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Building A Dream Project

How Do You Make Your Dream Become A Reality?

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It’s A Choice You Make…Or Not!

It doesn’t matter if you’re dreaming about building a new home, a successful business or a great life, you have to choose to make them a reality. The importance of intentionality to dreams is critical to the outcome.

This week I’ve been working on finalizing the proposal for my niece Hannah’s out of the box home. This is the dream house that is going to be built using salvaged grain bins and some conventional construction. We began discussing this project a year ago. Some will think that’s taking too long. It’s important to realize that dreams don’t magically become a reality overnight. Dream building is a process that requires time.

There are 5 things needed when choosing to turn a dream into a reality:

1st you need to realize that it’s your responsibility. You’re responsible for your dreams becoming a reality. This doesn’t mean that crazy unrealistic dreams will happen (see needs 2 and 3). On the other hand too often we let our own limiting beliefs keep our dreams from becoming a reality. You are the only one who can control your own thoughts. Our thinking dictates our decisions and we are where we are because of those decisions…good or bad.

2nd you need clarity of purpose. I believe our dreams are one of the ways God tells us what His plans are for our lives. If we believe what it says in Jeremiah 29:11, “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.” If our dreams are in alignment with God’s plans, then there is no reason they shouldn’t become a reality. God will move mountains to make our dreams real. It’s up to us to be ready to move ourselves.

           

3rd you need guidance. Often when building dreams, we are going into unfamiliar territory. Whether it’s building your first home or starting a new business, you probably won’t have the experience or knowledge needed. Dream building can be a lot safer and more fun if you have an experienced guide. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t go climb a mountain with out a guide that had been there and done that.

4th you need to act. A dream won’t just build itself, it requires action. This is one of the scariest things about turning dreams into reality. People generally approach action in one of two ways. Either they jump right in without thinking or they don’t do anything while over thinking it. Experienced guidance can help balance these opposing positions and help you to move forward with your dream while minimizing disasters. When faced with doing nothing or doing something you better choose to act if you ever want your dream to become a reality.

5th you need to persist. I think this is the most important one. If you ever hope to get your dream built you will need persistence. There will be disappointments that will cause you to want to quit. There will be times when you are so tired you don’t think you can do one more thing. You can begin to convince yourself that it wasn’t real…it was just a dream. This is the point where most dreams die. Somehow successful people continue moving forward when others quit. Sometimes God see’s fit to give us a wakeup call.

As Hannah and I work together to build this project it will be the building of two dreams, both hers and mine. We will each take RESPONSIBILITY for our part. We will continue sorting things out and finding the CLARITY for the dream. We will accept and give GUIDANCE when and where needed. We will intentionally ACT to keep moving closer to the completion of those dreams. Above all we choose to PERSIST and never quit until our dreams become reality.

If you or someone you know needs help finding solutions for building dreams, contact us in the comment section below.

It Doesn’t Require A Big Building for The Dream to Be Big

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Another Big Dream in A Small Package

My Timber Creek Construction web site is ten years old and just like a building, it needs some updating and remodeling.

Earlier this week I met with Stacey and Shaunna from Custom Internet Services to discuss ideas about the project. One of the things that I’m looking to accomplish is an improved connection between that site and this one. I used to regularly write project overviews and post pictures. I need to get back to doing this again.

As we looked through the projects it struck me that the project summaries are a good fit for “Weekly Solutions” and helping customers build their dreams. So, here is a project summary of a dream project for Webber’s from 2005.

This project was done both as a functional building for storing garden equipment and the potting of plants as well as a decorative building to resemble a rustic cabin for landscaping. The 12′ x 16′ wood framed structure is built on a 4″ thick steel reinforced concrete slab that was formed and poured by Arthur Contreras with the concrete purchased from Daniels Rock and Ready Mix. There is a 6′ x 16′ porch along the east side of the building with a cedar floor. Electrical service was run underground by Finn’s Electric to provide electricity to the building. The 4×8 sheets of wood grained James-Hardie fiber cement siding with vertical grooves was installed directly to the studs.

Roof construction consists of engineered wood trusses on the building and 2×6 rafters on the porch, wood stringers over rafters, covered with galvanized, 29-gauge, corrugated Strongbarn tin. Uninsulated 6′ x 6′-6″ overhead door was supplied and installed in the back of the building by Keith Hostetter. Front entry door was job built from 1″ rough cedar to resemble an old cabin door.

Building has two 24″ x 36″ vinyl single hung windows, one in south end and one on west side, to let in natural light. Painting of exterior siding was done by the customer. This project in 2005 was a little over $10,000.00.

I plan to share more current projects as well as archived ones in this up coming year as well as connecting the two web sites to make it easier to access the content across both sites.

I will keep you updated on the Timber Creek Construction web site remodel.

How Important Is an Experienced Guide When Building Your Dream?

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Been There Done That, Now Let Me Help You

We all have areas in our lives in which we are more skilled and knowledgeable than others. These areas of talent are fewer than the more common areas of our lives. This is why it’s important to find those qualified professionals to guide you through places where you are less qualified.

Recently I was working with a customer that gave me a home blueprint they were considering building. It was a large one-story home (2975 square feet) over a full basement. The proposal to build their project was more than they had budgeted.

Now what do we do?

After spending some time visiting with them there were several options that were discovered. Things that the novice wouldn’t consider or understand how it would affect the price. This is one of the benefits of getting experienced guidance early in the process.

The first thing was to figure out what the priorities were. Here are a few:

  • Dollars were a concern, as is almost always the case – This can be addressed by stacking the construction. If a second floor is included in the overall square footage less foundation and roofing is required to achieve a similar total square footage. This decreases the per square foot price.

 

  • Style and architectural design – During the discussing it was discovered that she wanted a wraparound porch which wasn’t a part of the first plan but fit in nicely on the second one.

 

  • Additional optional living space – Space for family during the holidays and for visits. Space for mother to live during the week when she is in town working.

By offering them some guidance and knowing what questions to ask we were able to come up with a plan that is going to meet the majority of there needs and wants at a 25% reduction in price. This is what I can offer with my almost forty years at the school of hard knocks.

The benefits of working together on any project has value. This value increases exponentially as the size of the projects increase. A new home is definitely a sizeable project.

One of the biggest challenges with building a dream is getting all parties involved moving the same direction. Too many times these parties are pulling in different directions. Just like two horses pulling together as a team can accomplish more, we can do the same thing. That team of horses need someone to take control of the reigns and give direction. We need that same kind of guidance.

I think guidance is the most important thing to building a dream. I also think it’s one of the most overlooked and under used pieces of the process. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. It is up to each of us to know what ours are and give or get guidance where needed.

Building A House Can Be Scary, But It Doesn’t Have to Be

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Get Excited About Building Your Dream and Enjoy the Thrill

With Halloween season there is a lot of ‘scare in the air’. This includes haunted houses, spook walks, movies, TV shows and a whole assortment of scary costumes. People deal with being scared differently. Some love it while others hate it.


Most Halloween scares aren’t real. The same thing is true when it comes to building a new house, a remodeling project or even simple repairs. The unknown associated with something big like a building project can be scary. Or maybe you’ve had a bad building project experience and are afraid to do another project for fear it will happen again.

Too often customer’s expectations aren’t met. I believe there are a couple of reasons for this. First is the builder’s lack of guiding the customer and clearly communicating the process. Second is the customers lack of knowledge and/or experience with the complicated building process. Both things can be remedied with improved communication and information.

 


There is an adrenaline rush that comes with being scared. According to Merriam-Webster, there are “…physiological symptoms (such as increased heart rate and respiration) that occur as part of the body’s fight-or-flight response to stress, as when someone is in a dangerous, frightening, or highly competitive situation, as well as the feelings of heightened energy, excitement, strength, and alertness associated with those symptoms.”

Look at some of the words used in this definition; heightened energy, excitement, strength, and alertness. Being scared sounds like a pretty good thing.

According to this article on WebMD, thrill seekers thrive on the scary. There is something that as humans we naturally seek from getting scared. There’s something rewarding when we go through the process and come out on the other side braver and stronger than when we started.

When researching thrill seeking the internet redirected my search to the word adventure. I think viewing a building project as an adventure is great way to look at it. Adventures can be scary but take us to exciting new places.


Whatever scary situation you find yourself in, you have the internal ability to use that scare in your own productive “fight or flight” way. Lissa Rankin, MD tells how fear makes you sick, but it doesn’t have to. The mind is a powerful tool. It is up to us to decide if we are going to work through the situation or run from it.

 

Happy Halloween

How to Dream Big in A Small Space

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The Strength of More Than One

A few weeks ago, I wrote about creating realistic expectations for customers and how important it is for the builder to honestly manage those expectations. In that conversation I spoke about Hannah’s project of building her home using grain bins.


This is going to be a dream project for both of us, but it takes planning and working together to make a dream come true. There also needs to be patience and understanding. Too many times people’s dreams become nightmares.


Her most recent floor plan has several changes from the first one. These changes are a normal part of the process (they probably aren’t the last). Some people don’t have the patience for this and plow forward throwing caution to the wind.

On the other hand, some of us tend to plan things to death. No dream is going to be built if there isn’t some action. That’s why it’s important to find the balance of planning and doing.

I think when Hannah’s dream project is finished she will agree that some outside ideas and input helped her project be better than if she hadn’t had any.

All of us have been made to strengthen and support each other. We accomplish more when we work together. In Ecclesiastes 4:12 it says, “…two people can stand back to back to defend each other. And three people are even stronger. They are like a rope that has three parts wrapped together – it is very hard to break”. (ERV)


It’s like the two-horse rule. A single draft horse can pull 8,000 pounds so it would stand to reason that two draft horses could pull 16,000 pounds. But they can actually pull 24,0000 pounds. That is three times as much. Each horse has its purpose and working together can accomplish more.

This is the benefit of collaboration. The working together makes each of us as better as individuals and the dream stronger. Hannah and I are both slower more detailed horses. I think we might need to add a race horse to the team so that we can plow a little faster.

 

Keep following this blog and Hannah’s for more updates as the dream moves closer to reality.

The Value of a Professional Builder

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What’s It Worth to Hire A Professional?

I was talking with my wife, who’s a realtor, earlier this week. She was telling me about an individual that had been trying to sell their house themselves and not having any luck. Reluctantly they are now considering listing their house with a realtor.

Her question was why would someone not list their house with a professional? I have thought about this same thing regarding construction for years.

The ‘Do It Yourself’ philosophy has become an industry on its own. This is not to say that doing things yourself is all bad.


The question should be about value, not about dollars.

To hire or not, is the question. I’m pretty capable with a wide range of skills, but there are some things that are just better done by professionals. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer not to do my own surgery or fill my own cavity.

The number one reason that most people don’t hire a professional is the cost. When the purchase or project is in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars the professional fee is big. Is the money saved by not hiring the professional really a savings? The actual cost in dollars, time and heartache may be a lot more in the end.

The value of hiring a professional can go well beyond the dollars spent.

 

 

  • They have been through the pitfalls and can help you avoid them. It breaks my heart the number of times that I have been asked to come finish a project that someone started and then realized they were in over their head.

 

  • There is a process to everything and construction is no different. If you do things in the wrong order the eventual cost is often more than the professional fees. If the walls are sheetrocked before the electrical wiring is ran it isn’t going to turn out well.

  • Doing all the different things a good professional does takes a lot of time. If you plan to do them and do them well, you need to plan to spend the time. As is the case with most things, looking at something from the outside it looks easier and quicker than it really is. What is your time worth?

Once you’ve decided to hire a professional keep in mind that not all of them are created equal. You need to give some consideration to the hiring process and find the right builder for you. In some situations professional may not be the best term when describing some builders. The wrong builder can be as much of an issue as not having one at all. What is the cost of cheap? Good communication with fixed pricing are both crucial to a good professional experience.

The important thing is for you to give some thought to the question of hiring a professional before moving forward and then regretting it later. In Proverbs 19:2 it says, “Being excited about something is not enough. You must also know what you are doing. Don’t rush into something, or you might do it wrong.”, ERV.

What is the value of a skilled professional’s guidance?

 

 

How Do I Know If I Need A Storm Door?

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Reasons for and Against Storm Doors

 

I’ve had the storm door conversation several times recently. It’s a common discussion I’ve had many times. I always ask the why question, when customers are considering the installation of storm doors. Most people assume that having a storm door is just a given…I mean shouldn’t everybody have a storm door?

Historically storm doors were installed like storm windows. Both were an effective added layer of protection for old drafty doors and single pane windows. With the changes that have been made to doors, windows, weather stripping, sealants and finishes the need for storm doors or windows has become somewhat of a moot point.

 

Start by asking WHY before blindly moving forward and installing a storm door.

 

Why do I want/need a storm door? Is it for protection against the elements, visibility, ventilation, security, appearance or do I just want one.

 

Reasons for:

  • Protection against the elements – If you have an older draftier entry door, then a storm door can be simple way to get an added layer of protection against the rain, snow and wind.

 

  • Visibility – If you like opening the entry door to see outside. There are a variety of storm door styles, full view, ¾ and ½ glass that allow you to see out and get natural light in.

 

  • Ventilation – If you like opening the entry door to get fresh air in without bugs. Here again there are different ways to get storm doors for this purpose. Some the glass and screen are exchanged. One common style has a half screen and one pane of glass slides up and down. A newer style has a screen that rolls up out of the way until you slide the glass.

 

  • Security – It adds an additional layer that someone would have to get past to get in. Keep in mind that storm doors are not designed as a security system.

 

  • Appearance – There are some storm doors that offer decorative glass that can enhance the way the house looks.

 

Reasons against:

  • Wind catchers – Storm doors are notorious for being caught by the wind and getting sprung or twisted and the closers being bent and/or pulled out of the jamb.

  • Adjustment – Storm doors are difficult to get adjusted from the beginning. When the entry door is shut and the storm door closes and latches properly then the storm door will slam when the entry door is open. If the storm door is adjusted to shut and catch when the entry door is closed, then the storm door won’t latch when the entry door is closed. This is caused by the building up of air pressure between the two doors.

 

  • Inconvenient – Opening a storm door and holding it while opening the entry door when carrying things can be difficult.

 

  • Damaging the finish of the entry door – This seems contradictory to protection against the elements. When the entry door is located where there is exposure to direct sunlight (especially the east and west sides) the glass in the storm door works like as magnifying glass and can cook the finish of the entry door. This is especially true with stained fiberglass doors.

 

Things usually start out being done for a specific reason and over time that reason gets lost in the normalcy of whatever that thing is. Installing a storm door without thinking through the reasons for and against is one of those things.

So, how do I know if I need a storm door? Ultimately this is a question only you can answer, but I hope this week’s solution helps.

 

If you have questions about storm doors or other construction projects that you would like answered, contact us in the comment section below.

The Hard Truth About Solid Surface Flooring – Part 2

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Working Through the Questions to Get to the Right Answers

 

Last week we went through questions to ask when looking for the right solid surface flooring. I pointed out the importance of starting with the why. Then I went through an overview of the other questions – product choices, appearance, durability, cleaning and maintenance, price, installation options, location and the ability to be repaired.

This week we will go into the attributes of the different solid surface products that are currently available:

  • Solid wood – is lumber cut from trees. It normally ranges in thickness from ½” to ¾”. It typically has a tongue and groove on the sides and ends. It usually is nailed down through the tongue which hides the fastener. It can also be glued down. Because it’s the same material all the way through it can be sanded down and refinished in the future.

 

  • Engineered wood – is similar to solid wood in that wood is the primary material. The difference is that it is manufactured in layers with the grain alternating direction and glued together. Engineered wood might be as thin as 3/8” up to ¾”. Like the solid wood it usually has a tongue and groove and can be installed either by nailing or by gluing. Some engineered wood has a thick enough top layer to allow for refinishing, but often the top finished layer is too thin for refinishing to be done.

 

  • Bamboo – is manufactured flooring made from the bamboo plant. It is typically made by slicing mature bamboo poles into strips. Then these strips are cut into the desired lengths and widths, the outer skin and nodes are removed, and the strips are boiled in a solution of boric acid or lime to remove the sugar and starch. After it has been dried and planed the strips are laminated together, milled, sanded and finished creating the planks with either vertical or horizontal grain. Bamboo can be installed either with an interlocking joint system, nailed or glued. This product can be refinished however staining bamboo can be a challenge.

 

  • Laminated – is a multi-layered synthetic flooring product. It is usually composed of melamine resin and a fiberboard inner core material with a photographic visible layer and covered with a clear protective layer similar to plastic laminate counter tops. It can have many different patterns resembling wood or ceramic tile. It ranges from ¼” to ½” thick and is often made using recycled materials. It is fastened together with a tongue and groove or snap together process. This flooring then floats over an underlayment and essentially becomes one continuous piece covering the entire room. Due to the type of finished surface it cannot be refinished.

 

  • Ceramic tile – Is made from clay that has been shaped and then is fired in a kiln. Then it is glazed and fired a second time. It is offered in a variety of shapes, sizes and finishes. It is currently even available in a wood grained finish. It has the most durable finish but is brittle and can break or chip especially if not supported well. Installation of this product is done by adhering it to either a concrete slab or concrete board subfloor with a troweled on thinset mortar. After the adhesive has cured the joints are filled with a complementary colored grout.

 

  • Luxury Vinyl – should not be confused with either sheet vinyl or the self-adhesive tile squares that used to be installed in homes. This product is made of resilient polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with a top layer of urethane. It comes in planks (to look like traditional wood floors), tiles (that can look like ceramic, stone, granite, marble, etc.) and is even available in patterns that resemble carpet squares. Luxury vinyl will range from 2mm to 5mm thick. It can be installed either in a snap together floating system or glued down.

 

  • Sheet vinyl – is made from PVC the same as the luxury vinyl. It comes in rolls normally wide enough to do complete rooms without seams. This product is available in a variety of stamped patterns, some even resemble wood grain. The thickness of sheet vinyl is 10-30 mils (mils are a thousandth of an inch). This product is installed with either a full glue or perimeter glue process. Due to the thinness of this product it requires a smooth underlayment underneath.

 

I hope this explanation of these products helps you to better understand them and their differences. Next week we will dig deeper into comparable questions and what the pros and cons are.

The Hard Truth About Solid Surface Flooring – Part 1

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You Need to Ask the Right Questions If You Want to Get the Right Answers

 

Over the last several years floorcovering has gone from a few simple choices to so many that it can make your head spin. It used to be that carpet, sheet vinyl and wood were your main options. Now the number of various products, styles and finishes are overwhelming. Currently the trend is moving more and more to the solid surface products.

When working with customers, I point out these differences and help them work through the process of choosing the right flooring product for their specific situation. Many times, they thought they knew what they wanted until I start asking them questions.

As always, the best place to start is why. Why are you going to install new flooring? Is it necessary, i.e. no flooring or because what’s there now is worn out. Is it because you want a new fresh look? Whatever the reason you want/need new floorcovering, you need to begin with a clear why.

 

Once you have determined your why, then the real head spinning can begin.

 

When determining which solid surface product to use, these questions should be answered:

  • Product choices. Here is a list of the main solid surface products on the market today –

    • Solid wood
    • Engineered wood
    • Bamboo
    • Plastic laminated
    • Ceramic tile
    • Luxury vinyl
    • Sheet vinyl

  • Appearance –

    • How it looks. Does it appear real or artificial?
    • How it feels to the touch?
    • How it feels when walking on it?
    • How it sounds when walking on it?

 

  • Durability –

    • What is the wear surface?
    • What is the life expectancy?
    • Does furniture cause indentions?

 

  • Cleaning and maintenance –

    • Does it require any special product for cleaning?
    • Will it need to be mopped?
    • Does it have beveled edges or grout joints?
    • How smooth is the surface?

 

  • Price –

    • Initial product cost?
    • Installation cost?
    • Longevity costs?
    • Misc. related costs, special trims, transitions etc.?

 

  • Installation methods and requirements –

    • Nail down?
    • Glue down?
    • Floating?
    • Underlayment?

 

  • Location to be installed –

    • Wood subfloor or concrete?
    • Room (kitchen, bathroom or living space)?
    • Below grade (basement)?
    • Traffic (foot or rolling furniture)?
    • Interior or exterior?

 

  • Ability to be repaired –

    • Can a single piece be removed and replaced?
    • Can it be refinished?

 

Just going through this list is a lot to digest. To keep your head from spinning too far today, we’ll stop here for now. Next week we will go into the specifics of the different products and how they can either solve your flooring problem or become the problem.

Here are some links to various solid surface products.

Designer’s Expo

Mannington

Daltile

Emser

If you have any specific questions about the products or topics listed here or would like to discuss some other product(s) contact us in the comment section below.

How to Determine If Someone’s Trash Can Be Your Treasure

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What’s the Purpose for Your Re-purpose

Recently my web and social media coordinator, Stacey, gave me a list of questions from her husband, Daniel. One of them was “repurposing ideas?”. I am assuming that he is asking about some specific ideas and that list would be pretty long.

So, this answer may not be exactly what he was looking for, but more of a reasoning and thought process. I hope it will give him and you some direction when you are considering repurposing.

Repurposing is currently a popular trendy topic. Not that there is anything at all wrong with repurposing. On the contrary it can be a frugal and thrifty way to be good stewards. This kind of thing has been done since the beginning of civilization. Cavemen didn’t just go down to the store and pick up a hammer. They made one out of repurposed sticks, rocks and leather.

I grew up repurposing, before it had a cool name like that. I remember as a kid setting on the concrete step of the barn straightening bent nails that had been pulled out of used boards. We had cans full of them and when doing a new project, we would repurpose them.

Repurposing ideas are as big as your imagination. The internet is full of ideas that range from using discarded toilet paper tubes for storing cables and cords to using old picture frame corners to tile a ceiling or using old bathtubs for furniture and a grand piano for an outdoor fountain. Some of these ideas are simple and easy to do, some, not so much.

 

To find the answer to your specific repurposing questions, ask WHY, WHAT, HOW. These questions will be as wide ranging as your imagination. For Example:

  • Why do you want to use something designed for one thing for something else?
  • What is the intended outcome?
  • What is the cost going to be?
  • How is it going to be achieved?
  • How much time is it going to take? 

Old wringer washer, going to become a laundry sink

 

The answers are where you separate the realistic from the unrealistic.

  • Everybody is doing it
  • Saves money, less expensive than buying
  • Improved use of original idea
  • Better than throwing it away, not being wasteful
  • Currently not being used, just sitting around and taking up space
  • Physically not going to work
  • Too costly
  • Don’t have the time needed
  • Don’t have the skill or ability
  • Historical or sentimental value
  • The finished product “cool factor” is worth it

A couple months ago I wrote about turning used grain bins into a home. This is a sizable repurposing project. When considering this project these questions and more have been and are being answered. This project is going to be a big repurpose full of smaller repurposes.

I told you that I would be sharing the project as it moves forward. We have met a couple of times and reviewed design ideas. I have set up an online project notebook in OneNote and Hannah has listed product thoughts and idea links. This is the current elevation and floor plan drawings. Sign up for our weekly solutions for more construction and repurposing ideas.

 

Repurposing is a great solution in many situations, but don’t do it just because someone else is doing it. Have a clear purpose for your repurpose.

Let me know if you have some specific repurpose questions or share your repurposed projects in the comments below.