Would anyone be interested in following the progress of a custom luxury new construction in Newtown, Connecticut? We have finished the site work and the foundation (the stone veneer is currently being installed) and are about to start the framing next week or so (depending on the weather).
The CM
Paramount Residential Construction Management
Edited 1/12/2006 8:21 am ET by the cm
Replies
I would think Fine Homebuilding magazine would be interested and since they are in CT, they might even send someone out. Usually they rely on the builder taking pictures and writing the text. You might contact one of the editors through the Breaktime forum and see what you can arrange. I know they posted a thread a while back (couple weeks) wanting stories from people. Good luck--could be a good article!
Thanks for the info Danno. Taunton Press is less than a mile from me and I have inquired through a friend of mine who works there. Although she has not gotten back to me yet, I am going to pursue your suggested avenue. I was still hoping to answer any questions for anyone looking for information on the products and processes involved in custom new home construction and its related fields. Photographs of the job in progress can be viewed on our website at http://www.paramountresidential.net , by going to the "currently under construction" page which can be accessed from the home page.
The CM
Paramount Residential Construction Management
Newtown, Connecticut
Edited 1/12/2006 1:51 pm ET by the cm
Your webpage needs a lot of work, your under construction pictures are linked to files on your harddrive.
Jedon,
Come again? I'm not understanding what you mean. Please elaborate.
The CM
On this page: http://www.paramountresidential.net/photogallery_2.htm
When you try and click on the thumbnail to view the picture larger, it can't because the picture is not on your server, it's on your hard drive. The links look like this:
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/Notaro%20Residence/landclearing%201.jpg
When they should look like
http://www.paramountresidential.net/landclearing%201.jpg or something like that. Sorry if I came off negative, just trying to help :-)
-Jedon
Jedon,
I didn't think you came off as negative at all and I appreciate you letting me know this. Thank you.
I purposely made the thumbnails so that you can't make them larger because I anticipate having more than a hundred photos when its done so I don't save the embedded files to the site to save space on the server. Therefore the reference (or the link) is reading from the hard drive rather than from the site itself.
I thank you again for your interest in my site and would welcome any other input you have in reference to it. I have only been working with Frontpage for under a year and do not know all the ins and outs of the program yet. Every day is still an adventure.
The CM
Well I don't know Frontpage, I'm a proffesional web developer and type all my code in with notepad :-)
You might want to remove the hyperlink tags off the thumbnails so people don't think they can click on them.
I'd be gald to trade some web tips for some construction tips, I'm currently designing my new house and am a computer guy not an architect so I have lots of questions. I can give you a gallery to host your pictures in if you want, I have lots of space.
-Jedon
http://darklingcastle.com
Jedon,
Done deal.
Is that your house? Beautiful.
Where will it be located?
You can reach me by email at [email protected] anytime.
I'm going back to your site later today. Talk to you then.
Thanks
Ken
The CM
Well those are my plans so far, I have another 6 months to nail it down. My wife and I are going to England, Scotland and Wales in a few weeks to get more ideas. I'm basing it off a 12th century fortified manor house with a writ of crenelation. I'm trying to keep the construction costs down to 400K or so, hard on a 4000SF complicated house in Northern California.
-Jedon
Jedon,
If you can do that house for $100. per sf I would be amazed. I would budget that house (no land) in Connecticut (at my cost) realistically between $300 to $350 per sf. The stone work alone is huge. Did you do a breakdown yet?
The CM
I've started on a breakdown, but need more information to get it closer. There isn't any stonework, it will be Rastra block cut to look like large stone blocks and then stucco'd with a mottled grey to make it look like stone. The inside of the Rastra will be plastered so no drywall on the inside of exterior walls. I'm doing all I can to keep the price down; no garage, no landscaping, keeping the inside trim simple etc. What are the kinds of things that make the price go up? I know the timber framed cathedral ceiling in the greathall will add quite a bit, and that Rastra is 5-10% more than stick framing. If the appraiser would let me I'd just build the shell and put a finish on only the kitchen and bedroom and finish it at my leisure. I'm not sure exactly how much money I can get to build, the land cost $290K of which we owe $191K. I was thinking that I could maybe build it for 400-500K. I'll be doing most of the architectural work, and my wife and I will do most of the general contracting although we will probably have someone that will sign off on stuff and give us advice while not charging more than 5-8K. I'll send you my breakdown tomorrow, I don't have it on this computer.
-Jedon
Any literature or specs on the Rastra block? Is it insulated? How will the electrical and plumbing be run?
Costs can be kept at bay with a lot of selective shopping on "allowance" items, basically interior finishes, i.e. appliances, flooring, trim, cabs, etc.
Looking forward to the breakdown.
The CM
Edited 2/13/2006 1:39 pm ET by the cm
http://rastrausa.com has specs, the 12" is R-39
There won't be any hardwood floors downstairs, it will be cheap slate and tile and some just painted slab since it will have radiant flooring. I can go basic on the appliances or even just use some of the stuff we have for now, stuff like the stove and dishwasher would have to be new but could be temporary cheap version. I am a bit concerned about the kitchen cabinets, I'm picky about them. Here is what I have so far for the breakdown. (attached)
I didn't realize it was a brand of ICF. I viewed their website and the product looks impressive as to structural integrity and energy efficiency. Good choice. How can you go wrong with an R-value of 39 in the walls.
Thanks for the breakdown, looks interesting, I saved a copy. I won't be able to review it until tommorrow night, I have a ton of paperwork and material lists to produce in the next 24 hours.
The CM
Jedon,
Would you be interested in doing or treading some web work with me? Ever been to Alaska? Do you like to fish? Do you like Halibut or Salmon or shrimp? My web page is http://www.northernmagiccharters.com As you can see it needs some work. Let me know.
I've never been to Alaska but would like to someday.
I'd be happy to help you with your website, what did you have in mind?
-Jedon
ps. Sorry for the late reply, I've been out of town, then sick. Now I'm snowed in hehe.
Hay Jedon,
Snowed in??? What part of the country are you in? Nice house by the way. I have one partially built that am living in. No siding temporary Kitchen, no trim.
So did you go to the web site?? My Email is
[email protected]
Looking forward to herring from you
Dave
I live in Northern California. I could leave if I really wanted to, only 16-19 inches of snow but it isn't a regular or long term thing here so I just stay home and enjoy it when it happens instead of taking an hour to drive to town when it normally takes 15 minutes.
I did go to your website, I've seen way worse :-) You did a pretty good job. How did you want to spruce it up? More graphics and design? Interactive features? Easier for you to add content to? Email lists? E-Commerce? You can email me at [email protected]
Jedon,
I don't get a lot of hits on it for some reason. I would like to get it so it's one of the first sites that come up if you start looking for fishing in Alaska or fishing in Valdez Alaska not sure of the terminology that I am looking for. I know how to catch Halibut and Salmon I no nothing when it comes to computers.
Well I know nothing about fishing, I let a Bull Dorado get away because it went under the boat and I didn't follow it around.
For getting hits, it is more a matter of registering with search engines and getting other sites to link to you then it is actual web design or programming.
Good evening Jedon,
I have more questions for you. How do I go about hooking up to search engines? Is that like Google and Dogpile? I'm planning on linking to our local fish derby sight shortly and with the visitors bureau next year. How do I get people to go straight to my sight when they punch in (for example) "Valdez fishing trips" or the similar words?Thanks! Dave
Here's a link to Fine Homebuilding's Author Guidelines -- you'll find info on how to propose an article.
http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pages/fh_authorguide.asp