HAWK'S LANDING LOT 9 BLOCK "C"
Welcome to the Cooper Home Project web site!
(Note: I have been asked if the plans shown in this site are for sale and if other documents I have referred to in this follow pages are available for downloading ... Answer: yes the plans are for sale ... cost is $550.00 to use the plan on one site .. and $300.00 for each additional site it is constructed... when you order a set of plans you will get 3 bond sets ... these are not signed and sealed .. and should be review for compliance to any applicable codes for the location you will be constructing the residence.. Lastly no documents will available for downloading unless I decide to accept online payments .. for now ... only cashier checks or money orders will be accepted... you can email me for information and to let me know what you may want...)
Contractor: Neal Fogler of Keystone Homes & Design, Inc.
News 2/20/05: "Final Update ... I think..."
Ok well I know I been slack in putting up updates... SOOooooo I will try and make this update worth the wait... I know the updates have gotten away from tech views of building house and gotten to more of a family and friends update... well that is way things go... and all that my time really allows .. with Making partner at my Engineering firm and other things in my life ... I have got a ton of good things going .. and this side project of web development has gone to wayside... Ok this update will have 3 parts... Lot progress 2/20/05.... PUPS page 2/20/05... and Cooper holidays... So look around and have fun.. but no comments about bad I look ... This I know already... Ok well enjoy the update...
News 8/16/04: "Sooo.. close.."
Well I know I have been really slack in updating this site ... well here is a quickly slapped together update while I take a break and watch my dolphins lose again.... Well we have a C.O. Issued and we can move in ASAP .. but we are still trying to finish off the details ... so I do have pictures for you but please understand these pictures do not reflect the shape the house is in now ... that will have to come in a later update... Lot progress 10/8/04..
News 8/16/04: " What do you mean failed inspections!!..."
Yep that is right failed 3 inspections ... all real nit picking stuff... but we have it all corrected up and are moving on... we are roofing and finishing up the vinyl... we are also starting the septic tank this week... lastly we hope to do insulation Thursday and sheet rock by this weekend... now for the pictures ... Lot progress 8/16/04...
News 8/7/04: " T- 60 and Counting..."
Well.... We have locked into our 60 day lock in... at 5.875 fixed... which I think is a great rate... knowing my luck .. it will go down to 4... So.... As of 8/6/04 we have 60 days to finish the house... I mean complete .. done .. ready to move in... or the bank will be one pissed puppy... so we are working hard and trying to get it all done... now for the pictures...Lot progress 8/7/04...
News 7/26/04: "Pluming stack out completed...."
Well yes we are still framing but we are down to the just a few more items... we hope that we will be finished this week.. Lets see.. we also competed the plumbing stack out .. allowing the HAVC to be installed tomorrow... with Electrical to follow on Thursday.. lets hope it all goes so good... Currently we are looking for a good mason ... and Tricia and I are finishing the punch list for the closing on our townhouse... if all goes well we will close the sale on August 20th... other than that Work is stressful ... have 84 unit subdivision, 28 Unit PUD, the redevelopment of a city block of Historic Frenchtown, Redevelop a 6,000sf restaurant... in addition to putting out other fires to get permitted... To say the least ... my days are long and busy... Now for the pictures...Lot progress 7/26/04 ...
News 7/18/04: "Moving Right along...."
Wow ... It seems like a long time since I have done an update.... but we are moving right along... so much has been done... I been waiting on the update because the pictures look so similar to the others.. and I wanted to so some real progress... Hmm well what has happen .... Ok we had a contract on the town home ... then we did not ... 4 days later .. we have a new contract ... closing is on August 20th ... Whew... lets hope this one holds... As for the new house ... we are close to having the house dried in .... windows and doors set... this coming week we will have the plumbing stack out .. A/c and Electric run... now for the pictures.... Lot progress 7/18/04 ...
News 7/6/04: "Rain ... Rain ... Fireworks ... Rain ..."
Well have you guessed ... it has been raining most everyday... so basically the framers have not got as much done as I wish they had... but over all we are on time and on budget... so I guess I do not have to much to complain about... well I guess I do have one complaint ... The contract to sell the town home fell thru .. so we have to put it back on the market... this time we placed it with a realtor... and raised the price a bit to cover the cost of what the last contract cost us... so we will see... but enough of that... Time for the Pictures.... Lot progress 7/6/04....
News 6/26/04: "PROGRESS....."
Well so much is going on in so many directions ... lets see first we have signed a contract to sell the town house... and we have to be out of the townhouse on Oct. 31st... Sooo guess we know when the new house has to be finished... so with that in mind ... I WENT SHOPPING!!!... yep .. got all the light fixtures bought... and stored in the living room of the town house... the Master tub just got dropped off ... and Drum roll please.... WE ordered the 420gal 84"Lx 38"Wx30"H salt fish tank for the wall... That tank is going to look so sharp... we also had the Trusses delivered and set on the house... so it is all coming together... if the rain would give us a break we would really be rocking... now for the pictures...Lot progress 6/26/04....
News 6/18/04: "Walls go up....."
We are still having some problems with rain... but we got the framing started... we hope to move this along as fast as we can ... lets pray we have some dry days ... I feel bad for the framers .. cause it is SOoooo dam hot out there... not a job I would like to do for a living ... but they seem to enjoy the work ... and are doing a good job... now for the pictures... Lot progress 6/18/04....
News 6/7/04: "Foundation Poured....."
Weather not withstanding we finally have the foundation poured... YES I know it seems like it took forever to get it done but it is... Man today was one hell of a day... Trying to beat the thunderstorms... getting all the product to the site... getting all the Crews paid ... I think I was bleeding cash... No correction I know I was bleeding cash ... Oh well no one said this house was going to be cheap... but everyone is paid... and the foundation is in ... now for the pictures...Lot progress 6/7/04...
News 5/29/04: "Foundation work....."
Well another week has gone by ... I wanted to wait till the slab was poured to give a nice update... but I was being poked by some people to give more information ... so I will try and make weekly update rather than at certain stages of construction .... Ok well the update is posted ... and here is the line to Lot progress 5/29/04 ...
News 5/21/04: "Construction begins....."
Yep that is right we have started to build the house... the loans are closed ... the project is on its way ... no turning back now... I have the town house ready to sell ... and my contractor and subs lined up... So nothing left to do but build it... and we have .... Here is the link to the progress so far... Lot progress 5/22/04...
Later for now ....
Mark
News 5/14/04: "FINALLY..."
Yep as you guessed the permits are issued... and we hope to close the loan within 5 days... so construction will begin very very soon... so expect more often up dates and more pictures!!!!... But on the serious side we had to do some real work behind the scenes... we had to go with a new contractor... his name is Neal Fogler with Keystone Homes... We thank David for all the help he had provided but we needed to move forward and could not wait any longer... SOooo... Contracts are signed .... permits are issued ... as soon as we close the loan we begin.... we can't wait...
Later for now ....
Mark
News 5/7/04: "Permits under review...Still..."
So it looks like my plans will be approved with no revisions .. but the only item I did not produce myself was the manual J form ... and that is what is holding up the approval of the building permit... currently the Environmental permit, septic permit, Addressing, Driveway, and Project Status have all been approved... but the Building permit and the last fee still have to be paid ... OUCH !!! another $1,600.00 or so ... Sigh oh well more money out and still not one blade of grass been cleared onsite... I been promised that the Manual J form would be corrected on Monday... I hope to have the permit no later than Wednesday... On the loan front ... the loan went to the committee last Thursday... I hope it will close this coming week some time... Thanks to Dad this is all possible .. Thanks Pop for the help .... So to date I have Tim's Hauling ready to place the drive way culvert and prep the site for the foundation to be placed... I am working hard to line up the subs so that I can minimize the time of the construction phase... I really feel I am fighting against inflation and coming interest rate increases... I hear over and over how china is buying all the steel and thus steel prices are sky rocketing .. how the government purchased 5 loads of OSB or 5 million sheets for Iraq ... so the price of OSB has gone from 8 to 9 dollars a sheet to 19 to 21 dollars a sheet from over the span of 5 months.... and my god that hurts when you need 600 odd sheets of it... Oh the last one I heard was that the government is refilling the national oil reserves thus all products that are produced from petroleum are going to increase in price .. IE carpet and asphalt shingles for example... Damm I feel like I am getting it from all sides at once... Damm gauntlet I have to run is what it is ... But the good news is the town home we have now is finished being painted on the interior... and I am currently taking a break from pressure washing the exterior... I think I am about 4 full work days from placing the town home on the market... but I know I need to hurry and do it while the market is so hot.. but I hate to sell it to soon then have to rent a place while waiting for the house to be completed ... but it may come to that...
Later for now....
Mark
News 4/24/04: "Permits under review..."
Well today was a busy day ... The driveway, State Revenue Lien Law, Storm water, Building, an Addressing, reviews for permits have all been applied for... Thank goodness it is all submitted in one package.. but has a quite a price tag to it... $499 up front then $.28 a SF under roof after the permit is approved... Ouch .. but oh well onwards we move... Just have to get contracts with GC .. and Manual J forms done then to the bank and county (contracts to bank .. J form to county).. and then it is time to sit and wait for about 3 weeks .... during that time I will be finishing the painting and detailing the town home we currently own... Got to determine when is a good time to place a for sale sign out .. I want to sell this so that we time both closings.. but these places sell fast.. oh well maybe we will have to rent and apartment ... who knows...
Later for now ...
Mark
News 4/23/04: "Slowly but we move Forward.."
Latest news is that the septic tank permit has been issued... We also have provided the documents to the bank to start the appraisal process... So currently we are waiting on setting a time with our contractor David Dowdy so we can finalize the contracts.. We hope to turn in the building permit either tomorrow or no later than next Tuesday... just have to add a couple notes to the stairs details and then I think the plans are good to go.. I tell you it is interesting... some of the things you have to do that no one tells you about... such as filing a document with the Clerk of the court that is a notice of commencement.. Well I can tell you I am learning allot... It has made me think about going to get my General Contracting license... for those of you that did not know I was looking at doing this before because I have always wanted to be involved in a design build firm .. and since I have my Civil engineering license I would just need my GC ... Hmmm I will have to give that some serious thought in the coming months...
Later for now....
Mark
News 4/20/04: "ACK will the Paper work end???.."
I have spent many sleepless nights revising the plans .. a tweak here a tweak here ... nipping tucking ... bugging all the contractors ... especially my builder David Dowdy... he has been understanding ... but I have to look for every cost savings effort while not compromising the house value or future expansion abilities.. ok Well today is the day ... I will let you all know later tonight .. but today I sign the contracts and make the next step forward in the progress... Still no word back from health department .. I called them but they say the design is fine but it is not ready yet... Oh well back to the paper work .. Step one get all the contracts in place with Builder... step Two file paperwork with bank and wait for closing of construction loan ... Step Three Turn in for building / Driveway / Environmental permits.... Oh joy ... well lets get past step one..
Later for now ...
Mark..
News 4/14/04: "Stress and frustration, but progress moves forwards.."
I have added plan images to the web pages so you can see what my hard work is moving towards... It has come down from the all mighty architectural committee in Hawks landing that my wanting to use a black vinyl covered chain link fence planted with confederate jasmine is not their vision of what the community is should be... Chough.. let others have non complaint fences ... Chough... Ok enough of being a smart ass... yes they approved the house in general .. but requested that I use architectural shingles.. ($10.00 a square added cost or $520 total) .. and denied my fence but suggested I could have a 3 board wood fence with hog wire tacked to the back to the fence ... so I get to pay twice as much for a high maintenance fence that may or may not keep my animals in the yard which will have half or a third the life span of the chain link fence... It is a great start to get off to with some of my neighbors... but hey I will live ... but I know that will be the last time they dictate any modifications to my house... KNOCK on wood .. I hope... god I hope I am not moving into a community of neighbors that feel your property and your house is there business to police... anyway... more rants... and pictures to come... now I must get back to doing material take offs ... got to get that paper work done before I can find out .. if my residential design can hold water..
Later for now...
Mark...
News 4/12/04 : "Birth of the Web Page..."
We will up date this page periodically as we make progress on our New home and get time to take pictures and add them to this page... We hope you enjoy following our progress and send us your thoughts and ideas about how we can improve our new home... This page is for our friends and family so please do not distribute the link without asking first... Thanks and you all be good ...
Later for now
Mark...
P.s. Click here to Email us ... COOPER'S EMAIL
This page was last updated on 02/20/05.
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