Modern in Memphis- Construction has begun

Editorial Rating:

Reader Rating: ( 0 votes)

I've been a long time reader (and made a few posts) on Live Modern. I have learned sooo much from others blogs and my hope is that someone out there will learn from ours. I am sure I found out about AAC from Live Modern. I love the blogs from other architects also building their own home and hearing that the stress is mutual- maybe worse being an architect and building your own home. Because my husband and I both have day jobs we cannot leave, we hired a wonderful contractor to help build the house. Some basics: house is 3,273 sq. ft. plus a 2 car garage with workshop, AAC construction, 85ft x 166ft lot size in an old area of the central (Midtown) city, the previous house had been demolished long before we found the lot, it took us nearly two years to find the lot and another two years of planning the house till we finally broke ground. Costs?- wow- they continue to fluctuate. Land was in the $60K area and I'll try to make a good estimate of the construction costs as we go. We have a number that we are trying to hold to. The question we continually get is how much more expensive is building with AAC than wood frame. I don't know. We never approached the project as wood frame and we have put our contractor through alot already so running numbers for a construction method we weren't using just hasn't worked out. But I wish I knew. The main things so far I would have to say about AAC is to find a contractor who is willing to work with the material, be willing to spend alot of time researching how the AAC will work for your project (I found the company details extremely generic), and be prepared for the shipping costs of AAC since more than likely it will not be coming from the local guy (I am hoping that in the near future there will be more local carriers of AAC to avoid the huge shipping costs- dream?). For photos and more info as we continue to build go to: