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Oldfield Custom Home Gregorie Neck

It’s not always possible to hand select every board that gets delivered from the lumber yard. When time permits, I like to hand select the boards that matter most. Decking boards or flooring boards are visible and they need to look good and they need to last. There are a few basic things I look for. Is the board pretty? Are there knots? How many years growth does this board have in it?

Of the three listed things I look for, the years growth is the most important to me. Notice in the picture the center board has roughly 39 years of growth. The board above it and the one below have less than 10 years. They grew fast and they have more summer (soft) wood. The center board grew in what might have been tough conditions. It could have been poor soil, lack of water, or a high wind area. Either way, it grew slow in the summer and and is comprised of roughly half soft wood (summer growth) and half hard wood (winter growth). It’s a good heavy board that will last. The two other boards are soft and light. They will not last nearly as long as the board that grew under rough conditions.
Treated lumber is placed on the concrete foundation. The treatment is designed to deter termites and add life to the lumber by making it weather resistant.
Framing materials in the South Carolina Lowcountry are primarily southern yellow pine and spruce.


Skilled craftsmen deserve good lumber
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Why Build on the River?

Hurricanes threaten the Lowcountry every year from May through December. Formal “Hurricane Season” is from June 1st through November 30th, but storms have been known to form in early May and late December. This leaves only four safe months- January, February, March and April. So why do people continue to build on the waterfront?

The answer is simple; the water is an irresistible force. The reward outweighs the risk.

The cactus pictured is rare on the salt water river banks. This picture was taken on Hunting Island near the bridge to Fripp Island.

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One or Two Car Garage?

“You’ll love a garage.” My Dad told me and my wife that 25 years ago. He tried to persuade us to build a garage for our home. We never did, but we’ve always joked about him saying, “You’ll love a garage.” We’ve repeated that phrase a hundred times. A few years after he told gave us his advise, we build a new home and it has a two car garage. And we love it. Like most Americans, our garage space is usually full of junk and we park in the driveway. But we still love it.

The Lowcountry is still considered rural for the most part. Homes often have plenty of parking, but there are a few poorly designed areas/ home sites that lack sufficient parking. When a home is under construction, it is affordable to have a garage constructed. Having the workers come back and add a garage later can cost nearly twice as much for the labor. When deciding if you want a one or two car garage, go for two. Two car garages increase the value of a home much more than what an appraisal will show. That extra garage space could be a major factor should the home ever go up for sale.

Pictured here is a home we built in 2016 on Dustin Loop, Old Town Bluffton, SC. Ashley Ingram, General Contractor 843 986 1000

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That Smell

If you grew-up in the Lowcountry and you moved away for a while, you long for the smell of the marsh, the pluff mud. There’s no smell on earth like it; it gets in your bones and it becomes a part of you. I’ve heard a few transplants ask, “…what’s that stinky smell?” To the locals, it doesn’t stink. When you return to the Lowcountry and you cross the first bridge or hit the first stretch of road with salt water nearby, you roll down the window and enjoy the smell- the smell of home.

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Pick a Good Homesite

The sights, the sounds, and the smells from the back porch should be pleasant. No matter how nice the home is, if the location is bad, it’s hard to overcome. When choosing a homesite, spend time at the homesite. Listen, look around, and get a good feel for what the homesite is like. Homes can always get upgrades by way of flooring, countertops, and hardware. After the home is built, it’s too late to upgrade the lot. If an oceanfront lot or a riverfront lot is not in the budget, pay a visit to that rich granny. Pictured here is a 20 year old home in Palmetto Dunes. Ashley Ingram, General Contractor 843 986 1000

Banks of the Chechessee River
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The Oyster Pit

The pit pictured here was constructed in December 2017 in Oldfield on the Okatie River. Any good contractor can build a good oyster pit; it takes an experienced southerner to know what to do with it once it is built. Here are some basic rules of roasting oysters:

  1. Fat lighter might be good to get the fire started, but don’t through fat lighter on the fire once the shuckers are gathered around. The smoke burns the eyes. Use oak or some other hardwood at that stage.
  2. Use local oysters. The smaller the taisier. The best are from the Chechessee River- the water is still pristine.
  3. Don’t overheat or burn the oysters. A wet croker sack layed over the oyster will steam them open.
  4. Fresh local oysters are best with nothing on them.
  5. Tabasco is an exception to rule number 4.
Josie, six year old, Bertha, six years old, Sophie, 10 years old, all shuck regularly. Maggioni Canning Co. Location: Port Royal, South Carolina. Photo and caption by Lewis Hine, February 1911
February 1913. Bluffton, South Carolina. “Varn & Platt Canning Co. 10-year-old Jimmie. Been shucking 3 years. 6 pots a day, and a 11-year-old boy who shucks 7 pots. Also several members of an interesting family named Sherrica. Seven of them are in this factory. The father, mother, four girls shuck and pack. Older brother steams. 10 year old boy goes to school. Been in the oyster business 5 years. Father worked for 25 years in the Pennsylvania Coal Mine, and the oldest brother there. They said they liked the oysters business better because the family makes more.” Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine

My grandmother had a cousin who moved from Jasper County area to Bluffton at the turn of the century. He husband, Richard Aquilla Bailey, was listed in the census as “farmer- oysters”. They lost 3 small children – all died before they turned 3 years old. The family is buried downtown off Hwy 46.
Locals don’t use pits to cook oysters; they use scrap metal and concrete blocks.
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2nd Most Important Part of a Structure

The most important component of a house or a building is the foundation. The foundation starts with good material under the foundation. If the foundation is a concrete slab, the first step is to prepare the material (the soil) that will be under the slab. Dark organic material must be removed and replaced with sands and clays; the material must be properly compacted, tested, and must have the correct moisture content. After the concrete slab is finished, the next step is the framing. The frame is the second most important part of the structure. Everything is attached to the frame. If the frame is done right, construction savvy people will recognize decades later that the building might need this or that, but the bones are good. The bones are the materials used to frame the house and they would not be considered good unless they were quality material and they were properly constructed or pieced together. A critical element of piecing framing together is making sure the walls are true or straight. Framers use long (14 foot) 2×4 lumber to “true” the walls. These 2x4s are secured to the walls, the framers then use levels to check the walls and set them perpendicular (straight up and down) to the slab. Once the wall is determined to be straight/ level, the framer will then use cut nails or concrete nails to secure the 2×4 to the floor. Some framing crews will use an entire bundle of 2x4s to set the walls. These 2x4s are removed only after the roof is set and the walls are all tied together. During this period of construction, the inside of the house looks like a box full of pixie sticks. Pictured here is a home built in 2016 on Dustin Loop, Bluffton, SC.

This old home was built at the turn of the century in the southern portion of Jasper County, SC near the Savannah River. The beams under the house rest on brick pillars. The brick pillars rest on compacted soil. Although some areas (roof and chimney) of the home are in need of repair, the bones are good. The support beams making up the floor system were hand hewn. Some of the beams are over 30 feet long and straight as an arrow. The material on the frame of this home are cypress and heart pine. The craftsmen who built this home recognized the most import and second most important components to a house are the foundation and the framing- they did it right.