The actual construction of our addition went pretty smoothly. We had the usual red tape to get through with permits from the city, but after all that was done we only hit a few kinks. I acted as General Contractor in order to save us some money. It was something that I had never done before but in the end it boiled down to two basic skills, nagging people, and basic problem solving. Luckily with our first child on the way I had plenty of inspiration to do both. Things moved slow, especially when it came to the things that we were doing ourselves like electrical, plumbing, painting and finish carpentry. We were lucky to have a lot of good friends both local and online that shared their knowledge and were willing to lend a helping hand. We put the last couple of coats of paint in the nursery a week before our son’s due date. In case you haven’t already picked up on it, I have a very patient and supportive wife. We still had some small projects to finish off after our son was born, but for the most part it was all done. The total amount we ended up borrowing for the 600 square foot addition was $60,000. Our original goal was to do it for $50,000 so we felt like we did pretty well. It would take a little more out of pocket to finish up all the loose ends, but we had a pretty nice little home for around $170,000. Best of all we were able to learn an immense amount about remodeling.

Lessons learned:

1. Everything in a remodel is a trade off of time or money. We could have save more by doing more ourselves if we had the time. Alternately it would have probably been done a lot faster if we had professionals doing all the work. We just couldn’t afford it.

2. With enough determination and will power there isn’t anything you can’t learn to do or make happen. You don’t always hit your target exactly, but you can come close.

More details on the finances here.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Post Two

One of the most unique features of our addition was the hardi panel rain screen exterior. We used a smooth cementatious plank that is normally used in a lap siding application and screwed it on with stainless steel screws in a rain screen pattern. The idea is that you house is fully waterproofed by the layer of Tyvek and building paper and the hardie panel acts as a barrier to protect against sun and help stop the bulk of the rain. Since there is a gap behind all the boards any water that penetrates is able to easily be shed out the bottom and the air circulation can help to dry things out. It makes a lot of sense, especially in a dry climate like Utah. The good news about it is that the material is inexpensive and holds up very well. The bad news is that it is very labor intensive, which means if you are not doing it yourself it’s going to end up costing a lot of money. We tried to keep it somewhere between costing a fortune and taking forever by doing about half the installation ourselves. It ended up giving the house it’s unique look for an affordable price.

More details on the whole rain screen thing here.