Wife and I talking about building a new house. HELP US!

[Socomike]

Hey guys. We are in the very early stages of discussing the idea of building a house. We have no idea what we are doing. We have a general idea of what we would like the house to look like and some things that both of us absolutely have to have in the house. We also have somethings that will be dependent on the budget.

How do we start this process?

Thanks for the help.

Mike

 

[shooter1054]

I am an interior trim carpenter by trade. I have a contrator I work for west of Indy. He is a good honest man (I know, odd for a GC) He can help you to get on the right path. If you want, pm me and I can give you his cell number and pertinant information.

 

[hoosierdoc]

I would start with the cabinet guy and work around there. Our home we built could have had so many more options if we had another 9" along a kitchen wall. Very irritating. Have your preliminary plans reviewed by the cabinet guy and choose your appliances/plumbing things like tubs/showers prior to finalizing.

Oh yeah, make sure your relationship is on solid footing before building a house. There will be a ton of frustrations along the way, and get everything in writing. Communicate via email for documentation purposes and if you have a verbal conversation with the builder followup with an email to "confirm that you are in agreement with the conversation"

 

[Suprtek]

I think Shooter1054 has the right idea. Finding people in the business you can trust is going to help you more than anything. I'm not one of them but I'm sure there's plenty of people that can provide favorable references like Shooter1054 already has. That's where I would start. Until you talk to people who know what they're doing, you may not even know what questions to ask.

Oh, and congratulations and best of luck!!

 

[GunSlinger]

My majors in college were architectual design and math. Just my opinion but start with an architect first. Sit down with them and explain what are the must haves and the wish list then let them set about a rough draft keeping in mind your budget.

Make any refinements based on wish list and cost then have them do a second (semi final) draft. At that point you can proceed to choosing a GC (or better yet if you have the time do it yourself). By all means check out Angie's List. Form a projected time line and then just do it.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I would start with the question of what you want in a general sense. Do you want a perfectly conventional house? Do you want any alternative energy? Are you open to building materials which may not be 'normal' for residential construction but may be better then conventional materials? To what extent are you willing or able to spend more money up front to save an even greater amount over time? How much house are you planning to build?

If you are willing and able to operate outside the box, much could be done with aerated autoclaved concrete construction and solar-thermal panels. You would also be dealing with an entire different set of craftsmen than you would with a traditional wood frame house. Do you want a basement? If so, do you want to do anything exotic like making the area under the porch a secure room with the porch serving as the top of a basement-level concrete room or vault?

I understand that I answered one question with a whole bunch of new questions, but this is the most helpful I feel that I can be. Incidentally, if you feel that I may be of help, please feel free to send a message.

 

[JetGirl]

Hornadylnl just dealt with all of this... fling a PM into his inbox and ask for some pointers.

 

[patience0830]

lesson learned

If you have some cash saved, don't start w/o the bank being involved. Unless you have enough cash to finish the project on your own. I had a very difficult time getting a mortgage because we'd already built the basement and the subfloor when we started talking to the banks. Thankfully the hometown institution I grew up using wasn't yet using "lending for monkeys"(AKA good credit score = u get money) and with some manual underwriting and a personal relationship over 25 yrs, they decided I was an ok risk.

Minimize your "through the roof" holes. Skip the skylights and put the chimney at one end, not in the middle. Just one less opportunity for a leak.
THAT is experience talkin'. It's great that you're in a position to start a house. Congratulations.

 

[rlspach]

We have no idea what we are doing.

Mike

If that's true then you need someone that does. I highly recommend against building it yourself if you don't have experience.

So, I assume you'll hire a builder. We're in the beginning phases now of building a custom home. What we did is found photos and floorplans online that got us "close" to what we wanted. We then sat with the builder and explained our ideas as well as our budget.

A good builder will then get you some estimates and mock-ups of what you told him you want. He will advise you of things you're asking for that will put you over budget and offer alternatives. You will do a couple revisions of mock-ups and then you'll go to final prints and final price tag. Our builder doesn't charge anything until you sign off on that.

Good luck!

 

[spec4]

It will cost you more and take longer than you think in most cases. I'd suggest taking a long look at existing housing. It will certainly be cheaper. Otherwise, you need to do a lot of planning as others have pointed out. There will be a zillion decisions to be made. The most important thing is to get a contractor who is honest and competent, even if he is a little pricey.

 

[Mike H]

Mike,
You have already started the process, now where do we go from here?
Unless you are paying cash you will need to see a banker and get a letter from him with your credit line on it. Then one option would be to sit down with a design/builder and discuss sq.ft. style etc. and he should be able to come up with a plan of action.
Housing today can range around $100.00 a sq.ft. + or -. If you do not presently own property to build on then you can add that to cost.
Another option if you are comfortable with it is for you to be the general contractor and you would schedule and hire all the subs. That would definitely get you actively involved, but probably would require some construction expierence/knowledge.
A good source for subcontractors would be through your local Area Homebuilders Assn.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Definitely have the final plans drawn by a professional architect. There are SO MANY regulations that you have to work under, and an inspection failure can be expensive and time consuming. Avoid that and shift the liability as much as possible. I can do all of it myself (by all, I mean, well, all) and whatever you can do yourself can save you a truckload of money, but at the expense of time. Balance that for yourself.

One thing I'd make sure of myself is that I have ways to run wires to everywhere, because I'm a geek like that. Fortunately for me, the plan of my house allows that almost as much as I would have planned for if I'd designed it myself. I know a lot of stuff is wireless these days, but some things you just want wire for, and "I want it over there" doesn't sound so intimidating when there's a conduit in the vicinity. It's not really that expensive, either.

 

[rockhopper46038]

My majors in college were architectual design and math. Just my opinion but start with an architect first. Sit down with them and explain what are the must haves and the wish list then let them set about a rough draft keeping in mind your budget.

Make any refinements based on wish list and cost then have them do a second (semi final) draft. At that point you can proceed to choosing a GC (or better yet if you have the time do it yourself). By all means check out Angie's List. Form a projected time line and then just do it.

+1 to this. A good architect is worth their weight in gold, and surprisingly inexpensive if you tell them up front what your budget is. They will help you "program" the flow of the spaces and determine what you really want and need, so you don't end up paying for the "trendy" extra room that you find you never use for anything, etc. They'll probably ask you to cut out pictures of rooms and spaces and things that appeal to you from trade magazines, prior to or just after your first meeting, to get an idea of what inspires you - not a particular chair or sofa or something like an interior designer will help you with, but things like how light fills a room you love, how you use living spaces, etc. Then, if you really build a relationship with them, they can provide plans for your builder, or for you. Anyway, as I said, I think a GOOD one is very worth the 1 to 2% of your total budget they are going to charge you. They'll save you way more than that in the long run.

 

[Rookie]

Hoosierdoc's second paragraph is the best advice so far.

 

[hornadylnl]

How long do you plan on being in this house? 10 years, the rest of your lives? I plan on dying in the house I just built so 36" doors wherever possible were important. I want to be able to get around in my hoveround. I also have my laundry room and master bedroom on the first floor as well.

If you don't plan on staying there for very long, I wouldn't go too extravagent. Figure out what your must haves are, what you want that will be nearly impossible to upgrade later, and what can be cheapened up now and easily replaced later. If you are on a tight budget, I'd go cheap on things like the kitchen cabinets as they can be upgraded later. If you put in cheap carpet to save money, it would be more difficult to put in nice tile or hardwood later.

I just built a 2600 sf house with an 1800 sf basement. I also built mine using ICF construction. ICF are the foam lego type blocks with concrete walls. My house is energy star rated at 5 star +. My first floor is 1800sf with 9' ceilings and my great room and foyer have 18' ceilings. My second floor has 8' ceilings. My house is total electric with geothermal and my Dec electric bill was just under $300. That's keeping my house at 72 degrees and crappy electric rates from an remc.

I paid substantially more for my house than it would have been going conventional stick built and I most likely will never recoup the cost over my lifetime. It's all in what you want and what you want to spend. It's nearly impossible to give a ballpark price until you decide on what you want. For example, I have $20k just in flooring alone. That's $3 a sf slate tile and unfinished red oak hardwood for 2600 sf. That $20k is material and labor. I've got over $16k in cabinets, vanities and countertops.

 

[24Carat]

Architects ??

We found plans online, took them to a CAD operator to modify them to our liking. Took that plan to Kight Home Center in Evansville to be transcribed into several copies of blueprints and found a competent General Contractor.

A big plus was that I worked along side of the crew with a hammer in my hand during the entire construction.

 

[Jdirt]

I would just say be sure of your plans before you buy a lot.

 

[chocktaw2]

Basement / storm shelter a must. Have a big safe lowered into the basement before the floor joists go up. You will never regret this one idea.

 

[hornadylnl]

Basement / storm shelter a must. Have a big safe lowered into the basement before the floor joists go up. You will never regret this one idea.

We dropped my door in with an excavator.

Here's the ceiling.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Find plans online? Sure, but where do you think they came from? Architects. Thing is, there are often local regs as well, so you need someone that knows how to research those and make plans that are compliant. Like I said, an inspection failure can ruin your day: "footer's not deep enough, you're gonna have to tear all this out." How many kilobux you think that could stick you? Some things you can cheap out on, sometimes it's worth being safe.