Before you can start building the house, many preparations need to be made.
First you have to pick out the lot that best suites you. Here is our lot.
Zoning laws have to be checked to see whether the lot is buildable, driveway
permits have to be applied for and obtained and test holes have to be dug to ensure
that the soil will support the house you want to build and the septic system if you do not
have access to city sewer/water. Once all of that is done, you can begin the
process of applying for all of the permits that you need in order to obtain
the building permit.
Some of the paperwork was frustrating as Margaret and I had never done this before
and some of the people assume that you know what you need and get ticked when you
ask questions. Margaret was fortunate to find a couple of people that were willing
to explain the whole process to her and it was off to the races going here and going
there for this form and that form. We quickly found out that most of the places
are not open during hours that you can go to if you work a full time day job, so expect
to take a few days off just obtaining permits.
For me the most frustrating piece of paperwork was the engery code form. For
this form you had to figure out what percentage the total surface area of all of your
windows in the house will be in order to figure out what insulation you need to pass
the final inspection. For this you need the R-value of items such as concrete block,
insulation(all types), wood, etc. After numerous calls and dead ends, I was able to ask the
the right questions to the right person and was able to finish all the paperwork to apply
for the building permit.