Doctor Dave Builds

Reached out and asked a close friend of mine if I could rent him and his wife out for a day of felling and bucking trees.  They were kind of enough to bring food and adult beverages for break-time.  Not that I would ever advocate in mixing chainsaws and beer, but when you are all done with the sawing there is nothing better than a sit down with friends and cold beer. A person really doesn't get a sense of the size of the house until you start stepping off actual footage on the parcel.  What we did was stake to out the approximate size of the footprint of the house.  It was in that moment the gravity of the chores before us was no joke.  I have no problem dropping a few balsams here and there or a big aspen tree, but when the task is reaching into that 40-50 tree scope, my back starts to twinge just a bit.  We spent the Saturday sawing and sawing and more sawing.  I am proud to announce I only hung up one tree into another!  I know it doesn't sound like much, but my abili

This next stage was fraught with stress, and inconsistent messages.  I called a contact for septic design and septic construction.  For the record, you need both components of building a septic system a) designer and b) contactor who actually build the septic system.  Some constructors have a designers license and some do not.  The first person who came out and looked at my lot shared with me deep concern that the area I wanted to have the mound system was going to be classified as a wooded wet land.  Did you know that St. Louis County has 8 different delineations of wet lands? I did not! https://www.stlouiscountymn.gov/departments-a-z/planning-development/land-use/wetlands#4094363-wetland-types https://www.stlouiscountymn.gov/Portals/0/Library/Dept/Planning%20%26%20Development/Land-Use/Wetlands/Type-7-Hardwood-Coniferous-Swamp.pdf Coupled with the 13 different lake categories and designations, I am beginning to understand the need for additional personal at the county offices. 

I thought it would be valuable to offer insight and resources in the new home construction process.  Step one was to find a lot that checked the boxes for purchase.  Location was a key element, and locating a lot that suitable for construction.  Some of the elements that were investigated were access to a paved road, access to the highway, distance from schools, and the consideration of hooking utilities up to city water and sewer.  Additionally, the lot itself was of critical importance.  Was there high ground to build, was there an acceptable access to the property.  Were there any easements that would need to be in place to access the lot.  This week two topics were investigated.  The first one was organizing the well portion of this project.  I spoke to a local well drilling service ( Graves Well Drilling- Pike Lake) and got tremendous service and information.  I was told the first step is not the well!  The first step is to call a designer and construct a plan for the mound sy