't like where it is, or the land it's on, you're not going to be happy.

The hard economic times we are in are actually to the house-hunter's advantage these days. Once we knew we were going to build, we decided to look for a foreclosed house to tear down. My brother had done this years before, well-no, it wasn't foreclosed, but he bought an old house, tore it down, and built a new one in its place. Sadly, there isn't a shortage of foreclosures in Michigan.

Next we thought about location. We quickly decided on this small picturesque city, with small streets, historic landmarks, and good schools. That narrowed our options a lot, since it's a very little town.

We were in the hospital having our first child when my husband told me about the house he had found online. He had went to see it earlier with my brother and was feeling really good about it. After the anaesthesiologist had given me my epidural, we sat there talking about this house... that would one day become ours.

Since it's old and abandoned (for over two years), my husband had to do some extra homework. He went to the city hall and asked about the house, got the public records, inquired about the sewer and well (it's not city water). It's also a good idea to have a surveyor come out to survey the land to determine where the house can and can't be built. Our builder recommended a surveyor whom we met with on site. The lot is not completely leveled, and having the surveyor discuss our options with us really helped.

In the end, my husband put an offer that was accepted :-) Set on a street, and not a neighborhood, surrounded by trees, private and serene, it was our dream house. Except that it was rundown, broken, and in shambles! But that only made it more exciting.

I wish now that I had taken a picture of it before it was gone. But this picture from afar will have to do. You can kinda see the red brick walls... Now that you have a lot, you need to choose a builder!

Why build?

versus just buying?

Thinking why you should build and waste money on a builder when you can just buy a house that's already up for sale?

Well there are a lot of reasons. The first is, you may actually pay less than, or the same as, you would pay for a house on the market. The reason for this is, sadly, the US economy has hit the building industry badly. Builders are desperate for a project, any project. You may just be able to get yourself a pretty good deal.

*Not sure you can afford to build a house? Calculate an estimate for how much your n ew house will cost and, as Dad always tells me, expect it to cost about 10% more!

The more important reason is of course that building means it is your house. Customized to your liking, everything from the rooftop down to the toilets and doorknobs! You know that feeling where you like a house, but......... Hate that "but"?? Wish you could find a house that has it "all"? Well, by building, you can!

Third, it's FUN!! Watching the house come up is like watching your baby grow. You can observe the construction of the house from the very beginning. It's an adventure for the whole family! When my dad built his house, we would drive out there every weekend, run around, and share notes, "What's changed since last time???" It was our little weekly outing and we loved it.

Convinced? Well, start looking for a lot!

Introduction...

Hey There!

My name's Ranya and I live in Ann Arbor, for the time being that is. My husband and I recently bought an old, run-down, and abandoned foreclosure house that was torn down just yesterday!

My brother (a professional builder) is building us a house on the property, and we are so excited! I plan on using this blog as a way to update the house's progress (with pictures, hopefully) and comment on the entire house-building process! I probably should have started this months ago - before we even bought the house - but I was pregnant and didn't think of it til now! Will try to post at least once every two weeks, but knowing me, it'll probably be more than that! At least in the beginning while I fill you in on all the details that we've already decided on.

Thinking of building a home yourself? Let me tell you, we've only just started but so far it has been extremely exciting...and I know so much more about houses now. It's hard for me to see a house without thinking, "Hmmm.. is that a hip roof, or a gable?" Or, "Wow, check out the stone on that house! But wait, is that cultured stone?" and my newest obsessions, "Look at that front door!" and "To hardwood or not, that is the question."

So for the next week or so I will start at the very beginning. And the adventure begins! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :-)

The pre-building stage includes:

-Deciding to build

-Finding a lot

-Picking a builder

-Demolition and Building permit, if applicable

-Preliminary plans

-Meeting with the architect

-Demolition, if applicable