Congrats RRR, I enjoy this thread very much and I can relate to alot doing the work and research yourself.
I do alot of my own work also and have been involved in everything done on my property. I believe you will enjoy the gratification of being able to look at what you have accomplished.
BTW as far as building a house I was my own contractor 3 years ago building my house and it saved me about 61K.
Attached is a Pic of the house and one of the ponds I built.
house pic 
