A Sea Of Red

Anyone want to share any do's and dont's for building a house? Any sites to keep that are good for reference?

I'm going to be in some what of a unique position because most people the logical thing to do is have a starter home since you're just getting married then once you start a family you look to build or buy with more space. This will be on my family's property so if we build now it needs to be considered long term because I wouldnt be selling or moving from this.

Anyway's...any thoughts on building? I'd like to take advantage of some of my construction buddies that are a little slower on work and the crazy low mortgage rates...while the economy is slow.

Big do... if you and the Mrs are at odds over something, DO give in to her (within reason). Building a house is one of the most stressful things you can do in a marriage. Done it twice. Let her have her way, it'll be worth it. But, do convince her you need to carve out your own space somewhere, where you have full say on what goes into it.

Sounds like I would be wise to listen to these words right here! I'm quickly learning to do that now wedding planning.

Do put the laundry facilities upstairs. Carrying clothes up and down stairs is a pain. My house in Salem has the laundry room upstairs and my current tenants LOVE that feature, say its much better than in their old place where the washer/dryer was in the basement.

(Yes, I am now a landlord as of this weekend. You may all refer to me as Lord ATrain )

nearly every person i've ever met that has built their own house has despised the whole process and wish they had done something different. dealing with contractors, spouses, lenders, all a nightmare. most of these conversations stem around "i wish we'd of done this different, or that different"

Based on your criteria, the biggest advice I would have is build it with at least four bedrooms and large kitchen workspace. The biggest mistake young couples make is going low on square footage and bedrooms in exchange for higher end decorative splashes. You can upgrade design elements much easier than add square footage ... especially in the kitchen.

And flamehunter offers sage advice ... don't let her feel like she is being cheated in the design process or it will stick with her for years. That is NEVER a good thing.

PS - Go with gas for kitchen appliances. You will not be sorry moving forward.

Agree on gas. My parents went with gas when we redid our kitchen in 2006...havent regretted it for a second. It has opened up a ton of dishes for my mom to prepare as well.

Agreed with sq footage. Even if that means the downstairs is completely unfinished for a few years its still good to at least have the option. I guess now I need to start looking at floor plans online. I think I can get one of my buddies to build something for me for 80-90 sq/ft, his normal price is $100-125. I'm trying to think of other areas I can cut costs...we can do the water/soil tests in house, some of the earth moving (as long as there isnt blasting needed)...other than that I'm not really sure.

having a buddy as the GC just seems like an awful idea. i've seen friendships/families torn apart because of these deals.

Yeh, I have thought about that.

Hold My Own wrote:Agreed with sq footage. Even if that means the downstairs is completely unfinished for a few years its still good to at least have the option.

When my parents finally built their own house, they put in a completely unfinished basement. It took more than 5 years to actually get around to getting the work done, but they didn't regret it at all.

Oh, big closets. I love having large ones.

ATrain wrote:Oh, big closets. I love having large ones.

i really hope the medic does not see this.....

ATrain wrote:Oh, big closets. I love having large ones.

easy to get into OR come out of...

RubberMallet wrote:having a buddy as the GC just seems like an awful idea. i've seen friendships/families torn apart because of these deals.

Ditto. Be real careful about having friends do the work. I'm all for giving your friends and family the work, just make sure it's someone who really knows what they're doing, someone you know you can trust, and someone you can be completely honest with. Otherwise you're in for some real uncomfortable situations.

i paid a guy to mud my addition. he was a buddy and said he could do it and I HATE MUDDING so he did it. in the end, i spent i think just as much time fixing it (i'm not expert but there were a few things that were obvious) as i would of just doing it myself. i never said anything only because i was worried about causing any issues.

my boss had his father in law build him a house. the house cost an extra 20-25k to build (mostly labor) and that caused issues and a bunch of other stuff caused a divorce eventually. alot of family stress that i had to deal with (boss's father in law the guy who taught me everything about construction and i helped get his business out of bancruptcy)

Man. Cave. That's all undecided on. She gets final say on everything else. Feel free to check out Purples ManCave for ideas

Definitely add a bunker with radiation proof walls and storage for at least 2 months, but up to 2 years, of food and water.

Have you weighed the pros and cons of geothermal hvac and other 'green' features? I'm not super familiar with them, so I'm not sure if they're a good deal or not, but it seems to me that it may not be a bad long term plan. The cost of utilities will not come down, only go up more, so an investment now could potentially be worthwhile if you work the numbers and can find the average utility increase over the expected life of the equipment.

Like I said, I'm not familiar with them, so they may be ridiculously expensive or impractical, but I know a HVAC company here locally in NC has gone almost completely to geothermal and seem to be doing well, so I'm guessing this area of construction is growing a lot.

Can a Falwell be green, even secretly?

well, theres about 75 acres that has been stripped of all its trees so even if I go green I'll still be well within the red


JDub, I havent yet but will seriously consider it, I've heard great things about that for HVAC and water.

Hold My Own wrote:well, theres about 75 acres that has been stripped of all its trees so even if I go green I'll still be well within the red


JDub, I havent yet but will seriously consider it, I've heard great things about that for HVAC and water.

If you consider it, I suggest checking with Scott Horseman Heating and Air. They have gone full swing into geothermal, almost exclusively now. They put in our conventional system and did a great job with excellent service. They are local, in Gladys.

Green isn't a bad idea if it's an investment that you're willing to make long term. But if it's short term, not a great idea.

Having said that, since you are planning on building a house, obviously you're in it for the long term. My house has cheap windows, and when the weather gets extremely hot or cold, it shows up on the power bill. As a result, we have to keep it at 65 during winter, and 77 in the summer.

I checked on geothermal many years ago and it only seemed to make financial sense if your tubing was being run into a pond or some water source on your property as opposed to digging and running them down into the earth. Now if more and more people are getting into installation like this thread is making it sound, I'm sure costs have been dropping.

If you want a house with a pool, I hear JB has some great stories about that as an option.