Building a new home ????

[greasemonkey1313]

A few things that I didn't think about until after my house was finished...If you have a garage with an exterior walk in door, make sure you have a light switch at that door (mine only has a switch coming out of the house). Most of us here in the south tend to use a side door or back door for most of our entry, builder will probably only put a doorbell at the front. Exterior flood lights to light up all the way around your house. Things I have and wouldn't want to live without...instant hot water, (I have recirculation, but prices have come down now on the under counter water heaters). Separate light switch and ceiling fan switch. If you get carpet, spend the extra on the more dense padding...it WILL make your carpet last longer. Just a few from me. Take all of these suggestions and within 2 years I can promise you that you will find something that you forgot about or something you wish you had done different. Good luck. Oh yeah, the most important thing...let your wife have the final say on everything non structural on the inside of the house!!!

 

[gobbleinwoods]

do a good job on termite treatment now when you do the footings before backfilling

speaking termites: the common place for them to attack is at the garage doors. The pretreat is disturbed when the driveway is dug and poured so have the company retreat that area before the concrete is poured for the drive.

 

[1222DANO]

I didn't read every post in the thread but we built one 5 years ago and i have some tweaks i'd like to have a redo on..

1. just one large room big enough for washer dryer and closet shelves and hangers for everyones clothes so she doesn't have to constantly walk around the house putting up clothes. she could just put towels and washcloths up..

2. a good mud room for sitting and taking shoes off and on.

3. i wish i had insulated interior walls to keep the noise down from room to room.

4. put the kitchen far enough you don't have to hear pots and pans clanging, cabinet doors shutting during football.

 

[hunt4em]

I am a builder,for over 20 years,there are many good things above,one hat was left out was put in 2 hot water heaters,in a series,you'll never run out,and is more efficient .subs will charge you more,I promise,they know it's one and done,and you really don't have anything to hold them to your warranty,depending on the price of your home,more times than not,you could pay a builder and still come out cheaper or the same price,and not have to deal with it AND have it done alot sooner.i hope it turns out good for you and your family.

 

[GA native]

Minimum 9' ceiling in basement. Makes finishing the basement with 8' ceilings possible.

Minimum 200 amp load center. Because 100 amp load centers are never enough. Especially after you finish the basement.

Sink in the garage. To clean engine parts, or yourself.

24" soffits on roof. Reduces cooling costs.

Separate HVAC unit for top floor. Reduces cooling costs. Extends the life of the HVAC equipment.

Have it built with a moderate roof pitch. No more than a 7/12. Saves money on maintenance. The costs for roofers, carpenters, and painters increases as the roof gets steeper.

 

[OmenHonkey]

I will not have a headache "I mean Basement" I grew up shop vac-ing a basement everytime it rained. I will have the 200 amp service. No garage, and separate HVAC for both floors. But thanks for your input.

Next question. As I plan and figure some of the costs. I own the land, well and will layout and dig the footings myself. Outside of the septic install my starting cost should be fairly low. I will be living at my folks place during the build so no costs there and free time to work on the house. Could it be feasible for me to do this under 60.00$ per square????? I know finishes are what get you Tile and such could I do it though realistically?

 

[bruiserbuckgrower]

This is a preference but we actually design a lot of outdoor living "party pad" kitchen areas if not in the plan now plan for a lay out of the roof where it could potentially be added on in the future. We are debating building again in the next few years and we've had some of the same thoughts. I second the mud/laundry room that's large.

 

[Duff]

I will not have a headache "I mean Basement" I grew up shop vac-ing a basement everytime it rained. I will have the 200 amp service. No garage, and separate HVAC for both floors. But thanks for your input.

Next question. As I plan and figure some of the costs. I own the land, well and will layout and dig the footings myself. Outside of the septic install my starting cost should be fairly low. I will be living at my folks place during the build so no costs there and free time to work on the house. Could it be feasible for me to do this under 60.00$ per square????? I know finishes are what get you Tile and such could I do it though realistically?

Man, idk omen. Maybe some of the builders will chime in. I built mine 12 yrs ago. Hired a great framer to dry it in. I did siding, painting, electrical, hardwood, porch railings, steps, fine grading, got hvac, trim, concrete finishing, and gutters pretty much at cost, even traded out some work for deals on cabinets, masonry work, concrete walls and still got $65 sq ft in it.

Of course you'll cut that 12 grand without a basement. (I'm typing this sitting by my wood heater in my basement)

 

[dslc6487]

In addition to light under house in crawl space, I would put lights in the attic. Plenty of insulation everywhere and as much as you can. Don't know what kind of heat you plan, but we have a heat pump that works great, HOWEVER, I would add a chimney with a wood burning insert in the fireplace. I live in the country and we are on REA. Power goes out rather frequently and the wood stove will provide adequate heat until you get power back for your heat pump. But, at my place, we burn the wood heater insert also for our primary heat. Cost a whole lot less that hearing that heat pump hum. Power outlets on both front and back porch. I would also add a good security system. If you can't afford it initially, it would be one of my first add ons. Make sure that your contractor gives plenty of support to your floor joists, and plenty of them. Nothing worse that to walk through the house and have all of the furniture shakes as you walk. Also, don't start to use your attic for storage space. Mine needs cleaning out and it is a mess. It seems to catch all of the "stuff" that we think we may need one day. Get you an outside storage building for storage space. You will never regret it. Also, look at wiring your electrical panel to a breaker from the bottom into your crawl space with enough wire to reach the outside of your house. This way you can hook up a generator to run your house when the power goes out. Mine is hooked up like this and when the power goes out, I just hook my generator into the wire from the main panel, turn it on, and we are back in business. This you will not regret either. If you do this, make sure you kill main power with to panel so that you do not send power back out of the main line to someone that may be working on the line down stream from your house. Very much agree with building everything as much maintenance free as possible: Brick exterior, vinyl clad windows, boxing, facia, etc.. Mine house is cedar sided, while it looks beautiful it is a pain in the b*** to maintain. And, the carpenter bees love cedar. Hopes this helps you some. AND, also hope you have deep pockets because there will be many things that will pop up that will cost you extra money that you did not count on. Good luck my friend.

 

[OmenHonkey]

Man, idk omen. Maybe some of the builders will chime in. I built mine 12 yrs ago. Hired a great framer to dry it in. I did siding, painting, electrical, hardwood, porch railings, steps, fine grading, got hvac, trim, concrete finishing, and gutters pretty much at cost, even traded out some work for deals on cabinets, masonry work, concrete walls and still got $65 sq ft in it.

Of course you'll cut that 12 grand without a basement. (I'm typing this sitting by my wood heater in my basement)

Ohhh Your killing me. LOL That's pretty much what I've been figuring is 65 per square....

 

[Makeithappen01]

Good luck with building your house. Right now IMHO It will be very hard to build a home for $65sqft even if u did all the labor. I'm building one now and like people say be ready for some unexpected cost.

 

[tree cutter 08]

Fixing to start building in a few months. Looks like going to be 50 a sf. Doing all the work except part of the wiring and basement walls and slab. Been having lumber sawed and stacked for a while now so that cuts down a good bit. Right at 30,000 bd ft!

 

[OmenHonkey]

Treecutter I am having mine sawn for .70 a ft. In your experience is about the going rate?

 

[tree cutter 08]

Mines been running around 125 a thousand ft. That's anything from 1x's to the 8x8's and 8x12's. That's on a circle mill. Band mill stuff was in the 4-500 a thousand range.

 

[OmenHonkey]

Well I talked to the owner of the sawmill. He assured me that TULIP POPLAR was hard enough to put down as flooring. He said he cuts it for flooring all the time and can show me numerous houses and cabins that have it. I guess it's a leap of faith !!! He also said the poplar in the southern part of the state is harder than that up north. (Kinda like the People) JK LOL. But he advised me to cut the biggest trees I could becaue the grain is much more appealing on the larger trees!!! I will be sharpening and oiling the saws up shortly and try to beat the sap before it rises!!!!! I will update.

 

[OmenHonkey]

**Update ** My how things change. When I started this thread I was engaged and about to get married. NEVER HAPPENED. lol thank goodness. Well anyway, closed on my construction loan yesterday. Much smaller home and got a GC that is working with me. Wish me luck and I will post pics when I can.

 

[lagrangedave]

Motion flood lights on your house and a motion indicator at the gate ........................

 

[lagrangedave]

Hardwood and tile with rugs where needed...............carpet is too much trouble.................

 

[Jim Baker]

From an old guy that built his home when he was 30.

Master suite downstairs with Walk in Shower with a big bench & built in shelves for bottles and shaving cream, the fewest stairs and steps possible. Large laundry room with water closet. Lower kitchen Cabinets with large drawers for pots and pans, etc. The largest range hood you can make work. As many cabinets as you can find spaces for, i.e., laundry room bath rooms. Under cabinet lights. Largest walk in closets you can stand. Outlets, outlets, outlets. Incorporate free standing out door NG or Lp gas tankless water heaters. Two minimum, one for master and one for everything else. Don't hang ceiling fans under can lights. Run at least 2 electric circuits into attic junction boxes or 1 circuit into each attic space if more than one, and a couple into any crawl space.

And above all else, a minimum 16x24 outbuilding ready for conversion to a man cave as opportunity presents itself. Under no circumstances make any definitive statements why you want such a structure.

 

[GoldDot40]

We just had one built. I watched a lot of things happen that I was absolutely scratching my head about...in the end, everything turned out great. I hired an independent inspector to come behind and look over everything. He was about as thorough as they come. He gave us a clean report and complimented my floorplan.

I was jumping the gun...being impatient about a lot of things. Turns out, I should've just let them do what they do. The ONLY 2 complaints I had when it was all done was that the tracks in all the drawers had paint gunked up in them. I cleaned them all out with a small flat blade screw driver so they open in close smooth as silk now.

The other thing I wish I'd done is go bigger with the back concrete slab patio. I'm gonna have to get somebody to pour me an extension to nearly double it's size.