Hey MAVERICK

For the size of house you're building 4 months sounds about right if you guy's dont have any delays.

Speaking of the most interesting man in the world I prefered the older Dos Equis guy lol. New one kind of sucks.

The guy building your house sounds like he's pretty bad ass. I have no idea what a water moccasin is or what they look like but shit that roam the waters aside from fish is why I always avoided swimming in rivers/lakes growing up. Leeches, eels, etc. are just not my thing. I'll gladly pass.

From the pics you posted it appears that you have a fairly good size property. If you don't mind keep posting pictures as the project moves along.

Also, how's retirement? I know it's still early but I've heard people say they get even busier once they retire and others have said they can't stand it because they no longer have a routine and just kind of feel lost and without a purpose.

I watched guys across the street build a house and i swear every time i looked at it, it blew me away. Then again im old and time flys by so fast weeks go by like days LOL Was still fun watching them put it up.

would be cool to time lapse it

Here we go, 1:05 lol

In Texas a 3000 square foot two story house with three car garage can bo done in 2-3 months. Foundation pour to keys in the door.

Interesting to see different techniques for different places - climates & all that. Concrete block foundations here are a 'tsk tsk' thing.

ns503 wrote:

Interesting to see different techniques for different places - climates & all that. Concrete block foundations here are a 'tsk tsk' thing.

I was going to mention that. Block foundations around here are nowhere to be found in new construction. Only time you really see them is in older houses.

The only "block" foundations you see in new construction is ICF but that's still quite a bit more expensive. Most of the time it's poured concrete.

Will be interesting to compare other stuff as the project moves along.

Sounds like my kind of guy. Good luck on the house and look forward to seeing the progress. Where in South Georgia is he from?

JRT812 wrote:

Sounds like my kind of guy. Good luck on the house and look forward to seeing the progress. Where in South Georgia is he from?

Right here in Folkston. I'll have more to say later once I get these chickens out of the smoker.

-MAVERICK- wrote:

For the size of house you're building 4 months sounds about right if you guy's dont have any delays.

Speaking of the most interesting man in the world I prefered the older Dos Equis guy lol. New one kind of sucks.

The guy building your house sounds like he's pretty bad ass. I have no idea what a water moccasin is or what they look like but shit that roam the waters aside from fish is why I always avoided swimming in rivers/lakes growing up. Leeches, eels, etc. are just not my thing. I'll gladly pass.

From the pics you posted it appears that you have a fairly good size property. If you don't mind keep posting pictures as the project moves along.

Also, how's retirement? I know it's still early but I've heard people say they get even busier once they retire and others have said they can't stand it because they no longer have a routine and just kind of feel lost and without a purpose.

Mav, retirement is awesome! A moccasin is a venomous snake here in the South. Some folks call them cottonmouths. Look em up on the interwebs.

-MAVERICK- wrote:

For the size of house you're building 4 months sounds about right if you guy's dont have any delays.

Speaking of the most interesting man in the world I prefered the older Dos Equis guy lol. New one kind of sucks.

The guy building your house sounds like he's pretty bad ass. I have no idea what a water moccasin is or what they look like but shit that roam the waters aside from fish is why I always avoided swimming in rivers/lakes growing up. Leeches, eels, etc. are just not my thing. I'll gladly pass.

From the pics you posted it appears that you have a fairly good size property. If you don't mind keep posting pictures as the project moves along.

Also, how's retirement? I know it's still early but I've heard people say they get even busier once they retire and others have said they can't stand it because they no longer have a routine and just kind of feel lost and without a purpose.

Harry Backmon wrote:

Mav, retirement is awesome! A moccasin is a venomous snake here in the South. Some folks call them cottonmouths. Look em up on the interwebs.

I've heard of cottonmouth's before and seen them on TV but for some reason I thought a mocassin was something like a muskrat or something similar lol. I was way off. So glad we don't have to deal with snakes like that up here. I don't know how you guys can just walk through tall grass or anything without being a little paranoid something is going to jump at you and bite your ass.

Mr. Harry, props to you and the Missy, and there should be a "Like" button on the new home build. The contractor sounds just like my dad(rip), he was tough as nail's, worked his ass off, loved to hunt and fish and never made an enemy. Carry on....

Believe me, Mav, I am paranoid when tromping through the property.

Anyhow, I would like to expand a bit more on retirement. At the risk of bragging, I have to say it is amazing. Every single day I wake up and think, "I don't have to work today - or tomorrow - or the next day." It is pretty incredible to get paid for staying home. I'd like to think I earned it, but I know there are a lot of guys and gals that work harder than I ever did and they don't get the same deal.

For 35 years, 2 months and 26 days I gave the navy pretty much everything I had. I enjoyed it until about the last five years or so. It became burdensome worrying over each flight. I knew then that I had to get out as soon as I could. It often became tough to sleep at night worrying over pilots and civilians on the ground.

Anyhow, I'm staying busy. I'm going to build a track on our property. I've stocked the pond with a few hundred blue gill, catfish and bass. Next summer they ought to be ready to catch and enjoy. There's deer, quail and turkey on the land, and I'm looking forward to stocking up.

ledger wrote:

Mr. Harry, props to you and the Missy, and there should be a "Like" button on the new home build. The contractor sounds just like my dad(rip), he was tough as nail's, worked his ass off, loved to hunt and fish and never made an enemy. Carry on....

Thank you, sir!

Yo Harry Bro, congrats on the new digs going up! Am I reading correctly that you left the westide of Jax and headed up to Folkston? If so, Im a jealous SOB! Love the vibes up there, would be living around there too, if not for work. Congrats again sir.

Squitlege wrote:

Yo Harry Bro, congrats on the new digs going up! Am I reading correctly that you left the westide of Jax and headed up to Folkston? If so, Im a jealous SOB! Love the vibes up there, would be living around there too, if not for work. Congrats again sir.

Yes, Squitbro, you are reading correctly. I am no longer in Duval County. While our house is being built we're living in our camper just south of Folkston at an RV park. The RV park is just a mile or so north of our property which is in a place called, "Black River." Black River is just .8 miles from the FL/GA line. NFMX (Hilliard) is just 3 miles south from our property. Nevertheless, I am most likely going to build a small track for me and an occasional friend or two looking for something different. At the very least I will cut in a figure 8 to work on cornering and ruts. We'll see. Of course you're invited for riding, fishing, what have you.

Here's the pond. It is now full of blue gill, catfish and bass. I drove up to a fish place in Soperton, Georgia and bought them. $150 for 400 fish. They were all fingerlings, but should be fat and sassy by next summer. My goal is to occasionally harvest some blue gill and/or cats for eating. The bass are just there for the fun of it.



Top photo is looking at north end of pond. Photo below is south end of pond.

Looks like a beautiful piece of property! Thanks for the service by the way. I assumed you did something in the aircraft field, but didn’t know you were in the Navy. Retirement...what a dream and can’t wait for the same gig as you.

JRT812 wrote:

Looks like a beautiful piece of property! Thanks for the service by the way. I assumed you did something in the aircraft field, but didn’t know you were in the Navy. Retirement...what a dream and can’t wait for the same gig as you.

Thank you, sir! I did seven years active and got out. I went to work for the navy as a civilian back in the 80s. I was in helicopters for all my active service. I went to work as mechanic on tactical jets as a civilian and pretty much stayed with F-18s and A-7s my whole career as a civilian. I was fortunate enough to get some promotions out of the tool box and ended my career with a pretty good paycheck.

Harry Backmon wrote:

Here's the pond. It is now full of blue gill, catfish and bass. I drove up to a fish place in Soperton, Georgia and bought them. $150 for 400 fish. They were all fingerlings, but should be fat and sassy by next summer. My goal is to occasionally harvest some blue gill and/or cats for eating. The bass are just there for the fun of it.



Top photo is looking at north end of pond. Photo below is south end of pond.

Any plan for a deck/dock ? A guy has to have a place to kick back and have a drink or 2-10, lol. Very cool pond !

Harry Backmon wrote: The bass are just there for the fun of it.?

Those bass will be the demise of that pond. They are voracious eaters and unless you get some good structure in there, they will decimate everything else in there given enough time. Been there, done that way too many times in the past 35 years.

I forgot to ask how many acres do you have? You must have a decent amount of land if you're planning to build a track.

Also, Hilliard is where Mike Alessi resides. You might bump into him at the track. If you happen to see him ask him if he's planning to come back up for the 2018 MX season. I think he is but not 100% sure. Would be cool to see him for one more season before he hangs it all up.

And for the record you can brag all you want about retirement. You earned it.

Oh man, looks like heaven!!

Thanks for the invite, most definitely will have to swing by when all the dust settles.. Congrats on living the dream man!

-MAVERICK- wrote:

I forgot to ask how many acres do you have? You must have a decent amount of land if you're planning to build a track.

Also, Hilliard is where Mike Alessi resides. You might bump into him at the track. If you happen to see him ask him if he's planning to come back up for the 2018 MX season. I think he is but not 100% sure. Would be cool to see him for one more season before he hangs it all up.

And for the record you can brag all you want about retirement. You earned it.

12.5 acres, Mav. Plenty enough for a small track.

Yes, Mike lives in the area. I haven't seen him in quite some time though. Haven't seen Jeff either. I did see Mike's bus at Glenn's body shop in Hilliard a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure Jeff lives in California, but I've actually seen him more at NFMX than I have Mike over the past few years.

Hey, broto-broto, sadly I don't have any history on the pond. It was there when I bought the property. I'm not sure how it is even fed (meaning the water supply). I have no idea how deep it is either. All of these things will eventually be explored. It's not the only pond on the property either. There's a few more that are way smaller.

-MAVERICK- wrote:

I forgot to ask how many acres do you have? You must have a decent amount of land if you're planning to build a track.

Also, Hilliard is where Mike Alessi resides. You might bump into him at the track. If you happen to see him ask him if he's planning to come back up for the 2018 MX season. I think he is but not 100% sure. Would be cool to see him for one more season before he hangs it all up.

And for the record you can brag all you want about retirement. You earned it.

Harry Backmon wrote:

12.5 acres, Mav. Plenty enough for a small track.

Yes, Mike lives in the area. I haven't seen him in quite some time though. Haven't seen Jeff either. I did see Mike's bus at Glenn's body shop in Hilliard a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure Jeff lives in California, but I've actually seen him more at NFMX than I have Mike over the past few years.

That's a good size property. I have a dream of owning a large piece of property but land around here is so expensive it's unreal. 2 acre lots in a new subdivision about 5-10 minutes from where I live are going for 275k to 400k for a double lot. Don't get me wrong it's a nice area but 275k for a 2 acre lot is way out of reach for this guy.

Oh and those lots don't even have city water or sewers. Only hydro, gas, telephone, cable, internet.

Got an email about another new subdivision that got their approval and starting price for I believe a 1 acre lot is going to be 125k or 150k.

I paid $50,000 for 12.5 acres.

Here's the basic plan. I'm sure it will change, but this is what I've come up with while just passing time.



Edit add: I'm not sure how old the above photo is, but it is much more grown up now. The pond is also, as can be seen in the previous pictures I posted, much more clear and natural looking.

So far I have seen plenty of deer, turkey, and quail on the property. The deer come in and drink from the pond out of the woods you see behind the pond. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It is much more grown up and thick in those woods behind the pond.

Have you already talked to your neighbor about you wanting to build a track on your property or are you taking the I'll build it and ask for forgiveness later lol. You don't want to start off on the wrong foot with your new neighbor.

I don't think we could get away with that around here being that the neighbor is fairly close.

50k for 12.5 acres is that a good price where you're from? I think I saw a lot going for 30k but it's just over an acre and located in the middle of nowhere far from everything in a field. Like I mentioned shit around here is insane. No word of a lie there's a lot in town in a rich area that sold for 4$ Million. No house to tear down or anything. Was the only lot left without a house on it and had been that way since 1989. My old man was working on a house in that area and got talking to a guy that does the yardwork for a house nearby and the property taxes alone for the house were over 200k a year. I was like WTF. I believe it's one of the oldest part of town. My dad was a kid and it was rich people back then as well. Very nice area if you can afford it lol.

Nice looking lot HarryBro!

On your roughed-in drawing, is there a minimum setback distance where you are building your house?
Or, did you want to be just even with the neighbor's house so nobody has a front/back view of either place?
What kind of big UTV do you have/plan to get because you are going to be needing one!

Oh, last thing, where is the giant air-conditioned shop going to be placed?!

No, have not talked with them. I, and the few friends I have over, will only be riding during the middle part of the day. I would not ever be a jerk and have a bunch of guys over and commence to riding early in the morning nor late into the afternoon.

That said, after we get moved in, I will go and tell both houses on either side of me that there will be some motorcycle riding during daylight hours. I will also let them know that if they ever need a day where they want no riding and the associated noise, to let me know and it will be taken care of. Besides, with NFMX just 3 miles south, there won't be a whole lot of riding other than me practicing corners and that sort of thing.

Lots of people ride 4-wheelers in the area (including on my property - though I've never seen them - only their tire imprints), so I don't see it as a big deal.