Homesteading Forum banner

Advice for building own home (with builder)?

12K views 140 replies 38 participants last post by  Danaus29 
#1 · (Edited)
We are getting ready to launch on building our custom forever/dream home. We have a builder, (very good reputation, love the quality of the houses we have seen him build, and he built our barn already), we own the land, and we have well and septic already in. Fortunately in an area with little to no code requirements (other than septic which we have already gotten approval for house/barn on this septic).

We have drawings/layout of house and have had them cleared by architect and builder, but we don't have real "blueprints".

Has anyone else done this and could share advice? We hope to break ground next January (yeah, it's early...but I'm a planner).

Thanks

-Boats
 
#9 ·
Glad that's it! lol

BTW, are you a sparky or a cook??

ust make sure to spell out exactly what you want
That requires me to know exactly what I want!

Will you be using the "builder" as a general contractor? Letting him find electricians/plumbers/drywallers/roofers/tilers etc etc? If that is the case I hope you really trust the guy.
Yes, and we do.

One tip. Know exactly what you want early on. What type of windows. What type of siding, roofing. What type of flooring. Finishing- there are so many ways to go, have an idea. Having to decide and be one step ahead of the contractors is incredibly stressful. Be ready and let it fall into place.
Deck screw colour choices almost killed me- the pressure of needing to know what screws in my wrap around- I live in the boonies and needed to drive 2+ hours to view options at the last minute. Don't be like me :)
I guess that's what I'm trying to do now...but after sitting on the house plans for a year I'm looking at them and wanting to change....

I would highly recommend you buy your own fixtures. They can be really expensive and your plumber will mark them up a lot. There are different grades as well. The one sitting at the big box store likely isn't the same one as the place the plumber buys his. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
Yeah, that's on our to-do list.

Depending on how much you are planning to spend on "extras", regular countertops or granite or something, flooring, faucets, light fixtures,
I think my plan is to spend more money on the more permanent things (doors/windows/kitchen/etc) and less money on the things that get replaced every few years anyway (flooring, lights, paint, etc).

The entire downstairs will be unfinished, as will be a bonus room above garage....will finish those later.

Building codes are generally good things.
The idea behind building codes are good ideas, too often the building codes (and subjective enforcement of them) is ridiculous.
 
#4 ·
We are getting ready to launch on building our custom forever/dream home. We have a builder, (very good reputation, love the quality of the houses we have seen him build, and he built our barn already), we own the land, and we have well and septic already in. Fortunately in an area with little to no code requirements (other than septic which we have already gotten approval for house/barn on this septic).

We have drawings/layout of house and have had them cleared by architect and builder, but we don't have real "blueprints".

Has anyone else done this and could share advice? We hope to break ground next January (yeah, it's early...but I'm a planner).

Thanks

-Boats
We planned our house out on my iPad and then sat down with our builder and talked everything over. He spotted things that needed to be tweaked to meet code and make sure everything would fit the way it should. Any good builder should be able to do the same. Just make sure to spell out exactly what you want and have a good contract.
 
#5 ·
Will you be using the "builder" as a general contractor? Letting him find electricians/plumbers/drywallers/roofers/tilers etc etc? If that is the case I hope you really trust the guy.

I had a carpenter who did the forming, carpentry, roof etc, and I would get 2-3 quotes for each item and I hired the trades. Figured I saved quite a bit of money not just hiring my carpenters buddies- BUT, it was a heap of work on my part (running a business full time on the side). If I was to do it again and I hope to never do so.... :) I would ensure I had a slush fund, hire someone I trusted, and let them deal with all of the trades. You pay a premium, and if anything goes sideways your builder will deal with it not you.

One tip. Know exactly what you want early on. What type of windows. What type of siding, roofing. What type of flooring. Finishing- there are so many ways to go, have an idea. Having to decide and be one step ahead of the contractors is incredibly stressful. Be ready and let it fall into place.
Deck screw colour choices almost killed me- the pressure of needing to know what screws in my wrap around- I live in the boonies and needed to drive 2+ hours to view options at the last minute. Don't be like me :)
 
#6 ·
We just did it. I don't have a lot to add. I would highly recommend you buy your own fixtures. They can be really expensive and your plumber will mark them up a lot. There are different grades as well. The one sitting at the big box store likely isn't the same one as the place the plumber buys his. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

Building material prices are WAY up, so factor that in as well. Our builder says they are expected to drop soon, but plan for worst case scenario. Depending on how much you are planning to spend on "extras", regular countertops or granite or something, flooring, faucets, light fixtures, building costs between $100 and $150 a square foot right now in this area, and depending on the things I mentioned, you can push that over $200 a square foot pretty quickly. Bathrooms add a lot of money, so don't build more of them than you need.
 
#8 ·
We lived in a house in Indiana we really liked.

We rebuilt it in Illinois. All we gave the builder was the sketch you get when you look at home floor plans, and a list of things we wanted different. He nailed it. Literally
 
#14 ·
I would recommend at least making the interior of the house ADA accessible, with larger doors and plenty of space in the bathrooms. I had a friend in a nursing home. As long as he was able to stand and transfer we could bring him to our house for holiday meals with our family. However, once he could no longer do that, we couldn't have him over as our interior doorways made it near impossible to move him in his wheelchair. Our house was built in the 40's with 30" interior doors. Our bathroom, although fine for us, was too small to get his wheelchair into, shut the door, and maneuver him to the toilet. Also, my wife and I have both had knee surgeries and it was difficult moving about the house, especially the bathroom, with crutches. It was doable, but difficult. If we were older, it would have been much more difficult.
 
#16 ·
would recommend at least making the interior of the house ADA accessible, with larger doors and plenty of space in the bathrooms.
Yes, we are planning for this. We are designing the first floor to completely WC accessible, even requiring garage being same level as house with a WC accessible threshhold. Also designing closets on top of each other that can later be retrofitted for an elevator.
 
#15 ·
I second that notion that you go ada as much as possible. The difference in a 32" door and a 36" door is 5 dollars or less. They often even cost the same.

If you have a sliding patio door, consider making it a French door instead. With a French door you can open both up and move large furniture in and out.

Spend the extra money and get the plugs with USB ports in them.

No matter how much you like this builder, get a good contract that protects your interest. Don't just rely on the bank getting you out of a jam. I am a builder myself and this is the number one mistake made. A good contract keeps you both safe and spells out each responsibilities.

Best of luck and keep us posted.
 
#20 ·
The most important thing is you need a good builder and he need to be trust worthy .
It’s a bad time to build , material is way up .
a job that cost 50k will come in at 75 k it’s a lot of money and when thing get back to normal you won’t get the money back .
Guys are scrambling for work.
You have to weigh that against the interest rates though. Wait too long and the interest rates go up, it can cost you a lot more than the extra 25% materials cost.
 
#24 ·
I bought my land in 2014 and drilled the well in August 2015
I set up a old camper with a wood deck and roof it’s all solar powered .
If material cost what it cost today I could of never built it .
material Is up more like 30 maybe even 35%
I wanted to build a 26x28’ shop and I have no kitchen yet .
 
#28 ·
Yes, material is in the up. Hopefully by the time you do it or will have leveled out. You say you are a year out so that helps.

On my current job ( heavycommercial), we had to change an ac duct because I have an architect that, ummmm, doesn't quite get it. Anyway the bill was for 3500 because it is so hard to get sheet metal right now. After approval from all parties now we find that we just can't get it at all for at least 4 weeks. Tin doubled in exactly one week so the installers all bought it up.

Good luck on wood too.

I would have them bid the actual job after it levels out some. It will level
 
#29 ·
It will level
I hope you're right. Too often we've seen things go like this: Gas is $1.20 a gal. It goes up to $4.00 a gal because of some "catastrophe". After that passes, they lower it back down to $2.40 and everyone cheers because the price dropped so much. In the meantime, everyone seems to have forgotten that it's still double what it was... Ammunition did the same. I hope plywood and cement don't follow suit.
 
#30 ·
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I’m thinking this is how it’s going to go.
i paid $140 a yard for concrete in The fall they dig the sand and gravel out of there yard portland is still about the same$ fuel was cheep , they still charge the fuel surcharge .
I had to wait three weeks to get a delivery?
The guys all work outside by them selves for the most part ?
In don’t think the price will be back to normal for a long time .
I think every thing just reset at 20/30% more
 
#31 ·
Lots of good advice in this thread. I will second the bathroom door opening size. However, for those that are not doing a new build and have 32 inch bathroom doors, I have found if you just pull the door off the hinges, wheelchairs can access through 32 inch doors without much fuss. You just lose privacy, which at that point shouldn't be your primary concern.

Miscellaneous suggestions:

If you like to cook, get a 36 or 48 inch cooktop.

Don't put any built in cabinet appliances.

Put your electrical hookup for the fridge somewhere beside the fridge rather than behind it so you can plug a generator into it without pulling it out.

If you have upstairs bedrooms, put in a laundry chute to the laundry room.

Have a roof over every exterior door. I have never had to replace a door/frame that had a cover over it. I have had to replace many that didn't.

Rather than french doors to the outside, make your front door 42 inches. It is much more solid than any french door construction and gives plenty of room for furniture/appliance moving.

Anyway, good luck. It can be exciting and fun and also neither.
 
#33 ·
I just measured my bathroom door. The opening is a measly 28 inches! Hubby says he wants to put in a handicap shower for me but I keep saying it won't make any difference since you can't get through the door with a walker. I don't know how the door frame can be made larger, the current one isn't even made to suit the building code.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top