A week after our contractor, John Harris, received the plans, he has given us a rough estimate of what it is going to cost to build our dream home on the sea. It's about 30k more than I had budgeted for, but with all the extras, it's right in line with our targeted cost of $65-$70 per square foot. Now we start going over the details. Our, soon to be next door neighbors, Pip and Jason, and are breaking ground March 2nd. John would like to start ours two weeks later, so we are possibly looking at March 16th to break ground.
With the time table he has given us, our house would be done by late June or early July. And at that point I had also better start looking for hurricane protection for the windows. I don't plan on using plywood because of the storage problems. The high humidity and the bugs would ruin plywood after a few years, anyway. Some of our neighbors in the Shores are using a corrigated sheet metal bought from company in Belize City. It looks like it's a good product and fairly easy to install. The other thing I will need to look at is the air conditioning. With the hot and humid days and nights of summer, we will need a place to retreat and get cool.
With a start date on the calendar, there are so many things to do. Now the fun really begins.
3 comments:
I am excited for you. I hope everything goes well
An Arkie's Musings
Be careful regarding the shutters. Insist on a product that has been tested to Miami-Dade standards. Insist that you get a copy of the NOA Certification (NOA = Notice of Acceptance from Miami-Dade) and insist on knowing who the manufacturer is.
Then insist that they be INSTALLED to the engineering specifications in the NOA.
I will have to google those standards so I can be informed when I do get a chance to visit the factory. They come out and do all the measuring and the product looks fairly durable. I will ask others in the community if they might know if it meets those standards. A Cat 5 came aground about 25 miles north of Consejo in 2007, but didn't do any real damage except to the trees.
Thanks for the info and I will keep you informed.
PC
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