Rock Away - Rainbow Bay, Eleuthera

I've decided to keep a journal of what I have had to go thru to build my house in Rainbow Bay, Eleuthera.  As background information for you folks reading this... I have a lot that is approximately 150 feet off the Ocean in Rainbow Bay and is approximately 55 feet above sea level.  The front of the house will face the ocean.  The road in front of the house is about 8 feet lower than the front edge of my property (the property is on a little cliff above the road) - so there is no way to drive directly onto the property.  I will be building a one story house - but the garage will be under the house.  I will be excavating a driveway to the garage and excavating out all of the garage, cistern and cesspit.  I designed the floor plans myself and hired a Bahamian architect and structural engineer to draw the blues and make sure all is to code.  The house is 3 bedroom/2 bath - about 1600 square feet of air conditioned space.  My father, mother, husband and I have built several homes here in Florida but these were all frame construction.  Hiring a Bahamian builder to build the shell (concrete block) - slabs, walls, roof, cistern, cesspit.  Plan on doing electrical, working with a plumber for plumbing (my husband hates doing plumbing), and all interior finishing ourselves.  Will hire Bahamian help whenever we need it after shell is built.  So... here goes a new experience!

Read, enjoy, laugh, and learn!

11/2003 Offer given and accepted on property - seller begins legal process of transferring title
2004  
1/2004 7 calls to attorney's office - Letter finally arrives from Attorney indicating title and cause list searches are done and good.  Conveyance document sent to seller for signing.  Certificate of Registration application, client profile form, and invoice arrives for professional services fees ($1248.24)
2/2004 Paid seller negotiated selling price - seller has to go to Bahamian Consulate in NYC to sign his documents in their presence.
6/2004 Carried docs with me to Eleu so I can sign in front of Commissioner in GHB - seller's notary accidentally filled out something in the wrong spot and whited this out - commissioner deemed it was not a valid legal document with the white out.  Had to fax this back to Nassau attorney to type up correctly. 
7/2004 Commissioner signs docs ($30 fee) - send everything back to Nassau to get clear title sent
10/2004 Property cleared
11/2004 Hire Nassau architect to make blues of plans I had already sketched on paper.  ($1460 - half cost up front)
12/2004 Title is taking so long to come, I pay Rainbow Bay Property Owner's Association (RBPOA) the association dues for this year ($40) even though it's not in my name yet

First set of plans come from architect.  Review begins - changes/corrections are suggested by me.

2005  
3/2005 Check with Nassau attorney on title progress... they have rec'd title and it had type-os.  Sending it back to be corrected.
8/2005 Blues finally arrive from architect in Nassau

Submit application and plans to RBPOA for approval -

9/2005 RBPOA approves plans

Discussions start with architect - I am afraid that the structure has been  "over structured".  The support between the garage and the house calls for steel trusses.  The exterior walls have poured columns and filled block.  This sounds expensive to me and over-kill.  After talking with architect, structural engineer, and a friend who owns a concrete construction company here in the states, it is determined that the steel beams are not going to be any more expensive than poured concrete beams and all the columns required to support a floor with no steel beams.  We do, however, eliminate many of the columns in the exterior walls.  Supposedly you can get the steel beams in Nassau.

12/2005 Surprise Nassau attorney with visit - checking on title.  Told it should be here in the next few weeks.  Ask if I can start building... they say yes, because the property has been registered in my name.

Get excavation permit from Commissioner's office ($375) - confirm with Robert Thompson that he is scheduled to start excavation 12/27

Set up meeting with 4 builders to "interview" for builder to build the shell of the house.

12/2005 - 1/2006 12/27 -  Staked out house on property so excavation crew would know where to dig
12/28 - Robert Thompson (and his workers) showed up bright and early (7:30am)!!!  Excavation began.  Rebar stakes and string run over and most disappeared  within a few hours - but they supposedly had a good idea of where to dig.  4:00 that afternoon digging stopped.  They had encountered what they thought was a cave that they thought might go all the way to the ocean... what to do?  Had them keep digging to see what it really entailed - turned out to be just a pocket in the earth!  Whew!
12/29 - digging continues - hole to China beginning to appear!  :-)  Driveway is just about completely excavated - a little digging in where the garage is has begun
12/30 - All seems to be going well the day before so we go fishing.  Get home and it doesn't look like much has been done - (note, I am paying $175 per hour - I want to see results!)
1/3 - long holiday weekend over - boys are on lot and seem to be grading the top of the lot - although the driveway has a nice clean edge and is cut as low as it needs to go - the garage is still unexcavated.  Boys seem to think they're done.  We say "No" - you still have several days of work excavating the garage.  Seems there's a miss-understanding - they didn't realize they needed to dig more - We pull out the plans and show them - reset the rebar and restring the lines.  (I KNOW that I told them where to dig originally - and I THOUGHT they understood).  Now they have to go to get diesel fuel, because they didn't have enough with them thinking they were done.  Oh well...
Went to Administrator's Office in Governor's - building department - talk to Larry Minnis, who hands us over to Ted Durham.  Fill out application for building.  Have to pay $435 for the permit.  This fee is based upon your square footage - ALL OF IT - including garage and anything under a roof - such as a covered porch... Suddenly my 1548 square foot home is a 2895 square foot mansion!!!  The fee is $15 per 100 square feet for homes between 1501-5000 square feet.  Under 1500 square feet you pay $10 per 100 square feet.
I return to US, my husband stays to supervise.
1/4 - digging continues
1/5 - hydraulic fluid is leaking from the machine - boys spend the morning repairing this - digging continues
---------
While I was on the island, my husband and I checked out the work of 4 different builders - nixed one and submitted plans to the other 3.  I will let you know which ones we interviewed AFTER we get a commitment to build... wouldn't want to lose my builder to one of you readers out there!!!  We still have one more builder we want to check out and submit plans to.
1/2006
ra_whole1.jpg (42065 bytes) Well, there's our hole.  This will hold our garage.  We're actually on our way to having a house!!!

New issue....  Talked with BEC about getting electric to the property.   We have to run our electric 650 feet from there nearest pole.  The good news is that it will all be run underground (we're too close to the ocean and they're worried about hurricanes).  I had wanted it underground so I didn't have to look thru power lines at my lovely ocean view.  The bad news is that this is looking like it's going to cost us around $12-15k to dig the trench, run the electric to our property thru conduit, and to buy the transformer.  Yipes!
3/7/2006 Called Nassau, I need to get the title!!! They say they have it in hand and will send it this week.
Making progress on getting the electric to my property with an alternative plan.  I'll update you with the details once I have it solidified.
3/23 Electric situation:   My husband met with BEC on the property when we were on island in January.  They told him that if we could get permission from the lot owner behind us to trench our power underground along their property line, then we would only have to go around 150' with the trenching, conduit, wire...  This would save us a lot of money.  So, I set about to contact the 2 lots behind us.  I lucked out and found someone who knew the owner of one of the lots.  I contacted her and asked if we could trench along her property.  There is a 10' "no build" boarder along the Rainbow lots.  This would be the perfect area to trench 3 feet down, lay conduit, and cover it back up.  There would be no visible signs it was ever there.  I offered the owner of the lot behind us some incentives to allow us to do this.  The first was that we would survey out her lot and find her corners for her.  Since I understand she is building soon, this would be a very beneficial thing.  Second, we offered to buy the bigger transformer, which runs 2 homes, and draw up a legal document allowing her future home, or any future owners of the lot, to share this transformer.  We even offered to stub the electric up for her so all she'd have to do is hook up to it and turn on her power.  Free connectivity!  Saving her about $2500-$3500 - with absolutely no repercussions!  And... she said "no" - she didn't want to do it.  I wish someone would offer me this deal!!!  Anyhow, we ended up paying the $15 "contact fee" that Rainbow Bay Property Owners Association requires and they got in contact with the other lot owner whose property backs up to ours.  We provided the same offer to him and he said yes.  He did require some clarifications, such as a "property easement deed" granting him or a future owner access to the transformer and a notarized statement indicating that this agreement should be made part of the contract to any future purchaser of our property (in case his has not yet connected to the transformer).  All of this is agreeable to us.  So, I contacted Lloyd Johnson, a lawyer in Governor's Harbour, to see about drawing up the Easement Deed.  He said no problem (costing us about $450) and it could be done quickly and registered in Nassau within about a 2 week period - but I needed to provide the title to my property to get this done.  So, I called McKinney, Bancroft and Hughes again on 3/16 (and then again) on 3/20  to ask for the title.  They still had it and say it's going out this week (yeah, right) - but they did fax a copy to me. 

Builders:  When we submitted our plans to the 4 builders, we explained that we were just looking for the shell to be built.  This will be the garage slab, walls, and ceiling (which is also the floor of the house) and the house exterior walls and roof.  We would do all the electrical, plumbing, interior walls, windows, and finishing work such as cabinets, flooring...  We've gotten 3 quotes back from builders - one decided he didn't want to do it because we didn't have a fresh water source near our site.  2 of the quotes were quite high - $302k and $266k - and remember this is just for the shell.  The 3rd was more reasonable - $160k - and we provide the bar joists. 

This is still higher than I can afford.  So, we've decided to subcontract it out ourselves.  We've built 3 houses from scratch here in Florida and we've renovated many others.  When I was on island in early March I interviewed a block mason who I had heard great things about and whose work I had seen for myself and liked.  He felt he could handle the job with 2 workers and another mason.  So we verbally agreed to get started on the garage section (we will be building this Bahamian style - in segments as we get the cash to afford the next segment).  I believe we're going to build the living quarters out of wood framing - as this is how we built all our Florida homes and we can comfortably be our own contractor with frame construction.  The below ground garage has to be concrete.

Water:  Getting water to the lot is now our problem.  Luckily, we met someone at a party (a friend of a friend) here in Florida, who works for a container business.  He worked us a great deal and we are sending a 300 gallon water storage tank to Eleuthera for our water for mixing cement.  When the job is done we can either sell this container, or add gutters around the deck and use this as a cistern for car washing and watering the garden.

We have given our plans to Rinker and to Hughes Supply (both here in Florida) to get take-offs and prices on rebar, bar joists, and block.  When we get the prices (with shipping) we'll call Nassau and price it out there.  I have heard that Cotton Bay is using all of Eleuthera's block, so we just figure we'll start by looking elsewhere.  Had a Home Depot coupon that was expiring, so I bought 2 wheelbarrows for the masons to use.  I'll ship those over shortly.

4/2006 Got all my documents from McKinney, Bancroft and Hughes - with one last thing to sign... then maybe they'll send me my title!  As for the saga of building... we had plans to head to Eleuthera by our boat (where my husband would live during the building process) on April 9th.  After waiting 5 days for the wind to stop and the 13 foot seas to calm down, we lost the port engine about 30 miles from home... so we limped back into port and began repairs.  As soon as the repairs are done on the boat, we will try to head back over as soon as this is fixed.  This lovely problem takes a HUGE chunk out of our house funds! 
6/2006 Catch up time.  We got onto the property and measured the hole that's been dug so far.  We determined that it is a little too far to the left (we had thought it was right), so we will have to dig out more on the right.  It is also dug about 8 feet too far back, but that can be filled.  We've spent 3 weeks trying to find someone who can finish our excavation.  We have a section about 10 wide and 30 feet long and 11 feet deep that still needs to be dug out alongside the current hole.  Robert Thompson, who did the original excavation, came out and told us he did not have the right equipment.  We have tried to get Ricardo with Eleuthera Block, but after many phone calls and promises to meet us at the property, we have given up on him.  He was our first choice because he has an excavator.  So, we are going to use Carlos Culmer from Savannah Sound.  He is very eager to work, but he will be using a jack hammer to break off chunks of land.  I'm not sure how well this is going to work, but he assures me he can do the job.  It will take twice as long as using an excavator, but costs half as much.  And at least we were getting started.... Until.... the jack hammer caught fire on the first day.  So, now we are waiting for it to be fixed.  This should be sometime next week.
8/2006  
The jack hammer is still not fixed.  So, I have now lined up Paul Knowles from Rock Sound to complete our excavation, dig our footers, and dig the trench for the electric.  He should be able to start the week of August 21.  We worked out a total cost for the remaining excavation, so I do not need to be there to monitor his hours.  However,  I will need to mark out the garage on the ground for the footers to be dug.  Paul comes highly recommended, and I have seen how clean and exact his work is.

I have gotten the letter from the back door property owner with his photo ID, so I should be able to go to the lawyer in Governor's and start the legal paper work allowing us access 3 feet below ground along his property line - thus giving us electrical on our property.  We were having problems finding the markers for his property, so I will get a Haitian gardener friend to help find these corner boundaries for me.  I hope to complete these tasks when I'm on the island August 25-Sept 4.

paint_2bexcavated.jpg (104861 bytes)

Orange paint marks what needs to be dug out as of yet.
9/2006 Progress!  Went to the lawyer's (Lloyd Johnson) in Governor's Harbour yesterday.  He's got all the info now for drawing up the property easement to allow us to bury power along the back door neighbor's property line.  He plans on having the final documents for the back door neighbor to me on Monday so I can take them back to the states for him to sign.
As for the excavation, I found out about a great person in Rock Sound - Paul Knowles.  We arranged for him to finish the last 10 feet of my excavation.  But after 3 weeks of him promising to get out there (he's a very in-demand, busy man) I lined up some guys out of Bogue to do the job.  Then, I was at the bank yesterday in Governor's, and Paul tracked me down and explained why he hadn't gotten out to the lot yet... this, that, and the other emergency.  He promised to bring his machine to the lot after he finished his day's work on Banks road - even though it would be only for a few hours - this would at least get it started.  And, good to his word, he did come.  He said to keep the Bogue boys, because he would not be able to finish the job quickly, due to his other obligations, and at least I would still be making progress.  So, today the second shift is supposed to show.  I am concerned, because they are not sure if their equipment is big enough.  I will say that it was slow moving with Paul - that ground was HARD!!!!  Listening to that backhoe scrape the land was like listening to someone scratch their fingernails on a chalk board.
backhoe_pit5.jpg (79615 bytes) Click here to see video of the excavation

This may take a few minutes
9/2006 Hired a Haitian gardener to help me find the property corners for the lot behind mine - since we had already tried and failed.  We had them marked within an hour and a half!  I then spray painted the ground so the excavator can trench for the power.
Experienced one of the easiest tasks so far... I took the letter from the back door property owner to Lloyd Johnson, the lawyer in Governor's Harbour, to have him draw up a property easement and file it in Nassau.  This was on Thursday late morning.  I had the legal document in hand by 9am Monday morning, just as promised!  I would definitely recommend Lloyd to others in the future.
11/2006 OK - to bring it up to date... The Bogue boys never showed up.  Paul worked his butt off for several hours... even using his lights at night to dig.  However, when it came right down to it, his machine is still not the right machine for this job.  The overhead reach was beginning to cause stress cracks in his machine.  So... now we're back to trying to get the excavator.  The fellow in Rock Sound with one has been giving him the run around.  I maybe did get lucky though... I was talking with Dennis Delancey (whose construction business is advertised on EleutheraLiving) and he says he can get Ricardo Knowles out to my property with his excavator (which is sitting idle in JC right now).  I have sent money to him to get this done... let's see what happens.  He says they'll be out there on Monday 11/27.
1/2007 Hooray!  The excavator made it to the lot near the end of December and Ricardo finally sent someone out to do the excavation (Jan 4th).   It only took 4 hours to complete the excavation.  Then, I got Robert Thompson to send Mario out to clear all the excavated fill from the inside of the hole (BTW - I now have fill for sale if anyone out there needs it).  With the hole cleared out, my father and I went out to the lot and shot some elevations to check the foundation.  There is approximately 2 feet difference from front to back of the garage, so a little more leveling needs to be done.  I'll get Paul Knowles to do this when I have him dig my cesspit and the electric trench.  Happily, the hole is level from left to right.  At its deepest, it is 11' deep.  I did run into a small "problem" during all this.  I guess the excavation machine put a "gouge", about 1/2 inch deep and 2 feet long, at the edge of Ocean Drive.  Poor Charlie, who is on the RBPOA board, got at least 8 complaints about this.  So he came out to the property while I was there to let me know that either Ricardo or I needed to fill in the "hole" in the road with concrete.  This will get done - probably when I'm pouring my foundation.

 

Exc1.JPG (113929 bytes) Exc10.JPG (164749 bytes) mario_clear.JPG (137766 bytes)