Blood, sweat and tears.....

I like projects. In fact, I’ve always been a project-oriented type of guy. As a kid, I carved wood boats out of 2x4s, built model airplanes that flew — and crashed, constructed tree forts in the woods and rebuilt my Schwinn bicycle. It always was one of my dreams to build a one-off full custom home. Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamt of building a house. At first, I started small, like dreaming about building a birdhouse or fort in the woods. Over time, those dreams evolved into building a real full-size house for myself. My real-life custom home project took 20 long months. That was quite a long time for the project, but that’s what it took when doing 5- to 10-percent of the work myself while holding down a demanding full-time job as a marketing manager with a Fortune 50 high-tech corporation.

My home-building project began with a search for a residential lot. After a few false starts, I finally found one I liked, a one-acre parcel in northeast Scottsdale, Arizona. Next, I needed blueprints. I knew, more or less, the style of exterior elevations I wanted — it had to be Spanish Colonial architecture. And I knew that I wanted vaulted wood-beamed ceilings, natural-stained beams and woodwork, round Tuscan Columns, finials and sills decorating wagon wheel windows, red tile roof, and fish-scale insets and pots topping off the chimney. Moreover, I wanted solid wood three-panel doors; wrought iron door hardware; Saltillo tile floors; ceramic tile tubs and counters; and a split bedroom floor plan.

After hiring an architectural firm located in Old Town Scottsdale and having them draft blueprints of the exterior elevations and floor plan, I realized something was seriously wrong with the plans. Clearly, I had given the architects the wrong design requirements, because I had come to the realization that I wanted one large great room instead of a living and family room combination. As such, I scrapped the first set of plans, ate the costs, and asked the architects to start from scratch on a new set of blueprints. Scrapping the first set of plans was some of the best money I ever spent — and I never looked back.

Once the final plans were completed, construction financing was needed. A few banks laughed at me, stating that I had never built a house before. However, I knew construction, I knew what I wanted, and I knew that I could complete this project — and better than the blasé-styled houses many companies were building at the time. Finally, I got the construction loan and broke ground eight months after buying the lot.

To make a long story short, finding good subcontractors was difficult. Their idea of quality construction was much lower than mine was. For example, instead of marking with a sharp pencil and cutting with a finish saw, some subs would mark with a piece of worn chalk and cut with a chain saw — maybe close enough for them but not for me. Part way through the rough framing of the house, I had to bribe the framing crew with 6-packs of beer to finish the job. At the time, work was plentiful. Furthermore, the framer’s antics necessitated me to apologize to my new neighbor, a retired full-bird Army Colonel and his wife, for the framer’s rude language and disrespectful attitudes. How humiliating! Luckily for me, the Colonel and his wife turned out to be fabulous neighbors.

For the most part, things progressed along as planned. I found only one critical dimensional error on the blueprints and lost only one day of framing work sorting out and correcting the spacing of the roof’s solid wood beams. Still, every little thing that could go wrong did go wrong — Murphy’s Law, I guess. Nothing serious, mind you, just mentally and physically draining and costing time and money. A shortage of drywall and insulation slowed up the job and subs were not always timely. Once the rough framing was completed, emphasis was placed on getting the roof dried-in to protect everything underneath and within.

Keeping ahead of the subs, deciding on product, having key material ordered well in advance, accounting to the bank for payments to the subs, and overall planning ahead kept me busy during week nights, lunch hours and even when I was out of town on business. Once, while on a long business flight to Europe, two stewardesses asked me what I was looking at. It was the house blueprints. When I showed them the exterior elevations, they had difficulty visualizing the end result of the exterior elevations. I then started wondering whether I wasn’t the one “a half a bubble off” of level at Flight Level 310 (aka 31,000 feet altitude). Working seven days a week for months on end takes a heavy toll.

Since I performed 5- to 10-percent of the construction work myself (brickwork, exterior block walls, floor and countertop tile, interior carpentry, exterior precast concrete, landscaping) on weekends and during some vacation time, I slowed the project. I was trading off construction time and reduced costs for increased construction loan interest — not always the best option.

Noteworthy is that the genesis of a few artistic touches evolved in the caverns of my mind during the project. For instance, memorable additions to the plans were the interior dining room brick wall with herringbone-pattern insets and the three walk-through archways made from reclaimed brick and black mortar. The vision came to me one Saturday while sitting on the cold dining room concrete floor eating lunch by my lonesome, and it evolved over the next week — first, I decided to brick the dining room wall, then I decided to add piers on each end, then arches, then the herringbone insets, then the soldier brick course on top, and finally the brass coach lights. Lastly, I decided to brick the three archways by the entryway. To this day, none of these additions is on the blueprints. The ideas were all vividly captured in the caverns of my mind. They also significantly dragged out the project because subs were waiting on me and that meant increased construction loan interest. However, in hindsight, I’d do it all again because it was the subtle, painstaking details that made this home what it is.

With more time, more money and more help, I could have done a better, more exquisite job, and the next time, I will. However, I was only one guy, with no family, working a full-time job, attempting to pull off an enormous project. More than one person told me I was crazy for building “way out there” (north Scottsdale) and doing it myself. Luckily, two friends from work, Tony and Coats, helped me with the tile grouting and saved my butt at the end. Additionally, Scott, the general contractor building a custom home to the west, helped me, too. In fact, we helped each other when needed. Thanks, guys. I’m eternally grateful.

Would I do it again? Absolutely I would — but with changes. For starters, I would do absolutely no work myself while working a full-time job except for the custom interior brickwork. When I moved into the house, I was ready for a mental and physical nut house. My friends were laughing at me — or with me — I’m still not sure which — about my delirious condition from the blood, sweat and tears. Beyond the unique custom brickwork, I’d limit my involvement to sweeping up the saw dust and managing the project by making colorful yellow Xs and Os on the floors and walls to indicate any changes. Nevertheless, I’d do it again — in a heartbeat!

Final thoughts:
– Don’t let anyone talk you out of your dreams......

– Vision, insight, innovation and perseverance....take an idea and make it happen!


Endnote:
The following photos were scanned from prints and slides and most required much noise reduction. Since my 35mm film camera was stolen while traveling on business through New York City’s Kennedy Airport, many of these photos were taken with a camera borrowed from a friend. Because I performed much of the construction work during limited time on weekends and nights, photography became a low priority when tackling such a critical and demanding project with huge rewards or losses hanging in the balance. Nevertheless, this gallery provides a brief photo essay of my home-building project.

And if you are interested in additional insight, just click on a photo to enlarge it and display the caption.