To Pee or Not to Pee: Carolyn and Joshua's Porta Potty Predicament

"Are you ready to dive into the world of construction projects and learn some valuable lessons along the way? In this episode, Carolyn and Joshua McMahon take us on their journey of building their dream house. From obtaining permits to clearing the land, they share the highs and lows of the process. But what is the most valuable lesson they've learned so far?

Join Carolyn and Joshua as they navigate the challenges of construction, including delays caused by inspections and weather conditions. They discuss the importance of having a positive attitude and work ethic on the job site, highlighting the impact it can have on the overall experience. But perhaps the most valuable lesson they share is the commitment to learning from mistakes and improving their process for future projects.

Follow their exciting journey on their Instagram page, where they provide updates and content related to building their own home. Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or simply curious about the construction process, this podcast will leave you inspired and armed with valuable insights. Get ready to witness the progress they'll make in the coming weeks. Are you ready to build your own dream house?"

Transcript

Joshua McMahon (00:00:02) - Oh, I love that. I love that.

Carolyn McMahon (00:00:05) - Hey, y'all, welcome back to another episode of Feed Me Your construction Content. I'm Caroline McMahon.

Joshua McMahon (00:00:10) - I'm Joshua McMahon. It is good to be back.

Carolyn McMahon (00:00:13) - It is. It's just you and me on the mix tonight.

Joshua McMahon (00:00:16) - That's when we do our best work.

Carolyn McMahon (00:00:18) - That's right, folks. You're in for it.

Joshua McMahon (00:00:21) - And we're really happy to be here. We're we're getting our jive. We're getting our we're getting our groove back. We're feeling.

Carolyn McMahon (00:00:26) - Good. Like when Stella got her groove back. Anybody. It's been a couple of weeks. Got a couple of things going on with the house. We thought that we would report kind of what has led us up the last couple of weeks to today our highs, our kind of lows and last couple of steps to get where we are today.

Joshua McMahon (00:00:45) - It's real. When you're building a house, it's real. The struggles are real, the stress is real. Let's just tip our hats to the builders out there. If you're building homes for a living and somebody says you're making too much money, it's because people don't know how much work goes into building the house.

Carolyn McMahon (00:01:00) - Right. And two fold, when it's your money on the line.

Joshua McMahon (00:01:05) - It hurts a lot more.

Carolyn McMahon (00:01:08) - So, babe, tell us where we are today.

Joshua McMahon (00:01:10) - Yeah. So I think just a quick recap. We submitted for the permit probably eight weeks ago, right? I think it was about eight weeks ago. We got held up by the health department, submitted the paperwork for the health department. Health Department has to come out and do your septic inspection, making sure the septic permit is what they say it is. That took us about ten business days to get that piece. So the building plans were submitted, all of the documents were submitted, and then the health department said, we've got ten days to come out and perform our inspection and they take all ten days.

Carolyn McMahon (00:01:42) - Well, that's right.

Joshua McMahon (00:01:44) - I mean, this individual, great guy, no energy. He's he is living the government life.

Carolyn McMahon (00:01:53) - Well, what's funny to me is that when I was in the office today, Becky, she says the word health department.

Carolyn McMahon (00:01:59) - And I was like, oh, is this is this new for you? Because, you know, it's it's top of mind for me since we just had to do a health department and we are used to building on, you know, city stuff, right? You know, city infrastructure, we typically don't build on properties that require well in septic. Right. And so now we are starting a project with that. So to get back in the fold of doing that and hey, you know, you got to have this before they'll even submit a permit. So I knew something. And so that was silly as it was. That was kind of exciting for me. But yeah, So Permit finally released big celebratory day for us and then off to the races we went. So this week was, I don't know, I guess the first taste of it being real. Certainly the money aspect we had to make our first interest only payment. And folks, I got to tell you, that did not feel good.

Joshua McMahon (00:02:56) - Yeah. What is that, like $30 a day?

Carolyn McMahon (00:02:59) - It's not $30 a day. It was. What's 30 times 30? That's $900.

Joshua McMahon (00:03:04) - Yeah. $30? Yeah.

Carolyn McMahon (00:03:06) - Okay. Okay. So, yeah, based on what we owe currently, right?

Joshua McMahon (00:03:10) - So if you just take. We rolled the land into the construction loan. So $92,000, that's it equates to $30 a day. That's what our interest only payment says. So when when you're being pushed by your supervisors, that every day matters. Every day matters. This is only 92,000. Imagine when it's three and $400,000 on that loan, what that payment is every day.

Carolyn McMahon (00:03:34) - All right. So the cost of money is is definitely on the rise. It's expensive. So, you know, of course, last week that brought it home. The realness of this, like we're really we're in this like we are committed. We are writing checks. So this week we started the clearing and you know, Josh the visionary me going, I can't quite see it yet.

Carolyn McMahon (00:03:55) - I just see, you know, our lot with trees and ticks and shit. So it was fun. I stopped in on the property the other day, met James out there and he was just having a good old time and I was like, James, I can't believe you get paid for this. And he's like, me too. I don't. I can't believe it. Anyway, you know, like boys with their toys. And it was fun to watch him, you know?

Joshua McMahon (00:04:20) - How did that make you feel as somebody who's not in the field all the time interacting with the trades and the people out there moving dirt and taking down trees? How did it make you feel to come across somebody doing that work and have the attitude that he did?

Carolyn McMahon (00:04:33) - Well, it was great. I mean, I love people in general, right? I was especially interested in what he was doing. Certainly it was personal to me, but just never been involved. You know, literally from the ground up on a project, it was really great.

Carolyn McMahon (00:04:50) - And he had such a wonderful attitude. He was a delight. You know, he was behind a truck and or in, you know, in the cab and just having a great old time. And I could feel his sincerity. And that was really nice. I mean, and it may have just been because I was just really cute.

Joshua McMahon (00:05:07) - I'm sure that's what it was.

Carolyn McMahon (00:05:10) - No, seriously, people. It was just nice. It was nice. And he stopped what he was doing to speak with me. And it was just a great interaction. Steve, you've hired a you've had a good one.

Joshua McMahon (00:05:20) - Yeah. I told Steve this morning that I don't want anybody else to clear for us. I really want James. It makes a big difference when you come on the job site and have a great attitude and they want to be there. They want to work. And it just it makes it a lot more fun. And I deal with all walks of life when it comes to that that arena. It's not often that there's a great attitude on the job site.

Joshua McMahon (00:05:40) - And I'll tell you, it changes everything for you. And I was just more curious about you because, you know, if that individual had a bad attitude and he's out there cussing and f this, I don't want to be here, it changes your is the customer. It changes your perspective on the entire build with just one interaction.

Carolyn McMahon (00:05:55) - Well, exactly. And it's like you're on my land and you're I don't know, I just it wouldn't have been good. So I was really happy about that. And another point of making it real, adding to the realness was that I ordered a porta potty.

Joshua McMahon (00:06:08) - Yes, you did.

Carolyn McMahon (00:06:10) - It's like Caroline. What type of porta potty would you like? And I was like, Well, what are my options?

Joshua McMahon (00:06:15) - It was So you probably overspent, is what you're saying. We got a handicap portage on out there.

Carolyn McMahon (00:06:21) - Oh, my gosh. You know. Yeah. Let's see. Hand sanitizer, sink station, all the stuff. And then I was like, Nah, what are you normally deliver? We'll go with that.

Carolyn McMahon (00:06:33) - Josh is cheap Ass was like, Well, we'll just put some hand sanitizer in there will be good.

Joshua McMahon (00:06:38) - I said, They can use the trees right in the middle of the woods, put a little teepee over a roll of toilet paper and dig a hole.

Carolyn McMahon (00:06:44) - That's right. So old school, potty ordered checked. It will be delivered Monday, weather permitting.

Joshua McMahon (00:06:51) - Yeah, weather permitting. So we were set to clear. Footers are scheduled for today, today being Thursday and two days ago, we looked at the forecast and said it's not going to happen. The weather's going to hold us up, called the concrete vendor and said we're going to lose the days because of the weather. Let's not play games. Put me on the schedule for Monday. And don't forget that we're good people and we've always taken care of you and worked with your schedule when when the time comes. So we're a smaller builder. We don't have the same weight. We don't have the same poll, so we could easily get bumped off the schedule.

Joshua McMahon (00:07:26) - So I wanted to be proactive and jokingly put it out there and hopefully, you know, next time we're doing this, we're talking about how they came through and they dug the footer on Monday for us.

Carolyn McMahon (00:07:35) - Well, exactly. So digging the footer and then you're working on kind of a two week look ahead.

Joshua McMahon (00:07:41) - Yeah, working on the two week look ahead for sure. Talking about foundation walls, whether it be poured walls or whether we do block and brick or leaning towards block and brick. Right now just this podcast is all about transparency. The price of poured walls on this house is, you know, roughly 40% more than the block and brick. And I think a lot of that is because of the price of concrete is going up and the walls are not that tall, that it would start off setting itself. So the block and brick can come in there one day, knock out the whole job and be done well.

Carolyn McMahon (00:08:10) - Right. And also, you had pointed out something that on the permit. So when they issue a permit, they'll write notes, things that you need to do.

Carolyn McMahon (00:08:19) - Right and weren't. There are a couple of areas that needed like what did you say reinforced concrete or that.

Joshua McMahon (00:08:26) - That's exactly right. So there's some thick and slab area. Slab thick and slab is eight inches of concrete instead of four inches. Four inches of concrete being your typical slab dimension, slab thickness, a thick and slab would be eight inches by whatever width is prescribed, and that additional concrete adds cost to your your job. Right?

Carolyn McMahon (00:08:47) - So of course, that was the only thing that I was thinking about was, okay, what else is this going to cost me?

Joshua McMahon (00:08:54) - Well, and this is where we talked early on that the spot I felt like we were the most vulnerable was from digging a footer to framing the house. Just because there are so many variables. The market is still moving very quickly as we get through the concrete. Once we get through the framing, I feel like we're in a really good place as far as our budget and being able to control things, right?

Carolyn McMahon (00:09:18) - So hopefully I can hang on mentally until then and just keeping my ass together.

Carolyn McMahon (00:09:26) - So y'all say a silent prayer for me.

Joshua McMahon (00:09:29) - Well, when you start talking about budget overages, which is common in the business, we're looking at a current budget overage of 5%. 5% on a $500,000 bill is 25 grand. 25 grand is is real money. So it's hard it's hard to swallow that. And it's it's hard to think you made a mistake. And how do you get better on the next one? And this this journey for us this podcasting as well as building is all about improving and learning from what we're doing and learning from our mistakes and passing it along to everybody else so that you can learn from our mistakes and we get a little better on the next one as well. So we're going to continue dialing in our process and dialing in our estimates, and the next one will know everything down to the stud. So it's been a journey, the lots cleared. McMahon Custom Homes is is an Instagram page really just to follow our journey on this house? And we're going to continue sharing content on it.

Joshua McMahon (00:10:21) - We hope you'll you'll go and follow it and we hope you appreciate this content we're putting out around building our house because we think it's valuable. We think we don't think we know. We're not the only ones that want to build our own house. We know there's more people and we we want to open the doors to all of that to show you what's going on and show you what's out there.

Carolyn McMahon (00:10:37) - Yeah. So hopefully next week we'll have another update for you along with some other content.

Joshua McMahon (00:10:43) - Absolutely. This is fun. Boo.

Carolyn McMahon (00:10:46) - It will be fun.

Joshua McMahon (00:10:47) - The the build of the podcast.

Carolyn McMahon (00:10:50) - The podcast is always fun.

Joshua McMahon (00:10:52) - I think the podcast is fun. We hope you're enjoying the podcast. The build will be fun as well as we start seeing something real coming out of the ground, that's when it's really fun.

Carolyn McMahon (00:11:01) - That's right. Instead of money going into the ground.

Joshua McMahon (00:11:03) - Yeah. Once you can sign the concrete your name, then. Then it'll be real for you.

Carolyn McMahon (00:11:08) - That'll be pretty cool. Our doggies prints in there too.

Joshua McMahon (00:11:11) - Oh, that'll be awesome.

Carolyn McMahon (00:11:12) - All right, y'all. Until next week.

Joshua McMahon (00:11:15) - See, y'all. Yes.