Doctor Dave Builds

The world famous economist Herbert A. Simon theorized that individuals who are placed in a decision making situation will most frequently collect just enough information to make a satisfactory decision, and not extend the data collection process to obtain an optimal decision.  This is called Bounded Rationality.  We have tried, and have succeeded at some points, to not engage the idea of just making a decision to move forward out of convenience. We have collected and analyzed multiple sources of information with the hope that that in the end, we don't walk into this new house and gnash our teeth and play the "I wish we would have" game.   We have hit a bit of an obstacle when it comes to the aesthetics of the living room with regards to the wood burning stove. As it stands, we have four feet of brick on two walls.  The original design had placed the stove in the corner of the living room.  Kelly and I shopped at all three fireplace stores in Duluth.  We investigated non-c

When you spend all summer with your family & friends burning trees, brush and sticks you sometimes lose sight of the fact that while it's a great excuse to drink beer and run a chainsaw, the original intent is really to build a new home.  From the previous post you can see the heated slab is complete.  The tubing for the heat is in, the water lines are run, and the ports for the septic and well are ready to be connected.   There was a little time delay in getting the framing complete due to weather and scheduling.  I am pleased to announce that the outside framing is complete.  The trusses have been put in place.  Tyvek is now wrapped around the house.  The roof is now sheeted.  It's not weather proof yet but I raised some questions to the builder.  My concern was that I know the 2X6's for the walls is not green treated, nor are any of the materials used to frame the house.  I had some questions about mold given the fact that snow and moisture were no doubt included in

I am pleased to report that after a 30 minute consultation between the builder and the septic design contractor last week we have come to some semblance of a resolution regarding this plague of a mound system.  I know what you are all thinking and yes, this septic system created additional stress even after the install.  The consternation was associated with the height of the foundation in relationship to the tank.  The distance from the tank to the house is approximately 60 to 70 yards.  The tolerance for the run was 1/16th of an inch from the house to the concrete tank.  Meaning there was not enough drop from the house to the tank to ensure that gravity did its job.  Like the old axiom goes, s%!t runs down hill.  Sadly, our hill just wasn't high enough.  The concrete holding tank has been placed at the base of the mound system.  The gravity feed system runs from the house to the tank where there rests a pump to move the fluids into the mound system allowing nature to take its cou

 Do you recall the scene in Apocalypse Now when Colonel Kurtz reiterates the words "horror" all the while rubbing his bald sweating head.  This is a good segue into this next blog.  Unlike the famous line in Dragnet, the names in this blog have not been changed to protect the innocent.  I will do my absolute best to keep this story arc from turning into a dynamic conflation of events and dialogs.   In the beginning you recall that we made several calls to "people" at the county.  We resolved the issue of the lake shore property relatively quickly when it was discovered that we owned 155 feet of lake shore and only needed 150 to proceed.  We then embarked on the mission of getting a septic system.  In the process of contacting four different professionals we set about the business of hiring Brad Nygaard from JBN Inc. He submitted the design and application to the county for approval.  Once we received our permitting number, Brad was able to move forward with the cons

 September 1, 2020.   I am starting to understand why Captain Kirk didn't always like noting items in the star log.  We closed on our construction loan on Friday.  The appraisal came in short, so we had to bring cash to close which in the long run means we just wasted all that cash for nothing.  The construction loan is what we have in place to certify to the builder we have taken out a loan and that includes a schedule of draws that will be transferred to the builder upon completion of tasks and assignments.  There is a set interest rate for 12 months.  Payments are interest only for those 12 months.  The end game being that once the house is completed, final inspections are done, we start the refinance transaction on the new residence.  Which is the reason that bringing cash to close for the construction loan was a kick in the shin when we are going to refinancing down the road at the conclusion of the build.   Here is the final set of plans for the new build.   Inventory Challen

Power: There is a growing trend for folks to live off-grid.  People make the conscious decision to organize their life around limiting their carbon footprint through a variety of channels.  We are not currently entertaining any of those conventions when it comes to power and electricity.  There is a $500.00 commitment fee or application fee to Lake County Power. This starts the process of your lot by keeping with the theme of any element of new home construction starts with stroking a check!  The power company requires an easement so they have the ability and legal authority to dig up the earth and place the power line on your property.  I met a very nice LCP employee who folks live on Murphy Lake.  He marked 5 MORE trees that needed to be cut down.  The landing pad for the power needs to be at minimum of 200 feet from the house structure.  The cost to run the power into the property from the powerline at the far end of the property is approximately $1200.00.  I asked about the fir