Ford-man versus Chevy-man

FINISHED. (Foreground has reforested.) (Long ago photo by BobbaLew.)

—About this time 30 years ago my wife and I were readying to have our new house built. It’s the house I’m still in, but my wife died seven years ago.
I’m a Chevy-man, but our building-contractor was a Ford-man.
My family has always driven Chevrolets, at least while I was growing up. After I left they began driving Oldsmobiles, but that was because our dealer in DE was Chevy/Olds.
When it came time to decide a builder, we went with the one driving a Ford pickup. The other guy drove a Chevy pickup.
Ford-men seem more willing to take risks. Our new house was to be super-insulated; that required special building procedures. Unlike most housing construction we used a treated-wood foundation (TWF) instead of block.
The exterior shell was a foot thick, and employed double-wall construction. Special procedures were needed to properly insulate, allowing moisture to escape. If done incorrectly moisture could accumulate in the insulation.
My hunch was a Chevy-man would be less inclined to build exotic. The Ford-man was also known; he had done stuff for us before.
Both were interested. Chevy-man had built energy-efficient housing before. We earlier considered two others. One was rather whacko, sort of a wheeler-dealer. Another guy showed us energy-efficient housing he had built, but one with a treated-wood foundation turned me off.
Treated-wood came in two grades. We specified “ground-contact” per our architect, but the sample was built with the cheaper grade. I bet that foundation had to be replaced by now.
Our architect also specced an extensive drainage-system both inside and outside the foundation. He also specced a protective Bituthene barrier outside.
That other guy bailed when he saw all that. No way could he underbid the others. Plus I’d be hard to deal with.
So it came down to Ford-man versus Chevy-man. Fix-Or-Repair-Daily (F-O-R-D), although in my humble opinion that no longer is true. In 1955 Chevrolet came out with its vaunted SmallBlock V-8; the motor that retired the FlatHead Ford V8, the foundation of hot-rodding. That SmallBlock is still being made, although fiddled quite a bit. Still the same bore-centers. Hot-rodders still prefer the SmallBlock. Often a hotrod will have a SmallBlock in it.
I’ve always been smitten with the SmallBlock. It’s very much a Detroit motor, but european in character. It can rev to the Moon.
All through high-school and college I dreamed of owning a SmallBlock. Fond Memories. A few years ago my hairdresser had his ’67 ‘Vette for sale. 327 four-on-the-floor, and not fuel-injected (which was trouble-prone); not what Corvettes are now, but what I wanted for years.
I shoulda bought it. My wife was still alive then, so we already had two cars in our garage. Where would I put that ‘Vette?
Be that as it may, I currently drive a Ford. My brother, also a Chevy-man, is appalled. “There’s only one thing wrong: it ain’t a Chevrolet.”
Years ago I had a Chevrolet Vega. My grandmother was still alive then, living with my parents. I drove to visit, and “is it a Chevrolet?”
Our new house wasn’t a “dream-home.” It was escape from our tiny abode in Rochester. That house was probably an ancient farmhouse Rochester grew around. It was originally in the Town of Brighton, but Rochester annexed that area.
Our old house was built in 1865. The first part was two stories, but the second floor was more an attic. It was finished, but unheated.
My wife disliked the layout since it was difficult to keep clean. We always had to come in through the front-door, tracking mud and snow through the living-room.
The two-story part was added onto, but only one floor. This made for poor space-utilization, since the kitchen was far in the back. A passageway cut what coulda been a dining-area in half. It also woulda been tiny as a dining area.
The kitchen was in an attached shed, and its floor wasn’t level.
That house had essentially two living-rooms: a new living-room in the addition, and living space in the original living-room in the original two-story.
Part of that area had been walled into our bedroom, which faced the street. Bellowing unmuffled musclecars at 3 a.m.
Many of the windows were original. The glass had bubbles. They were double-hung, and extremely drafty. We were heating the outdoors.
And of course there was no insulation. 900 square feet versus 1,900 in our new house, but the same heat-load.
Our new house would be built differently. Most new homes are owned by the contractor while being built. The homeowner then buys the completed home from the contractor. Chevy-man probably woulda done that.
We would own our new house while being built, and pay the contractor as he built along. We already had quite a bit saved up, so we could pay about two-thirds as our house was being built, then mortgage the remainder.
This was the way we did it for improvements to our old home in Rochester, and I think the contractor trusted we’d finish the job. To some extent I think our contractor wasn’t that financially savvy; or he might have done things the other way.
Our house was his third or fourth build. His first build was for himself, second for his parents, then on speculation. He was ex-Kodak, and got into improving his first home, a development house. He bought wetlands near his first home, then built a new home for himself on that land.
I liked working with him, and he with me. Double-wall construction was learning for both of us. Peel everything back and you can still find the magic-marker markings I put in for double-wall construction.
I also proved difficult to work with. A supplier brought double-hung windows, when I specced casement. “Take ‘em back,” I said; and he did.
We also specified 10-mil vapor-barrier per super-insulated building procedure. “The best I can do locally is 4-mil.”
“Nope,” I said. “I specified 10-mil.” My wife got on the Internet and found a supplier of 10-mil in Michigan. Zoom-boom; 10-mil UPS-ed overnight.
That contractor wanted very much to please me. Anyone else mighta walked away; he certainly coulda. But my wife and I designed this house ourselves, plus we wrote a gigantic spec-book that was intimidating.
I doubt he actually read that spec-book, but it was always in the back of my head. We always were consulting.
“You might wanna consider an alarm-system.” “Nope,” I said. “Best alarm-system I ever had has four legs and barks!”
A hairball developed as our new house was almost finished. We ran out of money until our old house was sold, plus the bank wouldn’t approve our mortgage for some unremembered reason.
His crew, which was rather lazy unless we or he showed up, had to go without pay until the money flowed. He lined up a loan to pay his crew, but the bank bailed.
We needed a “Certificate-of-Occupancy” to move in, which we didn’t have before moving out of our Rochester house. We had to move in with plumbing incomplete. Our shower was all that worked. My wife had to do dishes in that shower, and we used a camping commode for a toilet.
Our house was finished about a week later, complete with Certificate-of-Occupancy.
I now have been here almost 30 years. My wife made at least 22. My roof is a 30-year roof, so I hafta think about replacing it. We also had to replace all the windows.
Everything is on one floor; laundry, freezer, etc. We planned it that way; our retirement home. I hardly ever go down to the basement.
The garage also has a pit, but I haven’t used it in years.
Over 30 years the old cornfield I’m in (4.7 acres) completely reforested. We also fenced a large part of it, so our dog wouldn’t get into the highway. Best $16,000 we ever spent.
Contact with the builder went away. I think our house was the last one he built. I saw him driving a new Ford pickup after our house was finished.
I think he no longer owns the home he built for himself, plus he was always mad at his wife and son.
I’m 75 years old, and maintaining this house is becoming a challenge. Maintenance isn’t too bad, since all it does is sit. We coulda done exotic, but I didn’t wanna fix anything — like solar panels on the roof.
I hate to leave; my wife and I designed it. And I sure am glad we used a Ford-man. He did a fantastic job.