DIY Network

WEB-EXTRA Contractor Profile: Jeff and Lois Sheldon; Montana "Fire Tower" Mountain Retreat From "Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes" episode DBCV-109

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In each episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes viewers are introduced to dreamers and do-it-yourselfers who oversaw the building of their own vacation home and hear firsthand about the challenges that they faced. In this episode we meet Jeff and Lois Shelden. Jeff is an architect, and he acted as his own contractor on the construction of his mountain retreat in Montana's Judith Mountains.

Following below is information on the Montana retreat and the homeowners featured in this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes.

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Owner/Builders

Jeff and Lois Sheldon.

Bios

Jeff is an architect and Lois is a photographer. Their home is in Lewistown, Montana and have a 17 year-old daughter.

Home Specifics

512 square feet. There are two floors, with 256 square feet per floor.

Jeff designed the cabin to look like a forest-ranger lookout tower with windows wrapping all the way around the upper story. Jeff designed it that way for two reasons. First, his wife Lois wanted the cabin to be filled with light. Second, Jeff wanted to replicate the lookout towers he used to visit when his dad, a forester, took him on field trips as a kid.

Location

The cabin sits partway up a ridge in Alpine Gulch in Montana's Judith Mountains, 17 miles from Jeff and Lois's primary home. It's a convenient vacation home they use year-round. In the summer, they drive to the cabin on a jeep trail. From November to mid April, they must ski in a half-mile from a paved county road.

Why Act as Contractor

"I decided to be my own contractor for this house because, well, I'm kind of in the business of that," says Jeff. "I have the design experience to do this. And I figured why couldn't I build it as well? I think a lot of architects always picture themselves as being you know, master builders, I guess. But in this case, this was just the perfect size and scale, it wasn't beyond my grasp to get my hands around this project. And kind of let me release my frustrations maybe of being a frustrated builder. Plus the budget was an important factor in making the choice to be my own general contractor on this project."

Involvement with Construction

The cabin took a year and a half to finish and was completed in 1998. Excavation and foundation, framing, roofing and siding was subbed out to friends of of Jeff who worked in the business. Jeff did the plumbing, HVAC, electric (with the help of his brother), finish work (with Lois's help) and the landscaping.

Interesting facts

• A lot of recycled material was used to accomplish the look and feel the homeowners wanted in the cabin. Jeff used corrugated metal roofing from a barn being demolished down the road. Beams, flooring and decking were recycled from an 80-year-old railroad trestle, recently dismantled. The stone came from the site, and rock flooring was quarried in Idaho.

• Two fifty-watt photovoltaic panels that provide twelve-volt direct current power to outlets, lights, and the well pump power the cabin. That power lets them have a stereo, a TV/VCR, running water in the sink, and water to fill a wood-fired hot tub.

Challenges

• Jeff had to plan ahead because the site is not accessible by road for 4 or 5 months out of the year. In the fall, he stockpiled finish materials on site, but still ended up skiing in many times, dragging a sled loaded with tools and materials.

• Jeff says, "Accessing the site was a bit of a hurdle. We couldn't get cement trucks up here. Bob, the masonry contractor and the gentleman who poured the footings and everything, they had to, load the concrete into the front of a bobcat and truck it up here and those little things add a little expense to a project and add a little time and add a little mess to a project.
  

Jeff: "When you are doing some of the work yourself, I think you have to recognize your own limitations any time you do a project. I still had projects of my own to do; I still had a job that took a lot of my time."

Jeff: " When it comes to picking subs for a project, it's real important to know who you're working with. I've found that a lot of people, when they approach building their first job they always look at it, as let's get bids, let's get the lowest bid and see who could do it for less. But, I'll tell you, to get good work it's a relationship business. You need to know who does what, who you can work with, and who can work with you."

Lois " I think the key to enjoying this project was we knew each other's limits and we also have a lot of respect for each other. I think we had a strong relationship going into it and it just prevailed."

Jeff: "Communication is essential in every project. I mean, this is a relationship business. I think you have to take for granted the fact that the sub contractor has good intentions and has your best interests at heart. But, I don't think you can take for granted that he envisions the project necessarily exactly the same way you do. So that's where the good communications are really essential."

Jeff: " If a person's going to take on the job of being their own contractor, I guess, I would just say be prepared for the time it's going to take you to do it. Also, be prepared to be there when you, when you need to be there. You need to try to work with the schedule, work with the contractors. It's an interesting puzzle, and if you like puzzles, you'll like tackling something like this."

RESOURCES :

Investing in a Vacation Home for Pleasure and Profit
Author: James H. Boykin
Order this book from Amazon.com
Publisher: South-Western Educational Pub (2005)
ISBN: 0324314116

How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment: New, Tax-Free Methods for Using a Vacation Home for Recreation, Retirement and Investment
Authors: Tom Kelly, John Tuccillo
Order this book from Amazon.com
Publisher: McGraw-Hill (2004)
ISBN: 0071429700

Online Resources on Solar Power:

• Geopower.com
  Website: www.gepower.com/solar

• Energy Star
  Website: www.energystar.gov