Builders Forum

The Off-Topic forum for anything non-LDS related, such as sports or politics. Rated PG through PG-13.
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dantana
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by dantana »

Canpakes, This is my fav.

Image

I think this will certainly be the most expensive.
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Actually, this is my fav. Concrete stamped to look like rock.

Image

A lot of it is going to depend on the soils. In my area the soils up on the hillsides tends to be heavy and/or big rock. A lot of times the cuts don't even require retaining walls as they are not unstable, with the walls being mostly decoration.
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subgenius
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by subgenius »

dantana wrote:
Tue Dec 29, 2020 7:13 pm
...
I think I've seen it said on here you work in the building industry. Engineering? Architecture? What is your game Sg?
...
Architect. Background in residential and hospitality. Primary specialty, for a few decades, is commercial ( death care industry).
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canpakes
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by canpakes »

dantana wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 12:22 am

Actually, this is my fav. Concrete stamped to look like rock.

Image
That image is a pretty impressive example of a stamped concrete face. Definitely one of the more realistic I’ve seen.

The stacked rock approach seems popular in my part of Utah. I actually have a stretch of existing retaining wall that needs replacement, given that it has pitched out around 10+ degrees from soil movement, freeze/thaw, or improper initial design regarding drainage - likely all three - and using stacked rock might be the easiest new option. We’d need to cut back a bit more into the yard, though, to stay legal with the adjacent property. Then there’s the removal and disposal cost of the existing poured wall. It has been around for almost 60 years and I’d prefer that it hang in for at least another 5 or 10 years so that we can keep stuffing our piggy bank for the fix.

The max height is around 3’, so that makes the task more much more manageable. For certain, treated timbers and landscape blocks could do the trick, but I’m not completely sold on the former and both SO and myself dislike the look of the latter. I keep hoping to run across something more novel and architecturally attractive but haven’t found that magic combination yet. : )
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subgenius
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by subgenius »

canpakes wrote:
Tue Dec 29, 2020 4:13 am
...
And I can’t stamp retaining wall designs as I’m not a licensed LA. ..
I thought, in Cali (and most States), only licensed structural engineers or civil engineers could stamp/sign retaining wall designs (under majority of design conditions).
Am i misinformed?
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canpakes
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by canpakes »

subgenius wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:24 am
canpakes wrote:
Tue Dec 29, 2020 4:13 am
...
And I can’t stamp retaining wall designs as I’m not a licensed LA. ..
I thought, in Cali, only licensed structural engineers or civil engineers could stamp/sign retaining wall designs (under majority of design conditions).
Am i misinformed?
I don’t know how the rules go in California. I don’t live there.
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subgenius
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by subgenius »

canpakes wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:26 am
subgenius wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:24 am

I thought, in Cali, only licensed structural engineers or civil engineers could stamp/sign retaining wall designs (under majority of design conditions).
Am i misinformed?
I don’t know how the rules go in California. I don’t live there.
Yes, i realized my error and revised to clarify "most States" (if not all).
Your State would certainly be unique if it allowed as much for an LA.
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canpakes
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by canpakes »

subgenius wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:29 am
canpakes wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:26 am


I don’t know how the rules go in California. I don’t live there.
Yes, i realized my error and revised to clarify "most States" (if not all).
Your State would certainly be unique if it allowed as much for an LA.
If keeping at 3 feet or less, this is not an issue anyway. My design preference would be to avoid walls in excess of that height for several reasons. From personal experience, and space permitting, there are often more attractive approaches than using walls in excess of 3’, although it’s not always possible to do so. YMMV.
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subgenius
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by subgenius »

canpakes wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:45 am
subgenius wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:29 am

Yes, i realized my error and revised to clarify "most States" (if not all).
Your State would certainly be unique if it allowed as much for an LA.
If keeping at 3 feet or less, this is not an issue anyway. My design preference would be to avoid walls in excess of that height for several reasons. From personal experience, and space permitting, there are often more attractive approaches than using walls in excess of 3’, although it’s not always possible to do so. YMMV.
Yes the general 3ft rule for "no engineer" is pretty consistent across States for qualifying a retaining wall (coincident with 3 ft rule for trench depth).
Nevertheless the list of professions allowed to stamp/sig on calculations on +3 wall is also consistent...and short.
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raoama
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by raoama »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:09 am
Some Schmo wrote:
Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:19 pm

Yeah, I've got to second this. I've been considering building a house, so I appreciate the great information.

I suspect there's some regional variance in the prices, but the breakdown is what's great here. Thanks for this, dantana.
Just know that the prices will vary during the planning process and something could jump up and change the entire plan. Example, our home started out with hand drawn plans that I made myself. I had the configuration of each room upstairs and downstairs (stack your plumbing wherever possible, it's cheaper) right on down to the square footage and it was supposed to be a nice log home using 12 inch logs. Right? Right?

Yeah right.

By the time the blueprints were drawn up (took 3 revisions because the architect kept putting in stuff I never asked for) and we started pricing it out, some darn thing happened in the logging industry in the Pacific Northwest concerning an owl or some such thing, and drove up the cost to the point where we couldn't use the 12 inch logs so we bagged the idea and went for rustic cedar siding.

We also had to make certain trade offs in design to bring the cost of the house into range so that we could cash flow the whole build. Example: We were supposed to have a detached garage. We compromised to bring down the cost by attaching the garage and thus eliminating one exterior wall which costs more than interior walls. We also had to toss the idea of the JennAir range which was very popular at the time. The one thing I never traded off the plan was the floor to ceiling rock fireplace though I did learn that manufactured stone is less expensive than authentic stone, puts less stress on the construction, and so I went with that.

We didn't anticipate delays. They dug the hole in September. That September we started getting monsoon rains that kept filling up the hole. They had to pump the hole in order to pour the foundation. We ended up moving into the house during a December blizzard. :shock:

Someone mentioned slopes and retaining walls. I picked out the placement of the house based on the removal of as few trees as possible. We live in a forest on what they call here a "cold lot" because it was heavily treed so I wanted the house built towards the back where there was one of two clearings. On account of that, we built on a slope. Yes, there is a retaining wall, but the good thing is that we squeezed a garden level basement out of the deal so that the basement is well lit.

If you are building (and I'm writing this for anyone who might be going through this thread, not Schmo in particular) be sure to visit the construction site at least weekly. Here comes another story. Remember the rustic cedar siding? I went out to the house by myself one day and when I walked around the back I noticed that the sub contractor's crew had started PAINTING THE SIDING DARK BROWN when the plan called for semi transparent redwood naturaltone off in the future after the first summer. :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

I called the realtor first because (remember this is Jersey whose life is like Murphy's Law in action) our Gen Con was out of town. He had gone home to Oregon because his Dad was crushed and killed by a tree he was cutting down. (This is true, I am not making this up). So the realtor went out to look at it and said it was a "nice buffy brown" where upon I raised hell and he directed the subcontractor to remove the paint, the siding if needed, and give me what I signed off on because I had the specs right in my hot little hand and I was going to get what I planned and paid for.

The most stressful part of the whole process was the day I picked out all of the interior design stuff. The exterior and interior lights by homzic, the light switches, light switch covers, the floor coverings, the cabinets, the showers, the sinks, the tubs, the---->on and on and on and on and on...until your mind starts to fuzz over and I had to do it in one four hour meeting. But I did it! Just look at the home you are living in right now and go through one room...notice all the small things like sinks, faucets, overhead lighting, all the switches and covers and then consider the whole home and how many of those items are in the whole house. Basically strip down the whole room down to dry wall and then start adding back all those small things...that is what you end up doing when you build or at least what we ended up doing with the interior design place. Looking back I don't know why we had to pick out the plumbing fixtures and light fixtures with the interior designer but I think that was to determine the interior design budget and keep it in line with the overall budget.

In spite of all the things I mentioned and what I haven't mentioned, I loved seeing our home go from sketch pad to reality. If I could have my way, I would design and build a new home every month and never get tired of it.
Thank you for the detailed answer.
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Doctor CamNC4Me
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Re: Builders Forum

Post by Doctor CamNC4Me »

Jersey Girl wrote:The most stressful part of the whole process was the day I picked out all of the interior design stuff. The exterior and interior lights by homzic,
Thanks, roama, for bumping this thread. It was easily one of the most informative threads I’ve read on this forum. I checked out Jersey Girl’s site ‘homzic’ and was struck by by the aesthetic:

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We had light cage pendants and butcher block counter tops like the pic rel in our last home, so we carried that over to our current home here:

Image

So, yeah, Jersey Girl has good taste.

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