Building a house in Florida | Building report, tips & lots of experience
Building a house in Florida is like an adventure in a mangrove swamp – exciting, but you need the right equipment! And that includes lots of permits. These have to be obtained again and again during the entire construction period. And there are plenty of other surprises, just like on an adventure. If you read my construction report , you’ll be prepared!
Building report: Experiences from Cape Coral
A modern detached house is being built in Cape Coral that meets the special requirements of building in Florida. The report documents the individual construction phases – from planning and approval procedures to completion. Particular attention is paid to the construction methods in the individual trades, which differ from those in Germany.
Land purchase & construction planning
The long road to a property in Florida
The adventure of building a house begins with the land on which it is to stand. The search for a plot of land was a lengthy affair. It took almost…
Title company in the USA is the same as a notary’s office in Germany
So we have found our dream of a country. What happens next? The contract goes to the title company. It carries out the purchase in trust. It carries out the…
Construction company wanted Part 1: Property seeks builder
A lot is being built in Cape Coral – a lot now. 1069 building applications for new residential homes (single-family homes) were approved by the city in 2015. There are…
Construction company wanted Part 2: Builder change
Back in Germany, we racked our brains as to how we could turn the floor plan (left), which we didn’t like but contained everything we wanted, into our dream home….
Construction company wanted part 3: I easily can do that
We had a deja vu while we thought we had found the right builder once again. Unfortunately, the estate agent had to go to an appointment and didn’t have the…
The architect and our floor plan
As already mentioned, we wanted a real custom home and not just a house based on a slightly modified existing floor plan. This is due to two facts: Firstly, we…
The building permit: 31 permits to go before moving in
After submitting the work plans to the city of Cape Coral, we were amazed at how quickly the building permit is issued here. It usually only takes about two weeks…
Anyone can do a normal color session Part 1: Just not earth-colored
We experience a completely different kind of color session with our builder, because he and we are probably not the usual kind of builder and builder. This has advantages and…
Anyone can do a normal color session Part 2: Window & door sampling
The next important point is the entry door. If you drive through the residential area of Cape Coral, you will either see ornate doors of all kinds or, in modern…
Anyone can do a normal color session Part 3: Assembling the kitchen
The most difficult topic was probably the kitchen, because American kitchens are a bit old-fashioned in our eyes. We also don’t like the country house style, which is characterized by…
The shell is being built
Start of the foundation work: It’s finally starting
After all the research, organization and planning, we are finally getting started today. After the ground on which the house will later stand has been heaped up to a predetermined…
Erection of a double-row foundation wall
In principle, the following applies to a property like ours that is located in the flood zone: The higher the stem wall (floor slab) is in relation to the base…
Pay attention to the gradient when laying water pipes
The next step is to lay the supply and waste water pipes, which will later be cast into the floor slab. There is no municipal water here in the north-west,…
Backfilling, compacting and pouring the floor slab
Once the pipe laying in the ground has been approved, the foundation is filled with sand, which is compacted using a vibrating plate. Now it is time again for the…
Building the shell: brick on brick – it will be a house
The long-awaited bricklaying of the outer walls begins. So far, everything has just been a prelude. But when the outer walls are bricked up, the structure takes on the appearance…
Ring beam: shuttering and casting of the tie beam
Creating the tie beam (ring anchor) is a much more time-consuming process than a layman might imagine. When we asked our builder how long the casting of the tie beam…
Erect a roof truss: Wooden puzzle game
A crane is used for the first and last time to erect the roof truss. It seems as if the carpenters are putting the pre-cut wooden segments together piece by…
Install the roof boarding: Cover the roof with plywood
Once the pipe laying in the ground has been approved, the foundation is filled with sand, which is compacted using a vibrating plate. Now it is time again for the…
Building envelope & exterior work
Installation of windows and exterior doors: the building is slowly becoming watertight
We are currently in the largest construction phase, which ends with the so-called “frame rough” inspection. This refers to all woodwork such as roof trusses and walls as well as…
Exterior plastering: a house is getting dressed up
The plasterers arrived at the same time as the drywall builders, who first applied the exterior plaster. We originally wanted a smooth render to match the modern house. However, this…
Interior fittings
USA-style walls in timber frame construction
The next stage of construction is the so-called framing. It only takes one day to erect the walls. Whereas in Germany you build brick on brick, here in Florida a…
Electrical installation timber-frame construction: It’s so easy
German installers would certainly welcome the opportunity to dispense with the laborious task of slitting walls. Here in America, it is so easy to install any type of pipe or…
Two-zone air conditioning: some like it cooler
Because we find it somewhat unreasonable and wasteful to cool the whole house down to one temperature, we had already asked various house construction companies during the initial planning phase…
Sanitary Installation: German Toilet not so easy
The plumbers were slightly overwhelmed by our requirements. They had never fitted a German wall-hung toilet set like this before and didn’t want to learn how to do it. So…
Interior insulation: insulating walls at the last minute
When we asked what was going between the timbers that make up the walls, our builder looked at us a little puzzled: “Nothing. The walls are sealed hollow, you can’t…
Drywall construction & plastering walls on stilts
After the insulation, the drywall construction begins. Plasterboard panels are cut and cut out. They gradually turn the former floor plan into a room. This wall construction has a lot…
Painting work: Color in and around the house
If you think that professionals paint a whole house in two/three days, then unfortunately this does not apply to our “super painters”. The whole painting process took weeks. Why? Amateurs…
Wallpaper on the wall brings beautiful living to life
Our grandchildren are probably wondering what wallpaper actually is. We are reviving this wall covering and bringing the beach, the Live Oaks and the vacation feeling into our home. We…
Outdoor facilities & garden design
Drilling wells & septic systems for domestic water supply
Our house is being built in the northwest of Cape Coral and there is no city water there yet. So our domestic water supply will be provided by a so-called…
Building a pool: with Infinity Edge & Spa
The time has finally come: the pool is being built. This is a highlight of the entire new build. After the excavator has completed the excavation with astonishing precision, reinforcing…
Building a seawall: Building a seawall on the canal
Building a seawall in the canals of Cape Coral is a must if you want to build a house on the canal in Florida. The movie shows how the company…
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Pool & Terrace
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Boat dock & garden
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