I've built 3 houses so far. What I learnt after building number 2 was
to never do it again. Number 2 was 3 storeys on a big suburban lot,
with a 30' x 30' metal shop drive in basement and a 16' x 20' wood shop
under the deck, all with 3 phase power.

Then I found a perfect piece of land, which I could afford but not if I
had to pay a builder, in a different state, on the waterfront and 15
minutes from my new job. Oh hell.

Tent. Genset. Single phase builders power pole. Hut. Temporary shed for
the woodworking gear so I could build the cottage and store materials
undercover. Shipped down the DeWalt sliding compound mitre saw, the
table saw and a truckload of other woodworking tools. 18 months later,
move into cottage with big living room, kitchen, bathroom, heat,
insulation. Bliss. Build west wing with master bedroom and 15 x 18
workshop opening off living room via prepositioned doorways and smash
left elbow in 6 places in the process by falling when a ladder slipped
loose. 3 operations and 8 months of physiotherapy later.... 3 phase
power connection, move in welding gear, small lathe, small mill, big
bandsaw, boxes of tooling. Still got sufficient space for the B/port
and tooling, the rest of my stuff is stored at work where I have a
warehouse.

I can build another wing on the cottage if I need it but have no
immediate plans to do so. I'm going to build a 16m by 13m workshop barn
near my power pole and run 3 phase to it. Move the rest of my tooling
in and then take it easy playing boatbuilder. Hah.

I ordered some bronze porthole castings yesterday so I can see how much
of a PITA it's gonna be to machine them up myself. It's good to be back
to the point where I can do metalwork at home again rather than having
to use the shop at work for every little job.

The 2 immutable laws of building I've learnt are that nothing ever
happens on time and nothing ever happens on budget, so I know where
you're at. Eventually you'll get to where the place is 'good enough'
and can move on to other things. You'll know when it arrives. One of
these days I'll make the fancy drawer fronts for my kitchen.......

PDW

In article , Harold and Susan Vordos
wrote:

"Peter Wiley" wrote in message
. ..
In article , Harold and Susan Vordos
wrote:
snip---


Tell you what I'll do. When I'm finished building the house and I'm in
the
shop doing something constructive, I'll let you know what I can use and
I'll
buy them from you. I've always had a curiosity about your brushes.

I reckon he's pretty safe, judging by my experience with finishing
building houses. I moved out of the last one after 20 years and it
*still* wasn't finished. This time round I gave up right away, built
the small shop off the living room and moved in some of my tools. To
hell with aiming at finishing the house, I only work on it now when
I've run outa other things to do and I have a shop to play in on cold
nights without having to go outside. The kids can finish the house as
penance for inheriting the place.

There's no way I'm going to put off finishing that damned house from
hell-----particularly when I have a wife that has never badgered me to get
it finished, and has worked side by side with me every step of the way,
without complaining. She even drove to the laundromat until we could get
her washer and dryer up and running. At this point, it's sort of a contest
between me and the house, anyway! g

Next I'm building the big shop; I have 3 acres of land to spread out
over.......

For us, the shop came first, or almost first. The first thing we built was
our pump shed (so we'd have water), then the shop, all 2,600 square feet of
it. It is now home to us, while we build the house, and is a very cool
place. Tiled shower, with a toilet and lavatory. Built in vacuum cleaner
system, hydronic heating, (49) 8' 2 lamp fluorescent light fixtures, 3
phase power, and totally finished and painted inside, with synthetic stucco
exterior. It's nicer than some of the homes around us. Probably makes it
easier for you to understand my determination to get the house finished.
I won't have my shop back until I do. ;-)

By the way, we're on 5-1/2 acres, which was totally wooded when we purchased
it. Having lived in a sub-division prior, I can't imagine how I put up
with if for so many years. No way could I go back to living that way. I
really enjoy having space to waste, as I'm sure you do!

Harold