Replies

1. 
   RalphWicklund | Aug 31, 2002 08:10am | #1

   You're gonna just love the hoops you'll have to jump thru if you are going to build a home for your folks. Not that all counties follow the same procedures but........

   Your contractor license, if you have one, is not acceptable in Florida. Therefore, you would need to hire one, with at least a Residential Contractor rating, to get the ball rolling. Or, the homeowner, not you, can act as his own GC but must prove some competency by taking a test administered by the building departmet. This test serves two main purposes - 1. to make sure that the homeowner can in fact do the job and 2. to weed out the fly-by-nights who can't legally pull permits for hire. Even if the county in which you intend to build does not require the test (as ours does) the homeowner pulling the permit is required to either do the work himself or hire an appropriately licensed contractor to do the work for him. In other words, you would not be an eligible contractor because you hold no licenses in the State of Florida.

   But, in your case, since your folks are perfectly capable of handling the job themselves (hint, hint) the house can be built. The only real hurdles are to hire the required trades - electrical, plumbing, mechanical - who will pull their own permits on your base permit. And, don't forget the engineer or architect. EVERYTHING built here has to be printed and stamped or it's not processed.

   Your original question - block or frame? Either will do. There are some neighborhoods predominately block, some mixed and some, including McMansions, which are entirely frame.

   Not knowing the area, the suppliers and, especially, the sub pool, puts you at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to building long distance. How long are you prepared to put your livelihood on hold to come to Florida and build this home?

   FWIW, block construction is a specialty that I have no desire to actually perform, even though I have done it far in the past. If you learn what is required in this type of construction you increase the potential of your business, since all you are really changing is the shell of the structure. All else remains essentially the same.

1. 
   RemodelDude | Aug 31, 2002 05:16pm | #2

   Hi Ralph:

   Thanks the info: sounds like the licensing process there is more stringent than here, where almost anyone can get a license if they can get insurance/bonded, which takes a check book, not  expertise. Anyway, I'd probably sub the slab but as you mentioned, wouldn't have my usual pool of specialty trades-dudes to back me up on the rest.  I do like the idea of spending a month or two in Florida in the winter while it's cold/wet/windy here...just a thought!

   Brad

2. 
   rickwainman | Sep 01, 2002 03:00am | #3

   Don't forget...No real freezing in Florida. That means the termites, boring beetles,wasps, etc. never stop. I read that in the south, termites and buddies eat millions of board feet of houses every year. Maybe that's why some of the owners prefer block.

1. 
   brownbagg | Sep 01, 2002 05:48am | #4

   alot of people in florida, including my family, used block because of termite, hurricane, that dreaded sun 18 hr a day and the heat. A block house will stay cooler in the sun and will not dry out. Mainly because it cheap and hurricanes. My house that I,m building is block.