Anyone here managed the build of their own house/shop?

[GeorgeG.]

It looks like we'll be out of our house somewhere around mid-Oct. (yay!!) Long story short...

Plan A: if the stars align, we may get a house that our contingency offer was kicked out of last month.

Plan B: haven't really found anything else we liked so we plan to buy a lot and build.

In regards to plan b, has anyone built their own house by way of finding their own sub-contractors and going through the whole process? I'm looking for potential pitfalls, things to avoid, suggestions, etc. My questions so far...

1. Did it save you a lot of money
2. Was it more trouble than it was worth?
3. I think referrals would be the best choice but other than that, how do you go about finding quality subs?
4. Would an architect be the way to go for designs?

I would plan on hiring an inspector to inspect each phase of the build. For anyone that has gone through this, what are your thoughts?

[Baron Von Crowder]

my mom did, and Ill try to answer your questions from what I know of it:

1. No. To expand: they saved maybe 10-15k vs the other bids they got from builders.
2. Yes. Her husband is a pilot, and was able to be there to inspect and view progress frequently, but she would have to try and do that when he was out of town.
3. Hire a builder, they had to in order to get a building loan. This guy was semi retired and helped them along, for a much smaller fee. They had and held the money, but had to pay the subs, buy materials, etc.
4. You'll have to have an architect draw the plans, and usually, redraw them a few times after the city/county/whatever governing body wants to change something.

They did it because A) they are cheap as fuck, and thought they would save a bunch of money and B) they wanted to design their own house.

Someday, Im going to have to unload this pile of a house with non-square rooms and other odd things that they did.

[mardyn]

Any moneys I saved when building my home was quickly eaten up by repairs I had to have done later due to the piss poor job my plumber and electricians both did.

A good General Contractor would have been far cheaper and I wouldn't have to go back and redo the substandard work these two morons did on my home.

mardyn

[black2002ls]

If you decide to do it, you will be bound to the municipalities inspectors for code. A lot of places use bureau veritas. Their inspectors range from very lenient, to sticking it to you. They are only inspecting for code however. If you are interested in best practices and energy efficiency, find a third party quality inspector and an energy inspector. We use Burgess construction Consultants for quality and best practices. Fox energy for energy inspections. Look for it to add 1-2k to overall build price. But in the end it is worth it, especially for energy efficiency.

As for having a builder or GC. I would say it is almost a must if you aren't in the industry, there are a lot of things that can be missed and corners cut. Granted the 3rd party inspections will help, but it isn't a safety net

[FastFox]

I hired an older guy that had been a builder for many years. I paid on a "Cost Plus 10%" deal. Every time I spent a dollar, he made a dime. He did only one house at a time, and was there every day. I got the loan, he hired the subs, and he made draws from my construction loan as needed. This was in 1977, and I am still there. He built a great 2 story house that I still enjoy. My plan came from the Sunday paper. We made a few changes, but he was a true carpenter and a craftsman. He hung all the cabinets and did all the wood trim in the house. He charged me $ 5.00 per hour for hid work. Yes, that was a bargain even in 1977. He is long sense gone, and guys like him are hard to find today. Good luck !

[BlackGT]

My parents did, but it's been almost 20 years ago.
One thing I do remember, is the bank would not loan the money to build a house on land that had a lien on it.
Parents have 5.5 acres and had to get the other bank to declare 1 acre as paid off before bank would agree to the build loan.

I remember they saved some money, don't know how much, by doing all the cleanup themselves (my brothers and I did most of it). We would go out there every weekend and clean up any trash, bricks, nails, junk, laying on the ground around the house.

My grandfather (Carpenter/Architect) drew up the plans/blueprints so that didn't cost them anything.

The cost of building their house originally vs the cost to rebuild should something happen is crazy.
It's a 3,200sqft 3/2.5/2
Original cost was $98K give or take. Now it's around $200K...

['90Vert]

You will pay each sub more diy then good general contracted will. A good general contracter will also get on the subs calender much sooner then you will. A good sub is thinking about the next jobs with the contractor - you are once and done.

[boost addict]

I'm almost done with my shop. I general'd it with the help,of a good friend who had contacts. Thank God for him.

I paid much much less than I'd have paid a general. But subcontractors are a pain out here in midland because of the boom. I'm on the third plumber and the electrician shows up whenever he feels like it.

And for you guys who will say " well just fire the sub and get another one"....not out here in midland. They'll laugh at you and tell you they'll put ya on the schedule 3 months out. It's crazy.

Got the painters finishing up the interior paint this week. Then we will do the electrical finish out. Hopefully get a final from the city in a few weeks.

Would I do it again? NO.

[blownaltered]

I hired an older guy that had been a builder for many years. I paid on a "Cost Plus 10%" deal. Every time I spent a dollar, he made a dime. He did only one house at a time, and was there every day. I got the loan, he hired the subs, and he made draws from my construction loan as needed. This was in 1977, and I am still there. He built a great 2 story house that I still enjoy. My plan came from the Sunday paper. We made a few changes, but he was a true carpenter and a craftsman. He hung all the cabinets and did all the wood trim in the house. He charged me $ 5.00 per hour for hid work. Yes, that was a bargain even in 1977. He is long sense gone, and guys like him are hard to find today. Good luck !

I deal with builders everyday and there are still a bunch that will do it this way. The are companies out there that are more of a referral company for Owner Builders but they use some of the cheapest subs you can find. Not exactly what you want on a house you are going to live in for 20 years. Depending on where you are wanting to build and the dollar amount I might know someone that could help you out. A builder could also line you up with an architect and help that go easier

[akfodysvn]

A few guys on the fire dept have GC'd their own homes here in Kansas.

Materials were higher quality and finishes better than equivalent homes in their respective areas. On average I would say about 20% saved from the quotes they got to have it built from A-Z. They learned a lot and were all heavily involved on their off days. Most of them did some stuff here and their themselves. And being in the fire service lots of guys have trade skills or know guys w/ trade skills.

If I become more confident and continue to learn I will do the same. Last guy built spent around 200k and appraised over 250.

[Scott Mc]

Close friends of mine built one on Keller Hicks Airfield about 10 years ago, they went through a company but bought in at the right time. They paid just over a 100k and now it is valued at 300k+. I am considering one if I find the right land to build it on.

[GeorgeG.]

Thanks for all the input... already starting to sound like I should stick with my day job. I was thinking I could save some choo choo money but if I'm not saving $60k or more, I don't think I want that hassle. I was talking with my brother that had a house built a few years back and he said it was a PITA too... and he lived right next door to where it was being built, worked in the same city, and knew the guy(may be a GC) that was helping him in his spare time.

So do GC's operate independently or is everyone referring to a builders' GC? Other than a rough sketch on a napkin, I wouldn't know the first thing about designing a house layout, much less adding a lot of the features that builders are putting in.

Being a "once and done" type deal makes me think I'll get some hacked up house knowing they'll be long gone with my money

[akfodysvn]

I was thinking you would GC yourself. Here you can GC your own house w/out any issues.

If you aren't going to GC yourself then it isn't worth it IMO.

You would need an architect or find a plan you like and buy the blue prints. If you found one you liked it wouldn't be a big deal to just pay for them and you could always have them modified as well.

[Sleeper]

The rules around my part of kansas are a hoot. Basically do whatever the fuck you want.


There is some skeeeetchy shit around here.

[TX_92_Notch]

Where are you building?

My parents built a house 2 years ago in Grayson County (Lake Texoma). There were no plans to submit for review, no building permits required, no inspections required, nothing. I kid you not.

I am an architect and I designed the house for them (sorry, I'm not for hire right now - too busy) and kept a close eye on the builder while it was going up. They used a well-known builder from the area and he did an excellent job for the most part. He took on another house towards the end of my parent's build and he drug it out because he was too busy.

Even with my experience in the field (not on the construction side, but still), I wouldn't tackle the GC aspect of it. I'm planning to build within 2 years and I will hire someone with experience to manage the construction of my house. Too much to go wrong on a huge investment that you'll potentially own for a very long time. Do it once, do it right.