Silvan responds:


Yuppified. That's ridiculous. You're in an area where ye ol' basic house
goes for about $75 a SF finished, including land. Get fancy and you can

Um... Yeah, I guess you're right, even now. That's about what it's going
for now that the property values have been artificially inflated
county-wide. Until last year, it used to be $37.50. At least tax-wise.
About $40 in real life. So I guess that means it's about $80 in real life
now, and I have a $160,000 house now. (No, actually, it means I'm just
paying taxes out the ass, and I still have an $80,000 house.)

Yeah. I know about that. We're paying taxes on a house that is worth about half
what the evaluation is. I've offered to sell the county the property for the
eval, but no takers.

What I am talking about is what a builder is going to charge you for an
addition or new structure. $75 a square foot. Has no relation at all to tax
rates, which have little relation to reality anyway.

I think I'd have to be a weenie and use a plan. Maybe even a kit.

Still not that expensive.

The wiring is going to suck bigtime. I either go with separate meters and
pay my electric bill twice, or I put a new panel in the house so I can feed
out to the new panel in the shop. There's nothing in between.

When I get back, I'll see if we can get together and you can go see a friend's
shop. He knew zip, or a little less, about wiring. Taught himself. Did a much
better job than I did, for a variety of reasons including personality (he has a
lot more patience than I do, to start, and is a lot more anal for
another...good wiring really requires an anal personality).

On the bright side, by the time I can *actually* afford this, my son will be
old enough to help. Hell, he'll probably be as old as I am now by then.


Then plan. Plan big. Plan small. Plan medium. Keep planning, using the switch
box or graphed paper or a drafting set-up. When you get ready to go, you'll
have the plan you need ready. And read. Read everything you can find on
carpentry and residential construction and a little on light commercial
construction.

It'll keep you out of mischief, too.

Charlie Self
"Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a
pleasure." Ambrose Bierce