Pictures of the complete casa, garage & rainwater tank storage facility

Yay, Jan finished the house, garage, rainwater tank storage area & retaining walls, so here they are!










And for those of you needing more technical detail or need some ideas on how we will do our garage, gabions, and rainwater collection system, check out these graphics:

A more detailed video on SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels)

They will answer questions like

Why they will save you 50% in energy bills...
Why they are superior in strength...
Why they are highly insulative...
Why they are earth friendly...
Why they are easy to build...
Why any framer can learn SIPs...

Check out this longer video

ON BEHALF OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY, BE GREEN AND GOOD!

We're mentioned on Money Magazine!

Still thinking of building your dream home? Maybe this article will convince you. We were interviewed and mentioned in this article in CNN's Money Magazine. Check it out!

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/10/real_estate/build_home.moneymag/index.htm?postversion=2008031218

Pretty neat Google Sketchups of our house in 3D

A guy named Dan who commented on my blog introduced me to Google Sketchup, and we got hooked immediately! You can create 3D renderings of your house or any object you desire, and the best part is that it's free to download! There are even premade 3D sketches of things you can add to your own Sketchup (for example, mid-century modern furniture even!)

Jan got so into it, that he did a DETAILED rendition of our house, including the doors, windows and cedar siding that will look pretty close to reality.

We're still working on the interior and garageport, but here's our completed exterior of our house!

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTOS



See how much detail you can put into it, look at our Crestview Door that we're going to use ... it's very cool, but very timeconsuming to draw up!


We're excited! Jan is going to finish this baby up and we'll probably post an animation of our house on You Tube for you to see later.

Got our appraisal in!

We're happy to report that we got our house and lot appraisal in, and although it's not the highest we wanted, it's above what we expected. I won't report what yet, in the interest of getting the best possible bids. I will, however, need to cut costs and am working on "trimming the fat" on our budget. I am getting some updated bids on things to see how prices have changed, hopefully for the better!

I have heard that lumber prices have come down. Yes, let's hope so!

Right now, one of the challenging things to do is to find a lender that will accomodate 100% financing for an owner builder and a one time close. We are right now searching for the program that suits us. I'll update you when we find out who we'll go with!

I desperately need a vacation and a backrub... over the weekend we moved apartments, so I'm sore. But, I have planned a nice little getaway to New Mexico, one of my favorite places in the world. We can't wait!