DIY Network

WEB-EXTRA Contractor Profile: Michael Mortenson; Puget Sound Barn-Style Home From "Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes" episode DBCV-111

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Following below is information on the barn-style home on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. Also profiled are homeowners Michael Mortensen and Peg Snyder featured in this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes.

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Owner/Builders

Michael Mortenson and Peg Snyder.

Bios

Michael is a self-employed property manager and just recently ended his career as a real estate asset manager. His wife Peg works as a research coordinator at UW Medical Center. Michael and Peg have two very active young boys, Max who is twelve years old and Drew who is nine.

Home Specifics

Barn-style house; 950 square feet with additional sleeping loft.

Location

The barn house sits in the middle of 10.3 acres of farmland on Washington State’s Whidbey Island. The 10-acre plot dates back to the 1860s and was established as a historic preserve 15 years ago by the National Park Service.

Why build there?

With just an hour and a half drive and ferry ride from their main residence in Seattle, the Mortensons chose this location because it gave them a summer home near a farm, with a view of both water and mountains. Michael says, "the views are absolutely breathtaking, and it’s a great weekend getaway."

	Figure B

Why Act As Their Own Contractor

Michael: "Primarily to hold down the cost and the challenge of building a structure from the ground up. For the last 24 years I have purchased small residential rental properties in the north end of Seattle, and my goal coming out of college was to rehab old homes. I now have lots of remodeling experience so I felt good about being my own contractor for my summer home."

Involvement with the Construction

Going into the project, both Michael and Peg knew they wanted to build something rural and "farm like". They developed a design plan that suited both of their needs, and then chose a post-and-beam structure because they felt it would blend in with the surrounding farms and age well with the surroundings. Once the plan was in place, Michael, with the help of friends, constructed the framing, exterior siding, and the roofing. He then went on to do the finish work and landscaping himself, and did minimal plumbing and electric work. He also noted that on multiple occasions friends and family would stop by to help complete certain phases of the project. Needless to say, the Mortenson family was very "hands-on" during the construction of their barn house.

Michael: I got a sub for the foundation, electrical, plumbing, and drywall work. Foundation because I did not want to screw that up; electrical because I do not touch electric service panels; plumbing because it worked best for my schedule at that phase and I don’t know how to sweat copper for waterlines; and then drywall because I have done it enough times to know that it is 'pro' work."

Challenges

• Building it from a distance and in an area with which Michael was not familiar.

• One big challenge came around 5 p.m. each evening. Because the barn home is on Whidbey Island where the Straits of Juan DeFuca end from the Pacific Ocean, very strong winds tend to pick up around that time of the evening. According to Michael, "On the last day of roofing, I learned how to hug a roofline because, of course, on the last day we were at the very top of the ridge on the roof, and the roof is very steep."

• Michael also says, "the bureaucratic headaches from the building department were quite a challenge."
  

Michael: "The way to minimize the amount of disruption through your project and make it go as smoothly as possible is clearly to spend as much time on the planning step as you possibly can. Spend time researching the designs you want, what type of products you want to use, what's the final effects going to be? The more time you spend on that, the less time you have making adjustments as you go, which costs time and money."

Peg: "If this were the first time you're going to do something like this, I would really think about what's the scope of the project that you want to do for your first time? And, maybe you want to start with something kind of small the first time, like just remodeling a bathroom or some part of your own home, or building a deck on your own home or something like that."

Michael: "Ask as many questions of that Building Department as you can during the permit process when you submitted your plans. Many times when you're in a rural setting you want to go actually into the county location and talk with them. I think that would really be helpful."

Michael's final piece of advice: " Take your time once you start the project and enjoy it."

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

Shelter-Kit Incorporated
Website: www.shelter-kit.com