OT but... New home construction

[duckbuster38401]

We are looking at building a new home, Has anyone been the owner builder and just sub the work out? What’s the pros and cons?

[steve w]

I'm one of the subs you'll need so I'll give you my point of view. Most homeowners that try what you want to do shouldn't. There is a lot of ways to screw up and cost yourself money and quality.Changes and not sticking to the original plan are just a couple.
I hope you know all your subs pretty well, if you don't and are going with low bids good luck cause you'll need it, usually you get what you pay for. Scheduling is tough, they all will have more important jobs then yours that will come first,so be prepared to wait.
Making all the choices and decisions and staying within the budget has tested many a marriage with the help of a good builder, could be hell on your own.
If your one of the few who can pull it off the satisfaction of doing it yourself should be well worth the effort not to mention you should have saved all the money a builder would have made. Good luck.

[PREACHERS KENNEL]

yes.i.have... but I also been in construction most my life and know all the subs already.. u can save money but u need a knowledge of how things come together to keep things in a flow ,,I built my house in little over 4 months start to finish.

however a contrasctor will make some money for doing it of course . it really all depends on your knowledge..and of course u need the time to do it . u can p.m me I can walk u thru the steps if u want to do it if u don't have any friends close that know how it all works ..I will give u my number if u want it and work u thru it ..its not all that bad .but there are thing u need to know .

[rabbitatfarm]

We built our own about 10 years ago. We subbed the rough framing and anything else we couldn't do, which was most of it. We shingled, insulated, did the siding, all the finish trim, wood floor, electrical, with my dad's help, and built the cabinets. We subbed the plumbing, concrete work, excavation, septic, and drywall work. How much is your wife willing to do? Still have a tender spot in that regard. Building yourself is a good way to acquire lot of neat tools, like table and miter saws, joiner, air nailers, etc. Just a thought, we used 2 x 6 studs 24" on center in the exterior wall framing and 6" batts in the wall. Good luck if you tackle it.

Larry

[chris1971]

I did this about 3 years ago and I can say you will save money but you will also need a good knowledge of construction and scheduling. The hardest part for me was trying to answer questions for the subs while I was at work. I am fortunate in the fact that I have a job that allows me a lot of flexibility in my schedule. I also knew every sub that I contracted to do the work for me and the quality of their work so I knew what to expect. I did not go with the cheapest because as stated in another post "you get what you pay for" With the money I saved I was able to upgrade several things in my house that I wanted. My favorite upgrade in my Reni water heater, fast hot water that is endless. Also cheaper in the long run because it only heats when we use it unlike the conventional heaters that have a thermostat and kick on even when not in use. Also may sure you are a good communicator with your wife because if not your gonna have a lot of fights! Good luck

[birmi1nr]

I have acted as the General Contracted for much of my own home work as well as that of my family......but I'm also a construction manager by profession in the commercial construction realm and have managed 10 million dollar plus size projects. Lining up subs and schedulng trades for one house is walk in the park compared to what I have to deal with on daily basis. To answer your question though it's a good way save some dough on the overall build and maybe pour that extra cash saved into some upgrades you normally wouldnt have been able to afford otherwise, but better know what your doing or you'll have everyone working for hating you by the time your done.

[duckbuster38401]

My parents built there house that was 14 years ago, My sister owns and excavation company. I know a lot of subs, I cannot get a builder to respond to me they all keep saying they are too busy. Im to the point now Im just going to sub it my self, I own the land. All I want to do is build a new house. lol

[Alabama John]

After 60 years of building things, I recommend you ask around for a retired builder close to where you are going to build that is bored sitting at home and would like to get his old subs together again and build your home.
Probably wouldn't charge you much at all and don't forget he gets discounts on materials and subs you won't get that will more than pay for anything he charges you.
In many places you can get in trouble doing it yourself without good guidance. Why take the chance?

[Ole Mule]

Well I built my house from the ground up two story. When I say "I" that means I did it all by myself absolutely everything from digging the footing all the way to receiving the Certificate of Occupancy. My occupation was fire fighter but worked part time in construction. I had to meet all codes that a regular contractor has to meet which was no real big deal. This is a picture in progress This is a picture of my house in the winter.

[rabbitatfarm]

One problem we had was getting a bank loan without a contractor's license. They want to make sure the house is going to be finished and code compliant. We had saved up quite bit so we deposited $25,000.00 with a lumber company and they deducted from it as we had materials delivered. I worked for an interior contractor so we used the company to order our windows. Once the house was roughed in, we got a loan from the bank using the land and house as collateral. Made our last payment a few months ago.

Larry

[didion419]

good job rabbit earl I did the same thing but contracted some things out the block 16 in full basement and the roof and some dry wall It took 2 year to complete saved alot of money if I would do it again contract alot more things out too old now I had alot of help from subs I knew and I know a few different contracters to ask ?

[didion419]

good job rabbit earl I did the same thing but contracted some things out the block 16 in full basement and the roof and some dry wall It took 2 year to complete saved alot of money if I would do it again contract alot more things out too old now I had alot of help from subs I knew and I know a few different contracters to ask ?

[duckbuster38401]

Looks good old mule, I dont know what to do. I have asked people for a quote but getting one is another story. I have all plans inc a materials list. I woulnt think it would be that hard, but it seems to be. I guess im just asking at the wrong time of the year. lol

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Built my first house when I was 23 years old.Built WAY back in the woods in the mountains of New Hampshire.Nearest neighbor was 2 miles away.No electricity so built it using a generator.Lived in it for 2 years with no electricity [kerosene lamps ],no running water or indoor plumbing [hauled water from the spring and had an out house ] and had a wood cookstove in the kitchen and a pot belly in the livingroom.
We lived in tents while I built until we woke up one morning to 6 inches of snow.
I loved it but too hard on the wife living like that and we didn't last.
Built my next one when I was 32.Owned 15 acres and used that as colateral to borrow on for a construction loan.Built a log cabin.Dealt with a company that offered design services/blue prints as part of the deal and cut out all exterior logs to the plans.The whole package was delivered on a flatbed tractor trailer to our site.The package included interior wall partition materials,roof rafters,shingles,windows and exterior doors and flooring for the second floor.We had already poured foundation and put first floor joists and decking.
Erected the cabin package with lots of help from friends and family.Was very fortunate to know many tradesmen who would moonlight for under the table payment and were very knowledgeable/helpful and they saved me beau coup bucks ie wiring,plumbing,heating and masonary chimney.
It took me 6 months,every spare moment I could find while still working full time,many nights being there in the house until mid night,etc.It was a major under taking but I really enjoyed it and was proud of the result.My second wife thought it was a major pain in the butt, didn't like the mortgage payment,taxes and insurance and ended up not hardly talking to me towards the end and ended up running off with one of the doctors at the hospital where I worked.Leaving me with my brand new house that I now stuggled to afford.
Am now living in the third [ and last!! ] house that I've built.This house required some special considerations as we were living 175 miles away from where we were building.My wife wanted us to build the house ourselves and I was not at all into the idea as I was just turning 60 and knew it would be a project and a half.But you know how wives can be when they get their minds on something......Well we've been married 27 years now and I sure didn't want to lose this one over another house.LOL.
My wife handled ALL the design aspects of the house herself with help from a CAD program she found on the internet and for a small cost even got prints made that we could work from.We rented a back hoe and dug a foundation ,poured a footing and then hired a mason to come in and block up a foundation.
My wife's father and brother are both experienced in carpentry and construction having built many homes.We sent them the plans for the house and they figured out all the materials list.We then solicited quotes from 2-3 lumber yards/building supply business.
I took 3 weeks of my vacation time from my job,my father-in-law and brother-in-law came down from New Hampshire and we hired a young local guy and the four of us framed up the house,interior partitions,exterior doors and windows,building wrap and tar paper on the roof to get it in the dry in 3 weeks.
Once at that stage things slowed down considerably as we both were still working full time and we could only devote weekends,holidays,vacations,etc. to work on the house [remember it was a 3 hour ride to get there! ].It took us two years to get it finished and ready to move in.
Because of time constraints,permits,lack of knowledge and/or physical limitations on my part and some needed equipment we did sub out things such as electrical,plumbing,heat and air, septic and fill line,dry wall and shingling the roof.[ Shingling the roof by myself would have taken how long???? Guy came in with a crew of 5 of them and did it in a day! My knees ached just watching them ].And dry wall---well,I just plain hate doing it O.K?
I'd say a couple of things I had going for me was that although I'm no contractor by any means, back in the day I had made my living doing carpentry work,construction and had a pretty good working knowledge of how a house gets built.Over the years I've had many friends/contacts that made their living in the trades and they 've always been helpful and I've learned what to look for and what questions to ask and what to expect.
The biggest pluses to building your own house and/or acting as your own general contractor is #1 you get to make sure it is done right.Hate to say it but there are builders/contractors out there that will and do cut corners where ever they can to cut their costs.#2 You really can save a bunch of money if you know what you're doing.Cutting out the general contractor's cut,what he makes mark up on materials,on the subs he hires, your labor,etc. is quite abit.We conservatively figured that we saved better than $50,000 doing what we did ourselves.#3 The pride of having done it yourself.Priceless!
Good luck if you decide to tackle it yourself.Be patient with each other cause building your house will put lots of stresses on your marriage and be careful about time restraints.Things never seem to get done on time and your subs will NEVER be there when they say they will.Not really their fault most of the time----just the way it is
Duckbuster---just a thought.You know Peter Burns up in M-boro.That's what he does for a living.He could probably answer any ? you'd have or even build it for you.

[duckbuster38401]

Shady i sent Pete the info, waiting to hear from him. I know dealing with the state to adopt my kids for more than the last 3 years has been a huge deal in my life. Im sure we get through building a house. I know it will save me money. Im not in a real hurry to move I live in an old farm house I just want a nice house and get it done before I get to old. lol