Meggett Fishing Shack

It's been a while since I posted our last update o the project.   We got the site staked, which is the surveyor coming in and establishing with pins on the ground where the new structures will be located.  In our case, this is easier said than done, as the new addition and garage have to be square to the house, but also have to be carefully planned so as not to extend over any critical line setbacks or property line setbacks.  We used a combination of the surveyor's pins, the drawings, and some field "adjustments" to get the layout "right".  At least that's what we hope.  We will not know for sure until the surveyor comes back and surveys the now-complete block walls to ensure we haven't crossed over any critical lines.  Site Completely Graded and ready to Layout Footings We had some significant personnel changes occur at the onset of the project, which I am coming to find is a very normal thing.  Getting subcontractors to show up on time...

Not to turn this into a personal blog about me and my issues, but this has not been a good couple of weeks.  It started out with copious problems with our foundation contractor, who we ended up letting go after numerous failures to actually get the necessary permits and start the work.  Permitting will be another topic I discuss later.  After finally working with another contractor to get started (Mike Amerson of Amerson Construction has been super helpful), we have our foundation and masonry permit in hand.  We do not, however, have an actual mason lined up through him to do the work.  Charleston's building market is still booming, and labor is at a high demand.  We are still looking, hoping to have some additional pricing soon.   On top of that, after having an injection in my back about 4 weeks go for a herniated disc, my back gave out again last Saturday during a tennis match, so I've been out of commission for a while now.  Of cours...

This is the first of many posts chronicling the renovations to our home, so often referred to as "The Fishing Shack" in Meggett, SC.  We purchased the property 4 years ago, with the intent of renovating and adding-on.  After two years of working on the design completely "in-house"in our spare time away from designing other peoples' houses, we finally settled on a design we could enjoy. The design is pretty out of the ordinary, completed by an engineer and educator with a love of being different and for taking the approach of "function over form".  The design seeks to maximize the expansive views across the Wadmalaw Sound, and the prevailing northerly winds which will flood the house in Spring and Fall with cool air via the large windows both front and rear. I'll post some excerpts from the plans shortly. ' The above photo is what we started with, a single story stick-built 2 bedroom house with brick veneer, and a screened front porch (...