Home Building ?'s

[JLinder]

After a long and extensive search, my wife and I are thinking about building a home. We're on a budget, so the big ticket custom home builders in the area are out of the question. We'd like to stay away from manufactured homes for a couple of reasons. That leaves us with site built homes, but there are some many options I don't know where to start? We've looked a having a local contractor build a house for us, but it doesn't seem like you get much bang for the buck. We've also researched panelized and Addair homes a little but we don't know anybody with first hand knowledge. I'd like to be my own G/C. I don't know much about home building, but I have a couple of friends in the construction biz that would be willing to help us out with planning and finding subs.



Any suggestions? Anybody ever used those panelized home "kits" that you have a local builder put up?



Thanks for the help.

 

[Jerry R]

I suggest you look thru a few of the home plan books you see at grocery stores for a simple home. Keep it simple. Keep it as small as possible and get bids. Make a spec sheet up for your needs and price it out. Ask those friends in the trades to get you some bids.

Get going. Things keep going up and rates will never be this cheap again. Just do it. Any questions, feel free to send me a PM. I build lots of homes, but I'm in Wa. Good luck, Jerry

 

[jwdeeming]

We built ours in '95. It was called a kit home, but it was stick built - basically the vendor provided the contruction loan and fed us with a steady stream of supplies. We were our own general contractor and did everthing except concrete, drywall, and heating. My day job allowed me to work 4x10s and I used every three day weekend plus a boatload of vacation to get it done.



A couple of things saved my bacon on this big adventure: One, I had a college buddy who grew up with a hammer in his hand helping his Dad build custom homes. He helped me get off to a good start. Second, a local friend who also builds custom homes was able to recommend two good contractors, one for the concrete and one for the drywall.



I came away with a house we could have never afforded to buy (sweat equity), and a real respect for general contractors. Those guys earn their money.



As for advice? You can check references on kit suppliers, contractors and all that. But the bottom line is you need to make sure you are personnally up to it. You will bear the pain and frustration of doing things a little bit harder way than a pro in the business would. But you'll learn a lot. I thought it was worth it. I'm not sure I could do it again... .

 

[jarsong]

I would general contract it yourself. Eliminate the middleman. We did it and really it isn't that hard as long as you have a place confortable to live while you are doing the work. You'll end up baby sitting the builder anyway so why not hold the control and write the checks. I have built 3 houses. First through a builder, what a disaster. Second the builder agreed to split the responsibility, that worked pretty well, but still did a lot of babysitting. 3rd house, we did the entire project from start to finish. saved about 100K from all the bid from the builders I trusted. House project went flawless, with in budget and in less time than we thought it would take. Granted this isn't for anyone, I have a project manager background but knew little about the actual construction and relied on multiple inputs from different sources. Personal references seemed to work for us pretty good. Ask to see their work and cheapest isn't always the best. Anyway good luck.

jarsong

 

[Spooled-up]

Check this out...

I heard of a guy that used this site and said it worked well for him.



ownerbuilder.com



I haven't explored it yet, but from what my friend told me, it walks you through every step. It tells you when to cut checks (after you pass inspection), the order to do things, who to call next, and things to plan ahead for so you'll be ready when the time comes.



I may use it someday, so if you actually use it, let us know how it went

 

[TPCDrafting]

I design and draft plans of custom homes for a living. From a design aspect, I agree the most cost effective route to acquiring a set of plans is to order from the plan books. I can't eat if I try to compete with them. All you will likely need then is an Engineer stamped foundation plan to get going. Be sure to check with your local building department FIRST to be sure that is all you need. Most building/planning depts. have a check sheet for everything you need to submit for permit. If you plan to build in a subdivision with a home owners assoc. or an established covenance, be sure you are meeting their requirements as well.

From a construction aspect, I would shy away from the pre-built wall panel houses due to one experience with one of these where making field changes was nearly impossible. The foundation on this particular house was improperly poured and the wall panels no longer fit correctly and problems just snowballed from there.

 

[MFalkinham]

I designed and built my first 3-bedroom ranch back in 1989 while working full time. The only projects I subcontracted out were the concrete work and the plumbing. It took me 18-months from start to finish working on it every spare minute that I wasn't at my job or sleeping. I had a few family members help occasionally with the heavy lifting, but otherwise I did the majority of the work.



It turned out very nice, but I should have built it bigger. I sold the house ten years later and made a huge profit. However, I would never do it again due to how overwhelming it was. It seems to take over your whole life when you are the GC.



By the way, back in 1989, 4x8x7/16 oriented strandboard cost me $4 per sheet, and I used over 200 sheets. Now it costs almost $20 per sheet around here.



- Mike

 

[JLinder]

thanks for the sugestions, keep 'em coming guys!

 

[Willys]

have you thought about building an alternative style house? I've been looking into building a monolithic dome(www.monolithic.com) They cost about the same to build as a traditional house, but are more efficient on heating/cooling costs, are cheaper to insure, are low maintenance, and have a whole bunch of other advantages that would take quite a while to name here. OK, maybe just one more- they are proven to be tornado and hurricane proof. People that build these probably pay just as much as for a stick built, but save a lot of money from heating efficiency in the long run. I'll just be quiet now and let you check them out for yourself...





saw your truck featured today btw, nice rig. I especially like the flatbed.



Andy

 

[Willys]

oops, just saw another post by you about buying a house Congratulations!



Andy

 

[JLinder]

Bought one for now, still planning on building the next one. Thanks for the advice.

 

[QRTRHRS]

If your contemplating building on a tight budget, keep in mind that material costs are going through the roof on what seems like a daily basis. I have been doing some site work around my property lately, putting in some catch basins and 15" pipe. My materials for that were at least 1/3 over last year. Prices on copper wire, PVC, you name it have in some cases doubled over last year. Contractors around me are going to time and materials over bids.

 

[Plazman]

We built our home, (me, the "boss", and two daughters) back in 92, i can emphasize what the other guys have said about the cost of materials, alot higher now and getting worse. But what about next year? same thing, they only go up. Loan rates are low right now, so now's your chance.

We did all the work we could except

the concrete, (60 yrds), and sheetrock,(just is not cost efective to do it your self), and the trusses/roofing.

Niether did we do the insulation, in our home I would have saved only about $200. 00 buy doing that myself, just not worth it

We did just about everything else.

One thing that the others have not mentioned is the fact that building a home is hard on a marriage. I don't know your relationship with your wife but it WILL be taxed heavily!, everyone I know that has built a home has agreed that that can be one of the hardest obsticals to overcome.

We have nearly 3800 sq/ft with a completely finished daylight basement, 2. 5 baths, 3bdr, and a boat load of junk rooms!!!

I would like to offer a tour if you would like, you and your wife could come over and take a looksee, just pm me if your interested.