Learn me building a house

Found a development we like, but I've only had old houses we've worked on. What's the deal with building? How does financing work for a build? What to watch out for?

I built my own house fifteen years ago. I'll bombard you with details when I get back to my laptop, but it was the single smartest decision I've made in my life.

I took out a construction mortgage. They approved me for a dollar amount and gave me the money in three or four disbursements. Basically, they give you a check for a portion of the job. When that part is done, they inspect it and then approve the next disbursement and give you another check. You only pay interest on the amount that has been disbursed up to that point.

Here's mine. I broke ground on the day after Thanksgiving and moved in during the second week of April.

I was essentially a working general contractor. I did a little bit of everything and farmed out the rest.

I designed the house and then had an architect transfer my measured drawings into blueprint format.

I cleared the lot. Just me and a chainsaw and some fire.

I worked with the crew that did the foundation.

I framed the house along with two other guys.

I worked with the roofing crew and the electrician. I hauled shingles and installed all the switches, outlets, recessed lights, exhaust fans, ceiling fans and lighting fixtures.

I installed all the windows, doors (27!), cabinets, sinks, mirrors and toilets.

I cut all the trim and made all the railings.

I bought a remanufactured paint gun from Home Depot for $300. I primed the entire interior in one day and finished coated it the next. I was spraying five gallons per hour right out of the bucket. It was taking me four minutes to paint the inside of each closet. I primed and painted the inside of the garage the day before they poured the concrete floor. A week later, I sold the paint gun for $250.

I built the front porch, rear decks and the brick sidewalk.

I did not do any insulation, sheetrock or taping. I hate insulation and the sheetrock and taping guys were cheap.

I did not install the hardwood flooring, linoleum, garage doors or gutters.

I slept well and lost a lot of weight.

I did not own a truck at the time, but I did have a Civic hatchback with a roof rack. Anything that I couldn't move with that, I had delivered.

Nice pad Woodrow.

Dang- that's impressive Woody!

If I were doing it again, I would spend the money and either buy an existing plan or have an architect do more of the design work.

I have hydro-air HVAC. It is not a great way to heat a house. If I were building another house and I had the money, I would do radiant floor heat. If not, I would do baseboard hot water heat with ducts for AC.

I plumbed my basement for a bathroom and shower that I will never build. I have extra plumbing in my basement floor that I will never use.

I should have put a few more windows in the basement.

I should have installed larger windows on the back side of the house and added a window in the walk in closet.

I do not like pocket doors, but there is one place where a pocket door would have been a good idea. It would be too hard to add it now.

Use water and ice barrier on all the valleys on your roof, as well as between the main house and the garage. This cost me an extra $300 at a time when I really didn't have any surplus cash, but saved me tens of thousands a few years later when all my neighbors with newer houses had to rebuild their second floors and re-roof after a particularly bad winter.

Do not use a Bilco door. Put a wide door in your garage that goes down to the basement. I did and I use it a dozen times per day.

Put an outside water faucet on the three sides that aren't the garage. Put a shop sink in the garage. Put lots of electrical outlets in the garage and at least one on each outside wall.

Spend the money on good windows, good shingles and good structure. If you need to save money, cabinets and interior fixtures can be upgraded a few years later.

Spend the money on real plywood. OSB is garbage. It swells like crazy when it gets wet and screws everything up.

It probably took me four years before I had a decent lawn.

Seriously consider a modular factory built home if the design works for you. The proportions can be a little funky because the dimension between the first and second floor is essentially double what it would normally be so that the sections can survive the travel. But the house goes up quickly and that can save you money. My excavator delayed my project by about ten months and that cost me about $15,000 in rent money. Also, a modular home is cut and assembled inside a factory. The upside is precision and speed. The downside is that they use a lot of OSB, but at least it doesn't get a lot of exposure to the weather. Check out Westchester Modular Homes.

Put a high ceiling and thick floors in your garage so you can add a lift later.

I built my front porch out of mahogany. Use Trex or Azec instead. Mahogany is evil.

I'm sure I'll think of more stuff later.

Speaking of architects, I am one and I'll be glad to work with you, particularly if you want something non-standard. If it's under 2500 sq ft it doesn't matter what state you're in.

We found a plan we like. 2450 sf with a bonus room that can finish out later. I don't feel like I've got a schedule that would let me be the general. I'd be the biggest delay. Impressive work Woody!

Put an extra row or two of concrete block on top of your foundation. This gives you a deeper basement. Now you can install a drop ceiling to hide your ducts and pipes while still having a 8; finished height.

Hot water heat is really nice vs forced air.

pay the extra for copper plumbing

one eletrical curcuit per room, map carefully. Use #12 wire in the kitchen, bath, and garage.

Is there a HOA?

Build the big garage now.

Use a Metal roof

What about costs? I have looked down this road and almost passed out. Between lot/land and foundation work i was shocked. Then i added the cost of a modest home (in design and size).

Maybe it was sticker shock.

My parents built from scratch and did a lot of work by themselves so its encouraging to hear success stories and get advice. However that was 1984? and costs shot way way up.

Seems cheaper to buy used and redo all the stuff you dont like or need to update at this point.

Block was mentioned for the basement walls. Only if you live somewhere with good drainage and triple waterproof the outside. Leaking basements SUCK.

More than anything these days I'd look into high "sustainability" right out of the box. Solar, geothermal, metal roof, rainwater trapping, etc,etc. All the green things that make homeownership less expensive in the long run are easier to do in new construction than to attempt to retrofit in later.

Modular is worth a look, but be careful with any manufactured housing. Lower grade components are often use throughout.

Looking, and reading. Want more. Sending to Tunawife.

I had s friend build a house last year. Well, had a house built for him. He did cost analysis on all the upgrades the builder offered. For almost all of them he found it cheaper to go with the cheapest option and rip it out and re-do it before moving in.
Putting down the cheapest carpet possible and then ripping it out and putting down hardwood himself was cheaper by many thousands of dollars than having the builder do it. Choosing the cheapest appliance options, selling them on CL and buying what he wanted saved him several thousand more. It was absolutely bizarre. He was trapped in a web of homeowner association rules and codes about builders and initial occupancy that the builders were exploiting by building the structure for essentially cost and making margin on the upgrades.
In modern times, the rules are the most important part.

Mrs STM and I just bought a house, but were considering building as an option while we shopped around. We got sticker shock. The house we ended up with would cost %40 more to build now than what we paid to buy it. And we paid right at the appraised value of the home, so it's not like we got a unicorn of a deal. Materials and labor have gone way up, and your dollar just doesn't go as far these days as it did when older homes were built.

I suppose it's a lot like buying a new car vs a used one though. If it's what you want, and you can afford it, go for it. Somebody has to build/buy the new ones so that we can get the good deals on used ones down the road.

The other thing is that most - not all, but most - builders want to do exactly the same things they've done a thousand times before. Builders like known quantities and hate unknowns. So, unfortunately, it rarely makes sense to get a custom built house unless you want something that is fairly different from what's available off the rack. It sucks, but it's reality.

I don't have the money nor the time to build a house like Woody did. He makes being a fireman seem like the absolute best career choice. I would love to do it, just for the learning experience though. Woody, your house looks nice.

T.J. wrote: I don't have the money nor the time to build a house like Woody did. He makes being a fireman seem like the absolute best career choice.

It's great...until everything around you is on fire.

More thoughts...

One way to avoid water problems in your basement is to not dig so deep and have more exposed foundation on the outside. I didn't do this, but wish that I had. If you don't like the look, you need to bring in more topsoil and grade it up to the house. I don't have a wet basement, but the potential is there as the water table is just below the floor. My sump always has water in it.

When building your garage, absolutely use engineered beams overhead. That way, you avoid having columns between the garage bays. I can't stress enough how awesome this is.

I thought I did build thread on my house but I cant find it now....

But I did modular. It worked out great for my family. We were in the house 3 weeks from finishing the foundation. I did all the work with help from a few employees and my dad. I finished the entire upstairs myself over the next few months.

Thats my whole house on a trailer. 15'6" wide, 16' tall, 72' long. Glad I wasnt the driver...

Cut it in half,

Set 1st half down

Lift up hinged roof sections

Fly in Dormers

It was dried in by the end of the day.

In reply to Woody/Java:

Since I'm having a hard time finding a house I really like on the land I really like back in TN, I've been contemplating going this route. I'm a big DIY guy, as you can see from my threads. I got a couple questions.

• Did you guys work a regular job while you were building your houses?
• How much did you save by doing your own work?
• If you didn't keep a regular job during this process do you think you saved more than you would have made at a job and having someone do the work. Example: Drywall a room. 2 hours for a pro. 4 hours for me. They charge $50 an hour, I make $25 an hour. So with me doing the work there's no savings.
• With the modular home, is it a pretty closed in layout due to needing a lot of load bearing walls in the middle, since it's technically an end piece butted up against another end piece? Or is there an extra thick joist where the two parts meet to make an open concept?

Good info so far guys.

I'd like to offer a vote of confidence here for Duke.

I am a builder, and I have worked with him. Excellent architect- one of the best experiences I have had working with architects!

If you need an architect, I highly recommend him.

In reply to t25torx:

No good wiht formatting but oh well... Did you guys work a regular job while you were building your houses? How much did you save by doing your own work? The foundation/utility/dirt work was all done on the weekends. Once the house was set I went full time on it for a couple weeks.

If you didn't keep a regular job during this process do you think you saved more than you would have made at a job and having someone do the work. Example: Drywall a room. 2 hours for a pro. 4 hours for me. They charge $50 an hour, I make $25 an hour. So with me doing the work there's no savings. some things are definitely worth farming out. IMO insulation, drywall, roofing. I did everything except the insulation on mine, but defiantely a time penalty and not much savings.

With the modular home, is it a pretty closed in layout due to needing a lot of load bearing walls in the middle, since it's technically an end piece butted up against another end piece? Or is there an extra thick joist where the two parts meet to make an open concept? I find mine was actually really well designed. I bought it "closeout" well say, the people who it was built for never paid, and the company who built it wanted it gone, it had sat for ~2 years. The kitchen/living/dining area is all one open space on mine. There is a beam in teh floor, and ceiling that spans it. You can kind of see it in the foundation also, there is a double thick wall that bears on the foundation wall that runs halfway down the middle on mine.

Woody wrote: Spend the money on real plywood. OSB is garbage. It swells like crazy when it gets wet and screws everything up.

I disagree with this comment.

The correct answer is to properly cover and protect the material. neither is designed to get wet (and plywood will swell and delaminate worse than OSB).

But the better answer is, it depends.

If it is for subfloor decking, there is no better product than Advantech (which some people mistakingly call OSB). OSB is terrible, Advantech is awesome. Plywood is fair. There is a cheap tongue and groove 3/4" thick material offered by Lowes, etc, which is sometimes used for subfloors instead of Advantech. It's OSB- total crap.

If it is for walls, OSB has different structural capabilities than plywood. It has strength in both directions, not just one, and lies flatter. It won't warp anywhere near as much. However, I would be careful using is on 24" oc (I don't build 24" oc).

If it is for roof decking, 1/2" thick material (either ply or OSB) are spanned a bit far if installed 24" oc (which they frequently are). 5/8" or thicker is better.

In reply to t25torx:

Here's a couple pics.

Standing just inside the front door. You can see the marriage line.

Kitchen, The end of the "marriage line wall" is on the left of the pic